There had been no contact from Lord Blair for five days.
‘What’s going on with someone who placed such importance on speed?’
Melly was puzzled, but thought it could be that he was being considerate since the bride-to-be was too young, as he had said.
She found out that wasn’t the case two days later, exactly a week after receiving the proposal, around sunset.
“Um, Melly.”
Eida Pelton, who had returned from an outing, carefully visited Melly.
Usually, she would summon Melly to her quarters, so coming in person like this meant it was no ordinary matter.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, you see…”
The lady sipped the tea in front of her, and sipped again. She was likely trying to buy time, but there was a limit. She finally confessed the truth.
“I was thinking of looking for a different marriage prospect besides Mr. Blair. Thinking about it, this doesn’t seem quite right.”
“…”
“No matter how rich he is, that man is of the merchant class and you’re a noble… I think it would be better to look among those of the same social status.”
That attitude completely negated the logic she had maintained about their marriage until now. But Melly had a guess.
“Lady Pelton, it’s fine, you can tell me the truth.”
“…”
The lady made a troubled expression. Seeing that, Melly became even more certain that her guess was correct.
It was clear that Lord Blair had withdrawn the marriage proposal.
“That bastard.”
The lady revealed the reason by uttering harsh words she wouldn’t normally use.
“Blair, that scoundrel, got engaged to another woman. And with the daughter of the Herrington Count’s family, no less.”
“…”
“Moreover, he said he’s withdrawing from the flower business deal he had promised with our family. Saying they offered better terms. I’ve long heard that you shouldn’t trust merchants, but I never dreamed he’d stab us in the back like this.”
Lady Pelton’s face was flushed red with anger.
But Melly wasn’t as angry as the lady. Rather, her mind was extraordinarily calm and rational.
‘Since when did they start talking?’
Melly thought back.
The moment he proposed to her was genuine. There was no doubt about that.
But from when he suddenly left and came back, things started to go slightly awry.
It was from then that she felt a small crack in his marriage resolve, which had seemed solid enough to withstand a battering ram.
‘Since the young lady is still young, it doesn’t seem right to hastily demand an answer.’
In that short moment, some business deal must have taken place, and that’s why he prevented her from accepting, for sure.
Not sending a carriage for Melly wasn’t out of consideration for her, but because he himself needed time to think, and today he must have made the final decision.
As each situation fell into place in chronological order, Melly felt more emptiness than anger.
“I’m really sorry, Melly.”
Eida apologized repeatedly, not knowing what to do.
“If we look, there will be many better people, so don’t be too disheartened, okay?”
“I’m fine. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Melly smiled and continued speaking.
“Between me and the Herrington Count’s daughter, if I were in his position, I would have chosen the latter too.”
Melly recalled the elegant and sensual woman with golden-red hair and sky-blue eyes whom she occasionally encountered at the rare balls she attended.
In terms of appearance and family background, she was far superior to herself in every way.
There was no regret for such an obvious choice. Only, it would have been better if he had told her first.
He must have planned to notify this side only after the marriage with that side was confirmed. Otherwise, he might lose both.
Melly found his shallow calculation of not wanting to take even the slightest risk quite unpleasant. But she decided to brush it off magnanimously, thinking that showing such displeasure might seem like she had lingering attachments.
“I’m fine, so don’t worry. Rather, I think it’s fortunate to have learned that person’s true nature before marriage, my lady.”
“If that’s the case, then that’s a relief.”
Eida said with a relieved smile.
But her inner thoughts were not entirely relieved.
‘What should I do with this child?’
Suddenly, she recalled the advice she had received from her husband when taking in Melly and her mother.
‘Your actions done out of good intentions may later become troublesome matters.’
Indeed, it was just as he said. How could it be so difficult to deal with.
A slight tremor ran through the corner of Eida Pelton’s mouth, which bore a benevolent smile.
[This is the timeline separator]Though she acted boldly in front of Eida, Melly couldn’t help feeling bitter.
How could he do such a thing?
To think he could ruthlessly discard a woman he liked enough to consider marriage if his calculations didn’t add up.
His cold-blooded, materialistic attitude was chilling. No, no. That’s not the important thing.
It must be that his feelings for me weren’t strong enough to reject a woman with better conditions.
