Litania blushed with a surprised face, then closed her mouth and glared at Orbis.
She looked slightly angry, but it didn’t seem like she found his touch or words unpleasant.
Rather, it felt like she was somewhat resentful.
Litania, who was glaring at Orbis’s grinning face with a pout, raised her left hand and flicked his forehead with an audible ‘thwack’.
“…Ouch.”
“Don’t whine when it doesn’t even hurt, you fool.”
“Earlier you called me a pervert, and now I’m a fool? Your assessment of me is quite harsh.”
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
Litania snorted and wrapped her arms around Orbis’s neck, leaning against him.
“What kind of fool asks for permission to kidnap someone?”
“…”
“That doesn’t mean you can actually kidnap me though. I need to return to the palace and report to His Majesty.”
“When you say that, it makes me want to see your troubled face even more if I were to kidnap you.”
“I’ll dislike it if you do ungentlemanly things.”
Despite her aloof tone, the heartbeat against her cheek was honest.
“I can’t do anything you dislike. What a shame.”
Noticing Litania’s mood had improved, Orbis carefully adjusted her voluminous skirt, holding her properly, and snapped his fingers.
The surrounding scenery changed in an instant.
[This is the timeline separator]Hot air filled the sky above the imperial palace.
Under the brilliant sunlight, the lush greenery rustled refreshingly.
Orbis gently set down in front of the fountain in the central garden, which made a cool sound of flowing water. He slowly caressed the back of Litania, who was still clinging tightly to his neck.
A fresh breeze swept over the heads of the two.
“Litania. This is the central garden of the imperial palace.”
“So?”
“Someone might see us.”
Officially, the two were divorced, so if they were caught in such a scene, they might become the subject of gossip.
Orbis was the type who didn’t care what kind of outrageous rumors circulated about him, but Litania was different.
“What if strange rumors start?”
“What kind of strange rumors?”
“For instance, misunderstandings might arise that you and I have become lovers again.”
“That’s not a misunderstanding, is it?”
“…”
“You act like a pervert when we’re alone, making me terribly uncomfortable, and now you pretend to be considerate?”
“So, calling me a pervert is a misunderstanding.”
“Yes. That’s exactly what a misunderstanding is.”
Litania planted a quick kiss on Orbis’s forehead and giggled.
Finding her innocent laugh lovable, Orbis briefly considered actually kidnapping her right then and there.
“I’m not sure if you find my advances troublesome or enjoyable.”
“Both.”
“Both?”
“Humans are contradictory beings.”
Liking someone but finding reasons not to get close, wanting to be held but pushing away while looking for excuses.
Litania had said she had no intention of starting over with Orbis, but she didn’t dislike how he steadfastly approached her even when pushed away.
Rather, it made her heart flutter.
Even though she had vehemently denied any thought of remarrying him, when marriage proposals actually came, she didn’t want to marry any other man.
No matter how much she pushed him away, if she were to spend her life with someone, she couldn’t think of anyone but this man.
There was a time when she found this inescapable and unbreakable relationship exasperating, no matter how much she tried to run or cut it off.
But now, feeling emotions that wouldn’t cool no matter what she did, she even felt somewhat smug.
Perhaps what had been broken by countless regressions was not emotions, but reason.
“I like you but I hate you, and though it’s troublesome to face you, I keep wanting to see you. I get angry when you touch my body without permission, but it feels so good when you touch me that I end up thinking it doesn’t matter anyway.”
“…”
“I want to criticize you for being ungentlemanly for not letting me go, but on the other hand, I want you to be more obsessed with me. Do you dislike me for having such contradictory desires?”
“How could I?”
Orbis adjusted his hold on Litania and headed towards the central palace where the emperor resided.
As they entered under the roof of the wide corridor, the scorching sunlight disappeared, covered by shadows.
They encountered several servants while climbing stairs and passing through long hallways, but Orbis paid no attention.
After all, there was no one who could stop them.
Orbis stopped in front of the black doors of the audience chamber and set Litania down.
She sighed deeply and looked up at Orbis. Though she must have been comfortably held, her face was flushed red as if she had been laboring under the scorching sun.
“If you go in like that, His Majesty will be surprised, thinking you’ve been doing reservoir construction work alone.”
“Aren’t you coming in, Orbis?”
“Wouldn’t it be counterproductive if I went with you? The emperor must dislike me.”
“This construction project was started to create merit for you, wasn’t it? You should receive the commendation directly.”
