The Villainess' Joyful Married Life (59 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 10
‘It doesn’t feel like the Empress Dowager.’
Kalian resembled the Emperor whom Young Ryung had loved in her previous life.
From his gaze to his speech patterns, down to his habits.
Thus, he even wondered whether Leona, his mother, might perhaps resemble the Empress Dowager.
But Leona bore no resemblance to the Empress Dowager she knew.
‘Then, is Kalian’s resemblance to the Emperor merely a coincidence?’
Though the hatred boiling within her soul was unmistakable, the precise moment of her death remained frustratingly unclear.
Perhaps once everything returned to her memory, she would finally understand how she had come to be here.
‘Either way, this body has brought me misfortune—both in this world and the next.’
Indeed. Whether this place was another world or hell itself, one thing remained certain: her marriage had been a mistake, just as it had been then and remained now.
And just like before, her husband’s mother was utterly fixated on making her life miserable.
The Empress Dowager had despised Young Ryung, calling her the daughter of some lowly, insignificant family.
Only her noble and beautiful son was the Empress Dowager’s pride; the consorts were merely tools to produce heirs.
She, who possessed neither the lineage of a meritorious family nor anything useful to an emperor aside from martial skill and beauty, had been a thorn in the Empress Dowager’s eye.
Thus, though she endured countless petty cruelties fueled by the Empress Dowager’s hatred…
‘I never once lost to the Empress Dowager—at least, not in any moment I can recall.’
Eshika’s lips twisted into a bitter smile.
‘Let alone someone as insignificant as the Madam.’
Was it really any wonder the other consorts feared her, calling her the peerless she-devil of the realm?
She had always retaliated against petty tricks with pettier ones, and against humiliations with even greater humiliations.
Of course, her schemes had always been flawless beyond compare.
She had dreamed of becoming the one and only woman in the heart of the man she loved.
Only in her later years did she realize that even this dream had been hollow and futile.
‘Even if this place is hell, I don’t care. But one thing is certain…’
Eshika alighted lightly onto the windowsill and stepped into the room, brushing her clothes off casually.
‘They will repay me twentyfold for what they’ve done to me.’
It might take time, but she would make her enemies squeal like livestock in a slaughterhouse.
Because she was no longer the clueless Eshika of before.
**
Hemos found himself facing the greatest crisis of his life.
While preparing food and medicinal tonics, he had been caught by the Madam’s maid, Emilia.
There was juicy meat, fresh vegetables, and even an orange-colored drink that looked like carrot juice… Annie’s eyes narrowed into sharp triangles as she looked back and forth between the plate and Hemos.
“What is the meaning of this, Head Chef?”
Of course, Leona had never openly ordered that Eshika be served rotten bread.
She had merely clicked her tongue upon seeing the refined food offered to her, criticizing it as insufficiently modest. And each time this happened repeatedly, Eshika’s meals grew progressively worse.
Everything provided to Eshika had undergone such treatment until reaching this point.
Thus, preparing such an excellent meal now was clearly an act of defiance against Leona.
“I can hardly believe my own eyes. I knew you’d been discontented lately since the Madam hasn’t been paying attention to the kitchen, but to openly rebel like this…”
The maid cried out in a sharp voice.
“It seems you no longer wish to work at the Klaus household, Head Chef.”
Sweat dripped down the back of Hemos’s neck.
He felt a pang of regret—was this really happening over just a few pearls?—but the deed was already done.
Hemos called out to stop the maid as she turned sharply to leave.
“Wait.”
The maid turned back toward Hemos with a piercing glare.
Hemos handed her the cup sitting on the tray.
Frowning, the maid asked suspiciously,
“What’s this? Offering me carrot juice meant for the Duchess so I’ll shut my mouth?”
“Rather than assuming the worst, just taste it and see for yourself. Go on.”
When Hemos spoke firmly, the maid flinched slightly before taking the cup.
She didn’t know what trick he was playing, but she had no choice but to drink.
Slowly, she tilted the cup and took a sip of the carrot juice.
