The Villain Family Opposes Independence (13 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 14
How did things end up like this?
I could do nothing but sit awkwardly at this meal I hadn’t even planned to attend.
The banquet hall of the Ferdia main residence.
Every member of the Ferdia family was present—including the Crown Prince himself, who sat beside me as my so-called fiancé.
“Though my visit was sudden, you’ve received me so graciously. I hardly know how to repay Ferdia’s kindness.”
At the Crown Prince’s words, Duchess Ferdia smiled gracefully and replied,
“It is we who are honored to host Your Highness. I only hope the meal suits your taste.”
“It rivals any banquet in the capital.”
“You flatter us.”
Ha ha, hee hee.
Their exchange of hollow pleasantries between the Crown Prince and Duchess Ferdia was so insincere it made my skin crawl.
While Yansi and Carlot chimed in with polite remarks of their own, I merely picked at the food before me.
‘I wish I could return to the guest wing…’
This dinner had certainly not been on the schedule.
So how had this uncomfortable banquet come to pass?
Let us rewind a few hours.
.
.
.
Having returned from an outing yesterday, I didn’t open my eyes until well past noon.
As I stretched with a small yawn, Martha happened to enter my bedroom.
“My lady, what will you do today?”
“I thought I’d practice my divine ability.”
What I referred to as “divine ability practice” with Martha was actually the process of brewing antidotes for Duchess Ferdia.
Claiming it was my power to destroy poison had been a stroke of genius.
Thankfully, it had raised no suspicion whatsoever.
Since ingesting poison meant being confined to my room for several days due to lingering toxins, I had to steel myself before beginning.
After a quick wash, I sat at my desk and laid out the poisons Duchess Ferdia had given me.
“Don’t come in until I call for you.”
“Yes, my lady. I’ll tell the other staff in the guest wing not to approach your room. Just pull the cord if you need anything.”
Having grown accustomed to this routine after several previous sessions, Martha confidently recited the instructions before leaving.
The first poison I picked up was a lethal toxin—just a single drop would paralyze the respiratory tract, leading to suffocation and death.
“This one… will keep me bedridden for at least three days. No, four.”
But there was no other way if I wanted to earn my independence fund.
Just as I took a deep breath and opened the vial—
Knock knock.
An unexpected knock made me glance toward the door. My concentration shattered, leaving me unusually irritable.
“I told you not to come until I called.”
Martha’s reply came from the other side.
“It’s… His Highness the First Crown Prince is here.”
‘The Crown Prince?’
I had sent a refusal letter yesterday, citing illness as an excuse for declining his banquet invitation.
Though he was a nuisance, I couldn’t exactly turn away royalty who had come in person—so I’d have to show my face.
“Show him to the reception room.”
“I was about to—but—”
Before Martha could finish, a familiar male voice spoke from outside my door.
“My lady Consort. Are you feeling well?”
‘…Why is that man standing right outside my bedroom?’
There was no greater breach of etiquette.
Even if we were engaged, he had no business coming this far.
But he was royalty—and a leading candidate for the next emperor—so I couldn’t voice my displeasure.
Besides, I was the one who had first been rude by rejecting his invitation outright, leaving me in no position to complain.
Ugh.
I wasn’t dressed in proper visiting attire—only in simple loungewear—so perhaps I was underdressed for a royal guest.
But that was hardly my fault; he hadn’t even given me time to prepare before barging in.
The moment I opened the door, the Crown Prince stood there as if he owned the place.
He was as dazzlingly handsome as ever.
His slightly tousled silver hair perfectly complemented his signature air of calm ease.
His green eyes fixed on me with close attention.
“Are you still unwell?”
“Thanks to you, I’m much better.”
Had he arrived just a little later, he would’ve seen me writhing in agony after drinking the poison.
Since I’d already collapsed in front of him once, I certainly didn’t want a repeat performance.
‘Especially not if he’ll mistake it for some kind of trick again—that’d just make me furious.’
More pressing was why he’d come to see me at all. He certainly didn’t care about my health.
