The Art of Reforming Villainous Men - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Translator: Yonnee
—
Among them, the one closest to Adeline’s father, Diego, was Count Middleton, who said this at the funeral.
—Tsk, tsk. It seems Diego didn’t tell you anything. He doted on his daughter, but… how does he expect you to repay all that debt?
He was the only outsider who had at least a vague understanding of the scale of the Zeller family’s debt.
—Just give up the inheritance. Your father must have been delirious.
Count Middleton even offered to help find her a job if she chose to forgo the inheritance.
But Adeline couldn’t accept his offer.
—I appreciate your concern, but I wish to honor my father’s wishes. Just as he did, I want to live for the honor of the Zeller Duchy.
Adeline loved her father, Diego, and she loved the Zeller Duchy.
Her days as the heir to the ducal family had been filled with pride.
She fully understood why Diego had entrusted the family to her.
‘How could I not understand it?’
How could she not understand the desire to protect something she loved?
Adeline had no intention of giving up the Zeller Duchy.
Not in the past, and not now.
She recalled the final memory from her previous life.
—ADELINE!
The hand reaching out toward her.
And the faces of the three men, filled with confusion and frustration.
There’s no doubt the three of them were working together.
Jack, Millein, and Carlisle.
As far as Adeline had known, they shouldn’t have been connected.
But seeing them together had seemed perfectly natural.
And then there were Carlisle and Millein’s words:
—Even if you don’t trust me, Milady, please know that both Lord Millein and Mister Hatzfeld did it for your sake.
—You’re all overstepping. I was the one who planned this, so naturally, I should be the one to explain.
The more she thought about it, the more those words made her let out a hollow laugh.
‘Both of them confessed right in front of me.’
A confession that the three of them had joined hands to bring down the Zeller Duchy.
How much must they have underestimated her to say such things?
They were so confident she wouldn’t be able to do anything, even if she knew the truth.
But she didn’t need to dwell on her sorrow.
Thanks to this second chance, she now knew exactly what she needed to do to protect the Zeller Duchy.
‘If I play my cards right, I can make things even better than they were before.’
No, she would make them better.
She had to.
Adeline stood before the portrait of her late father, Diego Zeller.
The portrait, commissioned by a famous painter when she was young, was large enough to cover most of the wall, with lifelike detail.
She remembered Diego’s words when he first showed her the finished painting.
—This portrait was made for you, Adeline.
—For me? But it’s your portrait, Father. It looks exactly like you!
—You only have this father of yours, don’t you? Your mother passed away when you were born… I thought my daughter should at least have something to turn to when she misses her father.
To Diego, his daughter Adeline had been the most precious thing in the world.
As he had hoped, Adeline sought out the portrait whenever life became overwhelming—just as a child would seek comfort from a parent.
Now, with time rewound, she found herself doing the same.
Clutching the pendant around her neck, she stared at her father’s image in the portrait.
The pendant was a family heirloom, passed down to each head of the Zeller family.
Adeline had received it from Diego.
Of course, she had been wearing it even at that moment when she fell down the stairs.
“…I suppose Father protected me, didn’t he?”
She didn’t know for sure, but she wanted to believe it.
Protecting the Zeller Duchy had been her father’s wish as well.
“I’ll protect it, no matter what. I won’t waste this chance.”
Now that she had returned, she wouldn’t be caught off guard as she had before.
Not by Millein, not by Jack, not by Carlisle.
By no one.
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