The knocking sound that rang out from the morning made me open the door, only to see the child looking up at me with sparkling eyes.
As I let the child in, they wandered around the room, sucking on their thumb.
Aeli blankly stared at the child who looked around with interest at the room that was different from hers.
Perhaps because of that, her reaction was a bit delayed.
“Momma.”
“……”
“Momma?”
“……”
“……”
“……Ah, yes. Did you call for me, Adi?”
The child had already walked up to her and tilted their head, and Aeli belatedly shook off her blank state of mind and answered.
Since the answer was late, she wondered if the child would be upset that she hadn’t properly listened to what they said.
That had been the child’s reaction every time this happened, so Aeli hurriedly met the child’s eye level and opened her mouth. She felt like cold sweat was running down her back.
“Why did you call?”
“Are you sick somewhere?”
“……Huh?”
But what kind of question was that?
Aeli blinked rapidly at the sudden words.
Rather than being upset or angry, the child’s face was full of worry except for a slight pout.
As she opened her mouth slightly in surprise, the child continued.
“There are dark circles under your eyes.”
“……Ah.”
Well, that’s inevitable since she couldn’t sleep.
Aeli sighed softly and wiped under her eyes with her hand. Although doing this wouldn’t improve the dark circles that had darkened, it was a reflexive action.
The texture of the skin felt by her fingertips was a little rough, unlike usual.
Even if she returned to her room through the secret passage after hearing such a story, how could she possibly fall asleep?
In the end, she had lain in bed tossing and turning until nearly noon, unable to sleep a wink.
But since she couldn’t show that to the child, Aeli shook her head with a faint smile.
“No. Mommy’s not sick.”
“But,”
“Even if I was sick, it seems like I’m all better now because Adi was worried about me? By the way, have you had breakfast? Shall we go eat with Grandma and Grandpa?”
“……”
Perhaps it was obvious that she was awkwardly changing the subject, as the child’s eyes narrowed.
Aeli clicked her tongue and scratched her cheek. It seemed like it wouldn’t work after all.
Knock knock.
As she was thinking that, she heard a knocking sound at the door.
Thinking that perhaps the previous Count and Countess had come to call the child, Aeli hurriedly called out.
“Just a moment!”
As she felt someone stop outside the door at the same time as her shout, Aeli quickly put on the bracelet Noel had given her on her wrist and draped a shawl over her shoulders.
In principle, it would have been right to change clothes, but she couldn’t leave the person waiting outside the door for long, so there was no other choice.
‘I must have already looked quite unpleasant, this is really driving me crazy!’
Could there really be any more points left to be deducted here? That’s what she wondered.
It wouldn’t be a problem at all to be in pajamas in front of her parents.
Likewise, she would only receive a little scolding for sleeping in late.
But right now, Aeli’s identity was, in the end, an outsider that Noel had vouched for.
She hadn’t even properly introduced herself yet, so it was absolutely impossible to look at her in a good light even if she tried.
‘Just because you don’t show it on the outside doesn’t mean it’s really okay……!’
It was basically a given in noble society to smile in front while stabbing you in the back.
If you asked if her parents were the type to do that, they weren’t, but in any case, it was better not to do things that would make her look bad.
Although it was already too late.
Slam!
“Oh.”
She had quickly opened the door, thinking to at least avoid her favorability going into the negatives.
But unexpectedly, the person standing in front of the door was Lutis.
As Aeli widened her eyes and looked up at Lutis, he opened his mouth with an expressionless face.
“I was told the child was here.”
“……?”
Why was his reaction like this? Aeli stared at Lutis’s face for a moment before belatedly realizing.
There was a knight standing guard at the end of the hallway.
‘So that’s why he acted that way.’
There was no way the trained knight’s ears couldn’t hear the conversation taking place in the quiet hallway, especially at this distance.
He seemed to be careful, perhaps worried that if he casually interacted with her as usual, it might reach the ears of the previous Count and Countess.
Yes, she also thought that would be bad.
‘If this were Ratcliffe, I don’t think Lutis would have particularly minded, but, hmm.’
It was because this was the Mason territory.
If the rumors about her being a concubine that Noel had warned about before coming to the Mason territory came up, that would be the day their hair was plucked out by the roots.
‘Father and Mother would collapse clutching the backs of their necks, and Noel would angrily ask if they heard his words with the soles of their feet, threatening to kill them.’
In the end, he would probably try to take Adi away, saying he couldn’t bear to see the child growing up in their hands.
By then, the trial or whatever wouldn’t be important.
There were quite a few issues to get caught up on now that Lutis had returned, unlike when he was away at war.
It was certain that Mari knew exactly how the child had been living in the annex.
