Reforming the Villain Family (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16

For a moment, an overwhelming pressure so intense it made my whole body break out in goosebumps bore heavily down on me.

“What did you promise to do today?”

“…….”

“Didn’t you promise to stay quietly in your room?”

Though his expression wasn’t much different from his usual blank face, my breath caught in my throat and my entire body tensed up.

This fear was incomparable even to the terror I’d felt when facing the assassin earlier.

I finally managed to open my mouth, but against my will, my lips trembled uncontrollably.

“I, I, it’s just that… I mean….”

“My lord, it seems the young miss is quite frightened as well.”

Philen looked as if he were trying to rescue me out of pity. But the Duke paid no heed to his words.

“Diane, say it yourself with your own words—the promise you made to me last time.”

Hearing that, I finally understood why the Duke was so furious.

It was because I’d broken my promise.

‘Well, of course the Duke wouldn’t have been worried about me.’

Keeping my eyes fixed firmly on the floor, I spoke.

“I promised to stay in my room.”

“Then why were you outside? And now that I look closely, you’ve even changed your clothes.”

“…….”

“Did you never intend to listen to me from the start?”

“No, I just….”

“Just tell me why you went outside.”

Under his relentless questioning, a surge of frustration and sorrow suddenly overwhelmed me.

“……To find the bad person who entered your room, Duke….”

“So you’re telling me you caused this whole incident by doing something unnecessary I never even asked you to do.”

Before he’d even finished speaking, the Duke let out an irritated sigh.

At that reaction, I clamped my lips shut.

‘What exactly had I hoped for from the Duke, anyway?’

After all, it wasn’t as if the Duke would ever be in real danger from some assassin.

In the original story, he meets his end only at the hands of the male lead after the latter becomes an adult.

No—even setting aside the original plot entirely, someone with that level of skill could never possibly kill the Duke.

Yet even knowing that, why had I felt so compelled to find the culprit?

Why couldn’t I just stand by and watch as the Duke faced danger?

His words—“useless act”—pierced straight into my chest, stinging deeply.

I forced myself to take a slow, steady breath.

‘It’s fine. I never did it expecting him to understand.’

Whether or not this villainous Duke appreciated it, I’d done it because I was in danger myself.

I did it for my own sake.

…Then why did it hurt so much?

“M-My lord.”

“What.”

“It’s just that… the young miss is….”

The Duke, looking down at me, couldn’t hide his startled expression.

Philen, fidgeting anxiously, pulled out a handkerchief—but it was already too late. Before he could even offer it, thick tears like chicken droppings plopped onto the floor.

“Are you hurt? Did you get injured?”

The Duke examined me with utter bewilderment in his eyes.

Beside me, Philen murmured, “I don’t think she’s crying because of any injury,” but the Duke didn’t seem to hear.

“If you’re hurt, just say so.”

“…….”

“Stop crying and speak up.”

“……Ugh.”

Once the tears started, they burst forth like a flooding dam.

The Duke picked me up as if I were luggage and gently set me back down on the floor.

His face, now directly in front of mine, was clearly flustered.

“Hic… huuuh….”

It had truly been a long time since I’d cried like this.

I kept wiping my tears with the back of my hand, but they poured out faster than I could dry them.

“You don’t seem injured.”

The Duke looked me over carefully. His hands hovered around me, hesitant to actually touch me.

‘It’s unfair. Really unfair.’

I’d been shocked too. I’d been scared too.

I knew it was dangerous, but I’d really done it for the Duke’s sake.

Just then, I spotted Sophia approaching from afar with a startled look on her face.

Seeing Philen running alongside her, I realized he must have gone to fetch her.

I quickly ran toward her.

“Sophiaaa!”

[This is the timeline separator]

Sniffle, sniffle.

My vision blurred.

Soon, thick tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Young miss….”

Next to me, Sophia and Delma looked utterly distressed.

I didn’t want to cry in front of them, yet the tears kept spilling out uncontrollably.

Before I knew it, my eyes filled with tears once again.

I hastily wiped them with my sleeve and opened my mouth.

As if waiting for this, Sophia popped a fruit pudding into my mouth.

Though the pudding was soaked in tears, it tasted sweet and tangy.

“Would you like more pudding?”

Sophia seemed genuinely concerned for me. The pudding was delicious, but after crying so hard, I was absolutely ravenous.

When I’m hungry, I usually prefer cookies over pudding—but pudding was still tasty…

“By the way, Sophia.”

“Yes, young miss?”

“I… I kind of want cookies too….”

I pouted as I mumbled. The lingering tears dripped onto the back of my hand.

At that, both Sophia and Delma instantly hardened their expressions.

“We’ll need to bake fresh cookies! I’ll load them with chocolate and bring them right over—please wait just a moment!”

“I’ll bring more pudding right away!”

In an instant, both Delma and Sophia dashed out of my room.

Left alone again, I chewed slowly on the sweet pudding still in my mouth.

‘Two puddings and cookies in one day…’

It was pitiful, but that one part was nice.

‘That’ll be delicious.’

My tears had subsided a bit compared to before. Earlier, they’d just kept flowing endlessly—I couldn’t even control them.

I blew my nose loudly into a handkerchief.

