The itching sensation was growing rather than subsiding.
“The more I scratch, the worse it seems to get….”
Aware of this, she couldn’t stop her hands.
It was unbearably itchy.
Engrossed in scratching her body for quite a while, Esika was horrified when she saw herself in the mirror on the wall.
“……!”
Her skin, exposed above the broad expanse of her pure white dress, was entirely flushed red.
Even worse, there were spots where the skin had torn and blood had clotted.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Esika’s face turned grim.
To resist scratching, Esika clasped her hands together and tightly closed her eyes.
But the intolerable itch didn’t easily subside.
‘Ice! Yes. Maybe cooling the skin with something as cold as ice will relieve the itchiness?’
It seemed like a plausible idea.
Just then, she heard footsteps passing through the corridor. Esika cracked the door open and spoke.
“Is anyone there?”
“Do you need something?”
Fortunately, the person beyond the door seemed to be an employee of the house of Count Saltz.
“Could you bring me something to cool my skin, like ice or a cold wet towel?”
“Please wait a moment.”
With the response, the footsteps receded. Esika grimaced as she once again observed her reflection in the mirror.
‘If I go downstairs looking like this…’
Anxious, Esika clenched her teeth, doing her best not to scratch her skin.
Soon, the footsteps returned in the corridor.
A knock resounded at the door.
“I have brought what you asked for.”
Esika opened the door just enough to take the wet towel, then spoke.
“Can you also bring me a scarf?”
“……”
The servant hesitated for a moment at Esika’s request.
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I’ll look for one.”
As soon as the door closed, Esika cooled her body with the cold wet towel.
Though the coarse texture of the towel ignited the urge to scratch each time it touched her skin, she gritted her teeth and bore it.
But at least it felt a little better having cooled down the heat.
Knock, knock.
“I’ve brought the scarf.”
Esika took just the scarf from his hand and detached a small jewel from her dress.
“Your kindness has been most helpful.”
She handed him the small jewel.
It was a substantial reward for just a cheap scarf.
“Th-thank you.”
The servant replied, his voice trembling.
If he were wise, he would understand it was also a bribe for his silence.
Elegantly draping the scarf around her neck to hide her flushed skin, Esika left the room.
Just as she was descending to the first floor, a lady spotted her and approached from the stairs.
“Oh? You weren’t wearing a scarf earlier.”
“Ah….”
At the quick-witted lady’s remark, Esika sighed deeply.
“A servant carrying wine spilled fruit juice on my dress.”
Though she was upset, Esika spoke with a tone suggesting what was done was done.
“My, they should be careful, especially when they know they’re dealing with a dress that’s worth more than their annual salary.”
The lady frowned and shook her head before offering a solution.
“Accidents happen, but I’m sure Count Saltz has prepared extra dresses.”
“Thank you for your concern, my lady. But I’m planning to return to the palace now. I’m not feeling well.”
Esika said, her eyes filled with teardrops, her voice filled with melancholy.
The lady then sounded indignant on her behalf.
“Ah, really…. If you tell me who the servant was that made the mistake, I’ll talk to Count Saltz about it. They’ll be fired immediately.”
Esika glanced around the hall.
She recognized the hem of a servant passing nearby.
It looked similar to the man who had brought her the wet towel and scarf earlier.
Quietly, Esika pointed her finger at him.
After his second bout of respiratory difficulty, Melita insisted that Reneve undergo regular health check-ups.
Today was the day Melita was scheduled to visit Reneve.
As she had done previously, Melita unhesitatingly had Kieren run errands for tea and dessert.
As soon as they were alone in the reception room, Melita arranged the medical tools she had taken out of her large bag on the table.
“Is there anything else bothering you?”
Melita asked while jotting something down on a wooden board covered in parchment. Reneve lightly shook his head.
“Not really. I’ve been gradually increasing my food intake as you recommended, and I feel like my stamina has improved lately. Thanks to you, Miss Melita.”
Melita paused for a moment.
The sound of her quill scratching quickly across the parchment also stopped.
Being thanked was a common courtesy in aristocratic society, but it didn’t sound so bad coming from him, especially after her last patient, the Emperor, had questioned her abilities.
“That’s good to hear. You look healthier than the last time I saw you.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Melita often found the crystal-clear diction typical of the aristocracy a bit off-putting.
But maybe because his voice was slightly low and he spoke a little slower?
There was a strangely trust-invoking power in the voice of His Lordship Siren.
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.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
