Changing the Keywords of the Dark Lords (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“Perfect, perfect!”
Delina cried out as she turned the last page of the paper. She had finally succeeded in memorizing the interior layout of this vast and intricate noble estate. Achieving today’s triumph had required enduring numerous dangers.
‘Really, didn’t someone even go flying through the air in the garden…?’
Without Betty, she wouldn’t have been able to walk around properly on two feet at all. Recalling Betty, who had insisted it was better to learn by doing and had touched every single mechanism she could find, Delina secretly swallowed her tears.
‘But there’s no mention of the secret passage.’
She had examined every page of the book, yet there was no reference to the secret passage she had used to descend. Still, it made sense—certainly, there must be even more secret passages in this mansion known only to Bellion or his closest confidants.
‘And I rode that passage down and boldly entered the bedroom.’
Just thinking about it now sent shivers down Delina’s spine, making her shoulders tremble. Soon after, Delina rose from her seat, glanced at the doorknob, and walked toward the door.
Today, I’ll go out alone.
She couldn’t rely on Betty’s help to wander the mansion forever. As Delina wondered where to go, she remembered Calix.
Come to think of it, Calix also lives in this mansion.
Other children had their own homes, but Calix lived here. Yet, during all the times she and Betty had roamed the estate, she’d never once caught sight of Calix. That, in itself, was rather strange.
Whether I like it or not, I have to stay close for now…
She had a duty to watch over them before those five ruined the empire completely. Recalling the layout of the path leading to Calix’s room, Delina threw the door open with vigor.
“……!”
Only to be instantly launched forcefully upward.
“What? A net?”
It was a net that had lifted her into the air. Delina, now dangling in a suspended net, twisted her body in panic.
…I’ve never seen a trap like this before?
Of course, her confusion was quickly resolved—she soon spotted familiar red hair approaching from beneath the net.
“……”
“Oh, hello? Bansent… right?”
At Bansent’s appearance, Delina greeted him with an awkward smile. But Bansent merely stared at her intently.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“……”
“Could you please let me down?”
She even tried smiling as she spoke, but Bansent just crossed his arms and stared at her before muttering,
“This is really weird.”
“Huh?”
“I was tricked by someone who got caught in such an obvious trap—one meant for wild boars?”
“……”
She was frustrated but had nothing to say. Bansent still looked at her with suspicion.
“What did you do to me on exam day?”
“Eh, eh?”
At the word “exam” from Bansent’s lips, Delina’s eyes widened in alarm.
“I can’t remember that moment at all, which is strangely unsettling.”
“……”
“This unpleasant experience is completely new to me, and it’s really annoying.”
It’d probably be better to just keep that unpleasant memory as it is.
Remembering the disaster from that day, Delina squeezed her eyes shut as if she’d rather die than speak.
“You’re a jester, right? So I get that you did something strange to me.”
“……”
“But I don’t understand why my knees hurt.”
‘That’s because you all crawled on all fours.’
“And my teeth ached too.”
‘That’s because you asked me to throw you a stick you were holding in your mouth…’
Suddenly, she didn’t understand why the net felt so cozy and warm. Delina forced herself to speak.
“Maybe even your clever brain sometimes wants a break? After all, it must be exhausting for your brain to remember everything.”
“I remember everything.”
“…Oh, I see. But even so, I can’t tell you. It’s a family secret.”
And not remembering would be much better for your brain?
Delina swallowed those last words. At her statement, Bansent quietly studied her for a moment before speaking.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect anything anyway.”
“…Wait, you’re just going to leave without untying me?”
“If you won’t tell me anything, why should I untie you?”
What kind of logic is that?
Bansent slowly turned as if serious. The mansion was already nearly empty of people—if this kept up, she might dangle here all day. In a panic, Delina quickly opened a window and searched for a keyword.
‘Please, please work…’
As Delina selected the keyword, it appeared above Bansent’s head and vanished instantly. Bansent turned back toward her, his expression astonishingly softened. Delina’s face brightened in response.
“Hey! If you untie me just this once…”
“I’ll explain why I’m not untying you.”
“What?”
“First, I still don’t know anything about your powers, so I wanted to see if you could escape on your own. Second, I got curious about your jester technique and wanted to test it experimentally. Third, you haven’t been here very long, so…”
No, don’t sweetly explain why you won’t untie me!
None of her abilities ever worked properly. At this rate, he’d list a hundred reasons not to release her, so Delina finally deactivated her power. Bansent looked up at her with a strange expression, as if only now regaining his senses.
“…What was that just now? Why did I explain everything to you step by step?”
“Huh?”
“Is this the secret technique you mentioned?”
Remember now?
Delina was flustered by Bansent suddenly recalling what he’d done.
Then again, back then, even her mind had been completely scrambled…
In a way, having him remember seemed an effective way to demonstrate her ability. Delina declared confidently,
“Yeah. This is the family secret I told you about.”
