The heavy breathing of the surveillance guards, which had been panting, suddenly stopped. It was the first time the surveillance guards had come this far, so they couldn’t help but struggle.
” Sloppy.”
What’s the use if the surveillance guard falls behind?
Nevertheless, thanks to that, Ren arrived at the place where he had hidden the food and livestock stolen from Ashu’s village last night without worrying about the surveillance guards.
Ren nonchalantly carried the food and livestock pouches on his body.
“We need to hurry.”
Ren quickly crossed one hill and arrived at another village.
While waiting for the surveillance guards, Ren roughly combed his wind-mussed hair.
He didn’t forget to wrap his face with the bandages he had brought.
Soon, the surveillance guards arrived, wheezing. Before the surveillance guards could catch their breath, Ren entrusted him with the entire food exchange.
‘I guess it’s better than my persuasion skills.’
Talking to strangers and continuing with exchanges and bargaining was beyond Ren. Above all, there was no village to welcome an outsider with a covered face.
“Well… it seems like I can confirm it quickly since you don’t seem to have a discerning eye.”
At first, the surveillance guard, who had a sour expression, cooperated smoothly with Ren. It seemed that the guard was concerned that Ren might unintentionally disclose the hidden village. Ren clenched his fist and bided his time.
Then, suddenly, the scenery of the village caught his eye.
“…….”
While Ashu’s village had a static atmosphere, the village in front of him was bustling.
It was natural since the people living there were different.
As Ren surveyed the village absentmindedly, he unconsciously patted his side.
‘……Sha.’
Although Ren had been separated from Sharti before, it was the first time he had distanced himself from her like this.
As he realized this fact, Ren felt lonely.
Simultaneously, an unfamiliar unease welled up in his chest.
“Not even a stray.”
Ren looked up again at the villagers.
People with lively and friendly atmospheres, laughing together. And him, unable to enter their fences, wandering around.
It felt as if he had become an unwelcome and rejected presence.
…!
Instinctively repelled, Ren took a step back.
The discomfort that briefly came to mind and then disappeared made Ren click his tongue.
‘I should be in a quiet place.’
Fortunately, he felt relieved as he came out of the village entrance.
Leaning against a tree, Ren closed his eyes for a moment.
Quietness, solitude, stillness.
Instinctively, while feeling anxious about Sharti’s absence, Ren leaned on the familiarity of silence.
Even if he suffered from amnesia, could loneliness and solitude be unforgettable?
‘I wondered about that.’
Before losing his memory, he was truly a pathetic guy.
Ren sneered at the gaps in memory that no effort could fill.
“Don’t you want to go back badly?”
Whether the reason for not regaining his memory was self-inflicted or external, it no longer mattered.
The turquoise eyes glowed coldly.
“Even now, it’s not something I like, but it’s better than being a pathetic guy.”
Even though he chose to prioritize Sharti over his memories during their time together, Ren secretly hoped for his memories to return.
‘I want to repay Sharti’s kindness.’
He expected it. Even if he became a proper person with a clear status, wealth, and the ability to express sincere gratitude to her. And if Sharti allowed it, he wanted to create a sanctuary for her where she could feel secure.
However, he never intended to become a pathetic guy.
‘I’m not sure if a pathetic guy can properly repay a favor.’
Even after his memories came back, ‘Ren’ would not disappear, and his feelings towards Sharti would remain.
But Ren did not want to reclaim the life of a ‘pathetic guy.’
Even now, by his standards, he was already weak and useless. If finding his memories would only make him ‘less pathetic,’ he didn’t feel the need to recover them.
“It’s over.”
As the surveillance guard returned, Ren brushed off the deepening contempt and disdain with endless ridicule.
Ren shouldered the exchanged provisions all at once and nodded to the surveillance guard. It meant to head straight to the next village. The guard, gauging Ren’s speed, obediently followed the instructions without unnecessary disputes. In this way, Ren continued to procure provisions by shuttling between Ashu’s village and other villages. All exchanges didn’t conclude until late afternoon. The fatigued surveillance guard, mumbling, was left to come back on his own, and Ren’s way back led him to Ashu’s village first.
“Oh! Teacher Joso-nim!”
While walking, Ren unexpectedly encountered Ashu. With a delighted expression, Ashu ran towards Ren, waving her hands.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“…….,”
Ren nodded briefly.
“You seem really fast. I heard that while I made one round, Teacher Joso-nim came three times. I thought I was going too slow and tried to speed up, but there was no way. Haha, to be honest, I took short breaks because I was tired.”
Unlike Ren, who didn’t want to engage in conversation, Ashu chatted away, matching her pace to Ren’s speed.
“It’s almost the first time I’ve been out of the village for so long, and I couldn’t find my way. I was nervous about meeting outsiders other than people from our village, so exchanging was almost impossible.”
“…….,”
Ren didn’t react.
Ashu’s sudden friendliness felt oddly out of place.
‘Sharti isn’t here.’
Until now, Ashu had never spoken to Ren. So, it was strange that she suddenly started talking as if they were close.
Then, suddenly, Ren furrowed his brows.
‘When Sharti was here, I only talked to Sharti.’
Ren suppressed the emerging emotions with a wry smile.
He didn’t want to reveal his childish discomfort.
“That, Teacher Joso-nim.”
As Ashu cautiously opened her mouth, glancing at Ren’s expression, she awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“If it’s not intrusive, may I ask how long you’ve known and been close with our teacher?”
“……?”
With a gaze questioning why that would be of interest, Ren raised an eyebrow.
“That’s actually because I overheard Teacher Joso-nim talking to you. It seemed… like you were treating her without any hesitation.”
Ren remained silent.
The unintentional use of informal language couldn’t be denied when directed at Ashu.
However, Ashu’s intention in pointing out that fact sounded peculiar.
“My master has allowed it. Thanks to the many things we’ve shared.”
Although the words felt uncomfortable, Ren felt a strange sense of triumph.
It was a kind of very childish triumph.
“I see……!”
However, Ren felt a lingering sense of discomfort in Ashu’s sparkling eyes.
He felt like something was wrong. As Ren was about to say something belatedly, Ashu, touching her reddened cheek, mumbled.
“Then, can I also get permission?”
Ren stood still abruptly.
Ashu turned to Ren, her hopeful smile brimming with laughter.
“If I become closer with Teacher Joso-nim than now, could you treat me as comfortably as Teacher Joso-nim does?”
Ren’s face stiffened.
It wasn’t just an expression of reverence.
But it was not an expression of affection either.
“Would you help me so that Teacher Joso-nim can be like that too? I’m asking for a favor!”
After hearing the honest and pure confession of someone else, he could precisely become aware of his own state.
This was jealousy.
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.]
