Celia Brillion blinked several times before bursting into a clear, bright smile. Celia’s laughter rang through the room.
Dietrich, on the other hand, looked deeply displeased.
“What are you laughing at like that?”
“You’re just so amusing.”
Celia narrowed her eyes as she smiled, stepping closer to Dietrich.
Dietrich looked down at Celia, who barely reached his shoulder, his eyes narrowed.
“There’s a bread crumb on the corner of your mouth. I’d appreciate it if you’d wipe it off.”
Dietrich frowned in disbelief at Celia’s words.
“Don’t pull any foolish tricks.”
Celia stared at Dietrich with curious fascination. Had he been an ordinary man, his emotions would have been easily read, and he would have spilled even things she had no interest in knowing.
Still, the fact that he now showed emotions more openly than before was a good sign for Celia.
Though Celia was tossing off meaningless jokes at Dietrich, she wasn’t doing so thoughtlessly.
Celia well knew that Dietrich was unlike any ordinary man.
When the knight had broken into the prison with intent to harm her, had she simply left him behind and escaped, she would have been caught again in no time.
Since Dietrich had claimed her life as his, he would also be the one to decide when to take it.
Thus, she had used her ability while waiting for Dietrich’s uncertain return, slowly eroding her own lifespan—all to lower his guard.
The moment Dietrich fully trusted her might never come. And naturally, the reverse was also true—Celia did not trust Dietrich either.
Even as she met his gaze and spoke idle words, Celia was always calculating Dietrich in her mind.
When would he answer her questions about the ability? How did he know of its existence?
‘And what, exactly, is your true identity hidden beneath the title of Imperial Knight Captain?’
Dietrich would not answer these now. Celia concealed her inner thoughts and instead tossed out a mocking remark.
“Why would wiping a crumb be considered a trick? Did you have some strange thought about me?”
“……”
At Celia’s wide-eyed expression, Dietrich’s eyes darkened. His gaze, deep as an endless abyss, quietly fixed upon her.
Instead of responding to her foolish words, he moved straight to the real matter.
“…Soon, you will accompany me to an audience with the Empress.”
“The Empress?”
Celia blinked, puzzled by the sudden statement. Dietrich pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and roughly wiped the bread crumb from the corner of Celia’s mouth.
“To vent your frustration like this… couldn’t you be a little gentler?”
Dietrich made a face of utter disgust. He practically shoved the handkerchief into Celia’s hand and continued.
“I managed to get you out of prison, but make no mistake—you’re still the one who attempted to assassinate the Emperor. Do you at least realize that?”
“Oh, I’m well aware.”
Dietrich was dissatisfied with Celia’s response. Normally, someone whose life he had spared would naturally show gratitude, yet she remained just as insolent now as she had in prison.
She used no honorifics, and worse—she was mocking him.
Dietrich knew the Celia who had writhed in pain and the Celia standing before him now were one and the same. Yet he found it hard to believe.
How could the same person act as if she had countless lives to spare before him, while earlier she had been weakly pleading for mercy?
Was this bold, almost brazen demeanor the real her? Or had the frail, broken figure from before been the truth?
Dietrich’s gaze lingered on Celia’s red lips—lips that had bitten and sucked her own, now looking much healthier than before. Only now did anger surge within him.
Even though it had been him who had transferred saliva to ease her suffering.
Celia looked at Dietrich strangely. His expression was the same as when he first saw her—the woman who had attempted to assassinate the Emperor.
“Why are you staring at me like that all of a sudden?”
“……”
“What’s bothering you? If you have a complaint, say it. Don’t keep piling things up only to explode later. You’ll get sick.”
Look at that innocent expression, as if she knew nothing. It was no longer just audacity—it had become irritating.
But Celia could no longer laugh as freely as before. Because leaving prison was far from a good thing for her.
It meant she was now easier to target and more exposed to others’ attacks.
The men outside the palace were not taking responsibility for her crime.
Those men, born into comfort with no lack in life, had actually gained nothing by spreading rumors that she had been framed.
The ones who truly lost were those incited by them—poor men who had never even seen Celia’s face.