At best, it was probably a shallow feeling of ‘I guess I could live decently with her’, so when an attractive woman appeared, he immediately left.
‘You don’t know men.’
Suddenly, Edric’s words came to mind.
‘Attraction or love is merely the trigger that makes you want to weigh the other person on your scale.’
He was right.
Melly was placed on Blair’s scale after catching his eye, but her value was far too insufficient to beat the Herrington lady.
An orphan with only a name as the lowest-ranking noble, unattractive appearance. Skinny body. Low sociability.
Would it be just Blair’s scale?
Would there be any case where she would come out on top on anyone’s scale?
Does a man who would refuse a person with better conditions for her sake even exist in this world?
Sigh−.
Thinking about the answer made her sigh involuntarily.
Her chest felt tight and her head was dizzy. She couldn’t keep wallowing in self-loathing like this.
Melly decided to go out for a short walk to clear her head before dinner.
On her way to the entrance, she briefly stopped by the dining room to ask Oz for understanding.
“Sorry, Oz. Can I help with the cleanup instead of meal prep today? I’m going for a walk.”
“I can do both the meal prep and cleanup, so don’t worry about it.”
Oz said kindly, allowing Melly to leave with a lighter heart.
The cool evening breeze blowing from beyond the mountain ridge soothed Melly’s mood.
Melly was about to head to the garden filled with the fragrant scent of greenery when she noticed the servants gathered and changed her mind.
They probably already knew that her marriage talk with Lord Blair had fallen through.
And they would likely think that Melly had been rejected by Lord Blair.
It wasn’t unreasonable. It was the truth, after all.
The former duchess had been going around saying the marriage was settled after Melly visited Blair’s house, and Melly herself had been careful with her conduct thinking the same.
Most of the servants had been with Melly since childhood and cared for and liked her. So if they met now, they would express anger more fiercely than Melly or the former duchess about the broken engagement and offer sincere words of comfort.
But at this moment, what Melly wanted was not comfort but to be alone. Their consolation would surely make Melly even more upset.
She turned and headed to the back garden.
Compared to the large and splendid main garden, the back garden was decorated with cute foliage plants and modest landscaping features, giving a modest afterglow.
Melly stopped for a moment in the middle of the stone path lined with blue lobelia growing like downy fluff on both sides to appreciate the back garden.
Suddenly, she seemed to hear her mother’s voice.
‘Remember, Melly. We are Enwoods, not Peltons.’
Following those words, young Melly only played in the back garden.
The grand and classic main garden was the Pelton family’s world. And her mother and she were people who should be grateful even for this back garden.
Melly started walking again and went to the end of the back garden. There were no servants. This place was perfect for walking alone and clearing her mind.
The savory smell of food drifted on the breeze. Dinner preparations seemed to be ending, so Melly turned around. As a dependent, she shouldn’t be late for meals.
Just as she took a step, there was a sound of someone approaching and a familiar voice called her.
“Melly?”
That low, quiet tone cut through the air filled with loud insect sounds on a summer day and pierced Melly’s ears clearly.
Melly stopped abruptly in place. Then she slowly turned around.
Edric was walking over from the direction of the riding grounds.
Wearing a white shirt and brown riding pants, his shoulders looked even broader today, and his moderately muscled legs were long and smooth.
“Out for a walk?”
He approached with a smile. His fine blonde hair swayed gently in the evening breeze, and his features looked even more distinct and graceful in the fading sunlight.
“Yes. Just wanted to take a short walk before dinner.”
Melly thought she answered with a bright enough face, but her uneasy state of mind must have shown through unknowingly. Edric asked with concern.
“Did something happen?”
“No, nothing.”
“Don’t lie.”
He stepped closer to Melly.
“What happened? Tell me.”
Melly hesitated for a moment.
She had no intention of speaking about it herself, ashamed of ignoring his advice about Lord Blair, but thinking he would find out anyway, she decided to just tell him.
“Actually…”
Melly told him everything she had heard from Lady Pelton just a few hours ago.
At least, without including her own emotions.
She was curious how Edric would react. But he just stared intently at Melly without saying anything for a while.
‘See, what did I tell you?’
…why wasn’t he saying that?
As Melly was wondering about the prolonged silence, suddenly:
“My poor friend.”
Edric hugged Melly tightly.
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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