“Preposterous! Demons? Human experiments? What is all this? Don’t utter such horrifying words!”
Lars shouted in a hoarse voice, but it had no effect on Killian. Only a dry gaze remained fixed on Lars.
“We’ll hear your explanation in the basement. Now, let’s go!”
As Killian strode forward, a startled Lars belatedly followed behind him, exclaiming.
“Ah, I understand! I’ll lead the way! This way, please.”
Killian and the soldiers all followed Lars, who was walking with small steps. Just as they were about to turn onto the stairs leading to the basement, Veronia, who had been quietly following behind, shouted loudly.
“That’s not the right way!”
At that moment, everyone turned to look at Veronia. Lars also looked at her with a deeply furrowed brow.
“The informant spoke of a secret passage in the director’s office on the second floor. A basement connected by that passage.”
Veronia and Killian’s gazes met in midair. Veronia’s eyes spoke:
‘It’s likely a trick. If we go there, we’ll surely end up somewhere else.’
‘I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you.’
Nodding slightly towards Veronia, Killian turned to go to the second floor. Meanwhile, Lars felt as if all the blood was draining from his body. His limbs trembled so much that even moving was difficult.
‘How on earth did they know that? No one knows about that!’
No one knew about his basement research except the emperor. Not even those who had lived with him at the orphanage for 10 years knew. His mind raced frantically.
‘Could it be… Did the children who went to the infirmary yesterday spill it? Damn… Such ungrateful brats!’
Lars’s face instantly turned ashen as he watched Killian climb the stairs with long strides. But he couldn’t just stand by and let this happen. Lars gathered his last bit of strength and spoke again.
“A secret passage in the director’s office that I, the director, don’t know about? How could such a thing exist?”
Killian slowly turned at Lars’s voice, raising one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile.
“Why do you think it’s called a secret passage?”
“Pardon?”
Lars asked back with a bewildered expression at the unexpected question.
“It’s a secret passage because it can’t be casually disclosed.”
“Ah…”
Lars’s mouth fell open weakly. He had almost reached a state of despair.
These people seemed certain about the secret passage and underground lab, not lending an ear to anything he said. Killian turned his head sharply and continued up the stairs, saying:
“We’re just here to verify the tip we received.”
“To act so rudely based solely on an informant’s word! Are you confident you won’t regret this behavior later?”
Lars shouted, emphasizing each syllable, feeling as if he had reached the edge of a cliff. It was his last resort.
“Speaking of our orphanage! It’s a place His Majesty the Emperor personally oversees with his boundless benevolence!”
Killian’s cold gaze pierced directly at Lars. However, he seemed to have no intention of interrupting, keeping his mouth firmly shut and just watching. As if to see how far Lars would go.
“Is His Majesty the Emperor aware of these measures? Has a report been submitted?”
“…”
“No, that can’t be. If so, you would have entered showing some kind of investigation cooperation document rather than this forceful approach. This… Are you sure you won’t be in trouble later?”
After listening to Lars’s words to the end, Killian let out a scornful chuckle and opened his mouth. The aura emanating from his entire body was extremely intimidating.
“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”
“…”
“We’ll see who ends up in trouble after the investigation. There’s no more time to dawdle. Properly escort the director.”
No sooner had Killian’s order fallen than two soldiers each grabbed the director’s arms, practically dragging him as they moved.
“Wh-what are you doing? Let go of me! I said let go!”
Lars shouted and struggled, but he was no match for the strength of the sturdy soldiers. His aged body was too easily subdued by the soldiers’ hands.
“No matter how much of a minister you are in this empire, you cannot treat me so carelessly! You will surely regret this!”
By the time Lars, out of breath from shouting, was panting, they were already inside the director’s office.
Killian walked unhesitatingly to the bookshelf concealing the secret passage. Seeing him so familiarly find and pull the lever in the corner of the bookshelf, Lars couldn’t help but be astonished.
‘This can’t be! It’s impossible! How on earth did they know about that place!’
This was bad. The moment the secret passage opened, everything would be over. There was nowhere left to retreat.