“……”
She paused briefly, then spat the juice out.
“Ptooey!”
Hemos barely managed to catch the cup before the maid could drop it.
Her face flushed red and then pale as she stared in horror.
The taste of that juice was truly beyond words—so vile it defied description.
How in the world could anyone call such a thing juice?
Even if you mashed garbage underfoot, the resulting liquid would taste better.
“Ugh…”
The aftertaste lingering in her mouth made her gag several times.
Only then did Hemos grasp the meaning behind Eshika’s earlier warning.
“Prepare the medicinal tonic exactly as instructed, but never taste it yourself. Someone ordinary like you wouldn’t be able to bear it.”
He was glad he’d listened carefully.
“And if anyone suspects the food meant for me, let them taste it. They’ll stop doubting immediately.”
The maid gulped down water in big swallows.
Tears even welled up at the corners of her eyes.
Just how utterly foul must that taste have been for her to suffer so?
And how on earth did the Duchess manage to drink such a thing?
A chill ran down Hemos’s spine.
“This is the bitterest, most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
With furrowed brows, the maid spoke sternly to Hemos.
After standing there dazed for a moment, Hemos cleared his throat awkwardly.
“When someone eats nothing but rotten food every day, they grow used to it. That’s why you need a bit of variety now and then.”
The maid nodded and looked at the food meant for Eshika.
Just like that strangely flavored carrot juice, even these seemingly normal dishes must taste utterly revolting.
“How amusing it would be if someone eagerly took a bite, only to be hit with a horrific taste!”
Reporting this to the Madam would surely earn her praise.
She’d thought Hemos was a dreadfully dull man—but perhaps not after all.
Smiling now, unlike before, the maid said,
“I’ll be sure to tell the Madam about your clever little prank, Head Chef.”
Hemos nodded with an awkward smile.
“Yes. Next time, don’t be so quick to doubt people.”
“I’m sorry for earlier. The food just looked so unusually appetizing…”
“Want to try a bite of the meat?”
“Ugh, take that dreadful food away!”
When Hemos deliberately held the plate toward her, the maid recoiled in disgust.
“Well then, I’ll be off. Oh—and the Madam plans to visit the garden around evening, so bake some cookies ahead of time.”
With that, she turned and left the kitchen.
Only after the maid had vanished for a few seconds did Hemos place a hand on his chest and let out a sigh of relief.
The deception had been perfect. A smile crept onto Hemos’s lips.
For now, no one would suspect him anymore.
**
“…I see.”
After hearing Cella’s report, Eshika wore a faint smile.
She’d anticipated the Madam would inspect the food.
After all, her complexion had visibly improved thanks to her breathing and meditation practices.
Of course, it also helped that she was finally eating truly fresh food.
Before, when she had to make do with stale, hard bread of poor quality, she fell ill every other day.
Breakouts on her skin had been commonplace, but she had no choice—starving to death was worse.
There had even been times when she begged Yuri to exchange her jewels for fresh food, but Yuri had replied with feigned concern,
“The Madam is punishing you… If she finds out you’re trying to avoid your punishment, she’ll be terribly disappointed. What if she says something unfavorable about you to the Duke?”
She had accepted that the Madam’s hatred was unavoidable.
But the thought of her relationship with her husband Kalian deteriorating further made her resolve to endure even the rotten bread.
That was the naive, foolish version of herself—before she’d regained her memories as Young Ryung.
“In any case, even if an extravagant meal is laid before me now, no one will suspect a thing.”
Cella spoke as if relieved.
She had been anxious, trying to sneak good food to Eshika without being seen.
“……”
Eshika gazed out the window.
The mansion’s vast garden stretched before her.
Beautiful as it appeared, this place had always been her prison.
A prison where she couldn’t even get proper clothing or decent meals.
The injustices she initially resented gradually became familiar, wearing her down into helplessness.
Since her marriage, she’d only left the Klaus estate twice.
And even then, it was only shortly after the wedding—standing like an ornamental screen under Leona’s watchful eye before being ushered back inside.
Leona never permitted her any personal outings beyond that.
