Reforming the Villain Family (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 15
“Nia, I think I need to go hang the laundry first. Can you carry this by yourself?”
At her friend’s words, the maid Nia nodded vigorously.
“Of course!”
“Just be careful not to break it!”
“Oh, don’t worry about it!”
Nia confidently lifted the potted plant.
Now all she had to do was carry it upstairs, go back down to collect the laundry, and her work for the day would be done.
‘Today looks like it’ll finish early!’
Just as Nia was climbing the stairs with determination—
“Aaah!”
Her foot slipped suddenly, and her body lurched forward. Anticipating the imminent disaster, Nia clenched her eyes shut.
Yet her falling body halted abruptly in midair before hitting the floor.
Nia slowly opened her eyes. A stranger had caught her.
“Eh…?”
“Are you all right?”
Flustered, Nia fumbled about in panic. Once she finally regained her balance, she bowed her head repeatedly.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“No need to thank me. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
The man gave a gentle smile. Nia’s eyes fixed intently on him.
Now that the situation had settled, a question arose: she’d never seen his face before.
“Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around…”
“Oh, I work for the Count’s household. My master belongs to House Ripe, one of Duke Crustel’s vassal families.”
Her workload today had been heavy precisely because of that meeting.
So it made sense she’d be seeing a lot of unfamiliar faces today.
Nia gave a light nod.
“Ah! I see. Has the meeting already started?”
“Yes, it began a little while ago.”
Smiling, the man took the potted plant from Nia’s hands.
“I’m heading that way anyway—I’ll carry it for you.”
“Oh dear!”
Nia’s cheeks flushed pink.
In an instant, all suspicion toward the stranger vanished, and she chattered away as they walked.
Her chatter continued all the way down the corridor.
Only when they reached the stairs again did Nia realize she’d let a stranger carry her burden for far too long.
“Oh! Please give me back the pot—I’ll carry it now.”
“I was sent on an errand anyway. This is the corridor leading to the study, correct?”
“Ah, yes!”
“I’ll keep holding it. I’m going that way regardless.”
Thanks to him, Nia completed her errand easily. The pot had been heavier than expected, so gratitude filled her heart.
“You’re going back down now, right? I really want to repay your kindness somehow…”
“I’d like to as well, but I haven’t finished my errand yet.”
“Oh, right! You mentioned you had an errand.”
“Yes.”
The man replied with a faint smile.
It felt like she’d finally met someone who clicked with her. Suppressing her disappointment, Nia turned to descend the stairs alone.
Just before stepping down, a sudden thought made her stop dead in her tracks.
‘What kind of errand would bring a servant from another house all the way up here?’
The question briefly crossed her mind, but she didn’t dwell on it—she remembered she still had plenty of tasks left.
That truly was Nia’s good fortune.
Had she turned back, she would have seen the man standing right outside the Duke’s study. And that man believed eliminating witnesses left fewer complications than merely threatening them.
‘What a fool.’
He brushed his hands lightly. Though troublesome, he’d reached this point without raising suspicion.
Once he confirmed Nia had completely left, he entered the room.
Closing the door silently, he walked toward the teapot resting on the desk.
Then he pulled a small packet from his pocket and shook its contents into the pot.
The white powder dissolved into the tea in the blink of an eye.
Just as he turned around, having completed his task—
A faint rustling sound, like a whisper of wind, came from near the display cabinet.
It was so quiet one might easily miss it. Dismissing it as nothing, the man walked straight toward the door without looking back.
Just before opening it, unease prickled at him.
He spun around instantly and strode toward the source of the sound.
“You…!”
His eyes met those of a small child hiding in the shadows.
[This is the timeline separator]Their eyes locked.
‘I’m doomed.’
It was the servant she’d seen earlier at the meeting. She wasn’t merely startled by him—
She’d already guessed he was the one who poisoned the Duke’s tea.
She never intended to hide in the Duke’s room. She’d only slipped in briefly to check if the culprit had already come and gone.
But when the door suddenly opened, she’d scrambled into the wardrobe in a panic.
‘What do I do? What do I do?’
She should’ve been more careful—she’d been far too careless.
After a brief silence, the man spoke to her calmly.
“Young Miss, why are you hiding here? Come this way.”
He bent down and offered her a gentle smile.
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you? Come along. I’ll take you back to your room.”
“Yeah.”
I pretended to reach for his hand, then immediately rolled across the floor and bolted away from him.
From behind, I heard him let out an annoyed sigh as his demeanor shifted.
“Damn little rat.”
Using the sofa as a shield, I dodged his grasp and dashed straight for the door.
‘Just a little farther, just a little more!’
I thought if I ran as fast as I could, I’d reach the door before he did.
But my short legs proved too slow.
“Young Miss, where are you going?”
I hadn’t even heard his footsteps, yet he’d already reached the door ahead of me with calm, leisurely strides.
I frantically scanned my surroundings.
A decorative sword hung on the wall, but it was far out of my reach and too heavy for me to lift anyway.
‘What about the window?’
I turned my eyes toward it. The window seemed like my only chance…
“Poor thing. You just found your father, yet you’re fated to die so soon.”
Clicking his tongue, the man slowly approached me.
As he advanced, I stepped backward, quickly reaching toward the window.
