“Go on, Lili.”
“…I, I really tried to stop it. But I was pushed into silence and forced to go along with it because of Mother. I never had any intention of harming Craig. Please believe me.”
“Oh, so it means all this was done by the Countess.”
“No! It’s not me, but that man, Jerard Abrams, who planned all this! I was just, to Craig, Craig, Craig!”
Helena cried out incoherently. Leonard silenced her just by lifting a finger.
“Then, no one here objects to me becoming the Count? Baron Lancaster, what do you think?”
“…Of course, I think Craig is the rightful successor to the title of Count.”
“Is that so?”
Upon hearing Baron Lancaster’s words, Leonard abruptly stood up and strode to the dining room door, flinging it open. The waiting servants jumped back in surprise.
“Then, it’s time for punishment. Belruce, bring them all.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Hearing the word ‘punishment’, Belruce grinned and dragged Arnold and Jerard along. Despite their adult size, he hoisted them effortlessly with one hand.
“Ah, short of hands. You.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Bring that old woman lying there.”
“The Countess?”
“Yes. That woman.”
Belruce pointed at Helena, who was sitting dazed on the floor. The servant hesitated briefly but then grabbed Helena’s arm and followed Belruce.
“Tell everyone in the castle to gather at the front gate.”
“Yes.”
Another servant quickly relayed Leonard’s order, but it was unnecessary. Everyone in the castle had already witnessed Arnold and Jerard being dragged away by Belruce.
Reaching the front gate, Leonard stepped onto a platform. A crowd, having heard the news, swarmed like bees. They saw the disheveled Helena and Arnold with a knife in his thigh and guessed the situation.
“An unfortunate incident occurred during today’s meal. My mother, aunt, and Jerard Abrams conspired to kill me.”
Leonard signaled Belruce, who promptly brought the two men and Helena before him.
“It’s tragic to betray one’s own blood.”
He muttered, his words ambiguous whether directed at Craig or himself.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, “Kill the traitors!” Silence was brief, soon the crowd chanted, “Kill them.”
Jerard, Arnold, and Helena turned pale.
It’s illegal in Erche to execute nobility without trial, but Craig Abrams had a valid reason.
First, Arnold rushed on his knees to Leonard.
“Count, please forgive me. I was blinded by greed.”
“Is that so?”
“Don’t you remember? I adored you since we were children.”
Arnold reminisced about their childhood, desperately trying to sway Leonard, but his words failed to move him.
“Any last words from the others?”
“Craig! Please, at least spare Mother. Look, I’m begging you.”
Lili’s face was streaked with tears, and she, too, was prostrate next to Arnold, wailing. Jerard had resigned himself to his fate, staring blankly at the floor.
Only Helena remained defiant, glaring at Leonard with venomous eyes.
“Lili.”
Then Cordelia, with a benevolent smile, gently touched Lili’s shoulder.
“Could it be that the Countess has not been of sound mind, leading to these events?”
Helena quickly turned her head with such speed towards Cordelia that it almost made a sound, glaring at her.
“Poor thing, ever since the previous Count passed away, she’s always been lost in delusions. It’s not strange she fell for Jerard’s tricks.”
“Is that so?”
Leonard seemed amused by the situation and casually responded to Cordelia’s remark.
“Yes, of course. Isn’t that right, Lili?”
“…….”
“Lili, when someone asks you a question, you should answer.”
“…Right. Mother isn’t in her right mind right now. That’s why she fell for Jerard’s words.”
Lili mumbled, looking down. Cordelia clapped her hands.
“Then it makes sense. Come to think of it, didn’t the Countess knowingly put peanuts in my food, even though she knows about my peanut allergy?”
“Why are you bringing that up?”
“If she put peanuts in my food despite me telling her multiple times, it means she either had malicious intent or wasn’t in her right mind. What do you think, Lili?”
“…That, well…”
Lili’s face turned completely pale. It was obvious she was struggling to figure out what to say to save herself.
Cordelia suddenly burst into laughter.
“Why so scared? Just say that the Countess did it because she wasn’t in her right mind.”
“…Ye-Yes. Mother wasn’t in her right mind and…”
“Lili! You, this girl! Are you accusing your mother of being insane?”
Helena yelled furiously. Yet, Lili kept shrinking, merely glancing at Cordelia for cues.
“How should we deal with people who tried to kill me, but everyone denies it? What do you think, Countess?”
“How about Jerard Abrams, the mastermind, being hanged, and the rest moved to the north tower?”
“The north tower?”
“Yes. It doesn’t look good to kill your mother and uncle, even with their deeds. Moving them to the tower gives them time for reflection.”
“Hmm.”
Leonard pondered for a moment, but not long. He swiftly accepted Cordelia’s suggestion, sealing the fate of the Abrams.
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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