“Yes, yes. Of course. I know. She’s my benefactor.”
“Benefactor?”
“Not just me, all of our colleagues feel the same way. Even the fact that we could escape is all thanks to the elder.”
“Seems like there’s someone older among us. Considering the term ‘elder.'”
While I was lost in thought, Duke Pferren intervened.
The man quickly made an unpleasant expression, but didn’t stop talking.
“It’s just a respectful way of addressing her, not because she’s that old.”
“Then how old is she?”
“We can’t know the exact age, but I think she’s on the younger side.”
“Does she really resemble her a lot?”
“She usually covers her face, so I haven’t seen her much in person. But when I did, her face was unforgettable. And she mentioned it before. That she had a younger sister.”
It can’t be. But the situation is clear.
A young man who resembles me and has a younger sister. Is this all a coincidence, or perhaps…
I closed and opened my eyes tightly. If I didn’t regain my composure, I felt like I would collapse.
“By any chance, do you know her name?”
“A luxury for a slave.”
“He’s a slave? And from Crayton?”
I couldn’t help but burst into a wry laugh after saying it.
If the person he was talking about was the one I was thinking of, this was truly unbelievable. My elder brother, Edun Crayton, was Crayton’s successor. It was absurd to call him a slave.
“I understand that it might be surprising. Honestly, when I saw the elder, I thought she might be a precious person, so I’m even more careful. Usually, when such esteemed people visit[Dash].”
“Where is she?”
“Excuse me?”
“Hasn’t she also escaped? If possible, I’d like to meet her right away. Above all, I want to confirm whether your elder is really the same person I know.”
I tried not to waver, but my voice trembled. From the beginning, saying something like this felt surreal to me.
My elder brother, Edun Crayton, died. Moreover, it was a whopping 10 years ago.
On the day news of my father’s death arrived, he left, saying he would go find father, and never returned. All that came back was the heartbreaking news of his death.
Like father did, no. It was a more brutal death than father’s.
Edun went out with a boat during a storm, forcing his way out, and went missing. His body washed ashore much later.
All I could do for him was to find traces of my brother from the bloated corpse and prove that he was Edun Crayton, arranging a funeral.
I only learned for the first time after sending my brothers ahead that drowned bodies could become such gruesome remains.
“That…”
“Is it far away?”
“The elder is still here.”
“Still here? Where?”
“Because not everyone could escape, so she decided to stay[Dash].”
Even without hearing more, I felt like I knew what was being said behind my back. Instead of responding, I turned my head. I foolishly tried to find his whereabouts without even knowing the direction. But there was no trace of him here, not even a glimpse.
“That was the elder’s intention. She said if she doesn’t go out, she can send more people out.”
“…Benefactor, you say. Are you going after such a person?”
“It’s not like we’ll just stay like this! We’ll find a way to rescue the elder, no matter what. That’s the promise we made with the elder[Dash].”
“I guess there was never an intention to keep the promise from the beginning.”
This time, Duke Pferren also intervened. Unlike me, who was wavering, he seemed indifferent as usual.
“Rude. Even if we’re just commoners[Dash].”
“Not you. I’m talking about that person you call the elder.”
“What are you talking about?”
The man snapped irritably. Surprisingly, his expression changed rapidly depending on whom he was dealing with.
“If it’s the man I know, you guys should know he’s not powerless. He never intended to keep the promise with you guys from the beginning.”
“So?”
“You were hoping we’d try a few times and then give up and leave.”
“We won’t give up.”
“It seems like empty words. When I first came down, I remember there were more people gathered.”
Whether it struck a nerve or not, the man couldn’t continue. Duke Pferren shook his head as he looked at the man.
“Are you welcoming a woman who resembles the elder to shift the burden?”
“It’s not like that! It’s just because we wish for the elder’s safety[Dash].”
“She’s probably dead.”
“…”
“When slaves escape, there always needs to be an example. If there was a person respected by the slaves, you would have killed them long ago after you escaped.”
“Your words are too much, Your Excellency.”
“I’m just stating the reality.”
As he said that, Duke Pferren turned to me. He was talking to me, not the man.
Don’t hold unnecessary hope.
“…Where is the castle where that elder is?”
But it won’t be that easy.
I deliberately avoided Duke Pferren’s gaze.
“It’s Castle Fataan.”
Fataan isn’t too far from here. But if that’s the case, I have to go back the way I came. It means deviating from the original destination. If that happens, naturally…
“Aren’t you going to look for your daughter?”
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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