At his urging question, Edan replied in an even lower voice.
“Is it insufficient to say it’s mine?”
“Are you merely speaking of possessiveness?”
Hillstain’s persistent gaze, refusing to believe such a thing, did not leave me.
The standoff continued amid tension that seemed endless.
“Lord Hillstain! What are you doing? Hurry and grab…!”
When Ivy’s voice shattered the silence once more, Edan moved nimbly and leapt toward the windowsill.
Turning back, I saw Hillstain watching us with a sinister smile.
“Just endure a little longer.”
Delivering a warning that was not quite a warning, Edan plunged straight downward.
I held my breath—and in that state, lost consciousness.
[This is the timeline separator]Chwa ra rak— I opened my eyes at the sound like film reels turning.
Everything around me was hazy, as if veiled in fog. Rubbing my eyes and lifting my head toward the source of the sound, I saw pages flipping midair.
‘What is this?’
Blinking in confusion for only a moment, several torn-looking pages floated upward from the book.
One by one, like a panorama, scenes flashed before my eyes.
This was the true story of Latieana and Ivy—unknown to me.
I saw Ivy, with dry, brittle hair.
Had it not been for her hair color, I would scarcely have recognized her—such a pitiful-looking girl.
She was so thin and small, hardly resembling a young lady approaching twenty.
Ivy, with her lean frame and sun-darkened skin from country exposure, looked utterly unlike the Ivy I knew.
Dressed in rustic, dusty clothes stained pitch-black with soot, Ivy was sweating nervously.
And standing before her was the real Latieana.
In the backyard of the dilapidated orphanage, the two stood facing each other, hands clasped together.
‘L, L, Latieana. F, forget what happened today. T, this is a secret between you and me.’
Though she stuttered, Ivy spoke while locking eyes firmly with Latieana, who nodded blankly, her gaze unfocused.
‘Mm. I will.’
‘Good. Well done.’
Ivy smiled contentedly.
The scene shifted. The Ivy now appearing on screen seemed somehow prettier—her freckles gone, her skin clearer.
Her once-dark skin had lightened slightly.
As time passed, Ivy gradually grew more beautiful, while Latieana slowly became more haggard.
It was as if, on the day they clasped hands in the orphanage yard, Latieana’s vitality had transferred to Ivy.
While I watched Ivy, satisfied with her increasingly lovely appearance, chwa ra rak—the sound of pages turning rushed the scene forward again.
The entire village buzzed with activity.
Rumors spread that the Temple had come to the village to search for Holy Maiden candidates.
‘L, L, Latieana! Over here.’
Ivy called Latieana to the backyard once more.
‘What is it, Ivy? Haven’t you heard Director’s announcement? We’re supposed to gather quickly.’
‘Ah, I know. That’s why I’m saying, L, Latieana. C, can you give me your hand?’
‘Why your hand?’
‘J, just for a moment.’
‘Goodness. We’re short on time.’
As soon as Ivy grasped Latieana’s hand, Latieana instantly lost focus.
From Ivy’s body, thick black tendrils spread out like veins, then stretched toward Latieana like tree roots.
As the mysterious black tendrils enveloped Latieana’s body, pink healing energy surged upward.
That energy gradually traveled along the tendrils, moving toward Ivy.
In no time, Ivy absorbed most of Latieana’s power.
It happened in an instant.
When silence returned, Latieana was again in a dazed state.
‘Latieana, open your eyes. This is a secret between you and me.’
‘Mm.’
Just like last time, Latieana nodded, seemingly remembering nothing of what had just occurred.
Exhausted, Latieana swayed and collapsed against the building’s rear wall, falling into sleep as if fainting.
When everything ended, Ivy had become so beautiful she might as well have been a different person.
Her anxious, stuttering speech was gone; her previously slumped, insecure shoulders now stood straight and confident.
‘This kind of power suits me far better than someone like you. It was meant to be mine. It simply went to you by mistake.’
Ivy stroked the hair of the fallen Latieana.
‘It’s okay, right? Latieana?’
Smiling brightly, Ivy suddenly yanked her hair.
The soft, shimmering pink strands, glowing under sunlight, instantly lost their luster.
‘Oh, what incredible power!’
Shortly afterward, Temple priests visiting the village exclaimed in awe at Ivy. Her artifact shone brilliantly, unmistakably brighter than anyone else’s. At Ivy’s urging, Latieana also placed her hand on the artifact.
Latieana’s faint glow was so dim it could be said weaker than even ordinary Holy Maiden candidates.
