Struck by the truth, Hegelia couldn’t say a word. She just clenched her fists tightly and trembled.
“You wicked child! If only you hadn’t fallen for alcohol and women, our relationship would be different now!”
“No, it wouldn’t have been any different at all.”
At his confident words, Hegelia pulled her hood back up. Though it was a secluded alley, as their voices grew louder, the occasional glances from people fell upon them.
“Don’t you… want to see the child? Your own flesh and blood?”
“No, not at all. Why would I go meet them?”
Arion continued coldly, looking at Hegelia who was fixated on a part he couldn’t understand.
“You’re really strange. After abandoning us back then, why are you doing this now?”
At Arion’s words, Hegelia hung her head low.
“You don’t understand. The feeling of thinking about the child you gave birth to in pain.”
Arion let out an exasperated laugh.
Hegelia acknowledged that talking with him further would only worsen her mood. And she was convinced that even if she abandoned the Tiedga name, it would be difficult to take Arion’s hand.
[This is the timeline separator]Returning to the palace well past midnight after parting with Arion, Hegelia slowly walked to her own room instead of the couple’s bedchamber. Her mind was troubled, feeling like the darkness before her eyes was just like her own future.
As she walked along the quiet corridor, trying to make as little noise as possible, she heard the sound of a door being cautiously opened. Surprised, she looked up to see an imperial guard emerging from her room.
Since he was someone who stuck to the crown prince’s side like a shadow, she had a premonition that he might be inside.
With her heart sinking, Hegelia hastened her steps even more. On the way to her room, she tried to think of excuses. She planned to say she had gone out for some air because she couldn’t sleep.
“Where have you been?”
As expected, the crown prince was in the room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed exactly the same as right before they had parted.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I went out for a bit of fresh air.”
“Where?”
“The garden behind the crown prince’s palace.”
The crown prince tilted his head to the side. Then he slowly rose from his seat and approached Hegelia.
“Your body is cold for having just gone lightly to the garden.”
“Ah… I was out there for a while.”
“And there’s no dirt on you.”
The crown prince’s eyes fell on the robe in her hands. His expression hardened.
“Wife, I’ll ask you again.”
Hegelia swallowed dryly. He seemed to know something.
“Is it true that you went to the garden?”
“Your Highness, what is it that you want to confirm?”
Leaving the palace without permission was wrong, but there wouldn’t be any evidence, so she decided to face him boldly.
“Did you meet Arion?”
At the unexpected question, Hegelia’s heart plummeted. She quickly hid her crumbling expression and answered.
“And if I say I did, what will you do?”
“I’ll have to hold you accountable for the crime of disgracing the imperial family’s honor.”
“Even if nothing happened to warrant pointing fingers?”
“It’s not important what you did when meeting him. What’s important is whether you met him or not.”
Hegelia was not in a position to choose her answer.
“I did not meet him. I really did go to the garden.”
“……”
The crown prince said nothing as he listened to her words. He just stared at her for a long time with sunken eyes.
A suffocating silence continued. The person with many guilty corners spoke first.
“Unless you intend to share a bed with me, it would be best for you to leave now. It’s gotten quite late.”
He looked at Hegelia intently with an unchanging expression. Uncomfortable under his gaze, Hegelia yawned exaggeratedly.
The crown prince, who had been standing crookedly, slowly brushed past her with a resigned face. Then he stopped a few steps away and spoke.
“The smell of tobacco on your body is quite strong, so it would be good to take a bath before sleeping.”
Hegelia’s composed expression crumbled in an instant. Fortunately, they both had their backs to each other, so they couldn’t see each other’s faces.
[This is the timeline separator]After the dream-like secret night passed.
Today as well, Hegelia woke up alone in bed without the crown prince. After finishing breakfast, she headed to the emperor’s palace to pay her respects to the emperor.
“Come in.”
The emperor welcomed Hegelia with a hearty laugh. It was the face of a father-in-law who simply adored his only daughter-in-law.
“I was just curious about something regarding you.”
The emperor gestured for her to sit and ordered a maid to bring out tea. Hegelia said to him, who seemed a little excited.
“I will answer to the best of my knowledge, Your Majesty.”
The emperor chuckled and asked.
“Since you visited Artenbach, you must have met the duchess, right?”
She was a little flustered by the unexpected question. Of course, she didn’t show it outwardly.
“What kind of person was the duchess?”
It didn’t seem like he was probing. He seemed genuinely curious.
