Thinking back, it had been strange from the beginning.
He was the lord of the vast southern territory known as Kardan of Abundance, Kardan of Gold.
He had lived days surrounded by all things precious and beautiful.
Yet the moment he first saw Bianca Termina remained vivid.
They hadn’t made eye contact, nor had they exchanged proper greetings.
He had merely caught a glimpse of Bianca as he was heading to the reception room to meet with the Emperor of Termina.
“…….”
Izar’s eyes narrowed as he reminisced.
It was a mere fleeting encounter, but even now, as the day had long since passed, the image of Bianca felt as vivid as if he could touch it.
Her small and pretty face seemed lifeless, as if one could hold it in one hand.
Perhaps that’s why his heart had ached more than it admired her alluring beauty.
Enough to eventually propose to her.
Enough to send an excessive ‘gift’ of ten crates of gold.
He had thought it was for that reason.
Out of pity.
But upon reflection, that wasn’t it.
It wasn’t because his own dignity as the lord of Kardan was hurt by Jeremy Termina’s lame excuses.
It was the sheer regret of having lost Bianca, the woman who stirred his heart.
Therefore, it was right to get Bianca back.
“Izar.”
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice, and Izar slowly rolled his eyes.
Salvar, well aware of his struggle with the aftereffects of warp, would only disturb his rest if there was an issue.
“What’s the matter?”
“One person is stuck due to an untimely blizzard.”
The explanation was sorely lacking, but it was enough to get Izar up.
“How severe is it?”
“The snow has piled up to the point where the warp sigil is covered, immobilizing him right before Barlock Territory.”
“Typical. Alright.”
“No other means of entry are available.”
What a dunce.
Izar felt irritation surge up to his throat, but he didn’t vent his frustration.
Even if he had never seen the snow of the north, everyone agreed it was a disaster.
“‘The rain in Kardan brings abundance, but the snow in Barlock brings death,’ as they say.”
The snow could pile up to twice a person’s height in one night.
There was nothing humanly possible to do about it.
Although he understood, the news still left a bitter taste in his mouth, especially since it involved the person he had been most anticipating.
“Is it difficult to infiltrate before winter ends?”
“That’s uncertain for anyone. This snow came earlier than usual. It may or may not stop…”
“May or may not. Always the same inconclusive answers. Fine, you may go.”
Izar waved Salvar away with a casual flick of his hand.
Such a sense of powerlessness had been long absent.
Was it five years ago?
The throne that had always eluded his grasp was settled by a single word from his mother, and regent queen, Pasetra.
Was he happy to secure the longanticipated throne?
Not at all.
What dominated Izar that day was a dreadful sense of powerlessness and discomfort.
No matter how hard he tried to prove that he was more than capable of inheriting the empty throne, it was in vain.
His subordinates had always treated him as a ‘prince’ and deemed him too young.
The outcome was the same even if he achieved any sort of accomplishments.
Created factions, opened canals, and presented admirable results right in front of them, but that was it.
A fine prince.
He was always meant to be a prince.
No one understood the sense of loss and powerlessness Izar felt as he was forever a prince despite his throne being within arm’s reach.
Except for Salvar.
What he was doing now was a risky move that could escalate into a continental war.
However, Salvar followed him obediently, without any opposition.
Missing Bianca was akin to the times of old when he had struggled to reclaim his throne.
But the chancellor said….
“Greed and foolishness?”
Something he had suppressed all his life burst forth from within.
Lost anger.
Unplaceable injustice.
Call it whatever you wanted.
Izar conformed to this consuming sensation.
Be it greed, be it obsession, whatever.
If he could reclaim what should have been entirely his.
Closing his eyes, an image of her fine black hair flitting against his cheek surfaced.
‘People tend to regret and cling to what they’ve lost.’
The soft light sweeping away even the chancellor’s voice that had been irritating his mind all along.
[Star Icon] [Star Icon] [Star Icon]“Huh?”
What’s this?
The knight patrolling the ice wall stepped toward the faded white mark.
Every winter, as blizzards and extreme cold began, cracks would form in the ice wall.
And from those cracks, monsters would pour out.
Usually, the cracks progressed over three or four days, as an unguessable thickness of ice would break apart loudly.
But a white spot?
This frosty, blotchy appearance was a first.
It wasn’t just the blizzard making his spine chill.
After cautiously observing the spot for quite some time, the knight breathed a sigh of relief.
He’d been on high alert, thinking it was an abnormal reaction before a crack formed, but it appeared to be a simple stain.
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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