“Today was really amazing.”
With Hersis’s repeated praise, Liz felt like jumping out of the window.
“Don’t keep teasing me.”
“I’m not teasing you, though? You heard the applause, didn’t you? It echoed as if the chairman was leaving.”
“That…,” Liz sighed deeply.
“You followed along because Her Majesty clapped.”
“Do you really think so?”
Hersis grabbed Liz’s shoulders with both hands and said, “You really underestimate yourself too much.”
“…”
“I guarantee that people sensed something in your words. Your simple and clear speech had that kind of appeal.”
“…Me?”
Liz still couldn’t believe it.
What she blurted out without thinking seemed so impressive.
Honestly, she couldn’t remember what she said. It was something about duties, lineage, and territory, but that’s all she could recall.
“Her Majesty isn’t very objective.”
Liz came to that conclusion.
But it didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate the praise.
“Thank you for making the words sound that way.”
Liz said, burying her face in Hersis’s broad chest.
Hersis wanted to praise her more intensely, but she refrained, thinking Liz might not believe it. Instead, she embraced Liz’s small body tightly and said,
“I heard your promise well. The words that you would walk ahead of me for my sake.”
“Oh, that.”
That was the one thing she remembered vividly. Since discovering that this novel would end tragically, it became a saying engraved in her heart.
Liz intended to clear the path and remove obstacles for him. She planned to do it secretly so that he wouldn’t notice.
“But, don’t do that.”
“…?”
“Don’t walk in front of me, don’t walk beside me. Just follow from behind. Just make sure not to let go of my hand.”
Hersis pulled Liz’s head even closer into her embrace. So Liz couldn’t raise her head to ask questions.
“I really enjoyed having you by my side today.”
Hersis quickly changed the subject.
“Being with you made my heart naturally more generous. Even the hateful humans looked different.”
“…”
“It made me wonder if everyone gets married for that taste.”
Liz thought while listening to Hersis’s voice echoing in her ears and chest.
‘I performed well in the given role. It would have been perfect if not for the ridiculous speech.’
The more she thought about it, the more she regretted the speech.
She was fortunate to have salvaged it somehow; otherwise, it would have been a humiliating failure.
‘All because of that lemon tea.’
Suddenly, Liz became curious.
‘Why did he give lemon tea to the Grand Duke all of a sudden?’
“Hers.”
Liz separated herself from him and asked cautiously, “Did you really treat the Grand Duke with lemon tea because you were worried about his asthma?”
“As if.”
Hersis burst into laughter.
“I just wanted to see how well he would accept what I gave him.”
‘Just as I thought.’
Liz sighed and asked, “So, what were the results?”
“He drank it all.”
“…”
“While everyone’s attention was on you, I poured it under the table. I don’t think anyone saw.”
“Ah… I see.”
Liz recalled the teacup that had been placed in front of him, now cleanly empty. She suddenly wondered how Duke Montaner would have avoided the taste test if she hadn’t given the speech. But now, she had something more curious on her mind.
“Do you have any lessons learned from this attempt?”
“I do.”
Hersis said with a satisfied smile.
“The lesson is that if I want to poison my uncle, I must definitely drink with him.”
“…”
“That way, I’ve learned that I can’t deceive him without doing so.”
“No, you can’t!”
Liz exclaimed without realizing. It was a natural reaction as someone who knew the original work.
“Poisoning won’t work. It will never succeed.”
At Liz’s words, Hersis widened her eyes. Her desperate tone, filled with conviction, sounded strangely desperate.
“That… I mean…”
As Liz hesitated about how to salvage her words, Hersis burst into a wry smile.
“Okay, I got it. I’ll look for another method instead of poisoning.”
“…”
“After all, to become a good ruler, you have to listen to your wife’s words.”
It wasn’t a very serious response. Perhaps Hersis said it to reassure Liz, who seemed to be worrying unnecessarily. However…
“You promised for sure. You must keep the promise.”
Whatever the reason, Liz thought that as long as she kept the promise, everything would be fine. After all, he was a man who kept his promises well.
“Sure thing.”
With Hersis’s commitment, Liz finally felt relieved. Just when she was enjoying a moment of relief…
“Liz.”
He called her with a subtle voice.
Somehow, Liz’s shoulders shivered at the strange tone.
“This should have left a strong impression in people’s minds. So, can’t we start producing the heir now?”
Liz saw Hersis’s pupils shimmering like melted gold.
‘Crave for you madly.’
Liz felt her body reacting involuntarily.
Her chest pounded as if her head was spinning. Lips tightened with tension, her body seemed to be preparing to accept him already.
It felt like refusing him would be against reason.
Hersis leaned in, getting closer.
Liz saw his approaching lips but closed her eyes.
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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