Though rumors claimed she was so beautiful, these impoverished men, unable to afford paying the Viscount’s family, couldn’t even catch a distant glimpse of her.
Whether Celia had assassinated the Emperor or not meant nothing to them.
If they could just see the beautiful Celia once, and if because of this incident she were released from prison and expressed gratitude to them… perhaps things could even turn out well between them.
Each clung to these futile, impossible hopes, sparking riots across the land.
Even when branded as rioters and imprisoned, they believed that when Celia learned of their actions, she would be deeply moved and accept them.
They had heard she was exquisitely beautiful, with a heart as gentle as an angel’s.
The Angel of Brillion would surely come to save them.
They truly believed this until the moment they died in prison.
Meanwhile, Celia had neither known of the outside situation nor even been aware of their existence.
Dietrich had not told her about this. He judged that revealing the situation would serve no good purpose.
Besides, to him, Celia was merely a tool to achieve his goal—just as the late Emperor had been to him.
Using her as a tool, despite her having ruined another, seemed like a reasonable decision. Of course, only if this new tool proved useful to Dietrich.
There might have been ways to avoid the Empress’s order, but Dietrich chose not to pursue them.
He needed a tool, not a helpless burden dependent on him.
This was also a test set in the Empress’s name.
“The Empress ordered that I bring you to her chambers at noon today.”
Celia tilted her head in confusion at Dietrich’s words.
“Why would the Empress want to see me?”
“She likely finds it strange that the one who attempted to assassinate the Emperor is still alive.”
“You said you’d handle the consequences.”
At Celia’s brazen remark, Dietrich gave a faint, dry laugh.
“You asked how I knew about your ability. If you want answers, prove your worth within this palace.”
“……”
“This palace isn’t as easy to navigate as you might think. The Empress you’ll meet today isn’t as lenient as I am—be careful.”
Had anyone else heard Dietrich say this, they would have been shocked.
Anyone who had seen the fates of those who disobeyed or tried to harm Dietrich would never believe such words.
Yet, while Dietrich might have been merciless to others, it was true that he had treated Celia with a certain degree of leniency.
Celia seemed to understand the ability well, and Dietrich judged that her power could be of use to him.
“What exactly do I need to do?”
“Use proper honorifics. When the Empress asks you anything, answer obediently and politely. Under no circumstances mention the ability. Speaking of it will bring you nothing but harm.”
“……”
Celia had no intention of revealing her ability to the Empress anyway. From Dietrich’s words, she realized he wanted to keep the matter of abilities hidden from others.
It was understandable. If others learned of her ability, they might try to exploit her.
Wasn’t that why she had hidden it so carefully while living in the Viscount’s household?
She had often been distressed by the male members of the Brillion family who would knock on her door and enter at night.
Each time, she used her ability to paralyze their senses, check whether anyone was in the hallway, return them to their beds, and lock the door securely behind them.
Watching Celia lost in thought, Dietrich added a final warning.
“If you disobey me and reveal your ability, you’ll be used until there’s nothing left, then branded a witch and burned at the stake. As an assassin of the Emperor, that would be a fitting end.”
Celia found it somewhat amusing that Dietrich, who clearly intended to use her, pretended to be concerned for her.
Of course, she did not show this thought on her face.
“I won’t mention the ability, so no need to worry. After all, we’re in the same boat, aren’t we?”
“……”
Dietrich stared at Celia, who emphasized the word “same boat,” with an indescribable expression.
“Are there any other things I should keep in mind?”
“The Empress will ask you about your reasons for attempting to assassinate the Emperor and many other things. She will certainly probe into your relationship with me. Answer the reasons as you see fit, but when she asks about our relationship, say we are not related at all.”
“We’re not exactly unrelated, yet you want me to say we’re not related?”
At Celia’s naive question, Dietrich opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. He turned his gaze toward the window.
“The moment you enter the palace with me, the Empress will try to separate us.”
“……”
“If you fail to prove your worth, I can no longer protect your life.”
Dietrich’s gaze had already settled back on Celia.
“It’s time.”
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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