‘It’s locked!’
“You don’t seriously plan to jump out the window, do you? Ahaha! How utterly naive.”
He sneered. Pressing my back against the wall, I glared at him defiantly.
‘I can’t die like this.’
“Don’t worry—I’m short on time myself, so I’ll make this quick.”
“Oh, Duke!”
“Young Miss, that foolish little—”
He scoffed without even turning his head—
I instantly grabbed his right hand and sank my teeth deep into his wrist.
“Aaagh!”
Howling in pain, he violently jerked his arm away.
My body shot into the air and slammed hard against the glass display cabinet.
“Oww, that hurts…”
My shoulder felt bruised. Then a sharp voice rang in my head.
[Move, you idiot!]Still sprawled on the floor, I instinctively rolled sideways.
At that very moment, the cabinet toppled over with a loud crash, shattering glass everywhere.
“Gah!”
The noise was so deafening it made my whole body tremble.
Any servant in the main building would surely have heard it.
‘This is serious trouble!’
But right now, people rushing in would be of no help.
Because if people were coming, the assassin would have to flee quickly—
Which meant he’d kill me immediately without hesitation.
“You damn little rat!”
Sure enough, the assassin charged straight toward me.
He raised his uninjured left hand high into the air.
‘I’m going to get hit.’
I quickly covered my head with both hands and curled into a ball—the same posture I always took when Rebecca hit me.
That way, the blows hurt less and caused fewer injuries.
But just then—the man froze mid-swing, his raised hand suspended in the air.
“Aaagh!”
He suddenly screamed. Startled, I stared at him in confusion.
He clutched one leg, his face twisted in pain.
A long, silvery cord was wrapped tightly around his ankle.
No—it wasn’t a cord. That was…
‘A snake?’
Stunned, I gaped at it for a moment before snapping back to my senses and leaping to my feet.
Whatever this snake was, it seemed to be helping me!
I sprinted toward the door. The man’s eyes widened in shock.
The snake, which had been biting his ankle, vanished like a mirage.
“Damn it, you little bastard!”
‘Gasp!’
He was clearly furious now. Instead of fleeing before people arrived, he chose to chase after me.
Which meant things had just gotten even worse for me.
I dashed desperately down the stairs.
‘Should I look for Sophia or Delma? No—what if they get hurt because of me? What about Yan? But he said he’d be late today!’
To reach the Duke in the meeting hall, I needed to get to the annex.
But I’d surely be caught by the assassin before making it from the main building to the annex.
Why wasn’t anyone around today? Had everyone gone to the annex for the meeting?
As panic gripped me, I found myself already at the front entrance.
The moment I opened the door, a strong hand grabbed the back of my collar.
“Hahaha! I called you a rat, and you really do run like one!”
“Let go of me!”
My feet dangled helplessly in the air. I kicked and thrashed, but there was no escaping his grip.
The man grinned, baring his teeth, then dramatically pulled up his right sleeve with his teeth to show me.
“Huh!”
An awful stench instantly filled the air, forcing me to cover my nose with one hand.
His wrist to elbow was tightly wrapped in bandages.
Dark red blood and oozing pus seeped through, the wound festering from the poison.
“Back at the meeting hall—now I see. You knew everything all along, didn’t you, Young Miss?”
His eyes, bloodshot with fury, rolled wildly.
“No wonder you grabbed exactly where I was hurt. That really hurt. I had to pretend nothing was wrong in front of everyone—what a mess.”
Murderous intent gleamed in his eyes.
Should I scream? Would someone come if I did?
For a fleeting moment, I dared to hope—but knowing it was useless, I clamped my mouth shut.
“What? Are you giving up already?”
He sneered.
“Yeah, you’re going to die anyway—might as well accept it. Isn’t that easier?”
From his festering right arm, he pulled a sharp, slender needle hidden in his clothes.
“It’s coated with paralyzing poison, so it won’t hurt much.”
With a vile chuckle, he raised the needle high.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Kuhhk!”
At that moment, he gasped sharply. Trembling violently, he dropped me from the air.
‘I’m falling!’
I braced for impact—but something caught me just in time.
When I opened my eyes, I was dangling in someone’s arms.
“Duke!”
Thank goodness! I’d never been so happy to see the Duke.
“Kuhhk… kuhhk… p-please… spare…”
Had he accidentally pricked himself with his own needle? He struggled to breathe.
Knights rushing in behind the Duke seized the man and dragged him away.
Only after he vanished completely from sight did my words burst out uncontrollably.
“Duke, how did you get here? How did you know I was here? Is the meeting over already?”
Kicking my legs playfully, I babbled excitedly to him.
The Duke lowered his head.
Our eyes met—his gaze icy and stern.
“Diane.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you find my words amusing?”
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (104)
Oh, poor Diane! The Duke doesn’t appreciate what she did for him. How ungrateful!
He never made a mistake; he only sent an assassin to kill the Duke, tried to poison him again, and tried to kill his daughter. How vile, wicked, and evil he is!
What? Did she know what a Wow monster was? I love superpowers! Is our little Diane a saint?
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Miioo
Oh, that’s terrifying! She’s so brave. The duke is truly terrifying. What was it that helped her?