Siren Viscount hurriedly headed to the scene of the spring festival.
And upon arrival, he immediately assessed the situation.
“The situation involves occupying the chapel with numerous hostages.”
“What do they want?”
“They demanded sufficient supplies for a voyage and a considerable amount of gold.”
“…Anything else?”
“Along with a promise not to pursue us until we safely reach nearby waters, they mentioned taking several hostages with us…”
Indeed, it was a demand befitting pirates. However, Siren Viscount had no reason to comply with their wishes.
“We need to see the interior layout of the chapel.”
“Yes. I will find it for you.”
Nodding, the deputy commander instructed the herald to bring the internal map of the chapel.
“How many hostages and pirates are inside the chapel?”
Siren Viscount quickly sought ways to safely rescue the hostages while contemplating how to deal with the remaining pirates. The knights who came with him busily moved according to Siren Viscount’s instructions.
Then, the sound of shattering glass echoed.
…?”
Siren Viscount hurried in the direction of the sound.
“If you play any tricks, all the hostages inside here will die!”
Through the shattered chapel window, he could see trembling hostages and pirates threatening them.
“First, calm down. It’s not easy to get the supplies they demanded and a significant amount of gold immediately. Without emptying the vaults of all the nobles living here.”
Siren Viscount’s response seemed to please the pirate, and he chuckled with his unkempt beard.
“That’s a good idea. Anyway, the nobles in this area have a lot of regrets. It would be even better if we emptied all their vaults.”
Siren Viscount engaged the pirates in conversation, diverting their attention. Occasionally, he received reports from the deputy commander about the progress of the situation.
A standoff continued for a while.
However, when it took quite a bit of time to prepare the supplies, a pirate, sensing something strange, shouted.
“When are we going to wait?”
“The supplies to be loaded onto the ship are almost ready. Some gold has been prepared, but only…”
An impatient pirate interrupted Siren Viscount.
“…Stop talking nonsense! Who are you trying to fool? My colleague, who went to check the supplies, didn’t see anything like gold!”
It was true.
They had stationed an observer near the pirate ship, so they pretended to be moving the supplies.
But obtaining a large amount of gold, even for show, was difficult to accomplish immediately.
Siren Viscount tried to calm down the agitated pirate, but without giving him a chance to speak, the pirate shouted.
“I’ll give you one hour from now. If you can’t prepare to leave within that time, one hostage at a time every ten minutes! Bullet holes in the heads of the hostages.”
The complexion of the captive hostages rapidly darkened.
“Do your best to prepare as quickly as possible.”
While conversing with the pirates, Siren Viscount whispered to the deputy commander, trying to buy as much time as possible.
“Have you found another exit into the chapel?”
“There is a side door towards the wine cellar and meat aging room that leads to the inside of the chapel… What should we do?”
The knights who entered through the side gate couldn’t subdue the pirates in an instant, so casualties were inevitable.
Lord Siren, after a brief hesitation, spoke up.
“… It seems exchanging hostages would be the best option.”
The vice-commander, with surprised eyes, looked at him. However, instead of hearing the vice-commander’s response, Lord Siren spoke to the pirates.
“I promise to safely release all hostages inside if you promise to let me become the hostage in their place.”
The pirates were unsettled by Lord Siren’s bold proposal.
The majority of the captured hostages were commoners. They knew well how nobles regarded the lives of commoners.
After some deliberation, the pirates finally replied.
“Fine. We’ll exchange all the hostages inside for you, Lord Siren, just you.”
In the end, it seemed they judged that keeping Lord Siren as a hostage would be more advantageous to achieving their goals.
As Lord Siren started to walk towards the pirates in the direction of the chapel, a moment before, a pirate added a condition.
“No weapons allowed, and wrists must be bound—it’s a prerequisite.”
The pirate looked at Lord Siren with a gaze that questioned if he could comply.
“… Lord Siren, this is too risky,” said the vice-commander.
All the knights around, including the vice-commander, tried to dissuade Lord Siren. However, he slowly nodded.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
Lord Siren handed his sword, which was hanging from his waist, to a senior knight and extended his wrists, asking the vice-commander to tie them.
“Tie them for me.”
The hesitant vice-commander, unable to refuse the orders of his superior, eventually tied Lord Siren’s wrists.
Then, in a low voice only audible to the vice-commander, Lord Siren whispered.
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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