Then Joan, the auburn-haired maid, came up with a smile.
“It’s okay. We’ll just prepare everything and wait outside the screen.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Miss Isabelle does the same.”
“Isabelle, um, my sister too?”
“Yes.”
Encouraged by her words, Rosette took a step forward.
“Alright.”
Thanks to this arrangement, Rosette managed to bathe on her own smoothly. Though she felt a bit uneasy knowing the three maids were outside, she realized this was something she needed to get used to.
After bathing and changing clothes with the maids’ help, they fussed over her.
“You look so pretty, Miss.”
“Like an angel.”
“So adorable.”
Rosette thought they were exaggerating to make a good impression.
‘I know I’m not pretty.’
Elisha, the beloved youngest daughter of the Dallas family, always said to her:
You’re the ugliest person I’ve ever seen. How can someone be so ugly? Even your hair is a drab pink.
Elisha constantly belittled her, and Rosette was brainwashed into thinking she was hideous.
“Look in the mirror. See how cute you are.”
“No. I don’t want to.”
Rosette covered her face, avoiding the hand mirror. Joan, taken aback by her strong refusal, put the mirror away without showing her emotions.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“Shall we go for breakfast? Everyone must be waiting.”
“Okay.”
Guided by the kind Joan, Rosette headed to the dining room on the first floor. As Joan had said, the other children were already there.
Feeling late, Rosette’s cheeks burned. Fortunately, Duke Adrian hadn’t arrived yet.
“I’m sorry.”
She hurried to sit in the chair pulled out by a servant. Lucas was the first to respond.
“No! We’re the ones who came early.”
He rubbed his stomach dramatically, uncharacteristic of a noble.
“I got so hungry after vigorous morning training, so we came quickly.”
“Lucas.”
Isabelle scolded her brother.
“Don’t be so frivolous.”
Despite the potential for hurt feelings, Lucas just smiled. Rosette thought he resembled a dog from the orphanage, always wagging its tail and following the children.
“Pfft.”
She laughed without realizing it, drawing everyone’s attention. She composed herself quickly.
“It’s nothing.”
“I don’t know what you were thinking, but it’s nice to see you smile.”
Daniel, sitting opposite her, smiled.
“Do you like your room?”
“Yes, a lot!”
She was about to chatter excitedly but lowered her voice under Isabelle’s gaze.
“I really like it.”
“Good.”
Just then, Duke Adrian entered the dining room. As soon as he took his seat, the appetizers were served.
‘Ah…’
Rosette bit her lip at the sight of the salad in front of her.
‘Shrimp.’
She was allergic to shrimp. It wasn’t life-threatening, but she always had an itchy reaction.
She first discovered her allergy at the Dallas family’s house. The orphanage was far from the sea and rarely had seafood.
‘I used to get scolded for not eating shrimp.’
Duke Dallas forced her to eat shrimp even though he knew about her allergy. Would she be scolded here for not eating it?
Misinterpreting her hesitation, Lucas, sitting diagonally from her, commented.
“Is it because you haven’t learned dining etiquette yet? It’s not difficult, just start with the outermost fork!”
Lucas seemed to think Rosette was struggling to choose which of the several forks to use.
‘I know all about dining etiquette…’
She had learned it at the Dallas family, enduring beatings on the back of her hand with a ruler whenever she made a mistake. Now, she could dine as perfectly as any noble.
Still, Rosette hesitated, prompting Isabelle, sitting beside her, to pick up the salad fork and place it in Rosette’s right hand.
“Didn’t you hear? This is the one to use.”
“Ah, yes.”
Fearing she’d be scolded for being picky or worse, expelled, Rosette, already pale, gripped the fork tighter and poked a shrimp, putting it in her mouth.
She chewed it thoroughly. It tasted good. Although allergic, Rosette didn’t dislike the taste of shrimp.
After Rosette finished her salad, including the shrimp, Daniel across the table complimented her.
“You eat vegetables well, and you’re pretty.”
Rosette’s cheeks flushed slightly as she popped the last shrimp into her mouth without hesitation.
‘I did well by eating it.’
…she congratulated herself.
The rest of the meal went smoothly, thankfully without an immediate allergic reaction.
It was a bit unusual to have meat for breakfast after training, but when Rosette saw the steak larger than her palm, she blinked in surprise. This time, Isabelle handed her a knife and fork.
“What are you waiting for? Eat.”
“Um, yes, yes.”
Attempting to cut the steak with a child’s cutlery, Daniel eventually took her plate.
“I’ll cut it for you.”
He cut the steak into small pieces suitable for her small mouth and returned the plate. The steak, pink inside, made her salivate.
“Eat up!”
Urged by Lucas, who seemed curious about her reaction, Rosette bravely took a bite. The steak’s juice flowed out, melting tenderly in just a few chews.
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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