All the men were wearing only pants, and their upper bodies were stripped. However, the men’s skin was spotted with wounds, as if they had been tortured.
Thinking that I should take the magic water now, I glanced at Sicar, but he shook his head as if it wasn’t time yet. Then he whispered in my ear.
“There’s a lot of narration in front, so wait until the match starts.”
As Sicar said, like introducing players in boxing, the referee came out and introduced them in detail.
“Early this morning! The brave warriors of His Majesty, fearless in their valor! They have captured the groups aiding the heinous assassins attempting to assassinate His Majesty! However, His Majesty, our merciful king, declared that those who seek to save their own lives by aiding these heinous rebels shall be spared, and we shall together confirm who will receive the grace of His Majesty’s stern and lofty benevolence!”
They packaged the idea of playing with them because it would be a shame to just kill them.
As soon as the judge’s words ended, the hoods that had been covering the heads of the men were removed.
At that moment, Sicar and I looked at each other simultaneously. Gillian also looked at Sicar and me, wearing a chilly smile.
Among the men whose hoods were removed, one was Tucker, the young merchant who had been with us early in the morning.
Tucker looked around, trembling as if he didn’t know why he was here, and with watery eyes, he looked at his surroundings.
Then, when our eyes met, he made a shocking expression. However, he looked at me, pretended not to know me, closed his eyes tightly, and turned his head.
I couldn’t tell who the person in front of me was, but judging by the many scars on his face, he seemed to be an excellent mercenary or a gladiator.
Tucker seemed like a lifeless soul by now.
Sicar gestured to me as if to say, “Hurry up and take the magic water.”
Even though the match had already started, I couldn’t bring myself to consume it.
I clenched the magic water tightly with trembling hands.
Seeing me like that, Sicar made a wry smile and looked at Gillian.
“Your Majesty, there seems to be a mistake, isn’t there? I understand that this person is a merchant.”
“There are still those who try to assassinate me. It seems that it’s not just remnants of the fallen king. So I investigated, and it turns out that the merchants are selling the head potion to the assassins who are trying to harm me. So, these assassins, without fear, would look at the king and run at him with bombs. They take the potion and see illusions. There, that merchant also sold the head potion to the assassins.”
“No, that’s not true. I guarantee that the merchant is not someone who sells potions to assassins.”
“Really? Then the Duchess must be deceived by that guy. He went to the merchant guild to buy the head potion yesterday, but he didn’t even take it. But now he’s driving a carriage. Isn’t it obvious that he didn’t sell it to the assassins? So even if you torture him, you won’t find out who went and bought it.”
One side of Gillian’s mouth twisted. He looked at us with a stern gaze and smiled.
“If someone clearly helped someone, why not say why you helped, and just keep silent? It means you have to kill, doesn’t it?”
From the front, the young merchant Tucker made a muffled sound, “Puk-puk,” and was heard.
Gillian, whether he brought Tucker to catch the assassins or did something like this to test us, didn’t matter.
That guy Gillian was just as merciless, cruel, and heinous as the fallen king, almost like a demon.
The fact that such a guy occupied the throne was unacceptable.
Playing with his own people so ruthlessly and toying with them to this extent just to get what he wanted, that guy had no right to occupy the throne.
It was clear that someone like him should not be on the throne.
I couldn’t take the head potion, but I couldn’t reveal it either. Since Gillian had already stated that this was the potion sought by the assassins, the moment I disclosed this potion, people could start suspecting me.
Sicar also knew this, so he was tightly holding my trembling hand. It would be difficult for them to understand that I obtained the potion just to watch today’s match, and even if they did understand, they might still link it to the assassins.
If we revealed the potion, it would provide a legitimate reason to search the Duke’s residence immediately. If the Duke’s residence was searched, Parsium, who had been inaccessible near Kian, could now initiate a search for Kian with a seemingly insignificant reason.
If they uncovered the magic, even if it was just a sentence, everything would be over. Veronia, taken hostage, would die immediately.
Whether Gillian had discovered something or not, he had clearly harbored suspicions and initiated an attack on us.
Leidox observed us with a serious expression, sensing our darkened mood.
Gillian, as if finding it amusing, chuckled and said, “Look at that tough guy. Even though he looks like he’s about to die, he won’t tell anyone to whom he handed over the head potion. So, he’s going to die without saying, right? So, he’s also one of them.”
“Give him to me.”
Gillian’s chuckle stopped abruptly.
“Why are you going to use a guy like that, Your Grace?”
“I will investigate. I will find out to whom he sold it. I will definitely find out.”
“And what if you can’t find out?”
“That won’t happen.”
Gillian twisted his head and, with a sarcastic glance at me, looked at Sicar.
“Can the Duchess vouch for this guy’s life?”
Although I couldn’t see it from my side, Sicar’s gaze seemed quite stern, causing Gillian’s eye corners to twitch.
He laughed, raising one hand.
“Haha. Just kidding.”
Then he raised his head again, looked at Sicar with a cold gaze, and said, “Can the Duchess bet her life on it?”
Even though it wasn’t visible from my side, Sicar’s gaze seemed quite severe, and Gillian’s eye corners twitched.
He laughed, raising one hand.
“Haha. Just kidding.”
Then he raised his head again, looked at Sicar with a cold gaze, and said, “Can the Duchess bet her life on it?”
As it turned out, even though I couldn’t see it, Sicar’s gaze must have been quite stern, as Gillian’s eye corners twitched.
He laughed, raising one hand.
“Haha. Just kidding.”
Then he raised his head again, looked at Sicar with a cold gaze, and said, “Can the Duchess bet her life on it?”
“As Your Majesty knows, I also do not like jokes.”
It was a warning, as if to say, don’t make such jokes.
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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