Reforming the Villain Family (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 4

The ring the woman brought the previous day was fake. Philen had personally verified it.

When crafting a ring bearing a family’s seal, it is made exclusively of pure gold. Yet the moment the woman’s ring was dipped into the reagent, its color changed immediately.

However, today Kyleius—who had brought the child—ordered him to spread a story completely opposite to the truth.

“I don’t understand what the problem is.”

Kyleius continued, pressing his fingers firmly against his furrowed brow.

“The child was far thinner than others his age. Whether the woman was his birth mother or not, it’s clear she hadn’t cared for him properly. There were even signs of abuse on his arms and neck. Isn’t this a good opportunity for such a child?”

“If I only heard that, it would sound as if you brought the child out of genuine concern.”

Philen shrugged and went on.

“If that were truly the case, you could simply arrange to place him in an orphanage. I know better than anyone that you’re not the sort of person who would formally register a complete stranger’s orphan into your family just for that reason alone.”

Kyleius set down the documents he’d been holding. After a brief silence, it was Kyleius who spoke first.

“He was the child the family needed—and conveniently, he has black hair, too.”

At that reply, Philen’s brow gradually furrowed as if deep in thought. A moment later, he realized what he’d been missing.

“Could it possibly be because of the recent demands from your vassals?”

Philen had once attended an official meeting on Kyleius’s behalf.

He now recalled one particular agenda item that had been endlessly debated during that meeting.

‘It seems many vassals are discontent with naming Young Master Clemens as your heir.’

It had become the most troublesome issue lately.

More than half of the vassals serving the ducal house refused to accept Clemens as the next duke.

Their reason was simple: they could not recognize an adopted child, who carried none of the family’s blood, as heir to the ducal line.

And their demand was downright absurd.

[Thus, our Houses—Marc, Ripe, Pecus, and Bremen—respectfully request that you solidify the ducal house’s standing by forming an alliance through marriage with House Schusted.]

In essence, they were insisting he marry into one of the vassal families, even adding that if he complied, they wouldn’t interfere further with the succession issue.

How had Kyleius reacted when he received that letter?

‘House Schusted.’

His voice had been icy. Upon hearing the news, Kyleius couldn’t help but scoff.

To Philen, Kyleius had looked just like a grim reaper ready to summon all the vassals and send them straight to the netherworld.

Had Kyleius immediately summoned the vassals to the ducal estate, Philen would have earnestly advised him against it.

Even for a grand noble, massacring all his vassals at once would provoke a response from the imperial court.

Fortunately, Kyleius hadn’t summoned them.

Still, Philen had no doubt Kyleius would eventually send his ‘rabid dogs’ after them.

Yet, days passed, and Kyleius—using Philen’s own words—remained unusually docile.

Perhaps Philen wasn’t the only one who found it strange; over the following days, several more letters arrived from the vassal families, disguised as inquiries about his well-being but actually pressing for a response on the heir issue.

Philen himself had delivered those letters to Kyleius, yet received no reaction.

‘Surely he isn’t seriously considering accepting their demand?’

As a loyal retainer, that was another matter he’d have to prevent. Of all houses, House Schusted was especially problematic.

Just as things stood at an impasse, the child appeared—dirty, disheveled, and allegedly the daughter of some unknown courtesan.

Even Philen had been genuinely astonished at the child’s black hair. After all, black hair was an uncommon sight in the Empire.

“Indeed, if you accept this child, they’ll have no further grounds to question your choice of heir.”

Understanding Kyleius’s intention, Philen snapped his fingers. The answer had been right before his eyes all along—he felt foolish for not realizing it sooner.

“The young mistress appears to be around four years old at most, which makes the timing absolutely perfect.”

To Philen, the child was already “the young mistress.”

A child so beneficial to the family’s interests was naturally, from his perspective, a precious young lady.

And just as Philen had said, Kyleius had indeed taken that precise “timing” into account when bringing the child.

Had she been slightly older or younger—or even if her hair hadn’t been black like his own—he wouldn’t have taken her in.

It would have only invited unnecessary suspicion.

“In that case, there’s much to prepare right away. I’ll place orders immediately for the young mistress’s clothing and furniture.”

Relieved that a troubling matter was finally resolving itself, Philen seemed unusually cheerful.

Kyleius lowered his gaze back to the documents. In his mind, the image of the child he’d seen yesterday surfaced naturally.

That child who’d burst into tears the moment she saw him.

At their first meeting, she’d seemed reckless—frightened yet refusing to avert her eyes. But the second time, she’d immediately broken down crying.

He recalled Yan, standing nearby, glancing at him while trying to comfort the child.

Yet, strangely, Kyleius hadn’t found the child’s crying particularly grating.

It surprised even himself, though that was all.