‘I have to escape from here right now!’
He thought that if he could just get away from this place, the emperor would somehow smooth things over afterward. Lars grasped the locket of the necklace that hung down to just below his chest.
‘As long as the teleportation scroll inside this isn’t discovered…’
Kekek! Cough, cough! Khup, kuk!
The very next moment, Lars started coughing violently, his body shaking. Seeing the old man’s body writhing in pain, the strength in the hands of the soldiers holding his arms loosened.
‘It worked!’
Having succeeded in taking out the teleportation scroll from his necklace while bending over, Lars smiled triumphantly.
Ko, cough! Keeek, kuk!
It was when he was letting out a final cough before straightening up from his bent position. Veronia, who had somehow approached his side, patted Lars’s lower back and asked in a gentle voice.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“Khup, I-I’m fine now.”
“That’s a relief then.”
As Lars stopped coughing and straightened up, Veronia removed her hand that had been patting him. A small piece of paper with a magic circle drawn on it was attached where her hand had been, but neither Lars nor the soldiers noticed it.
Drrrrr-
As the bookshelf opened to reveal the secret passage, gasps of surprise escaped from the mouths of the shocked soldiers and orphanage teachers.
“Oh my!”
“To think there really was a secret passage in a place like this!”
“This can’t be!”
Taking advantage of the commotion, Lars, whose arms were now free, quickly stepped back and declared boldly.
“I have urgent business to attend to, so I’m afraid I must take my leave here. Carry on with your investigation amongst yourselves.”
It happened so suddenly that the soldiers had no time to stop him.
Lars, chuckling ominously, tore the teleportation scroll with a ripping sound. But nothing happened. The magic circle that should have shone beneath his feet didn’t appear at all.
“Huh? No… Why?”
Lars, grasping at straws, tried tearing the remaining part of the already torn scroll again. But the result was the same. Nothing happened. A look of dismay filled Lars’s face.
“Th-this… This can’t be! Why…!”
Watching Lars cry out in a voice hoarse with desperation, Veronia smiled triumphantly. He had been a sinister individual who had hidden in the basement for many years, conducting horrific experiments.
Her guess that he would have prepared one or two means of escape for emergencies had been spot on, and thanks to the magical tool she had used just in time, she was able to prevent his escape.
Killian grabbed Lars’s wrist, which was still holding the torn scroll and trembling violently.
“Well, well… It seems the teleportation scroll isn’t working. The moment you pulled this out, you essentially admitted to the charges.”
Killian, who had reprimanded him sharply, signaled the soldiers with his eyes, and immediately handcuffs were placed on Lars’s wrists. Lars’s hunched back flinched at the cool touch of the handcuffs.
“Th-that’s not it. Charges? What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything wrong, yet suddenly I’m being treated like a criminal! This is unjust!”
“Whether it’s unjust or not will soon be revealed. Now, hurry up!”
Killian, who had shouted towards the soldiers, strode down the secret passage, taking the lead. Lars, now in handcuffs, was dragged along by the soldiers’ strong hands.
[This is the timeline separator]Passing through the horrific demon prison and turning a corner, a wide space that looked like a laboratory appeared. The sight there was equally appalling.
The shelves were filled with various herbs and drugs, and jars filled with preservative fluid contained what appeared to be parts of demon bodies. One wall was covered with experimental tools of various shapes and sizes, such as knives, hammers, and saws.
Another wall was densely covered with human anatomical diagrams along with content and figures that seemed to be the results of experiments.
One of the orphanage teachers finally burst into tears, and one soldier, unable to hold back the rising nausea, rushed out of the basement, stumbling.
“It’s clear that this demonic human conducted live experiments here. There’s plenty of evidence that not only demons but also human bodies were used in the experiments.”
Veronia glared at Lars as she raised her voice. The thought that Jonathan was behind all of this made Veronia even more furious.
Killian issued orders to the soldiers.
“Secure every piece of evidence without missing anything. Take this man immediately to the count’s castle and imprison him in the underground dungeon.”
“We obey your command, Your Excellency!”
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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