I grabbed the tea-filled water bottle and a cup, then headed outside the study. I planned to spend some time on the terrace until Klaus returned.
“It’s still quite warm.”
“Ah, you seem to have prepared tea like this in advance.”
The viscount found it quite fascinating. I chuckled with an embarrassed smile.
It was understandable, given my familiarity with modern life carrying a tumbler; I lacked the passion to bother with teapots and all the accompanying hassle. My reason for learning tea from Evangeline was merely to acquire the necessary etiquette for dealing with nobles, nothing more.
But the viscount’s face lit up quite brightly after tasting the tea.
“Hmm, it’s quite delicious. The aroma feels alive, unlike a while ago.”
His words eased my concern.
“Perhaps it’s because of the good quality tea leaves. It’s black tea given to me by His Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Oh!”
The viscount, surprised, tasted the tea once again. Then, as if he had understood something, he nodded approvingly.
“But making tea like this is your own method, isn’t it?”
“Haha, it’s nothing impressive. Honestly, it’s not much of a secret. I just filled the water bottle with hot water as much as I wanted, then wrapped the tea leaves in gauze and steeped them.”
“I see. Truly unique.”
We chatted casually, and I eventually asked about news regarding Evangeline.
“Oh, I heard a while ago that Lady Evangeline went to the slums for relief work?”
“Haha, you heard that too? Honestly, it’s embarrassing that rumors have spread so widely. Eva has done this a few times before, but it feels different this time.”
The viscount looked awkwardly as he clicked his tongue.
As he said, before, when Evangeline visited the slums, no one paid much attention. But this time was different. Lumi, who had become Lady Elfreda, was watching Evangeline’s every move with keen interest.
If Lumi, who was a tremendous fan of the original work, noticed the significance of this relief work so quickly, she would likely have reacted sensitively.
Therefore, following the original story’s development, Lumi would have quickly realized the significance of this relief activity. In addition, she would have been overly sensitive to it.
If Viscount Poyerbach asked why news of Evangeline’s relief work suddenly spread now, I could only explain it as the flow of this world.
I smiled knowingly.
“Good deeds tend to come to light sooner or later, don’t they? It seems that time has come.”
“Hmm, I’d rather it stayed quiet.”
The viscount looked somewhat uneasy.
“Do you have any concerns about it?”
In response to my question, the viscount answered with a worried expression.
“It’s a good thing for my daughter, but could it be used against her? Especially in social circles, that’s even more likely.”
The viscount shook his head nervously.
I sympathized with his feelings and found myself smiling without realizing it.
“Now that Evangeline has come of age, the noble youths will surely take notice.”
“Hmm, that’s exactly it. Ironically, Eva has no interest in the power struggles of high society.”
The viscount responded bitterly.
“In fact, I didn’t plan to tell you this, but since we’ve come this far in the conversation.”
“?”
“Some noble ladies expressed dissatisfaction because Eva is giving you tea lessons. They questioned whether our Eva approached you on purpose to gain favor with His Highness.”
“But didn’t I request the lessons first?”
“Even if I tell the truth, how many will believe it straightforwardly? Embarrassing as it is to say as a father, it’s difficult for Eva to gain favor in high society.”
The viscount sighed and downed his tea in one gulp.
For nobles, the most crucial thing was marriage, as it directly connected to the power structure of aristocratic society. Therefore, the term “difficult noble lady” in high society meant an inability to find a good marriage. This also hinted at the slow decline of the Poyerbach viscountcy.
I knew how wonderful a person Evangeline was. Not only was she a flawless protagonist of a light novel, but I genuinely felt she was a good person. She was a perfect match for the Crown Prince as his companion.
However, I didn’t say that I would help Evangeline connect with Klaus. I had a promise with Lumi.
Instead, I comforted him with different words.
“Do not worry too much, Viscount. Isn’t Evangeline’s talent superior to anyone in the Empire? Someone will surely recognize her true value.”
The viscount looked at me with a pleased expression.
“Hahaha, thanks to you, I feel much more at ease. Yes, Eva has just come of age, so there’s no need to be impatient.”
Viscount Poyerbach handed me an empty cup.
“By the way, it seems the Crown Prince will be quite late.”
“Um, yes.”
I answered as I received the cup. When the viscount was about to turn away, the sound of shoes hitting the marble floor echoed from a distance.
I quickly grabbed the viscount.
“Oh, Viscount. Please wait a moment. It seems His Highness is coming now.”
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.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
