Icar had been keenly aware of the gazes directed towards him for a while now.
How intense those gazes were.
And as soon as the gaze that had been fixed on him turned away, he instinctively turned in that direction.
The sight of Reneve, holding up her flowing dress with both hands and briskly walking away, was adorable.
Reflexively, Icar’s lips traced a gentle curve.
Even seeing her back brought him joy, but a fleeting thought crossed his mind.
‘…Did she follow me all the way to the training ground because she was worried about me?’
However, after a brief moment, Icar reached a different conclusion. Perhaps, she was concerned that he might get hurt. Or maybe, she was worried about Patrick’s well-being.
Either way, her kindness was heartwarming. And the mere thought of such a woman becoming his family filled his heart with warmth.
While Vane and Dohan were somewhat like family in a way, Icar, in reality, had no family. The idea that he was about to have a family made him feel a bit excited.
If strong family affection came as an added bonus for a Siren noble, it would be even better.
Since yesterday, Patrick had visited the Siren Marquess, who couldn’t leave his bed due to a hangover. Entering the bedroom, Patrick saw the Siren Marquess clumsily getting up from the bed.
Patrick quickly supported him. “How is your body?”
Even asking that seemed apologetic because the Siren Marquess’s face was earthy.
“Drinking the honey tea Reneve gave me seems to have helped a bit, but…”
Siren Marquess, subtly boasting about his daughter taking care of him, rubbed his temples. He still seemed a bit queasy.
“I’ve instructed the chef to prepare some food that might help with the hangover. Rest a bit more. Since I’ve checked on Father’s condition, I’ll leave now.”
Determining that it wasn’t the situation for a conversation, Patrick, after assessing the Marquess’s condition, tried to leave the room.
Then the Siren Marquess asked, “So, how was the duel?”
“Well… Unfortunately, I lost.”
The Siren Marquess, with surprise in his eyes, looked at Patrick. “What?”
“Did it go smoothly at least?”
“No. The opponent was far too strong.”
While his pride was hurt, Patrick spoke the absolute truth. The training he had undergone was nothing compared to the strength of the enemy’s emperor.
“…Really?”
Each time the Siren Marquess asked, Patrick had to chew over his humiliating defeat. At the moment, all he wanted was to swing a sword until he collapsed from exhaustion.
“…Yes.”
Patrick asked gloomily as the Siren Marquess blinked slowly, “By the way, when Emperor His Majesty offered you alcohol yesterday, did you refuse?”
That was the only conclusion Patrick could draw. Unlike the still ailing Siren Marquess, Basuker’s Emperor seemed so neat.
“No, I did not.”
The Siren Marquess shook his head slightly, and then, as if he felt dizzy, touched his forehead. The room still smelled strongly of alcohol, and every time the Siren Marquess spoke, Patrick felt as if he would get drunk.
“Even though he drank so much…! Could he have used some trick?”
“That’s what Father initially thought.”
“….”
“But it wasn’t the case.”
With that statement, the Siren Marquess, as if reflecting on yesterday’s events, cast a faint look. And soon, he seemed even more remorseful. Originally, the Siren Marquess’s plan was to make the Basuker Emperor drink excessively and then extract his true intentions.
Why he wanted to marry Reneve, whether he truly loved her or not, those were the things he sought to uncover.
When one is drunk, it’s easy to open up and confess one’s true feelings.
“This father also initially thought so.”
“…….”
“But it wasn’t the case.”
With those words, Siren Marquess, as if reflecting on yesterday’s events, cast a wistful look. And soon, he seemed a bit more disheartened, as if memories of defeat were creeping in.
Originally, the Siren Marquess’s plan was to let the Basuker Emperor drink excessively and then extract his true intentions.
Why he wanted to marry Reneve, whether he truly loved Reneve or not, those were the things he sought to uncover.
When one is drunk, it’s easy to open up and confess one’s true feelings.
In some cases, drinking can subtly reveal hidden aggression.
Of course, the plan was entirely in vain because the Basuker Emperor didn’t get drunk at all.
The reason the Siren Marquess wanted to test the Basuker Emperor was simple.
He had previously sought asylum for both of them.
That meant the person he desired was the Siren Marquess, and he intended to use Reneve as a tool to bind the two of them together strongly.
“Now, what should we do, Father?”
Patrick, exhaling a light sigh, asked with a serious expression.
The Siren Marquess, too, was uncertain about what to do immediately. His forehead wrinkled.
“We need to find a new way. Something that can reveal our true feelings.”
It was when the two men had become silent, sinking into their thoughts. The sound of knocking on the door echoed.
“Father, it’s me. Reneve.”
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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