‘I was really scared.’

I’d never seen the Duke that angry before.

I knew I’d done something wrong, but I’d also nearly died!

When he suddenly interrogated me with such a menacing glare, how could I not be shocked?

‘…Who exactly was I doing this for, anyway?’

I’d been trying to stop the Duke from drinking poison.

Of course, the Duke couldn’t have known my intentions.

But to fly into a rage without even asking why, just accusing me of ignoring his orders—that was too much!

‘I really was terrified.’

Just thinking about it made that bitter sadness surge back up. My vision began to blur again.

“Who else would act like a villainous duke, huh?”

I did all that for the Duke’s sake. From now on, I won’t worry about him anymore. Let assassins come or poison be drunk—I won’t care.

‘I absolutely won’t interfere again.’

I rubbed my eyes again with my right sleeve.

Then, suddenly, I felt an uneasy gaze from beside me.

I was alone in the room—strange.

‘What is it?’

I turned my head and saw a slender silver body and vivid red eyes.

“Oh—it’s that snake from earlier.”

It was the very same Silver Snake that had saved me from the assassin.

I’d been wondering if I’d imagined it earlier, since the snake had vanished so suddenly.

But seeing it again like this proved it hadn’t been a hallucination.

The Silver Snake had been coiled on the floor, silently watching me—who knew how long it had been there.

If I were seeing this snake for the first time now, I might have screamed in fright.

But I knew this snake had saved me earlier. So instead of disgust, I felt more curiosity and relief—though apparently, the snake disagreed.

[What did you just say?!]

“Huh?”

An angry voice echoed inside my head. Startled, I looked around.

[I’m asking what you just said!]

Ah—now that I thought about it, that was the same voice I’d heard earlier.

The one that suddenly warned me to dodge right before the display case toppled.

“What… what did I say?”

[I just asked you what you said! Why can’t humans ever listen the first time?!]

The Silver Snake grumbled. Dazed, I replied:

“Something like… ‘Who else would act like a villainous duke, huh?’….”

[Exactly that!]

“Uh… then, you’re that snake from earlier?”

[Hiss! Yes, that’s right!]

The coiled snake raised its body up.

It thrust its head closer to me, flicking its red tongue and hissing sharply.

[How dare you compare me to some lowly creature?!]

“What? You’re the one talking?”

[Yes!]

“Huh? How can a snake even speak?”

[Wha—! You called me a snake again! You’re the most insignificant and chatterbox-like creature in this whole world!]

The Silver Snake thrashed its head wildly in agitation.

Its tail slapped the floor, *thwap-thwap*.

Just then, the door burst open.

“Young miss! I brought the pudding first—… huh?”

Delma’s head snapped stiffly toward us. Her mouth opened soundlessly.

“That… that thing… s-snake….”

And then she fainted on the spot.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I’m telling you, it’s true! There really was a pale snake in the young miss’s room!”

Delma waved her hands frantically, repeating the same words over and over.

I stayed silent, chewing vigorously on the cookie Sophia had brought me.

“Delma, you must have seen things.”

Sophia gently wiped the cookie crumbs from my lips.

As she did, I popped the last cookie piece into my mouth in one big bite.

“But I really saw it….”

Delma sounded wronged, yet tilted her head uncertainly as her voice trailed off. With no evidence left behind, even she seemed unsure now.

“Didn’t you see it either, young miss?”

“Huh?”

“The snake! Just now, there was clearly a Silver Snake right here!”

“Well, umm….”

I rolled my eyes around nervously. Seeing my reaction, Sophia quickly stepped in.

“Delma, you might’ve imagined it because you’re tired.”

“Yeah, Delma must’ve been exhausted.”

I quickly chimed in agreement. Delma pressed her fingertips firmly to her temples and said,

“Ugh… I guess you’re right. That’d be a relief. I have been feeling a bit tired lately. I mean—a snake in the young miss’s room? Just imagining it is horrifying!”

I silently apologized to Delma in my heart.

‘Sorry, Delma.’

The truth was, she hadn’t seen a hallucination. I’d seen the Silver Snake too.

In fact, we’d even spoken to each other.

But after Delma fainted, the Silver Snake had swiftly darted under my bed—with a threat, no less.

[Don’t you dare say a word about me! If you do, I won’t let you off easy, you dim-witted, foolish creature!]

It was probably still listening to our conversation from under the bed right now.

But even without the snake’s threat, I hadn’t planned to say anything about this anyway. Speaking up would only bring me trouble.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. It was Philen.

“Um… what is the young miss doing right now?”

Philen scanned the room, searching for me.

I quickly dove under the blanket and pulled it all the way up to my forehead.

It was obvious why Philen had come looking for me.

“As you can see, the young miss is feeling a bit… well, please just tell him she’s taking a nap for now?”

“…Yes, understood.”

At Sophia’s words, Philen replied sulkily and left.

Sophia returned to my side and gently patted the blanket over me.

“The Duke is probably just worried about you. After all, you could have been seriously injured.”

Sophia continued softly,

“He’s likely angrier at himself than at you, even.”

Don’t be silly, Sophia.

From under the blanket, I let out a deep sigh.

‘If that were true, he would’ve asked if I was alright before scolding me.’