[Full] The Villain Found Out This is a Novel (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 24
“Kian. You’re such a good child. His Grace must be truly delighted inside.”
Kian seemed happiest of all to receive praise from me. He lightly touched his nose and then scratched the back of his head.
“My mother is happy, so I’m happy too.”
With Sikar’s hand restored to normal, he resumed folding paper, and we managed to complete everything we had aimed for before dinner time.
All the finished pieces were placed in glass cases—the thousand paper cranes in Kian’s room, and the thousand paper roses in mine.
That night, before going to bed, I visited Kian’s room and saw him praying toward the case holding the cranes, but I didn’t ask him about it. I only hoped that his precious prayer would be answered.
And to help Sikar gain a few points with Kian, I said something after Kian finished praying.
“Look, Kian. This crane was made together by His Grace and me, and that dreamcatcher over there was made by His Grace himself.”
Kian, as if Sikar held no interest for him at all, hugged me tightly.
“Thank you, Mother. I really feel like a lucky child.”
I had thought he might have softened a little after seeing him thaw Sikar’s hand from the statue earlier, but apparently not.
“Kian, how do I feel to you compared to His Grace?”
Kian looked unsure whether to tell the truth or not, but eventually spoke honestly to me.
“Hmm… cold.”
Was it perhaps more important for Sikar to open his heart than for Kian to?
“Kian, even if someone gives off coldness sometimes, there are still good people among them.”
“People can be cold-hearted and still good?”
“Yes. Some people have cold hearts but upright thoughts. His Grace is one of them.”
“Is His Grace really like that?”
Seeing Kian’s innocent, wide-eyed gaze as he asked me made me feel a twinge of guilt, but I was certain Sikar wouldn’t harm Kian as long as Kian needed him.
“Of course. Right now he’s just awkward at expressing his feelings, but someday he’ll surely show his warmth.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes. So all you need to do is grow up strong and healthy, soaking in our love.”
Kian made a skeptical, uncertain face, then finally nodded.
“I’ll think about it carefully.”
I gave Kian the warmest smile I could manage and kissed his forehead, and Kian wrapped his small, delicate arms tightly around my waist.
“Sleep well, Kian.”
“Good night, Mother.”
I stayed with Kian until he fell asleep, gently patting his stomach, hoping he wouldn’t have nightmares tonight.
I checked the back of his neck discreetly—the royal crest was still clearly visible. I needed to hide that mark quickly so he could move around freely.
Judging by the time, Lucy should be leaving the house right about now.
Please, today, let Raydocs’ heart change.
Though Raydocs didn’t believe Yura’s words, he couldn’t quite shake the lingering thought.
“It’s ridiculous to believe such a thing, but… just in case.”
So Raydocs only slipped out of the room after confirming Lucy was sound asleep.
Walking alone down the hallway, he kept muttering that the Duchess’ words were pure nonsense.
While Raydocs sang a lullaby to help Lucy fall asleep, she gazed out the window at the twinkling stars and remembered an old fairy tale.
It was about a boy who, desperately missing his mother, wandered the cold winter roads searching for her until he collapsed by the roadside—and his mother, who had become a star, came down to find him.
Lucy thought that if she too wandered the streets searching for her mother and collapsed, perhaps her mother would come looking for her.
“On a night when the stars shine so brightly, it’ll be easy for Mother to find me.”
In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, Lucy slipped out of the house and began walking aimlessly.
Just like in the fairy tale, she felt that only by walking until she collapsed could she meet her mother. It didn’t have to be tonight—even tomorrow night would do. She just wanted to see her mother’s face once. She missed her so terribly.
Wandering the freezing streets, Lucy soon collapsed.
It was exactly what she had wanted. As she lay on the icy ground in the bitter cold, a warm touch reached her.
Though she couldn’t see the figure clearly, the warmth of that body told Lucy her mother had come down from the heavens for her.
“Mother… you came looking for me.”
Lucy wanted to open her eyes to see her mother, but instead, she lost consciousness as if falling into sleep.
Raydocs, who found Lucy collapsed on the street, felt his heart drop. Her body was already cold.
He held her tightly to prevent her temperature from dropping further and carried her into the carriage.
He had clearly checked that Lucy was asleep, but something about Yura’s words nagged at him, so he went to confirm—and indeed, Lucy was gone.
After hearing the physician say that any further delay might have resulted in death, Raydocs felt it was entirely his own fault for failing to protect his child properly.
He knew Sikar wasn’t the type to speak nonsense or be swayed by others’ words, but because he didn’t want to join hands with him, he had pretended not to notice.
But now, he realized he could no longer avoid it.
Gazing at the night sky that Lucy had looked up at from her room, Raydocs sank into deep anguish.
I went down to the dining room for breakfast, but Kian wasn’t there.
Grandmother had gone to the Grand Cathedral due to her worsening condition, Durion was eating in his room to avoid disturbing us, and Vika, who always disliked sharing meals, was dining alone.
With even Kian absent, only Sikar and I sat at the breakfast table.
“Why isn’t Kian coming down?”
“Kian is having breakfast with Vika.”
“Why isn’t he eating with us?”
“Apparently, they’re playing ‘spirit games’ during meals starting today.”
“Spirit games?”
“You saw it yourself yesterday, didn’t you? Kian’s skill has improved remarkably. In the novel, he couldn’t properly handle spirits until age eight, but since Vika started these ‘spirit games’—which are really just spirit lessons in disguise—his abilities have been improving daily.”
Sikar spoke casually, but I wondered if he had already anticipated this and chosen Vika as Kian’s governess for that very reason.
“Sikar, I have a request. Could you try to like Kian just a little? He says he keeps feeling coldness from you.”
