Finally, after finishing light chatter about the council that would open tomorrow – the cycle had already come around – when the atmosphere became one of groups of three or four, Ophelia called Hazel, who was guarding behind her, aside and asked.
“… Doesn’t my husband seem a bit different from usual today?”
Then the red-haired knight, who always looked happy, answered with round eyes.
“His Highness looks as sensitive as usual.”
Next, Hazel added an unnecessary remark.
“The fact that you notice something, as expected, you two are different as a couple!”
When the knight, who only knew them to be happily married, winked, Ophelia realized she had asked a worthless question. She shouldn’t have asked Hazel.
As Ophelia turned her gaze away from the knight, her eyes fell on Idren sitting alone near the fireplace. He was sitting in one of the facing armchairs, staring at the embers. It was a contrast to the other nobles gathered in groups of three or five, chatting.
The man, quietly keeping his mouth shut, looked handsomely serious unlike usual, but Ophelia felt an uneasiness she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Normally by now, their eyes should have met and more…
… What am I thinking.
Realizing that her thoughts seemed helplessly tamed, Ophelia pressed her lips together. She kept forgetting that emotions without clear justification were harmful. It was quite a serious problem.
Nevertheless, when Ophelia approached and sat in the chair opposite him, Idren immediately turned to look at her.
Ophelia deliberately avoided his golden eyes, warmly tinged by the firelight. After all, the heat in them must have all transferred from the fire, and she didn’t want to look and become unsettled for no reason.
As she said nothing and just looked elsewhere, Idren asked.
“Is there something bothering you?”
His voice was gentle. Ophelia responded to the man who was trying to gauge her mood even while his mind was elsewhere.
“No.”
She hesitated for a moment before adding.
“Isn’t it you who’s bothered by something?”
As if he didn’t understand her words, Idren tilted his head slightly instead of answering. His still-smiling face was filled with patience and goodwill.
Looking at that face, Ophelia felt an indescribable feeling. The emotion that kept tickling one corner of her heart was different from any other guilt she knew, but there was no other way to explain it.
Why do you call all your actions consideration? Such a feeling suddenly rose up. It was only natural that she kept feeling guilty because of that damned consideration.
Ophelia thought that perhaps he was a very weak person. Idren might have deliberately chosen a different way to stimulate her, knowing that just getting angry or being stubborn wouldn’t work. To make her stay by his side…
… Again, unnecessary thoughts.
Idren wasn’t such a vile person. Thinking that far, Ophelia realized that even if he was acting docile as some kind of strategy, she wouldn’t find it hateful.
I’ve really gone crazy. Acknowledging that there was something wrong with her mind as before, she added an explanation.
“You’ve been in a daze all day.”
“… Have I been?”
An unsatisfactory response.
Ophelia didn’t reply. She felt slightly offended that she had noticed something he himself wasn’t even aware of.
Idren smoothly continued the conversation.
“Actually, there’s been an issue bothering me lately.”
He paused for a moment and scanned the surroundings. The lounge they had moved to after the banquet was full of people, which meant many ears listening.
“… It’s a bit difficult to tell you here, I’ll let you know later when we’re alone. I think it would be good for you to know too.”
[This is the timeline separator]Idren kept his promise before the day changed.
Due to the late hour, he spoke in the bedroom prepared at the residence.
“Actually, on the day of the last meeting, I heard news that the Brinwell army had marched towards the Kirios Mountains.”
Something comes to mind at those words. Ophelia, who had already gotten into bed, asked while looking at the ceiling.
“… Is a war breaking out?”
Idren answered as he covered her with a blanket.
“I should say the future is unknown so we can’t be sure, but they wouldn’t have climbed that cold and barren mountain range just for show.”
Then Idren dimmed the lights a little before climbing in beside her. It was now quite a natural movement.
Trying not to be conscious of the weight next to her that felt deeper than usual, Ophelia muttered.
“It seems much earlier than the previous life, is that right?”
As far as she knew, Idren had been very busy in various ways not this year, but the next.
He nodded, confirming that her memory wasn’t wrong.
