It had been the result of a good deed, but she had been scolded harshly for being mistaken for having stolen it. The memory was still clear.
She didn’t want to experience that again.
The contempt and disdain from others were enough.
She didn’t want their tender looks to change.
They were people who had treated her without suspicion for the first time. She wanted to remain a good person, just an ordinary girl.
‘Stupidly, without thinking…….’
El had to act even more childlike than a child to survive.
People were kind to a tender being that was naive and pure, unaware of the ways of the world.
That made begging more favorable, and she had to beg well not to be rejected by the boss.
So, even as El grew older, she never became an adult.
Maybe she had even become a child who just followed instincts without consideration, living like that for several years.
‘Don’t fall for sweet temptations.’
It was time to come back to reality now.
“Ah, no.”
“Why don’t you like it?”
“Well…… there’s something I haven’t told you.”
“What?”
El anxiously rolled her eyes and picked at her fingertips.
Unable to look directly at Mikaela, she mumbled while looking at the floor.
“I have people waiting for me. Friends I live with……. ”
“Oh. Is that so?”
Mikaela turned her gaze to Lapellian.
Lapellian also sighed softly at the fact he had not known before.
“I have to go back. If you really want to give me something, bread will be fine. I’m always hungry. Just a little bread, please.”
El struggled to lift her head and smiled innocently.
She tried to face Mikaela with composure.
She firmly resolved not to dillydally here, or she wouldn’t be able to finish this story.
“I wish you were here until your wounds heal at least. We’ll contact those who wait for you.”
“No, no. The doctor said it would be fine if I apply the medicine, so I’ll just take the medicine. I heal quite well, you know. I’ll be fine.”
El still wore an innocent smile, but she firmly rejected her offer.
Changing her behavior had quite an effect.
With a strong response, Mikaela had no reason to hold El any longer.
No matter how good her intentions, it would be force if the other person didn’t want it.
“We can’t let you go like this anyway. We owe you our lives. If you don’t want to live here, tell us where you stay. I’ll become your guardian and help you.”
Mikaela was about to back off, but Lapellian stepped forward. He came close to El, crouched down, and spoke.
“No. A piece of bread is like a life to me. Eating day by day is the most important thing. Really, bread will be fine.”
El spoke quite sharply, for she had no desire to reveal anything about herself to them.
Rejecting them so fiercely again and again, even Lapellian could no longer persuade her.
Though she had feared me, it seemed that pushing her further would make me appear too overbearing.
Above all, she seemed to be hiding something, suddenly becoming more guarded.
Insisting again in this situation only increased her wariness.
‘It will be difficult to win her over in this state. Today, she must be startled and feeling uneasy, so perhaps it would be best to give her some time.’
Lapellian knew well that not everything could be solved by pushing harder.
He had no intention of letting her go, but for the time being, he decided to step back to plan for the future.
“If that’s what you want, I understand. But if you change your mind, come whenever you like. The doors of the Duke’s residence will always be open to you.”
Lapellian patted her shoulder, embedding a strong tracking pheromone on her, then backed away.
It was a measure to lower her guard and have her come willingly, but also a device for the opposite case. With this trace, he could find her easily for at least a week.
“It would be best to wrap up at this point, sister.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Mikaela winked at Irina.
“Irina, prepare the medicine and bread.”
“Yes, understood.”
As Irina obeyed and left the reception room, Mikaela looked at the dry wound on her thin cheek and spoke with sympathy.
“It won’t just be one, will it? Since you’ve said that bread is as vital as life to you, I want to at least allow you to eat as much as you need.”
She did not refuse this and accepted it obediently.
“Ththank you.”
“Thank me? I’m the one who should be grateful. You must apply the medicine properly.”
“Yes.”
“Just like Lapell said, come back whenever you change your mind.”
“Yes.”
She nodded in response, relieved.
It was fortunate that she could leave the house without revealing her true identity to them.
‘I’ve secured food, so the boss won’t scold me, right? That’s good.’
She smiled faintly, feeling that everything would work out according to her wishes.
(This is a time separator.)
She had thought everything would go smoothly without any issues.
Even when she left the Duke’s residence, got into the black car, and was dropped off near the shopping district.
She cheerfully headed toward her hiding place with a bag of bread, always looking back to make sure no one was following.
As she left the shopping district, she followed a winding road.
“Hey! You’re finally here? Everyone’s been waiting!!”
“Me?”
She adjusted the bag and pointed to herself with her finger.
A boy, a head taller than her, ran out and took the bag, nodding.
“The boss is waiting too. He’s really looking forward to it. Hey, how did you get the Duke’s food?”
“How did you know?”
“The word’s already out. Even though you can’t pickpocket, you have this talent? I wondered where you’d use it, but you brought such a big fish.”
“Big fish?”
Walking together, she stopped abruptly.
“Hey, what are you doing? Come on. Why is this so light?”
“It was heavy for me.”
“Didn’t you get too little?”
“No….”
The shabbier the alleyways she passed, the more downcast she felt.
Something was going wrong; it was clear.
But without anywhere else to go, she had no choice but to move her feet again.
“Boss! We’re here!”
“Good. You’ve done well for once.”
The pickpocket boss greeted her.
It was the first time she’d seen him so happy, and she was taken aback.
“Tonight, everyone will be full.”
“Is it just for tonight?”
“This kid brought this.”
“Let me see.”
The boy who had taken the bag handed it to the boss.
The hitherto easygoing man’s expression turned fierce as soon as he checked the bag of bread.
“Is this measly piece of bread all you’ve brought?!”
Smack!
A heavy hand flew at her.
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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