The Art of Reforming Villainous Men - Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Translator: Yonnee
—
Even now, the Zeller Duchy’s household remains buried in debt, but back then, it was in such dire straits that bankruptcy seemed imminent.
“W-What is all this?”
The family I had always believed to be a golden fortress turned out to have been built on a mountain of debt.
And with the death of my father, my only pillar of support, the fate of the Zeller Duchy was no better than a candle flickering in the wind.
It was only then, upon learning the full truth, that Adeline finally understood her father’s last words.
—I’m sorry, my daughter… I’ve left you with such a heavy burden.
—Please, take good care of the Zeller family.
His pallid complexion, his trembling voice, and the hand that clung to her with his last ounce of strength—
That hand had surely been the one that upheld the Zeller Duchy until the very end.
‘And now, it’s my turn.’
From hand to hand.
Adeline inherited the duty of supporting the Zeller family from her father.
Thus, she too had to protect the Zeller Duchy until she could no longer hold on.
To extinguish the immediate crisis, Adeline quickly married Julian McKenny, a nouveau riche baron who had nothing but money.
For the past three years, Adeline had run herself ragged, trying to prop up the crumbling Zeller Duchy.
It had been excruciatingly painful.
‘Ignorance was bliss.’
Her marriage to Julian had indeed saved the family from the brink of bankruptcy.
But that was all it did.
—I expected great things from a duke’s daughter, but this? You’re just an empty package.
—If all you have is your body, shouldn’t you at least work harder to please your husband as a wife?
Julian was a philanderer and a libertine.
If not for discovering a diamond vein in a mine he happened to purchase, he would have wasted his life gambling and drinking in taverns.
Being married to such a man, it was obvious what her married life had been like.
Every time Adeline thought of their wedding night, she shuddered.
“Hey, Ducal Lady. Tighten up. If you’ve got a pretty face, you should know how to use what’s below too. Even a worn-out barmaid could do better than you.”
That night had been utterly horrifying.
Drunk, Julian had insulted her with vulgar words and handled her roughly.
There was no pleasure in their union, only pain, humiliation, and bloodstained sheets.
Adeline endured Julian that night, holding back tears that threatened to burst, because she believed it was her duty.
Her duty as a wife, and her duty to support the Zeller Duchy.
When the seemingly endless ordeal finally ended,
Julian spat on the floor with a curse.
—Damn it, she was a virgin. Of all the luck, even in marriage… tch.
At the time, Adeline didn’t even understand what ‘virgin’ meant.
And when she later learned, the shame made her entire body tremble.
‘…Still, if I can protect the Zeller Duchy…’
She could endure any amount of humiliation.
Adeline was truly desperate.
The ducal mansion, used as collateral, was on the verge of being seized by the bank.
Even as seasons changed, she couldn’t afford new clothes, so she repeatedly mended and wore the same garments.
In winter, lighting the fireplace was a luxury, and she often shivered in the cold until she fell asleep.
Bearing the gossip about the downfall of the Zeller Duchy, enduring her husband’s coldness and insults, Adeline held on.
‘Even though it ended in divorce…’
That too had been for the sake of the Zeller Duchy’s honor.
Both her marriage and her divorce had been decisions made for the family.
And, back to the present.
Strangers had invaded the mansion Adeline had dedicated her life to protecting, sweeping away its belongings.
At that moment—
“……!”
Adeline’s gaze froze in shock and fury.
On the second-floor railing, she saw something being carried by the workers.
“Ugh, why is this portrait so massive?”
“So what if it’s big? They’re just going to burn it anyway. Stuff like this isn’t even worth auctioning.”
It was a portrait of her father, the late Duke of Zeller.
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