The Villainess Doesn't Want Love (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 15
Karina glanced sideways at Mikhail.
He appeared to be waiting solely for her instructions, following the order he had received before entering here.
‘What should I tell this guy to do with these scumbags?’
Karina pondered what command to give Mikhail.
She wanted to handle the matter quietly without making a scene.
“Ohh, look, there’s a bodyguard knight here with you.”
Seeing Karina’s gaze shift toward Mikhail, a man sneered while looking at him.
“Oh dear, how scary.”
One of the group, eyeing Mikhail’s attire, noticed his waist was empty and chuckled mockingly in agreement.
“Oh no, what do we do? Our fearsome bodyguard knight even forgot to bring his sword!”
“Why would he leave his sword behind if he knew he’d meet scary people?”
“Hehehe.”
“Is she really relying on just that dumb bodyguard and came alone?”
“Poor girl.”
After exchanging taunts among themselves, the ruffians revealed their true intentions.
“Miss, why don’t you come with us instead? We’ll protect you better than that guard.”
“Yeah, we’ll treat you way better than that guy.”
They moved closer toward Karina and Mikhail,
exuding an atmosphere as if they were about to abduct Karina at any moment.
Karina glared sternly at the lanky man and warned,
“Step aside.”
“Whew—feisty, aren’t we?”
One of the group whistled, then grinned unpleasantly with a snicker.
“A bit of a sharp tongue isn’t bad. There are plenty of weirdos who actually like that sort.”
“It’s always more satisfying to tame the fiercer ones.”
“Still, she’s pretty enough to be useful.”
‘Filthy bastards!’
Repulsed by their vulgar conversation, Karina scrunched up her face in disgust.
“I told you to step aside. If you’re so eager to get beaten despite my offering a gentle way out, does that mean you’re one of those weirdos too?”
“What? She’s ignoring us?”
“She needs a taste of hardship to learn her place.”
“She’ll feel plenty of it anyway once she’s sold off—it’d be pointless suffering to pick a fight now.”
At that moment, Mikhail, who had been expressionlessly awaiting Karina’s command, lifted his head.
He reached out his hand toward the ruffians.
His eyes had turned cold as ice.
Seeing this, Karina suddenly felt goosebumps crawl up her spine.
‘Surely he won’t kill them… right?’
For some reason, a chilling dread washed over her—he might actually slaughter them all.
“Wait, hold on!”
Karina grabbed Mikhail’s arm to stop him.
“……!”
At the touch of her hand, his shoulder twitched slightly, as if startled.
“Did you forget what I said earlier?”
“Oh… I was still supposed to stay put, wasn’t I?”
Mikhail looked back at Karina, his expression now gentle and obedient.
“But still…”
His crimson eyes swept over the gang of ruffians.
“Is there really any reason to let trash like this go?”
He tilted his head, genuinely puzzled,
as if asking why one shouldn’t simply crush disgusting vermin.
An icy tension swirled around them.
“…….”
Seeing Karina watch him anxiously, Mikhail whispered softly,
His demeanor toward her was tender, contrasting starkly with the tense atmosphere.
“Just say the word, and I’ll take care of everything for you.”
“…….”
“You only need to say one word. Just that.”
He leaned close to Karina’s ear, pleading in a coaxing tone,
“Please allow me. Alright?”
Yet, despite his gentle phrasing, his voice felt dangerously predatory, like a beast luring its prey.
“…….”
At this strange sensation, Karina’s lips trembled slightly.
Then, a stranger’s voice came from behind.
“Enough already.”
“……!?”
A woman in a black robe approached them.
Beside her stood a towering, hooded man, acting like her bodyguard.
All eyes turned toward these newcomers.
Regaining her composure, Karina gently pulled Mikhail’s hand down.
“…….”
Mikhail gave her a faint, regretful smile, then obediently lowered his hand.
“Huh? What’s this? Another girl showed up?”
A bald man peered up at the woman beneath her hood and chuckled.
“This one’s quite pretty too. The two of you can go together nicely.”
Hearing this, the bald man’s chubby companion added,
“We’re in luck today! Two of them practically walked right into our laps.”
“Young and fresh—they’ll fetch quite a nice price when we sell ‘em.”
As they leered at the robed woman, the tall, broad-shouldered man beside her stepped forward abruptly.
“Don’t touch her.”
His deep voice rang out menacingly.
“And who the hell are you?”
“Don’t get involved unless you want blood on your hands—why don’t you mind your own business?”
Irritated by the sudden interruption, the ruffians retorted arrogantly.
“That’s why mercenaries who take coin for guarding are such headaches—they get cocky just because of their size.”
The bald man stepped forward with a haughty expression, blocking the tall man’s path.
“For someone who looks like a dumb brute—”
Wham!
Before the bald man could finish speaking, a fist shot out.
“Kyaah!”
Struck by the massive blow, the bald man screamed and flew backward,
crashing into tables and chairs behind him with a loud clatter.
Blood poured from his head and nose as he lay collapsed.
“If you want more, go ahead and try.”
The tall man removed his hood and cracked his knuckles loudly.
“You bastard!”
One of the ruffians stopped his cursing companion, who gnashed his teeth furiously.
“Hey! Enough already. Don’t you know who that guy is?”
“Who?”
“He’s the one.”
“The one?”
“The guy who took down that mad brute Ethan with a single punch!”
“……!”
Hearing this, the bald man’s face turned deathly pale.
“Why didn’t you say that sooner!”
“Damn it…!”
The gang of ruffians staggered to their feet and quickly scattered in all directions, fleeing in fear.
“Boring bunch.”
The tall man snorted derisively as they ran off.
