Seduce With The Body Of An Enemy (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
“Concubine?”
Cassius’s back, heading toward the imperial palace, dominated my thoughts.
“Could it be that the Emperor has taken action?”
I’d heard that at every meeting in the Grand Council recently, there had been endless debates over the succession issue.
It was only natural—the Crown Prince hadn’t set foot in the Crown Princess’s chambers at all.
It was said the Emperor, seizing this opportunity to rebalance power, had agreed to support a noble from the imperial faction by allowing the Crown Prince to take a concubine.
My emotions surged wildly like untamed waves.
“If another woman enters Cassius’s life, I might lose my chance entirely.”
It wasn’t that I believed he’d truly give his heart to someone else.
But even the nominal cohabitation we maintained—and the numerous official duties assigned to me—would surely diminish.
That, in turn, would mean fewer opportunities to seduce Cassius.
“Even now, I rarely get to see Cassius… if things get worse like this…”
Truthfully, if only Cassius would support me, everything would be fine—but he held no love for me at all.
In fact, it was highly likely he’d channel considerable attention toward this new concubine.
After all, at the very least, she wouldn’t be someone he despised like me.
Fear engulfed my entire body.
Yet showing this fear to the Duke would serve no purpose, so I composed a calm expression.
“His Majesty has decided on this, then?”
“Since he gave his assent, the Emperor must have moved.”
Diarobe ranted about how this mess arose precisely because Cassius hadn’t properly shared chambers with me lately—but his words went in one ear and out the other.
Cassius was going to take a concubine.
My heart sank, but I immediately guessed why.
He must intend to humiliate both Snowfell and me.
“I thought things had changed at least a little by now…”
I’d even sent word as far as the Benedict trade route—yet Cassius still cared nothing for me. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Bang—
Diarobe slammed the table, making a thunderous noise.
He looked so agitated he might do anything.
Frowning deeply, he muttered under his breath as if chewing on something foul.
“This time, I’ll handle it myself—you must conceive an imperial grandchild as soon as possible.”
“Handle it himself?”
A twisted smile lingered on Diarobe’s lips.
Whenever he smiled like that, something unpleasant always followed, and unease welled up inside me.
“What on earth is he planning?”
But I already knew he wouldn’t tell me even if I asked.
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
This was the best course for now.
I gave him the answer he wanted with an artful smile—but oddly, Diarobe’s expression seemed strange.
After scanning the surroundings with an ominous look, he finally turned his gaze toward me.
“The Wolfdor hunting festival will be held soon.”
I was well aware of that.
Back when I was Rachel, I’d personally overseen the event many times.
“But why bring that up all of a sudden?”
Before I could ponder further, Diarobe curled one side of his lips into a sly smirk.
“This year’s hunting grounds will be in the Rosemary territory.”
The Rosemary territory?
A foreboding chill ran through me, but outwardly I remained composed.
“Wasn’t it supposed to be held in Snowfell territory this time?”
“The plan has been changed.”
“Is there really a reason to insist on Rosemary? People will start gossiping unnecessarily.”
Just hearing “Rosemary hunting grounds” would surely make people think of Rachel there.
“Why would Diarobe choose Rosemary despite knowing that risk?”
I recalled how he’d once sent a mage to the Rosemary territory.
Could this be related?
Anxiety crept into my mind, tightening my chest.
“There’s something you must do that day.”
“You mean… during the hunting festival?”
“Yes. There’s no better opportunity than that day to enter the Rosemary territory.”
What on earth is he scheming now?
“Surely he doesn’t know about the reinforcement stone and wants me to retrieve it?”
If he knows even the Emperor’s every move, I can’t be certain he’s unaware of its existence.
But then—
His next words completely defied my expectations.
“That day, you must enter the Rosemary manor and retrieve Rachel’s—her personal effects.”
“Not the reinforcement stone… but her belongings?”
Before I could question further, he detailed an elaborate plan for infiltrating the Rosemary manor.
Such meticulous planning meant this had been in the works for a long time.
I forced down my trembling anxiety and adorned my lips with my usual aloof smile.
“What do you intend to do with the belongings of the dead?”
“I’ll use them to confirm whether Rachel is truly alive or dead.”
Confirm her status with belongings? Is that even possible?
More importantly, why dig up something from seven years ago—and at such risk?
“Why go through the trouble if she’s already dead?”
“Recently, there was a report that a woman matching her appearance had been spotted—but they failed to capture her.”
