Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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—Laria Rose Icard.
The Scroll Book’s voice echoed in my mind. It felt as though only the Scroll Book and I existed in this world.
—Hmm, let me see.
The Scroll Book, rummaging through my thoughts, spoke in a measured tone.
—Alright. Here’s how we’ll make the wager.
“What kind of wager?”
I swallowed hard and asked in return.
—For the next five minutes, if you don’t ask me to stop showing you this illusion, you win.
“Understood.”
In other words, it would show me an illusion so agonizing that I’d beg the Scroll Book to stop.
Would it be an illusion of dying at Duke Icard’s hands? Or perhaps one of losing all my money and begging on the streets? Those were the only depths of misery I could imagine.
‘Five minutes should be bearable.’
After all, I had already lived through it in my past life. Wasn’t my previous existence one where I lived miserably as an orphan without money, only to eventually die?
As I waited with confidence, images unfolded before my eyes as if I had stepped into a film.
‘Well, let’s see what beggar Laria looks like! But if it were me, I’d definitely curry favor with the leader of the alley beggars and manage to get by somehow!’
I had steeled myself, but then the images before my eyes showed something different.
‘Wait? Evan?’
It was a very young Evan.
‘He looks about six or seven years old.’
—This is real, you see. It’s an illusion, but it actually happened.
The Scroll Book’s voice resonated in my mind.
—It’s the childhood of the child who came with you.
So it seemed to be from before I had met Evan.
I held my breath and watched the images unfold.
Evan was eating alone in his room. Though a maid attended to his meal, a suffocating silence hung in the air. After finishing his meal—barely touching it—young Evan set down his fork and spoke.
“What is Father doing?”
“Ah.”
The maid’s eyes wandered uncertainly.
“Well, I’m not sure….”
“Can I just go to the Academy on my own?”
“Oh, perhaps…. But just to be safe, should I mention it to the Duke?”
“No. I can just take the carriage.”
It seemed to be the day Evan was first going to the Academy.
“I thought I should at least say goodbye, but it’s probably better to just go alone.”
The maid fidgeted nervously, her head bowed. It was clear she couldn’t even bring herself to say, “Still, you should at least say goodbye before you go.”
As Evan stood up with a composed expression, the maid quickly spoke.
“If you wait a moment, the head chef said he would bring up a cake. After all, it’s your birthday—you should at least taste it.”
“Never mind.”
What? Today was his first day going to the Academy, and it was also his birthday? Yet he was spending it in such loneliness.
“I don’t really feel like eating. Let’s just leave.”
This was truly a serious problem. Evan refusing sweets? He must be genuinely despondent.
“Bes.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Does Father really hate looking at my face so much that he’s sending me to the Academy?”
“….”
I grabbed the back of my neck, feeling like I might collapse. No, when a child asks something like that, shouldn’t you deny it even if it’s true?
“…Let’s go.”
“Will you be alright?”
“Perhaps the Academy will be better.”
“….”
“At least I won’t be alone there.”
Evan boarded the carriage alone and headed to the Academy without any farewell.
‘Ah, what is this….’
I was completely absorbed in the vision, breathing heavily.
Young Evan’s face wore the same expressionless look as now, which made my heart ache even more. At an age when he should be receiving his parents’ love while being playful and affectionate….
‘Of course, I couldn’t really do that either.’
As the carriage moved away, the background of the vision shifted with a whoosh.
‘It must be the Academy.’
Evan was walking down the corridor alone in his school uniform. I could hear children whispering behind him.
“Why is the Duke of Icard’s son here?”
“Is he really from Icard? Did I mishear?”
“Wouldn’t a ducal house have enough wealth to hire private tutors? Why is he at the Academy?”
“Hey, didn’t you hear the rumors? This is why country folk don’t work out.”
One of the children spoke boastfully.
“The Duchess of Icard died giving birth to the young master. That’s why the Duke of Icard won’t even look at his son’s face.”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. All the nobles in the Capital know about it.”
Evan’s expression didn’t change, but I instinctively knew he was hearing every word of that conversation.
“They say the atmosphere at the Count’s Manor completely changed after the young master was born. Everyone became gloomy and it’s been chaotic. Even after years, they haven’t gotten over it.”
“But that’s not the young master’s fault….”
“It’s not the young master’s fault, but it is because of the young master.”
If this weren’t just a vision, I would have wanted to grab that child by the collar and scream that the real fault lies with you right here and now.
“That’s why the Duke of Icard never comes to parent observation classes or family days.”
“That’s true.”
The children whispered seriously.
“If I thought my younger sibling caused my mom to die… honestly, I think I’d really hate them.”