“You’re right, it’s early. In the past, it happened after the new year.”
“Why has the timing been moved up?”
“We’re still investigating the reason.”
And Idren looked up at the ceiling, following her gaze.
Realizing that she was hogging all the blanket, Ophelia shifted a little. Seeing her pull out the blanket, Idren shook his head.
“It’s fine. You keep it.”
“No, it’s okay.”
The consideration she usually accepted without thinking bothered her especially today. Stubbornly gathering the blanket, Ophelia pushed half of it towards him.
Idren turned his head towards her. After staring at her for a moment, he casually spread the blanket over his chest and said.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
The room was warm enough for that. Ophelia snorted.
“Not at this temperature.”
“You’re from the south, so you need to be careful.”
It was funny and embarrassing to hear him seriously mentioning something that even she herself often forgot. Ophelia changed the subject.
“If war breaks out, will you go to battle too?”
“I will.”
“Why?”
She wasn’t asking because she didn’t know he had made the same choice in his past life.
It was just that Idren was the only person carrying on the blood of the current Sigrasal royal family, except for the prince said to be in Brinwell.
Unless there was an heir, they were a small family both in the previous life and now.
So he shouldn’t be able to leave the castle easily.
Ophelia ignored the fact that she hadn’t been curious about such things the first time around. This much was well within the range of whims she could indulge in.
Idren answered in a calm tone.
“According to Aglante law, to request reinforcements from other families, at least one direct family member must participate in the war. The royal family is no exception.”
“But you don’t have any blood relatives. Usually in special situations, exceptions can be made.”
“To become an exception, we need the consent of all the elder families… Rather than wrangling over that and missing crucial timing, it’s better to go to war. It’s also better to show my face directly for morale boosting and negotiations.”
And after a brief pause, he added.
“I know you won’t worry, but just in case… You don’t need to be too concerned about war breaking out.”
“…”
“We struggled in the last life but eventually won, and this time we know better about Brinwell’s tactics and how to use the mountain geography, so we’ll definitely win.”
His gentle voice was full of confidence. If he wasn’t truly thinking that way, he could have been an actor.
However, Ophelia’s mood sank further upon hearing his words.
Saying with his own mouth that I won’t worry about him, doesn’t he have any thoughts? Does he really have no pride?
Being a king, why act like such a pushover.
She had tried to speak to relieve her uneasiness, but instead felt like she had gained a burden. Ophelia turned her back to him.
“After the war is resolved, let’s look into the problem of time constantly rewinding.”
“…”
“You said there was definitely something that stood out then, didn’t you?”
On the way from Reden to Aglante, their conversation while eating candy had definitely included such content.
Recalling the sweetness that was surely cheap but sufficiently delicious, Ophelia closed her eyes. She felt strange. Clearly he was the gentle one and she was the sharp one, but she couldn’t understand why her insides were churning.
The only thing clear was that she shouldn’t be swayed by him anymore. Curled up with her back turned, Ophelia mumbled something random.
“And, next time you remarry, don’t live always being so mindful of others.”
The words she had said without knowing what they meant became clear only after she had uttered them. Surprised, Ophelia opened her eyes that had been closed.
Though she had clearly said it with her own mouth, her heart sank. Blinking as she stared into the empty darkness, she felt her nose stinging a little.
[This is the timeline separator]The words spoken that night seemed to have had a considerable impact on Idren as well.
After returning to the castle, he began avoiding her face. He reduced the time spent in the bedroom even more, and also started eating separately, making excuses about being busy.
Ophelia didn’t go out of her way to find him. There was nothing else to say even if they faced each other. Apart from feeling like she had done something wrong, she had no apology to make.
It was true that the words spoken on that night at the residence had pierced not only the listener’s but also her own heart as the speaker. But that was because it was the truth. Sometimes, some truths were sharper than false accusations.
Ophelia couldn’t live with Idren as he wished. The future that had no known end was too heavy for her to bear.
How could she thoughtlessly throw herself into it without knowing what would happen?
So as soon as the constraints on them disappeared, she would end her life, and then Idren would be left behind.
It was natural for a man left alone to remarry.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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