When the Cruel Dark Lord Tenderly Seduces (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
After all, the rain kept pouring down the next day as well.
Even harder than the day before.
Nellia stood silently in the doorway before leaving the house, gazing blankly at the falling rain.
She didn’t dislike rainy days, but for some reason, Duke Hart’s words kept bothering her.
“Especially on rainy days—it feels like I have no strength in my body.”
He turned out to be far more high-maintenance than she’d expected.
Complaining about sore feet and constantly asking her to hold his hand whenever they went anywhere, claiming weakness whenever it rained—
Not to mention he’d also mentioned suffering from insomnia. How could the mastermind behind everything be so fragile?
Nellia clicked her tongue inwardly and climbed into the carriage.
Clatter-clatter.
As the carriage jostled along, Nellia sank into thought.
It had been two weeks and a few more days since she began working as the mastermind’s maid. Yet a month already felt impossibly distant.
“I hope his foot heals soon.”
Only then could she finally end her role as his maid.
While Nellia was lost in thought, the carriage had already arrived in front of Duke Hart’s mansion.
Perhaps it was because of the rain? Today, his grand estate felt even larger—and lonelier—than usual.
Following the familiar path, Nellia soon reached the study. Upon opening the door, Duke Hart was already there, as expected.
Yet he gave no reaction, as if unaware of her arrival. Normally, he would have lifted his head and greeted her first.
“My Lord…?”
“Ah, Nellia. You’re here.”
Only after she called out did Duke Hart finally raise his head.
At a glance, his condition looked far from good.
He’d seemed terribly exhausted yesterday, but today he appeared dazed—as if drunk.
“Are you alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“You seem… out of it.”
His eyes were slightly red too—perhaps he’d caught a cold.
Nellia stepped closer to Duke Hart and gently reached out to touch his forehead.
“There doesn’t seem to be a fever…”
In fact, his skin felt unusually cool. She’d noticed before—his complexion always ran cold.
Just as Nellia tried to pull her hand away, their eyes met.
“Oh—I’m sorry! I was just checking if you had a fever…!”
What was I thinking? Touching Duke Hart without permission.
She’d grown too comfortable with him lately—the boundary between them had blurred.
Nellia tensed as she watched him, but Duke Hart simply smiled faintly.
“It’s alright. Your hand felt warm—it actually felt nice.”
His silver eyes glimmered softly through his half-lidded gaze. Then, suddenly, his expression shifted as if he’d realized something.
“My apologies, Nellia. I’m not feeling well today, so I couldn’t bring dessert.”
…Did I really seem that obsessed with dessert? As if it mattered.
“The dessert’s fine. But can you manage to work today?”
“I must. Though I plan to finish early and rest sooner than usual.”
Nellia nodded, her face filled with concern.
“Yes, that sounds best.”
She returned to her own desk. By now, the seat felt not just familiar—but almost cozy.
They say humans adapt quickly—but she never imagined growing accustomed to sitting beside Duke Hart.
“There’s a bit more work than usual today.”
Duke Hart handed her a stack of papers with an apologetic look.
“I prefer being busy.”
At her spirited reply, Duke Hart gave a brief smile—but unlike usual, his smile seemed weak.
Nellia focused intently on finishing his tasks as quickly as possible.
Apparently, Duke Hart felt the same.
Though he’d seemed dazed just moments ago, he was now completely absorbed in his work.
One hour, two hours, three hours—time flew by.
Nellia kept glancing over at Duke Hart to check on his condition.
Though his face retained its usual elegance, the unnatural paleness of his skin revealed his worsening state.
Finally, when he frowned slightly, Nellia stood up from her seat.
Startled by her sudden movement, Duke Hart’s eyes followed her.
“Is something wrong, Nellia?”
Without a word, Nellia approached him and gently grasped his wrist.
“You should stop working and rest.”
“But there’s still work left…”
“The empire won’t collapse if you leave it until tomorrow.”
Probably…
Even the empire’s cogs were human—they deserved at least one day of rest.
“If you keep pushing yourself like this, you might make a mistake.”
Nellia’s tone was utterly firm. Duke Hart glanced between the documents and her, then finally set down his pen.
“…If Nellia says so, then taking a short rest wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”
Duke Hart offered a pale smile.
Seeing him smile despite his poor condition made Nellia think he wasn’t quite human.
He reminded her of a bright, cheerful heroine from a lighthearted comic—someone who smiled no matter the circumstance.
What compelled Duke Hart to live behind such a mask?
Perhaps to hide his true identity, or to win others to his side—but even he deserved to let his guard down when he was in pain.
“Come on. I’ll walk you to your room.”
When Nellia extended her hand, Duke Hart’s cool fingers brushed against hers.
“Where’s your room?”
She’d never been to Duke Hart’s room before—he always stayed in the study.
“It’s on the fourth floor.”
The topmost floor of the mansion.
Hearing “fourth floor,” she noticed the bandages wrapped around his foot.
‘He must’ve had such a hard time going up and down…’
She didn’t know if he received help after work, but climbing all the way to the fourth floor on an injured foot couldn’t have been easy—
Especially with no elevator.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Nellia followed Duke Hart’s lead.
