Various desserts were neatly arranged on a tray, and an intricately crafted tea set adorned the table.
With a subtle floral fragrance, steeped black tea filled the teacups with a clear sound. Ophelia, after placing the teapot down, opened her mouth towards Idel, who sat across from her.
“Please have some. I didn’t prepare much, though.”
“Oh, not at all. It’s an excellent tea set.”
Despite saying there wasn’t much, it was an elaborately arranged afternoon tea set. Moreover, surprisingly, the tea food was prepared exclusively with desserts favored by Idel.
It was Idel’s first time having tea time alone with another woman of her age. It felt unfamiliar to her, who hadn’t had same-gender friends, but it was an exciting first experience.
“…!”
Idel, lifting the teacup and smelling the aroma, widened her eyes. It was tea brewed from the tea leaves she usually enjoyed. Idel, realizing that it was a seat carefully prepared, which looked seemingly fresh, let a soft smile play on her lips.
“Thank you for recommending tea time like this.”
“Well, you know… Guys talking among themselves is predictable, right?”
After finishing the greetings with members of the Lisandro Imperial family, Ophelia declared that she wanted to have some time with the Grand Duchess and the other women. She had brought Idel to the separate palace where she resided.
“Especially with the ugly ones, it’s uncomfortable to see Elyos Grand Duke…”
“Huh? I didn’t catch what you just said.”
As Ophelia murmured, recalling the awkward faces she had encountered, Idel, who didn’t understand, tilted her head with a smile.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Turning away from Idel, Ophelia brought up another topic.
“More importantly… I heard from Rainian. You’re very interested in women’s rights.”
“Yes. I heard that women’s rights are more advanced in Lisandro than in Ufiter. I wanted to meet experts in the field, get advice, and also attend a women’s rights conference. That’s why I joined the diplomatic mission.”
“Hmm… Why did you become interested in women’s rights?”
“Well…”
Idel recalled her experiences and spoke with eyes tinged with regret.
“It’s an embarrassing story, but women in Ufiter aren’t socially recognized with proper worth. Even though the role of women has expanded beyond childbirth, parenting, and household labor into the public sphere, women are not given fair rewards and rights proportional to their contributions.”
She then thought about Joy, who worked at the dye factory and received only half the salary of a boy of the same age, and Dylan, who participated in the kidnapping and was now serving a prison sentence.
“Human trafficking targeting women also exists covertly. Moreover, a harsh aspect is that women who have suffered as social outcasts become perpetrators to protect themselves. The societal structure that doesn’t adequately protect women must change.”
She wanted to change the societal structure where women suffered discrimination and pain. Watching Idel passionately appeal for such change, Ophelia’s face also became somewhat serious.
“I can understand why you became interested in women’s rights. However… are you planning to take the lead in such a change yourself?”
“…Yes. I want to work on proposals to improve the unguaranteed rights of women in Ufiter.”
“Could it be that you’ve forgotten who you are?”
Ophelia stared sharply at Idel and asked again.
“A conservative Grand Duchess, the highest-ranking noble, discussing women’s rights… Are you sure you can handle the social repercussions that might arise?”
“…I am aware of that part. I also anticipate there will be difficulties.”
“I don’t know how prepared you are, but establishing women’s rights is by no means a walk in the park. It’s different from academic studies you learn in university. This is not calm desk debate but a ruthless struggle.”
“…!”
In response to Ophelia’s harsh words delivered with intensity, Idel’s pupils momentarily widened.
“Nobility’s facade must be set aside because the rewards of the struggle are never nobly achieved. Are you prepared for such a challenging fight?”
Unable to answer easily, Idel tightly closed her mouth and lowered her eyes. In the face of her silence, disappointment briefly flickered across Ophelia’s face.
‘That’s how it is… Even though she has outstanding talent to be admitted to the university, and Rainian praises her for her righteous character…’
Despite being a woman with excellent abilities, Ophelia, considering the limits of nobility that even the Grand Duchess couldn’t let go of, shook her head slowly.
At that moment, after being lost in thought for a while, Idel looked at Ophelia again with a straight gaze, slowly parting her lips.
“To be honest, I haven’t experienced the struggle for women’s rights. So, it’s not entirely clear or understandable to me.”
“I suppose. There probably hasn’t been any struggle in your life.”
“No. That statement is incorrect.”
“Incorrect?”
“Yes. Although I haven’t experienced the struggle for women’s rights, my life has always been a series of struggles.”
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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