Being such an emperor, he probably never made time to meet with empress candidates separately until now. However, he believed that marrying the woman who became the winner in the competition and holding a wedding ceremony was one of the emperor’s duties.
‘During the carriage ride, should I let Arabel ride on a horse?’
Reading the conflicting feelings of Commander Jacob, the emperor made a preemptive move.
“There’s only one carriage, but it’s not something that can be done to send the young lady out to ride a horse. It seems like it’s going to rain soon. There’s nothing we can do. I’ll apologize to the young lady and enter the carriage briefly to take a nap and come out.”
Jacob and Paul looked up at the bright autumn morning sky that had risen simultaneously. It was not only not raining, but it was also very fine weather.
Clunk.
Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard from the carriage door that had been set up, and then the door opened. Arabel, who hastily wiped away tears with the back of her hand, adjusted her posture and looked at the emperor coming in.
“What happened…?”
When Arabel, whose eyes were red and puffy from crying, asked, Maxwell answered a bit bluntly.
“I got a little hurt, and I’m still a bit sore, easily getting tired. If it’s not too much trouble for the young lady, I came in to rest for a moment.” When the emperor responded, placing his hand on his stomach as if emphasizing, Arabel’s eyes were tinted with a worried expression.
The emperor looked at him with round eyes that seemed somewhat sympathetic, and the corners of his lips, which were always drawing a straight line, were pulled up.
No one had ever looked down on him or pitied him. No, there was no one who looked at him with such eyes. The emperor was the most powerful ruler who had everything.
However, the worried eyes of the girl facing him somehow warmed a corner of his heart that couldn’t be explained.
Nevertheless,
“I will leave so that you can rest comfortably. I can ride a horse as well.”
When Arabel stood up from her seat, the emperor’s mood quickly soured.
“Do you think I want to be known as a ruthless emperor who kicks a young lady out of the carriage on a tiring journey?”
“Oh, no. I thought too briefly…”
“I will take a short nap, so don’t worry and rest as well.”
When the emperor let out a sigh, Arabel sat back down with her head down. On the opposite bench from Arabel, the emperor, who sat down, crossed his long legs and closed his eyes, raising his hand against the carriage wall. The procession started again when he lightly tapped the wall of the carriage.
‘Maybe she came in because she heard someone crying.’
Maxwell’s narrowed eyes were slightly wrinkled. He had never paid attention to someone crying. That was the problem of someone who couldn’t control their emotions, not something he needed to get involved in.
In an attempt to attract the emperor’s attention, resourceful young ladies had staged tearful plays at opportune moments, but he realized that it didn’t work on him. He watched their performances without offering a handkerchief and casually walked by.
The emperor, who had slightly lifted his chin, stared at Arabel. Although he provided an opportunity for her to speak to him, the lady in front shook her head and just fiddled with her fingers placed on her knees.
‘If you’re in the same space as the emperor, don’t you have to say something to attract attention?’
He grumbled inwardly as the static indoor atmosphere that didn’t appeal to him continued.
‘Honestly, being alone in the same space with a woman of marriageable age and the emperor is not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? But she says she’ll leave.’
Click, the emperor clicked his tongue inwardly.
The morning sunlight seeped in through the window with thin curtains and gently touched the emperor’s face.
Arabel’s round pupils, who dared to look at the emperor who seemed to be asleep with closed eyes, slowly captured the emperor’s face. It created an illusion that she was looking at the most similar work to the appearance of a master offering himself to God.
Every aspect of the emperor shone with sharp and restrained elegance.
Slightly long bangs, but neatly trimmed and glossy black hair behind. Beneath the solid forehead, thick and bold seagull-shaped eyebrows centered, and closed eyelids above thick and lush eyelashes.
Smooth and high, the nose bridge without any curves perfectly balanced the proportions of the face. The moderately sized, red lips exuded an intellectual yet captivating atmosphere. These lips, described by Marugo as an unfamiliar term ‘sexy,’ were the first to make her understand the word.
The graceful jawline did not appear light but rather displayed a masculine strength. The olive-toned, healthy, wheat-colored skin reminded her of his role as a prominent figure leading the empire to victory in war.
It was astonishing to see such a beautiful face sleeping right in front of her, beyond what she could imagine in her dreams.
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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