Not even when news came that her father was ill, nor when a letter arrived announcing her sister-in-law had given birth.
“Eshika Klaus. Even for matters concerning your birth family, leaving the estate without my permission is tantamount to insulting the Klaus name.”
With that sharp gaze and icy voice, Eshika had been tamed into living like a sick dog in the household.
Meanwhile, Leona herself attended every social event and party inside and outside the Klaus estate, all while keeping Eshika’s feet shackled.
No—she had cleverly manipulated Eshika into shackling herself.
“You want to attend a tea party? How mortifying would it be for the Klaus name if the wives of other noble houses see a provincial girl from Freihartz pretending to be a Duchess?”
Yuri, standing nearby, had echoed the same sentiment.
“Eshika… the Madam is right. The noblewomen of the capital Torres hide blades beneath their smiles and refined words. If you, unfamiliar with the capital’s customs, fail to grasp their true intentions, you’ll only become their laughingstock.”
Thus, even while suffering such unjust treatment, she couldn’t bring herself to mention it—however faintly—to her birth family or the outside world.
At some point, she had grown accustomed to the shabby quarters and rotting meals, as if they were her rightful due.
She had been thoroughly broken by the abuse within the confines of the Klaus estate.
After a brief moment of reflection, Eshika picked up a piece of paper and began writing something.
Then she crumpled it and handed it to Cella.
“Take this to Hemos.”
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
11 Comments
Chapter Comments (294)
(the sword revelation)
This is honestly one of my favorite little moments so far.
Kalian basically goes: “she’s pretending to like swords to get my attention.”
Meanwhile Eshika: “hmm. Excellent forging. Interesting edge orientation. Where do you source these?” 😭
The old soldier basically confirms: “actually, Your Grace, she knows what she’s talking about.”
Kalian’s internal reaction must have been
“…Excuse me?”
He’s discovering that the woman he dismissed as intellectually shallow actually possesses knowledge he never knew she had, and that’s going to become a recurring problem for him.The old Eshika presented herself in a way that allowed him to underestimate her.
The new Eshika isn’t interested in proving anything to him.
So he’s slowly discovering pieces of her without her deliberately showing them to him.
That’s much more compelling.(Meanwhile Yuri is making her own grave deeper)
Yuri’s situation is honestly hilarious in the most karmic way. She’s been thinking:
“once I become Duchess, everything will be perfect.”
Leona’s response is essentially:
“wwwwonderful. Here are three husbands.”
💀 And the fact that the candidates are progressively more offensive to Yuri specifically makes it even funnier.
I also really like what this reveals about Leona.
Leona doesn’t view Yuri as a future daughter in law.
She views Yuri as an employee who became too ambitious.
Yuri thought: I have the Grand Duchess’s favour.
Though favour was conditional.The moment Leona decides Yuri has overstepped her boundaries, that same woman who could promote her can also arrange her marriage to someone completely outside the life Yuri wants.
(THAT final question…)
“You really didn’t come here to see me?”
SIR 😂
You spent chapters being annoyed because she wouldn’t leave you alone.
Now she’s not thinking about you, and you’re standing there wondering why she isn’t thinking about you.
This is exactly the kind of delicious irony I wanted.
I don’t even think Kalian realizes what is happening yet.
It’s not necessarily romantic attraction at this point.
It’s disorientation. His wife has stopped behaving according to the role he’s assigned her. His entire perception of her was based on that role, he doesn’t know how to interpret the woman standing in front of him now.
Inline Comments (39)
“You betrayed your friend, stole her jewels, and now you fawn over the Grand Lad
Why did they become friends to begin with? It’s not like yuri knew eshika would marry him
Cella spat out bloody saliva and glared at Yuri.
Does cella know martial arts at this point or no? I remember she asked
“This mother… can’t bear living under such injustice… uuhuhu….”