“Do you think it’s easy for an adult to like someone who’ll try to kill him someday? And that’s just who I am. You claimed you could handle it—you change him. Or change me. You’re the one who needs to do your best to give my life a happy ending.”
Heartless bastard.
“By the way, Lucy left the house last night.”
“You saw Lucy? How did you confirm it?”
“Just in case, I was keeping watch in front of the Marquis’ mansion last night, and I saw Raydocs rush out in a panic to look for Lucy. Now that he’s seen his own daughter leave home on a winter night, he might finally reconsider.”
So that was why Durion went out with him last night. It would be great if Raydocs’ heart changed quickly—no need to wait two more days.
Right now, above all else, we needed to hide the mark on the back of Kian’s neck as soon as possible. Seeing Kian trapped in the Duke’s mansion, unable to go anywhere because of that mark, weighed heavily on my heart.
“By the way, are you searching for Valije’s body?”
“We’re searching, but it’s difficult in the snowy mountains. Even checking the novel’s scenes in your memory doesn’t give an exact location, so it’s hard to find him quickly.”
True—it took several months in the original story, after all.
After finishing our meal hastily, we stood up to go play with Kian again.
“These days feel like the most exhausting time of my life. Even when Agathion cursed me, it wasn’t this grueling.”
“That’s why they say it takes a village to raise a child.”
Durion, following us down the hallway, rubbed his stiff shoulders in agreement.
“Exactly. Even after returning from the training chamber, I wouldn’t be this exhausted. Folding a thousand paper cranes in two days nearly knocked me out!”
“Anyone hearing that would think you folded them all yourself. You barely made a hundred. It’s amazing you managed to learn swordsmanship at all with such sluggish hands.”
“If it had been about crushing paper instead of folding it, I’d have been the fastest.”
“That wouldn’t have left a good impression on Kian, though.”
Durion waved his hand dismissively, as if that was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.
“The young master treats me more kindly than even Vika! He said he feels a faint warmth from me.”
“At least it seems Kian is opening up to you—that’s a relief.”
Durion smiled brightly, apparently pleased, then suddenly remembered something.
“Your Grace, you’re not planning to do that strange paper folding again today, are you? How about sledding instead? The snow on the hill behind the house is perfect for it.”
That didn’t sound bad—active play is good for children. But Sikar’s reaction was less than favorable.
“No sledding.”
“How about building a snowman, then? The yard is piled high with snow.”
“That’s not allowed either.”
Durion looked disappointed, and I nearly asked why—until I remembered the original story and stayed silent.
In the novel, Kian had gone sledding with Raydocs’ children, Lucy and Luid, and burst into tears remembering his father, Valije. That must be why Sikar forbade sledding.
Was this due to his sharp memory—or his compassion for Kian? I hoped it was the latter.
“How about trying something Kian hasn’t done before?”
“What’s that?”
“Clay play.”
Both Sikar and Durion looked at me as if asking what kind of game that was.
“Clay play?”
“Playing by molding various things out of clay—it’s great for children’s emotional and cognitive development.”
Sikar took my hand to better understand what it was, while Durion turned his head away, acting shy.
“Your Grace must truly love the Lady—you’re holding her hand so openly even in front of me.”
Sikar seemed indifferent to Durion’s teasing, but I was left speechless, managing only an awkward chuckle.
‘Ha… ha… ha…’
Maybe children everywhere enjoy similar things—Kian seemed to like clay play quite a bit. Vika merely poked the clay listlessly with her fingers, but even Durion began enthusiastically shaping various odd things from the clay this time.
Kian made a bear, Durion crafted some unidentifiable slime-like creatures, and Vika just half-heartedly pressed the clay with her fingers, pretending to participate.
Unexpectedly, Sikar molded a clay crown and placed it gently on Kian’s head.
“It suits you well.”
Was he imagining how Kian would look seated on a throne? I clapped for Kian, who was staring at me with a dazed expression.
“Goodness, it suits you perfectly! You look just like a little prince.”
“A prince?”
Of course—you’ll be a king when you grow up, so for now, you’re a prince.
I glanced at Vika and Durion, seeking their agreement. Vika gave a half-hearted nod, while Durion clapped and cheered just like me.
“Exactly! If there were a real prince, it would be our young master! You’re magnificent, Young Master!”
Into this warm, cheerful atmosphere, Andrea rushed into the room.
“Your Grace, I have urgent news to deliver.”
“What could be so urgent? Just speak plainly.”
Andrea held out a letter toward Kian.
“It’s a message from His Majesty the King.”
“Gillian’s message?”
Sikar hastily opened the letter and, with a displeased look, turned to me.
“Gillian says he’s coming to see Kian tomorrow without fail.”
Tomorrow?! But we haven’t hidden the mark on Kian’s neck yet—what are we going to do?!
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
Chapter Comments (31)
Inline Comments (16)
"I'll finish hugging you properly back at the ducal manor."
Is he just finding any excuse to hug her? I’m still trying to figure out if he’s starting to have feelings or not! Or if he’s just not right in the head and does these things out of obligation or sense of duty? Idk.
In his arms, everything seemed to stop—no sounds reached me at all. There was on
Wait…. what if Sikar was annoyed that Yura thought Kian was so cool for protecting Lucy by covering her eyes that Sikar felt jealous or something so decided to reenact it so he could do the same for Yura?
“My twins normally fight more than ten times a day—that’s just ordinary for us.
Sometimes a firm hand shapes character and, through discipline, molds a good man
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I still don’t get how her spending his money makes him impressed? 😂🤣
Honestly? Good job Sikar. The twins (especially Luid) and brats and should stop fighting all the time. Their dad isn’t doing get there. And I’m not a fan of the “gentle parenting” when the kids are absolute terrors that need a more firm hand.
I wonder if Sikar is starting to get slightly jealous of Kian and his interactions with Yura?