“……”
“So if you don’t untie me, I’ll use it again? And this time, you won’t know what I’ll do.”
Though she meant it as a threat, Bansent briefly fell silent as if pondering something, then nodded.
“Alright. Try it one more time.”
“Huh?”
“A family secret that overrides my will? Now that’s interesting.”
Flustered by Bansent’s reaction—willing to experiment on himself just to satisfy his curiosity—Delina gaped. And Bansent didn’t miss the opening.
“Even after I said that, you hesitated—so maybe there are restrictions? Like a limit on how many times you can use it?”
“……!”
“But last time, you used it on four people at once, so is there a limit per person? Or maybe once per day per person?”
With every word, Delina’s expression grew more panicked. Finally, Bansent nodded.
“Worth investigating.”
“…Wait, hold on.”
Afraid she’d truly never get free at this rate, Delina blurted out desperately,
“I know how to solve the Empire’s Seven Great Mathematical Conundrums!”
At her words, Bansent’s previously indifferent eyes suddenly sparkled with interest.
“Which conundrum?”
“I’ll tell you if you untie me.”
The same person who’d remained unmoved even when she mentioned a family secret was now wide-eyed—Delina was inwardly surprised. In that instant, her body swiftly descended from the air.
“Whoa!”
“Tell me. What is it?”
…Is he really serious?
Before she could even rub her sore backside from hitting the floor, Bansent asked.
“It’s Conundrum No. 3—you apply the Kruaf Invariant Equation.”
“How was that formula derived?”
“Well… just from my own thoughts?”
“So what answer do you get when you plug it in?”
“…I haven’t gotten that far yet…”
How would I know?
Years later, Conundrum No. 3 was indeed solved. But the problem was that Delina hadn’t carefully read the solution back then—though even if she had, she wouldn’t have understood it anyway.
“……”
Afraid her shallow math knowledge would be exposed if she kept answering, Delina’s eyes darted around nervously. Meanwhile, Bansent kept slowly closing in on her.
“Actually, I was the one working on Conundrum No. 3.”
“……”
“And I came up with the same method.”
So you’re the one who solved it.
Only then did Delina realize who would solve Conundrum No. 3 in the future. Avoiding his gaze in silence, she slowly rose from her seat. One thing was clear—devices and formulas worked far better on this guy than her own abilities ever would.
“My experiment didn’t yield the result I wanted, but I did gain something.”
“Yeah. Congratulations on that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should head back in.”
“Not leaving?”
“Yeah. Suddenly, I feel like studying too.”
If she stayed with him any longer, she’d be subjected to experiments with every step she took. Smiling, Delina backed away and slammed the door shut without a shred of hesitation. Leaning against the door, she slid down and sank to the floor.
“Aha ha…”
If dealing with just one mastermind drained her this much, what would the others be like? As she pondered them, a sudden thought flashed through Delina’s mind.
‘Wait—if Bansent came looking for me because he was bothered by his lost memories, could the others…?’
For a moment, Delina imagined the other masterminds visiting her room one by one. She slowly walked over and sat down at her desk.
Review, I need to review.
No matter what, she instinctively felt she shouldn’t go out today. Delina began reviewing everything she’d learned so far.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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Chapter Comments (37)
Inline Comments (53)
“Right. He arrived this morning. It’s about time the kid woke up, after all.”
Omg omg Omg he is actually back! I forget where he went but I’m interested to see how he could have possibly improved his skills. Looks like he still unhealthy, sleeping in so late. I think he is on the smaller side compared to the MLS.
At the voice, Mernin froze. The noble ladies and gentlemen who saw his face bega
I wonder if it is Noah, it could be Ashud. Idk id really want to see NOAHas the ML instead of the typical crown prince~ but I’m a fan either way
Celine’s murmuring about the heat gave Delina a glimpse into the terror she must
Del is so observant and really smart to notice the reason! I wonder if Celine had anything to do with her rewinding time. Honestly where did Celine even come from?!
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I wonder how well Zen understands Del’s speech. Also does the Duke think of her fondly? Does he even know how to laugh?? He calls her Jester so he definitely thinks she’s like a clown. I also wonder how the OG FL is like, the one everyone was obsessed with. And the girl who was Gideon’s lover, I wonder if she had a unique power that gave her a second try
I wonder how well Zen understands Del’s speech. Also does the Duke think of her fondly? Does he even know how to laugh?? He calls her Jester so he definitely thinks she’s like a clown. I also wonder how the OG FL is like, the one everyone was obsessed with. And the girl who was Gideon’s lover, I wonder if she had a unique power that gave her a second try
The kids are really cute!! They are only 12, but they still have childish tendencies while still being powerful. Truly good luck to Del, especially with the Duke having an unusual fondness with training the kids. Cause what do you mean your trying to X a child??