Oruel couldn’t hide his irritation and walked out onto the balcony. He struck the railing with his fist, but it did little to calm his mind.
The Empress quickly followed and comforted his back like a child.
“That maid, the audacity! What does she think she’s doing, rallying public opinion around Miliora?”
She lowered her head.
“No, what does a bastard know? The issue is Miliora. She knows what this competition is about and yet she participated. Calm yourself, Oruel. I will summon her and make her aware of her mistake.”
However, Oruel briskly shook his silvery hair. He was infuriated.
“No, Your Majesty the Empress. It’s not Miliora. It’s Greyen.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Today’s winner is not Miliora, but Greyen!”
The Empress scowled.
“I did find it odd. Replacing the competition’s reward with a mere invitation to the Royal Hotel. But you clearly instructed…”
“The Zebron Hotel. According to information René found, you had directed the First Lion to consider establishing a naval base there.”
“My God, a military base at that beautiful location!”
“But there’s no need for that now. The pirates of Gonghai have disappeared.”
“You’re not suggesting Greyen had something to do with it?”
“If not, then Greyen has committed an enormous fraud against you.”
“Sigh.”
The Empress felt dizzy and found a seat.
Oruel clenched his teeth as he stared out over the balcony where beautiful birdsong sounded.
The money he’d spent in locating Bulrocho was close to the price of the sensational diamond.
And yet it was all for naught.
He ground his teeth and said,
“It’s clear Greyen had a hand in the pirates’ eradication. Duke Rocard must have employed some sort of magic.”
“I can’t believe this.”
The Empress mumbled as she turned to look at Oruel.
“Then we must deal with Rocard. Who authorized military action in Gonghai? If the First Lion was involved, he too must answer. This is an opportunity to break Greyen!”
“Please, Your Majesty.”
The Empress froze at Oruel’s tone, which seemed to say ‘stop making careless remarks.’
Her normally affectionate and loving husband could be sharp at times.
She knew it was because of his health, but each time it felt like a dagger to her heart.
Why must love always be so difficult?
Oruel, having collected himself, said,
“Did you not say, ‘We have accepted the gift, Greyen.’ Since you have already approved, we must let the matter lie.”
“That was what it meant?”
The Empress trembled at the clandestine dealings between her husband and their second son.
Weren’t they afraid their reckless actions would lead to their necks being severed by that young hand?
The Emperor became the Crown Prince at five.
The powerful competed to serve him, while those who were pushed out sought to serve the other royal children.
Conspiracies to eliminate him were relentless since he was younger. He had lived a lifetime of political strife.
The end was typical of the royal family. One spring, well before his coming of age ceremony, the Emperor executed his siblings and became the sole direct descendant of Tagar.
The fact that he had not designated a Crown Prince early on had caused the nobles to hesitate.
Certainly, there were those eager to preemptively align themselves with the royal child of their choosing.
However, if anyone had the intellect to discern the Emperor’s intent, they would also fear the hammer that would fall upon anyone defying it.
The Emperor hosting a competition for his adult children appeared to be his way of preventing them from following the tragic footsteps of family disputes while also seeking stability in the transfer of imperial power.
But the Empress always doubted whether that was the only reason.
Wasn’t the Emperor pressing down on his children to secure his power for a longer, more stable period?
The Empress felt a strong aversion to such a suspicion.
Why would it be undesirable for this worthy son to ascend to the throne and build a beautiful empire with me?
She thought of Grayeon’s always angry-looking eyes and Duke Rocard’s naturally smiling face that seemed to protect him.
Only then could she understand why the news about the theft of Orul’s Miliora ring had been published.
If left alone, that illegitimate maid would have played no role. But because of the news of the theft of the ring, she had no choice but to actively participate in this competition.
If she hadn’t intervened, this competition would have been a brutal fight clearly defining the winner and loser between the two brothers.
Orul was now excited about his own health issues and Grayeon’s victory.
But the presence of the maid diluted such an atmosphere.
Grayeon, who had been full of resentment for being suppressed by his brother, was now flying with the wings called Rocard.
That maid was the one to hold him down. The clever Orul had assigned her a role for him.
The Empress finally smiled.
Princess Jeon had gone on a rampage.
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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