Given Noel’s personality, there was no way he wouldn’t have left those things as evidence. He had applied for a trial several times, so how could there be no evidence?
‘Someone’ who had tried to drive a wedge between Mason and Ratcliffe probably wouldn’t move so openly anymore, so the outcome was obvious if the two families clashed.
‘Wow, the family is in good shape.’
A complete mess that she couldn’t bear to open her eyes and see would unfold.
Having imagined for a while what would happen if she smiled and invited Lutis inside as usual, Aeli quickly hardened her face.
She couldn’t lose her child with her eyes wide open.
Even though it hadn’t happened yet, Aeli, who had nodded slightly, opened her mouth.
“It seems Young Master was curious about the room I’m staying in. I’ll tell you right away, so could you wait a moment?”
“Alright.”
At Lutis’s answer, Aeli immediately turned her back.
It wasn’t something to say in this situation, but doing this felt like acting in a skit, which felt unique and interesting.
Aeli, who had somehow sprawled on the bed kicking her feet, called the child.
“Young Master, the Duke is calling for you, so shall we go now?”
“……Huh?”
“I think you should go eat.”
“……?”
“……”
“……Huh?”
The child, startled by Aeli calling them Young Master, jumped up from where they were.
Although she had hinted at them in the carriage on the way to the estate to not be surprised if she suddenly called them strange titles just in case, it seemed impossible to adapt right away.
As the child got off the bed with a bounce and blinked up at her, Aeli bent down.
Aeli put her mouth to the child’s ear and murmured softly.
“There’s someone else besides Mommy, Daddy, and Adi outside, that’s why. Remember Mommy said let’s do this when there are other people around last time?”
“Y-Yes, but…….”
You didn’t say you’d call me Young Master. The child stared at her with that exact expression, and Aeli smiled awkwardly.
……That’s how it turned out.
[This is the timeline separator]It was after safely handing the child over to Lutis’s arms.
When the child in Lutis’s arms asked if she wasn’t going to eat with them, Aeli rolled her eyes.
Seeing as Lutis didn’t stop them, he seemed to have the same question.
[I don’t usually eat much for breakfast. Young Master, please eat my portion for me and come back.]She evaded with a cowardly excuse.
The time was closer to lunch than breakfast, she usually didn’t skip meals, and she tended to give in when the child and Lutis stared blankly at her.
“……No, how can I swallow food when I’m so distraught I couldn’t even sleep?”
She had absolutely no confidence to face her parents and eat like yesterday.
Did Father know that he was suffering from such sleepwalking?
Whether he did or not, had he tried to get treatment?
There were mountains of things she wanted to ask, but they were all questions she couldn’t rashly bring up.
In the end, Aeli, who had secretly brought a few books from the study through the secret passage again, sighed as she hid the books under the bed.
“Stress, fever, insomnia− and what else was it…… Ah, alcohol.”
If you were to say the causes, it would largely be these.
Since he originally didn’t enjoy alcohol much, if he hadn’t suffered greatly, there was a high possibility it was due to insomnia or stress.
She felt like she knew all too well whose fault that would be, but Aeli pretended not to know and washed her face.
No matter how much she looked into it, it didn’t seem like there would be any other results.
The books in the mansion, Noel would have already checked them− and if it couldn’t be resolved in his hands, it meant it couldn’t be easily cured.
“If he asked the physician, the rumors…… No. Rumors of the previous Count being unsound would be of no benefit to the estate.”
It didn’t seem like Mother or Noel were the type to not care about such things at all, but if it was about Father, it was unlikely they would have hidden it from the physician.
‘Rather, if he kept quiet, the physician would have been careful with his words.’
Then, even if he received treatment, the chances of rumors spreading were low.
The problem was that she had no way of knowing whether he had received treatment or not because there were no rumors.
By the same token, she had no idea if Father knew about this fact.
“……Actually, if it’s been over 4 years, it’s not easy for the person themselves to not know even if others hid it.”
If he knew, the question was whether he had the will to receive treatment.
If he had tried this and that, even if he moved quietly, some rumors were bound to spread.
But the existence of those rumors was something she, who had been lying in a coffin for 4 years, had no way of knowing.
She would have to either directly ask Noel when she had the chance or find out herself by going around the estate.
And to Lutis……
“……”
Should she tell him?
Aeli was sitting on the floor with her face buried in the bed when,
Knock knock.
“……Yes.”
As she answered softly in a very tired voice, the door opened after a while.
“……Noel?”
“Go to the drawing room.”
“……Huh?”
“I decided to take the child out for a bit to show them around the estate, so go and see.”
“……”
There were things they needed to talk about.
That’s what he meant.
Aeli’s eyes trembled wildly as she understood.
……She wasn’t ready yet.
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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