As Latil led Klein into the dining hall, the court officials waiting in advance exchanged surprised glances. Their looks seemed to say, ‘So after all that chasing, they ended up coming together.’
Regardless of their reactions, Latil calmly took her seat at the head of the table. Without having been given prior instructions, the court officials skillfully served a meal for two.
As usual, it was a simple meal of salad, baked bread, jam, butter, milk, and soup. Perhaps because he had been here before, Klein naturally took the seat next to Latil.
After the court officials had served the food and retreated, Latil, fork in hand, glanced at Klein with a smile.
How long had he waited outside her door? Klein must have been very hungry as he immediately began eating the soup. Despite eating quickly, as a prince should, his manner was rather decent.
When Latil also began her meal, for a moment, the only sound in the dining hall was of the two eating quietly. Although it was called eating noises, they were so silent while eating, it was extremely quiet.
Only after Latil had adequately filled her stomach did she tear a piece of bread and called the prince.
“Klein.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I am curious about something.”
“Please ask.”
“Do you have any idea who threw the stone, or suspect anyone?”
“I am not interested in others’ affairs.”
Latil burst into laughter. Her question wasn’t because she suspected Klein like the palace head servant had implied. She was simply curious.
However, the response she got was so straightforward and candid that she couldn’t help but laugh. Not a concern, not an unknown, not even a guess, just a lack of interest.
‘He’s a weirdo, but interesting.’
The palace head servant had accused Prince Klein out of personal sentiment, but Latil somehow didn’t think so.
Though they hadn’t known each other for long… Klein didn’t seem the type to throw a stone out of spite, at least not secretly. In the open, perhaps.
“Aren’t you concerned the culprit might throw at you next time?”
Asked teasingly as his response was amusing, Prince Klein simply replied, “No.”
“I am not the kind of person to stay silent when attacked. I can defend myself.”
‘Keeping silent….’
Remembering how he had silently moved between chairs in the past, Latil nodded. Indeed, he seemed to have an unusual way of moving his body.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty.”
‘No, I wasn’t concerned.’
“Okay.”
Latil held back a smile and tore another piece of bread. However, as she was dipping the bread into her soup, she noticed Prince Klein continuously watching her.
He hadn’t finished his meal. Why was he looking so intently?
“What’s the matter?”
Asked out of curiosity, Prince Klein asked a surprising question.
“I heard that the tomb of the late emperor is marked by the Black Forest. Any progress in the investigation?”
“Still in the middle of the investigation. Why do you ask?”
Klein’s question seemed very out of place. Though he was handsome, Klein didn’t appear to be a prince with a sharp mind. According to what she had learned, he wasn’t good at studying.
The fact that he asked such a serious question when he should have been engaging in all sorts of flattery… Moreover, knowing about the Black Forest, a secretive group, was even more surprising.
“I believe the Black Forest isn’t the culprit.”
His answer was serious, too.
“Why do you think so?”
At Latil’s question, Klein scrunched his nose.
“Once, my brother, or rather, His Majesty Hyacinth tried to hire the Black Forest, but they refused.”
‘So that’s how he knew about the Black Forest. But really.’
“Hyacinth did? Who was he trying to kill?”
Klein answered, lifting his eyebrows as if questioning why she was asking the obvious.
“Prince Heum.”
‘Ah, of course. He led the rebellion.’
“Why were they refused?”
“They said they didn’t want to get involved with the royal family in any way.”
“Wow.”
“What does that ‘wow’ mean?”
“No, it’s just…I’m surprised you gave such a straightforward answer.”
“…….”
“No, Prince, I didn’t mean you’re stupid. I mean, you really helped.”
Latil also had her doubts about whether Heukrim was the assassin who killed the Sun Emperor. There were many ambiguous parts, like a letter with content directly opposite to the Heukrim’s markings, and the fact that the markings were left several months after.
But when you added Prince Klein’s words, she was half convinced. It really didn’t seem like the work of Heukrim.
But the perpetrator… why did they risk turning the arrow towards Heukrim?
[This is the time separator]It wasn’t just the information Klein gave her that helped Latil. Although unintentional, he also opened a new investigative approach for her.
“Call Carlein and Tasir.”
There was no need to always keep the harem by her side.
It might be hard for noble young seeds like Ranamun or Guesta to understand, they were like greenhouse flowers, but a famous mercenary and the heir to a merchant family, who have accumulated all kinds of experiences, might know something different about Heukrim.
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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