Just as Ariana’s frail body was about to hit the ground, Cyrus caught her around the waist. Swiftly, before anyone could see, he lifted her into the carriage.
Carradin, the former Eastern Emperor, stood frozen, eyes widened at the sudden appearance.
“What has happened? Is something wrong with the princess?”
The herald’s voice rang out.
Russell, a man with a bear-like physique, still blocked his view; neither he nor former Eastern Emperor Theodore, who also had his back turned, had seen Ariana fall or Cyrus catch her.
At a subtle signal from Cyrus, Carradin snapped out of his stupor and climbed into the carriage. Cyrus was already examining Ariana, who lay on the sofa.
“Your Majesty, we must leave at once.”
“Ariana is…”
“She is severely injured. It would be best for you to return to the mansion; she clearly did not want anyone to see this.”
Carradin nodded and ordered the coachman to hurry back to the mansion. Russell and Theodore, who had been outside dealing with the third prince, were bewildered as the carriage left without them; but that hardly mattered now.
“Ariana is injured?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Look.”
Cyrus’s hand moved toward Ariana’s abdomen. A glint of silver shone atop her wine-colored dress. A bloody knife.
Carradin didn’t understand at first. Such a thing seemed wholly unfit to be embedded in his young granddaughter’s stomach.
His head buzzed, unable to fully process the situation.
He didn’t have the mental capacity to find it strange that the Northern Emperor suddenly appeared and seemed quite familiar in tending to Ariana.
An acrid and ominous smell filled the enclosed space. Realizing it was the smell of blood, Carradin’s expression changed.
His once-shaking eyes now gleamed coldly and calmly, like a warrior facing his enemy.
“A bread knife.”
“Yes.”
“Why is this stuck in her? Since when…?”
Cyrus took a deep breath.
“The smell of blood is strong. It must have been there for some time.”
“And nobody knew?”
“Ariana hid it herself, likely afraid that if it was discovered, the trial would be delayed.”
Cyrus seemed almost angry as he spoke.
But Carradin couldn’t afford to concern himself with Cyrus’s mood.
“Will she survive?”
“Ordinarily, yes. But Ariana…”
Cyrus left the sentence unfinished, looking down at Ariana.
She looked so pale and small that it seemed she might vanish like a dream, like butterflies landing, like sand slipping through fingers.
Anger surged.
Mostly at himself.
Though he suspected Ariana had done this to herself, he couldn’t understand why he was angry. Without knowing why, he simply resented himself.
If only the trial had started sooner, if only he hadn’t sought a dramatic scene and had gone straight to the emperor, none of this would have happened.
Observing Ariana from the imperial palace, Cyrus had come to know her ways better than anyone. She was unafraid to harm herself to achieve her goals; she had no hesitation in suffering.
He should have thought about how desperate Ariana would be after losing the trial and falling into the hands of Seo Jihu and Rachel. He should have predicted what a desperate Ariana might do.
“Isaac is with me.”
“Isaac from the Perron family?”
“Yes. I will take you to him when you get to the mansion.”
“Please do, Northern Emperor.”
Russel and Theodore returned to the mansion just as Isaac was tending to Ariana’s wound. Both men were horrified to hear of Ariana’s late injury.
“Did Ariana hide this injury throughout the trial, Mother?”
“It seems so.”
“She did look unwell, but I thought it was because she was with Seojeheo.”
Russel looked down at Ariana with a face ready to crumble at any moment. Theodore mumbled,
“How could the young one endure such pain. Why on Earth was this embedded in Ariana’s abdomen? Was this Seojeheo’s doing?”
“It’s unlikely.”
Only then did Russel and Theodore realize they were not alone in the room. Both were surprised to see Cyrus standing quietly in the corner.
Upon Cyrus’ slight nod, Russel mumbled,
“Cyrus…”
“It’s been a while, East Emperor.”
“Ah, yes… North Emperor, you’ve really done a great deal in this trial…”
“East Emperor, there’s no need for thanks. I only did what had to be done.”
Russel couldn’t understand why Cyrus should be the one aiding Ariana, but he knew now wasn’t the time for such questions.
“It seems Ariana stabbed herself with that knife.”
Russel still wondered why Cyrus was calling his daughter by her name so familiarly, but held his tongue and asked another question.
“Does Ariana have a reason to do this to herself?”
“That’s something you should ask her directly.”
“How is she? Will she wake up soon? She’s only been stabbed, so she’ll get up soon, right?”
It would be possible for Russel, who had survived multiple knife wounds on the battlefield, but Ariana was different.
Isaac, who had been treating the wound, spoke up.
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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