“‘I heard she was critically ill.’ That was the first thought that popped into Peter’s mind, amusingly, upon seeing Annette. As soon as he opened the door, he had to admit it: he had been played by Annette, just as she wished.
Sitting on the bed, she looked remarkably well. Her innocent smile as if waiting for him was infuriating. The maid who had come to him would not have dared to deceive him unless her life depended on it. Whatever trick Annette used, she had managed to fool everyone in the palace.
And she did it by exploiting Peter’s memories of Lowell.
Despite everything, Annette was damnably beautiful. The setting sun cast a glow on her black hair. Her black eyes shimmering blue in the light and her hair as dark as the new moon made her presence more vivid. If there’s anyone whose mere existence could take one’s breath away, it would surely be the current Annette.
The calm typical of those who always walk the fine line between life and death.
Peter knew someone like that very well.
“Any letters?”
Lowell.
This fact turned Peter’s insides upside down. A sneer escaped his distorted face.
“All this effort to summon me, and this is what you wanted?”
“This is no small matter, Peter. I almost died.”
“Annette Martinec, don’t test my patience.”
A warning tone slipped through his clenched teeth. However, Annette, as if oblivious to the emperor’s state, just kept talking and stood up.
“Really, look, I can hardly walk now. Just a little bath and this happens… Ah!”
In that moment, Annette’s legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed.
But she didn’t hit the ground. The emperor’s grasp prevented her fall.
Realizing a beat too late that he had caught her, Peter frowned upon seeing Annette’s face so close.
“…What are you trying to do now?”
“Why? Don’t like this?”
“If you don’t want to die, watch your damned tone…”
“You said I am your Lowell.”
Instantly, Annette switched from a childish tone back to her usual way of speaking. Just a moment ago, she seemed innocent, but now, there was no trace of that. Only a woman, sharp and serene as a reed or a broken blade, remained in Peter’s grasp.
Her inorganic black eyes fixed on Peter.
“I’ve done as you wished. If you don’t want that, I’ll remain Annette.”
Peter was dumbfounded. He chuckled in disbelief and let go of Annette, who staggered back to the bed. Just moments ago, she had been lively, but now she existed quietly in the silence. A woman confusing in every way, but one thing became clear.
“Annette Martinec.”
Peter’s hand reached for Annette’s shoulder. Instead of touching her round shoulder, he hooked his finger under the thin strap of her slip. The strap broke and fell like a dry leaf to the ground.
It was Peter’s magic. The reason he could kill his father, the fundamental cause of his infamy as a tyrant. His destructive magic was considered unique even among the destructive nature of the Von Deraien royal family.
“If you don’t want to die, tell me. Who told you about Lowell?”
“…You lack imagination.”
Annette glanced briefly at the part of her dress that could no longer cover her shoulders, then looked back up at Peter. It was her first time experiencing the emperor’s powerful magic firsthand.
‘This is… more dangerous than a knife to the throat.’
With her long experience, Annette managed to remain unshaken even in this moment. However, she couldn’t prevent a slight shiver running down her spine.
Had Peter’s touch been a bit closer, Annette’s life could not have been assured. The reason is simple: Peter’s power doesn’t just inherently destroy.
His magic erodes existence. The strap that had been perfectly fine on Annette’s shoulder vanished without a trace because of this reason. If that magic had targeted Annette’s neck, it wouldn’t have been the strap that disappeared, but her carotid artery.
Despite the obvious danger, Peter raised an eyebrow at Annette’s composed demeanor.
“You think my words are light? I know you know about Lowell. You couldn’t know about her unless someone directed you to do so. Speak. Your life will be spared.”
“Is your curiosity about finding Lowell Hessen?”
“Answer me.”
“Do you think she is still alive?”
“Don’t test my patience, I warned you.”
Peter’s low growl was a warning as he reached out and touched Annette’s bare shoulder. Where Peter’s fingertips touched, her skin started to redden as if burned. Despite the evident pain, Annette’s expression remained unchanged.
“Do you plan to kill me and hear the answer from my grave?”
Instead, it was her calmness that furrowed Peter’s brow.
“No one knows about Lowell Hessen other than me. I assure you, if you kill me, no one will be able to answer you about her.”
So, please answer. Annette whispered softly, taking Peter’s hand from her shoulder.
“Do you… want to find Lowell?”
In the end, Annette did not get her answer.
She just realized one thing.
‘Peter, you really want to kill me.’
It was more than just a threat with magic.
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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