“I don’t particularly want to be praised by anyone other than you.”
Orbis shrugged his shoulders.
The emperor probably didn’t want to give Orbis any rewards either, but he also didn’t particularly want to receive anything. After all, even when the first title was bestowed upon him, he had simply left it alone after being unilaterally notified.
“If I were to receive something, I’d rather receive it from you than from the emperor.”
“What could I, a mere imperial princess, give to you, a divine dragon?”
“There is a reward you can give to your knight.”
On that night in Sermo, Litania made Orbis her knight by offering him wine instead of a sword.
Even if it was only nominal, she had become his master, so it was possible for her as a master to bestow rewards upon her knight.
‘Even though I’m an imperial princess, I don’t really have anything, so I can’t give territories or titles.’
In any case, that’s not what Orbis would want.
“Alright. I’ll give you a reward.”
Litania mumbled something as if practicing in her mouth, then uttered a single word in a clear voice.
“Responso.”
“Responso?”
It means ‘to respond’.
As Orbis blinked with a puzzled expression, she smiled brightly.
“Orbis ‘Responso’ Aeternitas.”
“…”
“I hadn’t given you a name in this life, had I?”
Blue eyes trembled.
Litania guided Orbis’s hand, who wore a dazed expression as if he had been struck, to her chest.
Her heart was beating thump, thump.
“Orbis. Do you know what Veriberbium means?”
“It means ‘truthful’, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right. Since my name is the origin, as the imperial princess of this empire, I am the ‘truthful origin’.”
Litania Veriberbium.
Truthful origin.
Orbis Responso Aeternitas.
The world that responds eternally.
Now Orbis no longer regresses. So the name ‘Reverto’ was no longer needed.
“From now on, don’t regress to meet me, but respond to my prayers.”
Eternally.
At those words, added as if slightly embarrassed, something stirred strongly beneath the calm surface.
“Litania.”
“Yes.”
“My Litania.”
In that distant past when she first gave him a name, she became his world.
Even while suffering from endless partings, he repeated and repeated regressions to meet her again, his everything.
But now he no longer needs to suffer.
She, who had swallowed the wishing stone, chose him as the one to grant her truthful origin.
“Whatever you wish for, I will make it come true.”
“Will you respond to any prayer?”
“Gladly.”
“Then, me…”
“Well, well, I’m seeing quite a spectacle here.”
The doors of the audience chamber opened, and Emperor Ferus glared at the two.
“…”
“…”
“Since when did the imperial palace become a place for the imperial princess to engage in love affairs?”
Veins bulged on Ferus’s jaw as he asked in a rigid tone.
Litania quickly straightened her posture and bowed to Ferus.
Then she slapped the back of Orbis’s hand, who was standing blankly.
‘Orbis. What are you doing just standing there?’
‘Don’t be nervous, Litania. Let me hold your hand.’
‘No, I meant greet him!’
As Orbis interlaced his fingers with Litania’s and held tight, a crack appeared between Ferus’s brows. A suppressed groan escaped through his tightly clenched teeth.
“…What are you doing right now?”
“Greeting, greeting! Orbis escorted me to the imperial palace. Good job, Orbis!”
Litania vigorously shook her arm to shake off Orbis’s hand, then stepped in front of Ferus and flung open the half-open doors of the audience chamber.
“I need to report on the construction to Your Majesty, so Orbis should go back now!”
“Oh? But you clearly said I should receive commendation too…”
“Didn’t you say you’d respond to any prayer?!”
“Is this really something that requires a prayer?”
“Yes!”
When Litania answered firmly with a bright red face, Orbis nodded with an expression as if trying to hold back laughter.
On the contrary, Ferus’s expression became even more crumpled.
“Since I’ve already received my reward, there’s no reason for me to stay here any longer. I’ll take my leave first.”
Orbis bowed politely to Litania, then turned and disappeared.
He didn’t even make eye contact with Ferus, the emperor, let alone greet him.
“…Litania.”
“Ah, um. Yes. I’ve returned, Your Majesty.”
As Litania awkwardly greeted him again, Ferus sighed and walked to the throne.
She closed the doors of the audience chamber and followed behind.
“I sent you to do waterway construction for the people, but it seems you’ve done a different kind of construction.”
“…”
Ferus’s words, which normally wouldn’t have affected her at all, stung her heart.
Even though it was summer outside, the audience chamber should be well air-conditioned, but strangely, her face seemed to be getting hotter and hotter.
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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