She's a Villainess but her Husband is Handsome (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
I silently followed Cedric until we reached the door of my room.
Cedric hadn’t said a single word the entire way to my door.
However, his previously tense expression had returned to its usual impassiveness, and his flushed skin had faded back to its normal hue.
He stopped, turned his body, and faced Lorraine.
“Go in and rest now.”
I stared blankly at the man who spoke in a flat, expressionless tone.
Though his body faced me, his slightly raised eyes gazed elsewhere.
“Yes, Cedric. Then you should go back and rest as well.”
At my light reply, he swiftly turned and walked away down the corridor.
Lorraine watched him disappear for a moment before swinging her door wide open.
The previously scattered parasols were now neatly arranged on the table.
Jane must have tidied them.
She quickly stepped toward the table and snapped open one of the parasols.
Then, gripping the handle, she swung it up and down vigorously.
“It’s still far too heavy.”
Frowning deeply, she closed the parasol she had just opened.
“I’ll have to go into town tomorrow and see if there’s anything usable.”
Lorraine lightly placed the parasol back on the table.
.
.
.
“Welcome back.”
“Yeah.”
Cedric, returning to his room, gave a curt reply to Roberto’s greeting before collapsing onto his bed.
“…….”
Roberto, who had followed his master’s gaze, narrowed his eyes slightly.
He seemed in a bad mood again.
‘Lately, he’s been like this more often than usual. When did it start?’
Roberto calmly tried to recall recent events.
‘Ah. Could it have been since then?’
A few weeks ago, on an exceptionally sunny day,
Cedric had gone to a nearby lake with Lorraine.
It was a trip for four, arranged at Elina’s persistent request to ride a boat.
Roberto had stayed near the lakeshore, watching the four aboard the boat.
As usual, the three others chatted animatedly, excluding Lorraine, who sat quietly in a corner of the boat under her parasol, reading a book.
After a long while, the boat, which had remained stationary in the middle of the lake, began moving slowly.
Realizing they would soon disembark, Lorraine folded her parasol, set her book aside, and stood up.
That was when the accident happened.
As the boat neared the shore, a sudden wave rocked it violently.
“Wahhh!”
Splash.
Lorraine, unable to keep her balance, plunged straight into the lake.
Although close to land, the spot was surprisingly deep.
Unable to swim, Lorraine flailed helplessly in the water, and the faces of the three on the boat turned deathly pale.
Just as Roberto—equally panicked—was about to leap into the lake,
Splash!
Cedric dove in without hesitation.
Lorraine, thrashing in her soaked dress, immediately clung tightly to Cedric as he surfaced before her.
“Lorraine! Cough! Wait! Lorraine!!”
Cedric shouted desperately, but she, hearing nothing, clung to him as though she’d never let go.
“Cedric! Catch this!”
Thanks to the life ring Killian threw just in time, the two safely made it back ashore.
“My lord! My lady! Are you all right?!”
Roberto rushed toward his master, who sat drenched and collapsed on the ground.
“Haah… haah… I’m fine.”
Cedric replied between ragged breaths, lowering his gaze to his arms.
Lorraine, pale as a ghost, trembled violently with her eyes tightly shut.
“My lady, are you all right?”
Her face was ghostly white.
Her soaked, slender frame shook so violently it was frightening.
“Lorraine, it’s okay now. Calm down and—”
Just as Cedric seemed about to ask her to let go,
“……!”
She suddenly wrapped both arms tightly around his body, her delicate frame shivering within her wet dress.
The two pressed close together without a gap between them.
In that instant, Cedric’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“My lady must be terribly shaken.”
“Ah… it certainly seems so.”
Unable to push her away, Cedric finally freed himself from her embrace after a long while.
Regaining her composure later, Lorraine, wearing her usual impassive expression, merely said thank you for saving her.
That night, after the heart-stopping incident passed safely,
Cedric had sat alone in his room sipping wine, his mood as poor as it was now.
When asked why,
“No, it’s just… I’ve got something on my mind. Don’t worry about it.”
he’d replied, so Roberto hadn’t pressed further.
But now he realized—ever since that day, whenever Cedric met Lorraine and came back, he’d been like this.
Whether it was ordering the poisoning incident covered up, or the fact he’d been talking with Lorraine more often lately—
‘There’s definitely something connected to my lady.’
He couldn’t help but suspect it.
Just then, as he scrutinized his silent master with sharp eyes,
“Roberto!”
Cedric suddenly jumped to his feet.
“Yes, my lord?”
“I need to go to the training grounds!”
“…Pardon? At this hour?”
Outside the window, the sky was already turning crimson with dusk.
“The sun will set soon.”
“Since when has the time of day mattered for swinging a sword?”
“…What?”
“Do you not know that war recognizes no night or day? Roberto, with such a weak mindset, what do you think you can accomplish?”
He’d only mentioned the late hour—was it really necessary to question his very resolve?
‘Well, if he puts it like that, I’ve got nothing left to say.’
Roberto inwardly swallowed a groan.
“I’ll prepare your training clothes.”
Then he dashed off toward the wardrobe room.
While Roberto was briefly away,
“Huh…”
Cedric let out a heavy breath, staring sharply at the crimson sky outside.
He took another deep breath and slowly ran his palm over his pounding chest.
“It’s the same reaction again. I just can’t figure out why.”
His low murmur filled the room thickly.
The next morning.
Lorraine, neatly dressed, headed toward the dining room.
It was her first time dining with the novel’s characters.
‘What kind of conversation do nobles usually have while eating?’
She felt more curious than nervous.