Unlike the princes, she wasn’t a child he intended to keep by his side for long.

He indifferently pushed thoughts of her aside.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Young mistress, you’re eating so well now.”

“Yeah, give me another bowl!”

“Really?”

Sophia chuckled softly and ladled out another generous helping of soup. Meanwhile, another maid who had been tidying toys nearby approached. Her name was Delma.

“You’re eating so well—you’ll surely grow taller!”

Delma’s cheerful encouragement gave her even more motivation.

Since arriving at the ducal estate, my days had been quite busy—so much so I hadn’t even had time to worry about having ended up in a villain’s family.

A tailor had visited the mansion to measure me for new clothes, and a furniture craftsman had come to custom-make pieces to fit my size.

All I’d had to do each time was stand still while they took my measurements. And their words had shocked me.

“Oh dear, you’re even smaller than I expected! How adorable!”

“How can anyone have such tiny, cute feet? Come take a look at this!”

“Oh my, these toys might still be too difficult for you to play with. I’ll craft new ones suited just for you, young mistress.”

“Am I really that small…?”

I’d thought I was at least average! Feeling wronged, I’d been diligently eating every vegetable in my soup ever since.

And today, I was even making an effort to finish two full bowls.

“Wow, well done! You’ve cleaned your bowl completely.”

Sophia beamed at the empty bowl. I walked over to the mirror and checked my reflection, standing briefly on my tiptoes.

…Maybe I should’ve eaten one more bowl.

“You’ll grow quickly—you’re eating so well and so balanced.”

Sophia comforted me from the side. Yet, looking at my reflection, her reassurance didn’t seem very promising.

‘Sigh, better get to work.’

In truth, the moment I arrived here, I’d set one clear goal for myself.

After finishing my meal, I began hurriedly gathering my bag.

“Young mistress, are you going on another mansion exploration today?”

“Yep!”

“Mansion exploration”—that was the playful name Sophia had given to my wandering around the estate to thoroughly map its layout.

Though Sophia didn’t know it, this “game” actually had only one true purpose.

‘In four years, I’ll be independent.’

I planned to leave the ducal house in four years.

For some unknown reason, the Duke had brought me here pretending I was his long-lost daughter. But I knew the truth: the Duke had no daughter.

Or, to be more precise, the Duke had no daughter after the original story began.

‘There’s no way I’m actually the Duke’s real daughter.’

The Duke probably hadn’t brought me here believing I truly was his child either. In the original story, he was the kind of man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Thus, he must have brought me solely to serve his own purposes.

At least I had some time before the villainous Duke began his true atrocities in earnest.

The incident where the Duke suddenly went mad and slaughtered all his vassals wouldn’t happen until after Clemens returned to the estate.

‘Clemens was supposed to come home at age fifteen.’

That gave me four years. I just needed to endure here until then.

In four years, I’d be eight years old—and at eight, I’d be capable of managing many things on my own.

Small inns and restaurants on the outskirts of towns often took in homeless children, offering food and shelter in exchange for work.

‘At eight, I can live on my own.’

To ensure successful independence in four years, I’d made exactly two plans: scouting an escape route in advance and saving up emergency funds.

“Oh my, what have you packed so much of in your bag?”

Sophia eyed my bag curiously. I quickly hugged it tightly with both arms.

“It’s nothing!”

“Hmm, that seems suspicious.”

Sophia narrowed her eyes, clearly doubtful.

I rolled my eyes around, then whispered carefully,

“It’s actually a secret… it’s my exploration supplies.”

“Oh really?”

I whispered softly into Sophia’s ear, and a gentle smile appeared at the corners of her lips.

“You must be planning to explore very far.”

“Yeah! So I need to hurry and go!”

I quickly shouldered my bag and dashed out of the room. From behind, I thought I heard Sophia’s laughter.

In truth, my bag was filled with items I’d found during my explorations.

Buttons fallen from someone’s clothes, hair ribbons, fragments broken off from ornaments—things like that.

‘I’ll need to move these to another spot once I get back to my room.’

If anyone questioned why I was collecting such things, I’d have no good answer. They might even think I was wandering the mansion to steal.

‘And then they might lock me in my room.’

I carefully scanned the floor of the corridor as I walked. Staircases, in particular, were places where people often dropped things.

Sure enough, just at the bottom of the stairs, I spotted another shiny silver button.

‘Jackpot!’

Finding just this one item was enough reward for today. I carefully tucked it into a secure spot inside my bag.

‘Then today, I’ll head to the second floor.’

As I tiptoed down the stairs, I spotted a large figure standing in the middle of the hallway.

Without thinking, I halted and quickly hid behind the nearest wall.

My startled heart pounded loudly.

‘Goodness!’

I never imagined I’d run into him here. Cautiously, I peeked out just my head again.