“My room is at the very end of the fourth-floor hallway.”
Nellia was surprised he used such a secluded room.
The fourth-floor corridor was utterly silent—as if Duke Hart occupied the entire floor alone.
“I suffer from insomnia and am sensitive to noise. That’s why even the maids rarely come up here unless necessary.”
As if reading her thoughts, Duke Hart added an explanation.
They finally reached his room.
“We’re here.”
Nellia relaxed her grip to let go—but Duke Hart held tightly onto her hand.
“My Lord…?”
When Nellia carefully called his name, Duke Hart jolted slightly and released her hand.
“My apologies… I was lost in thought for a moment.”
Perhaps his poor condition had left him momentarily dazed.
“Go on inside. Don’t worry about work—just rest well in bed today.”
She spoke to him as if scolding a child.
Duke Hart blinked slowly and nodded.
“Yes—I’ll do that, for your sake as well, Nellia.”
Satisfied, Nellia smiled.
“I’ll finish up in the study and leave later.”
“No need. You should head home early too, Nellia.”
“No, I’ll stay. While you’re resting, at least I should work.”
It was still too early to head home.
His offer to leave early was tempting—but she still had her conscience.
It’d be strange to just blurt out “Sure!” so eagerly.
“Then… I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes. And if the pain gets worse, be sure to call Thorne.”
Nellia turned to leave after giving her reminder.
“I’ll pray for clear skies tomorrow, so don’t worry.”
Leaving Duke Hart behind, Nellia returned to the study.
The rain was still pouring heavily.
Not many people would be so utterly dazed just from a bit of rain.
It was fortunate that Andrian’s weather was usually clear—what would they have done if it rained often?
His condition swayed so dramatically with the weather—Duke Hart truly was an odd one.
Thinking of him as strange, she suddenly recalled Layton’s words.
“I know one of the Duke’s secrets.”
She’d refused then, disliking the idea of hearing others’ secrets—but now, she was somewhat curious.
Having grown closer to Duke Hart recently, she’d noticed he had many peculiarities:
his skin temperature ran lower than normal, he was unusually kind to everyone, and his appearance bordered on unreal.
Another odd thing was the staff working here—every single one was remarkably tight-lipped and efficient.
Though possible, it all felt slightly unnatural.
‘Why did he dismiss the other maids and servants recently?’
Was it because they couldn’t work like Thorne, his butler, with robot-like precision?
If so, then she should’ve been dismissed too…
The most suspicious thing of all was the mysterious “medicine” Duke Hart took daily.
Every morning and noon, he swallowed mysterious white pills. Too polite to ask, she’d never learned what they were.
In the original story, Duke Hart had been perfectly healthy—
‘Or maybe it’s just vitamins…?’
Could Layton’s secret be related to these pills?
Lost in thought, Nellia realized quite some time had passed.
“No—enough daydreaming. Time to work.”
She buried her head in her tasks, eager to finish and leave as soon as possible.
Scratch-scratch.
Amid the rain tapping against the window, her pen moved diligently.
After a long stretch of focused work—
“All done!”
She’d finally finished today’s workload.
‘Time to go.’
Just as Nellia stood up to leave, she spotted a glass bottle near Duke Hart’s desk.
“Oh… that’s…”
It was filled with the same white pills Duke Hart took daily.
‘He must’ve forgotten it.’
Given his dazed state earlier, it made sense.
Before heading home, she decided to drop by Duke Hart’s room to return the pills.
‘Annoying, but…’
Since he took them every day, they must be important.
Picking up the fallen bottle, Nellia headed toward Duke Hart’s room.
Climbing all the way to the fourth floor was tiring—even without an injured foot.
By the time she reached his door, she was thinking she really needed more exercise.
Knock-knock.
She knocked, but heard no response—perhaps he was asleep.
She knocked again, yet still no sound came from inside.
‘Is he sleeping?’
If the door was unlocked, she could just slip it in quietly.
Hoping it might be unlocked, she placed her hand on the doorknob.
As she turned it downward, click—the door opened.
‘It was unlocked.’
The room was dark. Carefully, Nellia stepped inside.
Praying Duke Hart wouldn’t wake, she tiptoed toward the bed.
But Duke Hart wasn’t there.
Wondering if he’d stepped out briefly, Nellia glanced at the bed—when suddenly, the blanket shifted slightly, as if something beneath it was breathing.
Impossible—the bed was empty, yet the blanket moved.
A chill ran down Nellia’s spine.
‘Did I imagine that…?’
Just as she doubted her eyes, the blanket moved again.
The motion was too large to be a bug.
Duke Hart probably thought he’d just stepped out—but what if, in his dazed state today, he lay down without realizing something was underneath…?
Nellia grimaced in horror.
“Fine… I’ll check what’s under there myself.”
Though deeply uneasy, she somehow felt enough attachment to Duke Hart that she couldn’t just leave him to sleep unknowingly on top of… whatever it was.
She reached out, grasped the edge of the blanket, and slowly pulled it back.
“I can do this, I can do this!”
Muttering like a mantra, she moved her hand.
As the blanket lifted halfway, she finally saw what lay beneath.
Shocked, Nellia fumbled in the dimness.
“…Wh-what is this?”
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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