Hegelia decided to answer with a bit of her own feelings.
“She was a strangely sharp person. She seemed to avoid His Highness the Crown Prince and me, but I’m not sure if it was because she was shy.”
She spoke slowly with an innocent expression as if there was no emotion.
“But since she became the duchess, I believe she will fulfill her role well.”
The emperor nodded, listening intently to Hegelia’s words. Then, as if remembering something, he put down his teacup and spoke.
“How was the young duke of Artenbach? There are rumors about his birth, and if he takes after Duke Artenbach, his personality must be quite something too.”
Her heart sank with a thud. She decided to put a little bit of her own feelings into this answer as well.
“He was quite a lively child. Smart and capable, taking after his parents…”
Unconsciously, the corners of Hegelia’s mouth lifted. As she spoke, she started to miss the child.
“Is that so? Now that you say that, I’m very curious.”
The emperor tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingers. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he said.
“I’m thinking of summoning the Duke and Duchess of Artenbach and the young duke to the palace. Hearing you talk about them makes me want to see them even more.”
He chuckled. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed deeper than usual.
“At this age, the children are just so adorable.”
The emperor’s words stabbed into Hegelia’s heart like a dagger. It felt like he was criticizing her for not having a child.
“I will arrange an occasion soon, so tell the crown prince in advance to have tea with them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Hegelia smiled brightly. She didn’t like Duke Artenbach and the duchess much, but she was happy that she could meet Rublion who would come with them.
[This is the timeline separator]Finally, the long-awaited day of the family trip dawned. As soon as he got off the carriage and set foot in the resort, Rublion exclaimed, “Wow!”
“It’s like a different world!”
The child ran around like a colt. Askal and I followed closely behind Rublion.
“We’ll have a meal first… Where would you like to go after that?”
At Askal’s question, I immediately answered.
“The Primordial God statue. The one I couldn’t see last time.”
“Very well.”
Askal took my hand and led the way. Rublion came over with his hands full of candy that he had gotten from somewhere and held it out to me.
“Mom, the lady over there gave it to me to try.”
I looked to where the child was pointing, and the merchant at the souvenir stall bowed his head in greeting. He must have recognized us.
“My lady, it’s a bit of a walk from the restaurant to the statue. Will that be alright?”
“It’s fine. I won’t overeat this time.”
Feeling a bit better, I tried making a joke. Understanding the meaning of my words, Askal slightly opened his mouth.
“It’s alright even if you cause trouble. I’ll take care of everything this time too.”
We looked at each other and chuckled. It was a joke that was more enjoyable because it was a memory shared by just the two of us.
The meatballs at the restaurant Askal took us to were the most delicious I had ever tasted in both my past and present life. Even taking away some of the magic cast by the excitement of the trip, I wanted to kidnap the chef to our estate.
Watching me constantly exclaiming how delicious it was, Askal tried to scout the chef to our estate.
I barely managed to stop the abuse of power by saying that the chef needed to be here for the hot spring resort to become even more famous, and that I would want to come often too.
After the meal, on our way to see the Primordial God statue, we stopped by a place selling duck eggs and beef skewers cooked in the hot spring water.
Even after eating a whole plate of meatballs, Rublion still seemed hungry. He ate two beef skewers by himself and then ate two more boiled duck eggs.
“You’ll get indigestion like that.”
“Pfft pffhh.”
The child answered with his mouth full of duck eggs and meat. I poked his bulging cheeks with my fingers because they were so cute.
“Eat in moderation, Rublion.”
Askal held out a glass with his typical expressionless face. Rublion gulped down the water and patted his chest.
“I want fruit skewers this time.”
Having cleanly emptied his mouth, Rublion spoke, looking at Askal and me. I said it would be better to stop eating, but Askal held out his hand to the child and walked side by side to the stall selling fruit skewers.
‘Telling him to eat in moderation and then…’
The back of Rublion’s head, tightly holding Askal’s hand and heading to the stall, was filled with joy. I smiled softly, watching Askal standing in front of the stall, pointing at this and that with his finger.
My heart was pounding because the two of them bickering over unknown matters were unbearably adorable.
After I too got to eat some fruit skewers, we walked a distance that felt like a stroll and entered the plaza of the hot spring resort where the Primordial God statue was located.
I had expected it from seeing it in the distance, but I was so surprised that my mouth gaped open. Rublion also gaped beside me.
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.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
