Ah, the thought was more miserable than the pain, but Clad couldn’t afford rational thoughts; the impending agony left him breathless.
His body and mind, pushed to their limits, finally succumbed to the sweet sleep, crushing his pride.
“Do you recognize me as the mistress of this house and as your wife?”
“You begged not to be thrown out from the beginning. You have nowhere else to go, right?”
Even amidst this, Clad couldn’t hide his skewed perspective.
If he was to keep her around, it was better to clear up their relationship.
It was evident why Yuan wouldn’t desperately want to return to Pelliesse. She wasn’t treated properly there.
Plus, having gone through the ritual of consummation, there would be no other marital prospects for a woman no longer pure.
In short, she was a woman of marriageable age whose value as a bride had completely diminished.
Yuan, stung by the piercing question, remained silent.
Clad, suppressing the oncoming pain, twisted his lips into a sly smile.
There’s no bigger villain than him.
“Useful talent indeed. Plus, I won’t have to endure the tiresome parade of new brides or the rude screams.”
Yuan gripped her knees tightly with damp hands, as if encountering a distant light at the end of a long tunnel. This skewed man seemed to have found the answer she was desperately seeking.
“I’ll treat you as a useful subject. So live like you know your place, somewhat.”
It was a cold dismissal, especially for a wife who’d shared the marriage bed.
However, Yuan felt a surge of ecstasy, relieved he wasn’t sending her away.
‘I don’t have to return to the Pelliesse Count’s residence.’
She could live peacefully here, maintaining a safe distance.
One day, she might even share the story of Louise.
“Answer.”
Yuan’s head couldn’t shrink any further, resembling a turtle’s.
Trying to act dignified in front of a hostile noble was tough, especially after years of submission and insecurity.
To bring up Louise, she needed to be more than a useful subject; she had to become someone he genuinely cared for.
But to the embittered ex-emperor, behaving like this was as good as gaining everything.
Fearing Clad might change his mind, Yuan quickly responded.
“Yes. I’ll do that. Thank you.”
Her compliant, positive reply made one of Clad’s eyebrows shoot up. But the conversation wasn’t over.
“But that intimate warmth…”
“!”
“Do we have to share it?”
Yuan stiffened, trying not to retract into her shell.
It was a minimal safeguard.
She could only absorb the pain by touching him, and if she revealed having a powerful medicine, he might dismiss her.
In the short time she observed, the ex-emperor seemed averse to touching anyone, let alone allowing them in his space.
He despised being seen by others, even if briefly.
It seemed unlikely the ex-emperor would share ‘warmth’ with butler Gustaf, the oily Lanslet Rev, suspicious-eyed Eddie Rev, or snake-like Count Company.
And he must have known what ‘intimate warmth’ meant.
Wouldn’t it be better for him to believe that Yuan, whom he believed he’d spent multiple nights with, was preferable? After all, she was, at least nominally, his wife.
“Answer.”
Look at his fussy and rude nature.
Even if a child came begging, Clad seemed like he’d kick them away instantly, judging by his haughty nose and stubborn lips. It was perhaps a miracle Yuan hadn’t been struck when she kissed his cheek under the guise of treatment.
“If you dislike it, I can call the butler or someone else to take my place…”
His eyes, capable of conveying revulsion, furrowed in the middle.
As expected.
“If you dislike it, then I… I’ll do it.”
Yuan stood up, moving closer to Clad, who truly looked unwell. Having called her for his use, Clad knew it meant treatment was forthcoming.
Whether out of dislike or tension over the unfamiliar medical practice, Clad, who had been slouching, straightened up to look at her. Despite his considerable height, his weakly flickering eyes had a forlorn, abandoned puppy look, especially against the backdrop of his tired and irritable eyes.
Yuan saw her past self reflected in those eyes.
“I hope your Highness has a comfortable night.”
And I wish to share part of that precious heart with me and talk about Louise.
I want to know the truth about Louise’s death.
I hoped for a peaceful resting place for my sister, who was once your wife, in this territory.
Hoping for such things, not to be driven out, making this house a comfortable home for me…
Yuan brewed a herb tea devoid of any real efficacy, filled with her jumbled wishes.
Without complaint, Clad drank and awaited her next move. Yuan gently rubbed his moist lips with her finger.
Absorbing just a bit of pain, Clad took a deep breath.
Watching his face change like paint spreading in water under the names of peace and tranquility, Yuan cautiously held his clean hand as if shaking hands with a business partner finalizing a deal.
His hand, elegant and long, was surprisingly calloused and firm from what he had endured.
As Yuan stroked his thumb, Clad flinched.
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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