Watching this, Mikhail turned to Karina and said,
“I could’ve handled them just as easily—or even better, actually.”
Karina gave a faint smile at his earnest yet indifferent gaze.
“I know.”
Seemingly pleased with her reply, Mikhail’s expression brightened.
Karina turned her head to look at the woman and the tall man before her.
‘If those ruffians ran away just hearing their name, they must be quite famous…’
“Thank you.”
Karina expressed her gratitude.
“It was nothing.”
They gave a slight nod, accepting her thanks.
“Still, you’d best be more careful when visiting places like this—especially when carrying a large amount of gold.”
“Ah… you’re right.”
Karina replied awkwardly.
After delivering their cautionary advice, they returned to their table.
Karina kept watching them, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?”
Noticing Karina standing still and silent, Mikhail asked.
Despite his question, Karina still looked deeply preoccupied.
“No… I’m sure I’ve seen those two somewhere before.”
She stared at the strangely familiar faces of the two strangers.
Just then, a restaurant staff member emerged from the kitchen carrying food and placed it before them.
As the food arrived, the seated woman removed her robe.
She had rare, violet-colored hair.
‘Ah!’
Karina suddenly gasped.
Seeing that hair color instantly triggered a hazy memory.
‘They’re definitely the employees from the Dark Market who handled intelligence work.’
Back when Karina had visited the Dark Market several times to gather information before acquiring the potion, these were the staff members who had dealt with her.
She even remembered they held fairly high ranks within the Dark Market.
‘But why are there only two of them? Are they hiding their identities?’
Karina took a moment to gather her thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to them.
“Thank you again for helping us earlier.”
She approached them with a smile.
“We only stepped in because the noise was bothersome. We’ve already accepted your thanks—please don’t worry about it.”
The robed woman replied in a soft but clear tone,
Her manner was polite yet firmly distant.
Karina nervously bit her lower lip.
She needed to capture their interest—employees of the Dark Market.
Enough to be recognized and accepted as a client again.
Or at the very least, earn their goodwill and establish a connection for future meetings.
“I heard there’s a Dark Market here—do you know anything about it?”
“I’m afraid I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“I already know everything, so there’s no need to hide it.”
‘Please!’
Karina swallowed hard, tense with anticipation.
“…….”
A brief silence lingered between them.
“You must be mistaken. We know absolutely nothing about the Dark Market you mentioned.”
“…….”
Karina was speechless.
‘What’s going on…?’
Judging by the woman’s expression, she didn’t seem to be lying.
After a moment of bewildered confusion, Karina suddenly realized.
‘Ah! Could it be that the Dark Market hasn’t expanded into the North yet?’
Karina had obtained the Wish Potion three years from now.
Even then, the Dark Market’s main base had been the capital.
If they were gradually expanding their influence outward from the capital, it was entirely possible the Dark Market hadn’t reached the North yet.
That meant this tavern wasn’t one of their outposts, and these two weren’t employees—so their genuine ignorance now made perfect sense.
Realizing this, Karina felt her world go dark.
‘Then what do I do now?’
She couldn’t just sit around waiting, not knowing when the Dark Market would arrive in the North.
Then, a brilliant idea struck her.
‘What if I create it myself ahead of time?’
She already knew the future to some extent.
Even if she couldn’t build the full Dark Market yet, starting her own intelligence network was definitely worth a try.
‘After all, now I’ve even met these two who will someday run the intelligence division of the Dark Market.’
She was certain that, in the future, the Dark Market’s forces would naturally seek them out for employment.
‘Alright, then.’
A spark lit up in Karina’s eyes.
“I’d like to hire you two who just saved me.”
“…Hire us?”
The woman and the tall man stared at Karina with puzzled expressions at her sudden proposal.
“I need capable people who’ll carry out the tasks I assign.”
“We’ll pass.”
The firm rejection came not from the woman but from the tall man seated beside her.
“…Why?”
At Karina’s question, the tall man replied with a sour look.
“Honestly, isn’t it stranger that someone would want to hire complete strangers they just met in a place like this?”
He eyed Karina suspiciously, clearly on guard.
“Why should we trust you enough to agree so easily? For all we know, you might order us to do something vile. Your intentions seem highly questionable.”
“…….”
Karina was momentarily at a loss for words.
Although she understood his suspicion, she was now in a very awkward position.
Noticing her distress, Mikhail interjected.
“Your reaction seems unnecessarily harsh toward a proposal made in good faith. If trust is the issue, couldn’t we simply get to know each other from now on?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Though her offer wasn’t entirely selfless, Karina quickly backed up Mikhail’s point.
“You won’t even need to worry about money—I’ll pay you generously.”
Hearing this, the tall man abruptly stood up and demanded,
“Why are you so desperate to hire us? You’ve only just met us—right this very moment! That’s even more suspicious.”
Because of their height difference, Karina had to crane her neck fully upward to meet his eyes.
True to his size, merely standing before her, the tall man felt overwhelmingly intimidating.
“Let me be blunt—if you need someone you can treat like a dog without regard for anything, go find someone else.”
At the tall man’s words, Mikhail’s expression turned icy as he issued a warning.
“Hey. Watch your words.”
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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Chapter Comments (10)
Inline Comments (158)
“I can help you—with the Duchess’s divorce.”
And then get with him.Even though he’s hiding things, he still seems more honest and trustworthy than the duke at this point.
“I can help you—with the Duchess’s divorce.”
Let him see we need a fallback plan.
"You should consider yourself honored just because I came all the way here to me
“The lady doth protests too much, methinks.” What else do they say, “pride cometh before the fall?”
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I love when it’s just them
i’m really hoping for divorce next chapter
why did I unlock all the chapters? I wish I didn’t do that because he’s irritating me.