As she reached the dining room, a servant standing by the door swung it wide open.
“Lorraine, come in.”
Upon entering, Duchess Roger was the first to greet her.
Just as she’d sensed yesterday, the woman’s impression was wonderfully warm.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. It felt good sleeping at home again after so long.”
Duke Roger replied in a pleasant baritone to her polite greeting.
Lorraine softened her eyes and met Duke Roger’s gaze.
She recalled Cedric’s words—that the duke watched him and herself with concern.
Yet the man, masking his true thoughts, treated her with remarkable kindness.
Killian and Elina hadn’t arrived yet.
Directly across from her, the Roger couple sat facing each other, her husband sitting with his back partially turned.
“Cedric. You were already here. I meant to walk with you, but my preparations ran late.”
Mindful of Duke Roger’s gaze, she spoke in the gentlest tone and warmest smile she could muster.
“Tomorrow, let’s come together for breakfast—!”
But as she slowly approached Cedric, she suddenly bit back her words.
‘Wait. Why does his face look like that?’
Her husband, turning toward her, looked utterly exhausted.
He was still undeniably handsome, of course.
But his dark circles were so deep it was impossible to tell how far they sank.
Tiny blood vessels around his blue eyes pulsed with an angry, prominent presence.
‘What on earth happened last night?’
Did war break out? Did he secretly visit a battlefield?
His handsome face now looked oddly lacking—so much so it was bewildering.
“Cedric… are you feeling unwell?”
Her worry in that moment was genuine.
‘There’s no way he’d look so suddenly wrecked otherwise.’
She sat beside him, her eyes scanning his face with alarm.
“I was just about to say I was worried too.”
Duchess Roger spoke, her voice dripping with concern.
“It’s nothing. I just practiced swordsmanship late into the night, so I’m a bit tired.”
Cedric spoke calmly, as if to reassure them.
“Sword practice? At such a late hour? Darling, please don’t do that again.”
Her overly worried tone made Cedric’s shoulders twitch slightly.
“Seeing your tired face like this makes me feel awful.”
But she didn’t stop.
After all, that’s what the contract said. However—
“…I’ll try.”
The fellow who’d signed that contract alongside her was deeply unsatisfactory.
You were the one who insisted on acting first. Don’t forget that.
She smiled sweetly while grinding her molars tightly.
At that moment, she sensed Duke Roger’s gaze fixed on her and Cedric.
“You should consider your worried wife a bit more, Cedric.”
She turned to meet Cedric’s eyes directly and made a face as if about to cry.
She felt Duke Roger’s eyelids, slightly lowered, twitch faintly.
This should be enough.
Maintaining the expression of a wife losing sleep over her husband’s health, she turned her head forward—and Duke Roger’s gaze drifted away.
‘But maybe I’m actually quite good at this.’
Her cringeworthy lines came out effortlessly—could she possibly have a talent for acting?
Just as she felt pleased with this newfound self-awareness,
“We’re a bit late. Did you sleep well?”
Elina entered the dining room with a fresh, warm voice.
“Elina, come in.”
Duke Roger greeted her with a noticeably brighter tone.
Elina’s arrival instantly lit up the entire dining room.
“Did you rest well?”
And behind her came Killian.
“Yes, come sit down.”
Elina approached Duchess Roger, who greeted her warmly, and gave her a light hug.
“Did you sleep comfortably?”
“Of course. And you?”
The Duchess’s face bloomed with a radiant smile at Elina’s affectionate manner.
Having only two sons, she undoubtedly delighted in Elina’s endearing warmth.
‘Ah… innate talent really can’t be beaten. I’ve still got a long way to go.’
Elina’s natural charm and affability—evident since birth—completely erased the pride Lorraine had felt just moments before.
“Cedric, are you unwell?”
Predictably, as soon as Elina sat down, she spoke with deep concern.
“No, I’m just tired. I’m fine.”
“Didn’t you sleep? Did something happen?”
“I practiced swordsmanship late last night.”
“Oh dear. Don’t overdo it.”
Her worry was so palpable it was a miracle she didn’t burst into tears.
Once again, Lorraine realized her own acting moments earlier had been utterly amateurish.
For a long while, the conversation revolved around Cedric’s condition.
“Cedric, we agreed to visit Earl Karin’s manor together today. Will you be able to go?”
At Elina’s question,
“Oh. Right.”
Cedric murmured softly, his eyes widening slightly.
“Cedric, had you forgotten?”
“No. I can go. But I haven’t told Lorraine yet.”
Lorraine, who’d been idly wondering about the morning’s menu, lifted her drooping eyelids at the sudden mention of her name.
In that instant, her eyes met Elina’s directly across the table.
Elina, gazing at her, slowly blinked once, then opened her mouth deliberately.
“Weren’t you supposed to come along, Lorraine?”
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (81)
Oh, what is this? Are there no human rights there? How do they treat their employees?
What is this? There is so much mystery and secrecy surrounding the characters.
What is this? Why are medicines so expensive? How do people live there?
Inline Comments (36)
I was just admiring how handsome you are—but you had to go and look so scary.
A hadsome face is a hadsome face, it should be admired, doesn’t matter who it belongs to!!!
"And if you're going to say things like that, you'd better first understand who
Clap, clap! Bravo! Well done, Lauren! Teach her a good lesson! How rude!
“In her panic, Lucia burst into tears, ran off the stage, and tumbled down the s
It made me very sad. Fear of speaking in front of people, and also tumbled down the stairs. People must have laughed at her instead of helping her. Oh Dear.
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Miioo
What is this? Why is she being so mean and rude to our Lauren?