“Did you come to see Father?”
At my question, the Crown Prince nodded.
“I came to discuss a matter with the Duke, and remembered you’d said you were unwell.”
“Now that you’ve seen I’m fine, you can leave.”
I’d phrased it as politely as possible, yet the Crown Prince brazenly stepped right into my room.
“I have plenty of time for a cup of tea with my fiancée.”
“What a pity—we’ve run out of tea leaves.”
“Then plain water will do.”
Why was this man acting so strangely?
Once fully inside, the Crown Prince settled confidently onto the sofa.
Martha soon arrived with a tray and served tea. After sipping once, Adenmir smiled faintly.
“You said you had no tea leaves, yet this is premium-grade tea from Krundel.”
“I suppose we did have some after all.”
Even my deliberately curt reply failed to ruffle the Crown Prince’s mood in the slightest.
Then, suddenly, his gaze lingered on Martha for quite some time as he sipped his tea.
I tilted my head in confusion.
‘Could he possibly be smitten with Martha?’
Unfortunately for him, Martha’s type was someone far handsomer.
Once Martha left with the tray, the Crown Prince set down his cup and spoke softly.
“My lady Consort, you ought to dismiss servants who don’t know how to properly serve their master.”
Rather than being smitten, he’d just recommended firing her—leaving me utterly bewildered.
“Has my personal maid offended Your Highness in some way?”
The Crown Prince frowned slightly, as if the very thought displeased him.
“When you collapsed last time, she didn’t even flinch. How could a servant remain so calm while her master lay unconscious?”
“Oh… that.”
“You must have been shocked. I understand.”
“Haha.”
“If someone I trusted acted like that, I’d be shocked too.”
Though the Crown Prince tried to show empathy, I could only offer an awkward smile.
It was so absurd—especially since he was utterly serious.
‘No, not funny at all.’
Poor Martha… I couldn’t bear discussing her any further, so I quickly changed the subject.
“Father is probably waiting for you.”
“He’ll understand—I’m visiting my fiancée, after all.”
Somehow, I doubted that…
Just as I took a reluctant sip of tea, the Crown Prince’s gaze drifted past my shoulder to my desk.
There sat the poison vials I hadn’t yet put away. Though he likely wouldn’t recognize them as poisons at a glance, I subtly shifted to block his view.
To my surprise, he quickly looked away.
“You seem well enough—join us for dinner.”
“What dinner?”
“The evening banquet. The Duke invited me. He said the whole family will be there.”
Why this sudden misfortune? Even the monthly family meal was a chore—now I had to endure it with the Crown Prince present?
“I’m still not feeling well—”
“You look fine. Or are you feigning illness?”
“It’s not that—”
“I’ll speak to the Duke myself. You have time—prepare at your leisure.”
“Wait, Your Highness!”
Bang.
Without waiting for my reply, the Crown Prince swept out the door.
His behavior—as if he were the host of the banquet—left me speechless.
“Who does he think he is, acting like royalty or something…?”
I scowled inwardly and flipped him off in my mind.
Martha, who had been waiting outside, now entered with curiosity written all over her face.
“My lady—what did His Highness say?”
“He said you should be fired, Martha.”
“What? Why? Who cares for you more than I do? Hah! What nonsense is this?”
While nodding along to Martha’s impassioned vow to push hard for an annulment with the Crown Prince, my mind was elsewhere.
Dinner.
‘I don’t want to go!’
[This is the timeline separator]…That had been my fervent wish—but when the Duke sent his steward personally, I had no choice but to come.
Since I was here anyway, I figured I might as well enjoy a delicious meal, so I finally started eating in earnest.
The family’s conversation played like background music in my ears.
The Duke opened the main topic—the very reason the Crown Prince had come in person.
“Yes. I hear Angelos has officially begun operations in military supplies.”
Yansi chuckled and replied,
“Their recent frequent exchanges with the Southern Mage Tower suggest they’ve already started producing magical artifacts.”