‘Not sure taking this one along will be useful.’
‘Perhaps she’ll fade soon…’
Overhearing the priests whispering quietly, Ivy urgently spoke up.
‘Please let my friend come with me. I’ll be too lonely all by myself!’
‘Well then…’
The priests placed both girls into the carriage.
As that scene concluded, chwa ru ru ru—multiple pages flipped simultaneously, and only after a long while did the screen appear again.
It was midnight at the Temple.
Ivy looked down at Latieana.
‘Today is the last day, Latieana.’
Ivy reached toward Latieana, now gaunt and pale. Tears streamed from Latieana’s eyes as she lay sprawled on the floor.
‘Ivy, how could you do this to me… Why…?’
Latieana’s parched lips barely moved as Ivy wrapped her fingers around her throat.
‘You were foolish enough to be deceived. From today, the real one is me. Farewell.’
Smiling gently, Ivy stole all of Latieana’s remaining power.
All the beauty and radiant glow Latieana once held now belonged to Ivy.
When the black tendrils swiftly covered Latieana and receded, Latieana had turned into a mummy. Her cherry-blossom hair, still beautiful even in lifelessness, had become dry and brittle like dust.
Just like Ivy’s hair back at the orphanage.
Staring at the parched, crumbling strands, Ivy rose from her seat with satisfaction.
‘Help! My friend has died!’
As Ivy cried out, her face bore an utterly blissful smile.
[This is the timeline separator]Rumble— Boom boom!
“Hah!”
Startled by the thunder crashing down as if the world were collapsing, I bolted upright.
Lightning flashed fiercely outside the large window. Squinting and reopening my eyes, I found myself in a brightly lit room illuminated by a chandelier.
The moment I regained awareness, I frantically examined my hands.
“Thank goodness…”
My right hand, which had shriveled into a mummy, was perfectly restored.
“The Princess has awakened!”
Huh? Princess? Who? Me?
I hastily scanned my surroundings—this was an unfamiliar room I’d never seen before.
A fireplace crackling with flames, dark yet luxurious furniture, and a thick, comfortably weighted blanket wrapped around me.
Surrounding the bed, three or four maids in uniform gazed at me.
“Are you well, Princess?”
What is this pattern? Strange ceiling, strange title…
“Wait, just a moment. My head…”
As reality overwhelmed me, I pressed my forehead—just then, as if waiting for me to awaken, someone entered the room.
Promptly, the maids simultaneously withdrew.
“You’re awake, Princess?”
Lifting my head, I saw Edan smiling warmly with crinkled eyes.
Are you serious? The culprit who made me a princess has appeared.
“Leave us for now.”
With a casual wave from Edan, the maids vanished instantly.
“Why that expression? Don’t you like it?”
Edan clicked the door shut.
“What do you mean?”
“What what.”
Edan strode toward me with wide, confident steps, then lightly placed the back of his hand against my forehead.
Apparently, I’d developed a fever while unconscious—a small ice pack sat on the bedside console.
“What happened? Lord Hillstain? Ivy? How did we escape the Temple…?”
“Ask slowly, one at a time.”
Edan met my gaze, then gently brushed my cheek.
I froze, mouth slightly agape.
Ah, right. One at a time. Calming my racing heart, I asked,
“How did we escape?”
At my composed tone, Edan approvingly tapped my head, then walked toward the console beneath the window.
As he picked up a water glass, outside the window, pitter-patter—the rain began pouring violently. Pausing briefly to glance outside, Edan resumed his movement.
“We jumped from the windowsill and escaped using the portal Maxium uses.”
“Did Lord Hillstain not pursue us?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Unfortunately? That’s fortunate!
“Had he chased us, I would’ve seized the moment and killed him.”
Edan looked genuinely regretful, as if he’d lost a toy he’d been playing with.
He’s insane. Even for Edan, escaping so easily shouldn’t have been possible.
Whatever Hillstain was thinking, it was fortunate he let us go.
‘But that final gaze of his—truly, I never want to see it again.’
Remembering his sticky, piercing stare, goosebumps rose again.
Edan clinked as he picked up the teapot.
“The physician insisted you drink something warm—are you alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Edan’s movements—unconstrained by rules yet elegant. Whenever he moved with such poised grace, I was reminded he was of noble birth.
Mesmerized, watching Edan’s motions, I suddenly glanced again at my own hand.
I opened and closed my fingers, inspecting them thoroughly. Contrary to my fears, my hand had fully returned to normal.
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.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