Matching her appearance? After I vanished becoming Vivian, that’s impossible.
They must have seen someone who merely resembles her.
The problem was that this report had become the trigger for Diarobe’s unease.
“It’s unlikely to be true—but since her body was never found, I can’t be certain until I see it with my own eyes.”
Diarobe was meticulous and relentless, never calling something finished until it was truly over.
Arguing against it here would only raise his suspicion.
“If we have her belongings… can we really determine Rachel’s fate?”
I feigned excitement in my voice, and Diarobe replied with a satisfied smile.
“Yes. Knowing Siron’s nature, he wouldn’t have disposed of her things yet. You just need to go and bring them back.”
My hand trembled slightly as I lifted my teacup.
“And if she’s still alive… what then?”
“Naturally…”
Our eyes met in midair.
“I’ll have to eliminate her.”
*
After Diarobe left, my mind remained numb.
As time passed, my thoughts gradually sorted themselves like puzzle pieces.
“So his previous attempt to infiltrate the manor wasn’t about the reinforcement stone—it was about her belongings. A magical artifact capable of revealing whether a person lives or dies.”
Such a thing actually existed?
Even after years working in the Chancellor’s Office, I’d never heard or seen anything like it.
It wasn’t even mentioned in magical tomes.
If even I, a Grand Magician, didn’t know of it, it must be beyond the scope of conventional magic—perhaps an ancient relic.
“Wait… an ancient relic?”
If that’s the case, it’s possible. I bolted upright and hurried off.
My destination was the Imperial Grand Archives—the Wolfdor Central Library.
The reason was simple.
The only place likely to contain records of such an artifact would be the ancient Benedict manuscripts.
And those manuscripts had recently been transferred to the Wolfdor Central Library after being reclaimed by the imperial court.
Snowfell apparently hadn’t recognized their latent value and hadn’t bothered taking them.
After all, it was widely known that no one in this empire could decipher ancient scripts.
Except me.
During my time as Chancellor, I’d secretly mastered those characters known as the ancient script.
It began after I captured a covert trade delegation from a distant eastern kingdom and discovered a translation compendium of the ancient language.
Of course, Cassius was the only one who knew about this.
My steps, quickened by anticipation, gradually slowed as I recognized the familiar outline of the Grand Archives.
The massive statue emblazoned with Wolfdor’s signature wolf insignia, the double central doors… the grand fountain and gardens surrounding the exterior slowly came into view.
This place had once been under my father’s jurisdiction.
Everything about the unchanged building felt both comforting and bittersweet.
Yet unlike before, I sensed no trace of my father’s presence.
“In the old days, even in winter like this, the flowers would have bloomed in full.”
He probably no longer had the heart for such delicate details after my disappearance.
Seeing the barren garden, I could vividly picture how my father must have lived after losing his daughter—and my heart ached.
My eyes instantly grew damp, as if tears might burst forth at any moment.
But I couldn’t show such a pitiful sight to my father after coming all this way.
The kindest thing I could do for him was to complete my task swiftly and leave as naturally as possible.
“Seeing me would only remind him of Rachel—the daughter who should have stood beside him.”
After several deliberate deep breaths to calm myself, I stepped inside—and familiar faces bowed respectfully.
Glancing around, I saw nothing had changed inside.
Once always immaculately kept like my father himself, the interior now appeared faded.
The man who once always sat at its heart was absent today.
“I was worried I might break down in tears if I saw Father… I’d better find that book quickly and leave.”
I declined offers of assistance and began searching for the Benedict manuscripts at once.
Thanks to the familiar layout, it wasn’t difficult to locate them.
Standing on tiptoe, I reached for a book placed higher than my head.
My fingertips, tense and slippery, caught the edge of the book and pulled it free.
Suddenly, with a soft thud, nearby books tumbled down in a cascade.
Instinctively, I activated a magic circle without even realizing it.
“Huh? How is this possible…?”
I’d thought my mana was entirely depleted… yet a trace still remained?
Of course, this amount of mana was practically negligible.
But the mere fact that mana still lingered within me made my heart race.
Stunned by this unexpected revelation, I stood frozen as the floating books hung suspended midair, directionless.
At least I hadn’t caused a commotion inside the archives—what a relief.
Just as I turned my head, a familiar silhouette appeared through the gap left by the displaced books.
The shadow slowly approached—it was my father, Siron Rosemary.
“…!”
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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