This guy is hopefully just gonna be an endgame final boss or something
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Onigirimamireads
(The darker part is Eshika remembering what happened to her)
This was probably the most important section of the chapter for me..until now, we’ve mostly seen Eshika’s revenge through the entertaining parts:
1. snapping knives
2. threatening servants
3. humiliating Yuri
4. manipulating Hemos
5. provoking Leona
Then the narration reminds us: she really was imprisoned.
She wasn’t merely an unpopular Duchess.
She was deliberately isolated from her family.
She wasn’t allowed to leave.
She couldn’t visit her sick father.
She couldn’t attend family events.
She couldn’t even obtain decent food or clothing without asking someone else’s permission.
The most insidious part was that Leona and Yuri convinced her that this was somehow for her own protection. “The noblewomen of the capital hide blades beneath their smiles…”
That is such a nasty manipulation because there’s a kernel of truth inside it.
Yes, court society probably is dangerous.
Yes, Eshika was inexperienced.
They weaponized that truth to convince her:
“You are incapable of navigating the world without us”& eventually she internalized it.
That’s how the cage worked.
The physical confinement was only part of it.
They convinced her that she belonged in the cage.
That’s disgustingly cruel.
Onigirimamireads
Side note: So Leona is already suspicious of her improving health, Eshika needs to make sure the household’s surveillance actually works in her favor.
She’s playing defense while quietly building offense.
Honestly, I think that’s my favorite thing about these chapters so far- Eshika isn’t rushing the revenge.
She could probably cause a lot more chaos immediately, but she knows she’s physically weak right now and doesn’t have enough allies.
So she’s doing what an experienced martial artist and strategist would do..
cultivate → observe → gather resources → build allies → identify weaknesses → strike.
Meanwhile Kalian thinks she’s finally stopped bothering him. Leona thinks she’s still an insignificant merchant born Duchess. Yuri thinks she’s going to steal everything from Eshika. Hemos thinks he’s simply trying to save his job.
Eshika is quietly looking at all of them like:
“Thank you for showing me exactly where to begin” 😭🤣
Onigirimamireads
(Hemos has officially become my favourite accidental accomplice)
The carrot juice prank was PERFECT.
Leona’s maid: “let me taste this suspiciously good food”
Hemos: “absolutely. Please do.”
Her: “🤢 WHAT IS THIS?!”
Hemos internally: “Thank God.”🤣🤣
The fact that Eshika specifically warned him “never taste it yourself”makes it even better.
Plus she understands that the medicinal concoction isn’t designed to be pleasant. It’s designed to produce a particular effect.
So now Hemos has realized something really important-Eshika isn’t just frighteningly strong. She actually knows what she’s doing.
He went from “why would I listen to this useless Duchess?”
to:
“I am going to follow this woman’s instructions VERY carefully.” 😂
I love that he’s now participating in her deception rather than merely obeying her because he’s scared.
That’s the beginning of an actual network of people working for Eshika.
Onigirimamireads
(Eshika’s realization about Leona)
I really liked the distinction she makes between Leona and the Empress Dowager from her previous life.
At first, because Kalian resembles the Emperor so strongly, Eshika naturally wonders whether history has somehow repeated itself.
But then she realizes that isn’t quite right.
Leona may be cruel, controlling, and obsessed with her son, but she isn’t necessarily a reincarnation or exact repetition of the woman Eshika knew before.
I think that’s important because Eshika isn’t simply treating this life as a carbon copy of her previous one. She’s comparing patterns while recognizing differences.
That’s a much smarter protagonist than someone who just goes, “I’ve seen this before, therefore everything will happen exactly the same way”.
Onigirimamireads
(And her attitude toward Leona…)
This line of thought basically says: “I’ve dealt with worse”
Which is hilarious considering how terrified everyone else in House Klaus is of Leona.
To Eshika, Leona’s bullying is almost quaint compared with what she endured in her previous life.
She’s essentially looking at this woman and thinking “you think THAT was supposed to break me?”that’s why the revenge arc feels so satisfying.
The old Eshika was psychologically conditioned to believe that Leona’s authority was absolute.
Young Ryung’s mind comes back and immediately goes, “why am I obeying this woman?”
That single change completely destroys the power structure.