I really hated that child.
Watching Evan sit alone without showing any emotion, my heart ached sharply. I had come with the hope that he might not be alone, but instead he had become even lonelier.
“Still, wouldn’t it be good to get along since he’ll become the Duke of Icard later?”
“But he’s a member of the House of Icard. Why would someone of his status treat lowborn nobles like us as equals?”
“Look at his expression… honestly, it’s intimidating.”
“Right. If we get close and things go wrong, it’ll be awkward. We might get marked as presumptuous for pretending to be friends without knowing our place.”
So Evan spent his Academy years entirely alone.
“Um, uh… would it be inconvenient if I shared a room with you?”
Evan’s roommate packed all his belongings and left without a word.
“Paul in Room 302 says his small frame means two people can share a bed without any problem! So I’m going to stay there. I already told the Dormitory Supervisor!”
When the Dormitory Supervisor heard that a member of the House of Icard would have a private room, he bowed his head the next day, apologizing for not having arranged it beforehand.
“I… this is my first time attending to a young noble of high rank. I’m terribly sorry. I should have prepared a private room for you from the start.”
From that point on, only Evan was assigned a private room.
I watched as Evan wrote in his diary alone.
[I wish Mother were still alive.]
I could sense how much emotion was contained in that single sentence.
[That’s why I want to grow up normally.]
Evan’s quill moved slowly across the page.
[I wish I could have even one proper conversation with family or friends.]
I found myself wiping away tears.
The vision continued. Evan became thirteen, a senior at the Academy, and throughout those years he walked alone. He even won first place in the Youth Swordsmanship Tournament. He sent word of his victory to the Count’s Manor, but received no reply.
[I’ll be returning to the Count’s Manor soon. I’m not sure if everyone will be okay with my arrival.]
Reading Evan’s diary, I could imagine how he must have felt standing alone at the Academy graduation ceremony.
And in the room next to Evan’s dormitory.
“We’re graduating soon, you know.”
A boy with brown hair and freckles covering his face spoke with bright eyes.
“Wouldn’t it be helpful later if we got on good terms with the young prince of House Icard?”
“Hey, wasn’t it you who said back then that pretending to be friendly and then having things fall apart would be more of a hassle?”
“That was when we were younger.”
The boy crossed his arms confidently.
“It’s only a few months. Can’t I win him over in such a short time? Besides, he’s been alone all this while—wouldn’t even the young prince of Icard feel lonely?”
I knew how this boy’s story would end.
“I received a letter from your instructor two months ago. Why did you hit Jerdi Viscount Yeong?”
“He deceived me. He said we were friends, but then he mocked and slandered me behind my back.”
That brown-haired boy was none other than Jerdi Viscount Yeong, whom I had encountered at the National Foundation Festival.
He had clearly approached Evan, pretending to be the best of friends, only to snicker behind his back saying “the young prince of Icard is nothing special.” And Evan would eventually discover all of it…
‘This wasn’t something to overlook so easily.’
I bit my lower lip slightly.
‘Evan had been lonely for so long, and his first friend betrayed him.’
Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by an urge to stop watching this vision. Knowing how it ended, I didn’t want to see any more.
“Um, Your Highness. Hello.”
During a class one day, he hesitantly approached Evan.
“Have you found a partner for the alchemy experiment yet? Would you like to work with me?”
Until now, Evan had always lacked an experimental partner, so he’d always worked alongside his assigned instructor. The slight smile playing at his lips only infuriated me further.
“…Yes.”
“Truth be told, I’ve wanted to become close with you for quite some time… but only now have I found the courage.”
Did you see that detestable bastard?
‘Three weeks of injuries? That wretch deserves six weeks—double the damage.’
Simultaneously, I was so irritated that I wanted to scream something like, ‘Stop watching, you already know everything that happens anyway!’
‘That arrogant little book scrap thinks he’s something special.’
I sighed inwardly.
‘My agonizing future that hasn’t arrived yet is bearable, but Evan’s genuinely agonizing past that already happened—that’s truly unbearable.’
It was like reading through the cringe-worthy section of a novel guaranteed to have a sad ending. The urge to abandon this whole thing suddenly surged. What was so special about that teleportation scroll anyway… couldn’t I just escape on my own without needing such things?
‘When did I start relying on magic to plan my escape like this…’
Did I really have to witness this painful scene?
Just as I was beginning to rationalize my way out of it.
‘I’ll just… stop—ugh!’
Right as I was about to surrender, my head rang sharply and my foggy consciousness snapped back into focus.
―Ah, what is this.
The Scroll Book’s voice echoed.
―What kind of demon bastard set up a barrier here?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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