I’d tried to tune it out, but couldn’t—this was a plot point I already knew from the story.
I understood exactly how this would unfold.
The mastermind behind it all was House Angelos.
One of the four great houses blessed with the Authority of Regeneration, its head was utterly obsessed with gaining honor and expanding wealth.
The Crown Prince frowned, clearly troubled by the thought.
“I hear they’ve secured exclusive bidding rights to every mana stone mine—the key raw material for enchanted armor.”
That was precisely the problem.
Producing military supplies itself wasn’t an issue—but Angelos’s business tactics were shamelessly underhanded.
Monopolizing the primary ingredient was an obvious ploy to ruin one of Ferdia’s core enterprises.
Though Ferdia owned its own mines and wouldn’t suffer immediate hardship, long-term supply instability would surely cause difficulties.
“This is serious.”
Duchess Ferdia spoke with a faint, amused smile.
For someone calling it “serious,” she seemed remarkably unconcerned.
“Then perhaps we should purchase mana stone mines ourselves. It would be wise to secure as much as possible.”
Yansi proposed a solution—but the Crown Prince immediately dismissed it.
“It’s too late. Angelos has already acquired the majority of mines. It’s pointless to act now.”
While they discussed matters seriously, I calmly enjoyed my meal.
Knowing the future, I felt no sense of crisis at all.
‘Because they’re the ones who’ll fall.’
Angelos, that is.
After some initial struggle, Ferdia would soon find a solution—thanks to Yansi’s clever scheming.
Though there would be some trial-and-error losses along the way, Ferdia would ultimately triumph.
Since things would turn out fine regardless—and it wasn’t my place to interfere—I’d decided to stay out of it.
And then—
“Elodie.”
“…?!”
At the sudden call of my name, I jerked my head up, mid-bite.
The Duke was looking right at me.
“Answer while you eat.”
With food still in my mouth, I couldn’t reply until I’d finished chewing—but the Duke waited patiently.
Gulp.
I quickly swallowed and asked,
“Why did you call me?”
“I’m curious what you think.”
His unexpected words startled everyone in the banquet hall.
Including me.
The Duke had never once asked for my opinion before—why now?
‘Something’s off with the Duke…!’
Summoning me, assigning guards, even asking for my thoughts… Why suddenly do all these things he’d never done before?
And always since I’d regained memories of my past life.
Yansi gave an uneasy laugh and tried to dissuade the Duke.
“Father, this discussion is too difficult for Lily to answer.”
Of course he’d say that.
I’d never shown interest in family affairs before.
‘Though that was only because I feared Duchess Ferdia’s suspicion if I ever did.’
Karl remained silent, while Duchess Ferdia simply smiled with elegant grace.
Without a word, it was clear everyone shared Yansi’s thoughts.
But the Duke wouldn’t be swayed.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Yansi.”
At his icy gaze, a faint crack appeared in Yansi’s smile.
“…My apologies. I overstepped.”
“Elodie.”
Ignoring Yansi, the Duke called my name again.
I was torn.
I knew exactly how to solve this crisis—but that solution belonged to Yansi in the original future.
If I spoke now, I’d be stealing his credit—and that felt wrong.
Yet if I intervened now, I could prevent unnecessary losses and mistakes…
In the end, I made my choice.
“I have a solution.”
As if expecting this, the Duke nodded.
Of all people, it was Yansi who asked,
“What solution?”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (55)
Yes, yes, you should reward her well. Lily is very smart. I hope Yancy doesn’t try to kill her.
I felt that the duke didn’t hate her, but that doesn’t mean he was right. Poor Lily, everyone ignored her and she was banished to the annex, even though she thought they were her family and hoped to receive love and praise from them.
But all she got was indifference and hurtful looks, even if they didn’t mean it, and her brother’s complaints and insults. I wish she would be loved and receive love and praise; she deserves it, Lily 🥺💗
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Miioo
Yance is a vile villain. Why does he hate Lily and the Duke? Doesn’t he realize that she’ll be in danger because of this?