Meiana hoped that Venti would say, “Actually, it’s a lie,” but, of course, such a thing did not happen.
She had always considered the possibility of things going awry. However, it never crossed her mind that Greta would find a way to escape.
Venti continued excitedly, “Judging by the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like Jocelyn, the steward, took him out. So, Greta must have used some trick to outsmart him. Everyone is just keeping a low profile while watching the steward. The atmosphere outside is like thin ice.”
“Did Jocelyn order to find Greta?”
Venti’s lips moved stubbornly.
“I don’t know about that. No one mentioned such a thing. But it’s strange that no one is questioning around individually.”
That’s exactly the strange thing you were sent to do. Meiana thought.
However, Venti’s words made sense to some extent. With Venti revealing Ariante’s whereabouts and the recent good relationship between Ariante and others, other servants were likely aware of it…
If Jocelyn just gave casual advice or investigated discreetly, eventually, she would use Venti as an excuse to catch onto something.
Meiana entered her room and retrieved a vial hidden in the corner of the wardrobe. Venti, realizing what she was holding, exaggeratedly shook her shoulders.
“Ugh, dreadful! Why do you have that ominous thing with you?”
“Why are you talking nonsense? This is decisive evidence. Greta had this.”
“Huh, even if you try to find him, he’s already gone. The Duke is supposed to arrive tomorrow, but it will probably be in the afternoon. Greta and that servant will be far gone outside the Duke’s jurisdiction by then.”
“It’s not just about Greta. Forgot? Jocelyn, in this matter, is undoubtedly involved. The important thing isn’t Greta; it’s Jocelyn.”
Venti, frowning, seemed like she wanted to counter Meiana, but in the end, she closed her mouth.
She thought Meiana was being reckless, and she wanted to advise her to abandon any hope of catching Jocelyn’s tail in this matter.
However, Meiana was not someone who would give up thinking, ‘Oh well, what can we do?’ just because she heard such remarks.
“What exactly do you plan to do? Do you have a plan? Are you thinking of just groveling in front of the Duke and begging for punishment, saying that Jocelyn, the steward, tried to poison the lady?”
Meiana glanced at Venti with a pitiful expression.
“Do you think I’m a fool? Or are you the fool?”
Venti snapped.
“Then tell me. What’s your plan?”
“I will find out where Greta got this vial. And I will also find out what kind of poison is inside. After that, I plan to find the one who sold this to Greta.”
Meiana, who took a moment to catch her breath, continued.
“Venti, do you know? Greta got this from the neighboring village. Without a doubt, it’s Negrian.”
Venti made a disgruntled sound, her nose wrinkling. If it’s Negrian, it was capable of obtaining such a sinister item. The town was full of all kinds of eerie and bizarre things…
When she first arrived at the Duke’s jurisdiction, she, too, out of curiosity, had sneaked into Negrian once, but she never did such a thing again. The repugnant smell… the streets covered in fish guts and blood made even Venti, an insensitive person, have nightmares for several days.
“Are you planning to go to Negrian yourself? Even if you go, how will you find it? It’s better to avoid that place as much as possible. There’s nothing good about going in. I…”
Meiana interrupted Venti’s words.
“I heard roughly about that place from Bridget. But there’s no other way. Greta has escaped, and that’s the end! Can you accept that? I didn’t like the head chef, but I don’t think it’s natural for him to stay in bed unable to get up. Just the thought of the lady might end up like that gives me chills. I’ll make sure this kind of thing never happens again. I may not know Jocelyn, the steward, messing with the servants, but I can’t stand by if it harms the lady.”
Venti sighed.
“I understand what you’re saying. I understand too. But have you ever thought about it the other way around? Hasn’t Jocelyn, the steward, been taking good care of the lady all along? You know it well too. Of course, it seems like she’s gone even more insane lately! But even before you came, that woman couldn’t swallow the fact that she couldn’t devour the lady. Would the Duke not have known about it? I don’t think so. Still, look, that woman has held her ground in her position. Like a solid support.”
Meiana clenched her fist and turned her body abruptly. When the lamp’s light shone on her face, her face seemed to flicker horribly, as if engulfed in flames.
“I was curious about that reason too.”
Meiana said with a firm voice. She, who seemed to grind her teeth, spoke again after a moment of silence.
“So, I want to ask clearly this time.”
As the boundaries of the Duke’s jurisdiction approached, and familiar landscapes unfolded one by one, Cedric suddenly felt an unstoppable headache pressing down on his entire body.
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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