Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 104

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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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Evan took a detour and brought Lawrence to a halt.
Only after watching Laria’s carriage crest the hill and disappear from view did he slowly turn around. He gently touched the spot on Lawrence’s cheek where Laria’s lips had made contact, then slowly brought his own lips to that same place.
“Neigh, neigh, neigh!”
Lawrence immediately expressed his irritation sharply.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. This isn’t for you.”
Evan replied coldly, his tone sharp.
“Think of yourself as merely a conduit. Not a living creature, but something like air. I’m not even thinking of you as a horse right now.”
“Neigh, neigh, neigh!”
Lawrence, equally irritated with his master, began galloping in protest.
The Laria from the illusion the Scroll Book had shown him was so different from the real Laria that he sighed. The fact that she occasionally spoke her true feelings made this the worst environment imaginable. For him, this was less a Magic Tower and more a Tower of Trials.
Thank you, Teacher—if Laria had known the whole truth, she would have looked at him as though he were a beast.
“Damn this scrap of a book…”
The Scroll Book, being a book without expression or face, nevertheless let contempt drip from its voice.
‘A pervert, no less—how dare he speak such words so brazenly…’
Far too accurate.
To be honest, he had thought the Scroll Book would show him an illusion of Laria dying.
Instead, the Scroll Book had shown him a completely different illusion, saying “you win if you tell me to stop.” In other words, it had shown him the kind of truly vile fantasies he had been unable to help but imagine.
Before the illusion of Laria that the Scroll Book had shown him, he was completely powerless. The words to stop simply would not come. He had no idea how five minutes had passed. He was so disgusted with himself that he didn’t regret spending the money at all. Yet Laria had said she had seen an illusion of his childhood.
The fact that Laria had witnessed his most miserable, most pathetic, most pitiable years was something he could not accept. It was sad, in a way, to see the woman he loved look at him with eyes of pity.
When he thought of how she had desperately searched for Ludba during the masquerade, he felt truly grateful, yet simultaneously sorrowful. He wanted to become a magnificent man worthy of her reliance…
It was nearly impossible not to love Laria. She had been precious to him since before he even understood the concept of romantic love, and at some point, she had become his only desire.
Perhaps it was around the time his voice began to change. From then on, his heart would race and his body would stiffen whenever he saw Laria.
The intense possessiveness he had felt since childhood also became vivid. He had read the letter he received on his fourteenth birthday so many times that he had memorized it, and the fairy tale book was so familiar that he could picture even the smallest illustrations the moment he closed his eyes.
Fearing he might lose control to his instincts and behave like a beast, he had insisted on sleeping in a separate room. Yet whenever she stayed at the Count’s Manor, the mere knowledge that she was in the adjacent room made him too excited to sleep.
“Would your life have changed much if Matilda had lived?”
“…Perhaps it would have. But I don’t wish to discuss such things with you.”
If Matilda had lived, his life certainly would have been very different. His childhood would undoubtedly have been happy, and he would never have needed to attend the Academy.
‘Could I have married Laria?’
Since Laria’s parents had passed away suddenly through no one’s fault, marriage might have been inevitable.
But it probably would not have been as cautious as it was now. He would not have trembled with anxiety that she, being frail, might die in childbirth.
He might have expressed his emotions and desires to her more lightly, more selfishly. As husband and wife, naturally, and since their relationship was not poor, it would have been natural.
So he did not wish to have such a conversation with Laria.
He wanted Laria to continue believing that he simply disliked physical contact with women, and therefore did not suggest making a child.
He wanted her to live as she did now, bearing none of the blame and carrying no guilt. So when he witnessed the effect of the truth-telling drug, he had desperately tried not to tell Laria what he truly desired. And yet…
‘Damn it, I really am a beast…’
Evan, consumed by self-loathing, struck his own cheek once more while sitting on Lawrence. He was disgusted with himself for still being unable to escape the illusion the Scroll Book had shown him.
Moreover, that forest path earlier, where she had asked him to hold her as he had when she was a child…
Honestly, if Laria had glimpsed what was in his mind at that moment, she might have struck him for defiling the memory of her childhood.
The effect of the truth drug had already worn off by then, but her small body nestled against him felt so good that he had even lied. Fearing he lacked the self-control to keep from touching her at all, he had tried desperately not to let even his fingertips make contact, yet when she leaned into him, he found it impossible to push her away.
Now that I’d held her once, she lingered in my thoughts like an addiction, and the next time we met, I’d surely want more. Yet it was far too precious to regret—I didn’t want to undo it.
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Calaudin had been suffering from stress-induced headaches ever since his visit to the Imperial Palace days ago.
He knew the Emperor well. The man would certainly hound him relentlessly until the iron ore problem was resolved. But he truly didn’t want to disturb Matilda’s resting place for such a hopeless cause.
It wasn’t long before he realized why the Emperor was making such a fuss. Duke Orlando had subtly suggested that Podeilin might have considerable iron ore deposits.
Everyone knew that Matilda’s tomb lay in Podeilin. This was an obvious trap—Duke Orlando’s scheme to drive a wedge between him and the Emperor.
And the Emperor, convinced he was right, was testing him to see if he would defy orders simply because his dead wife’s grave was there.
Both Duke Orlando and the Emperor were acutely aware of his influence, having brought nearly the entire Nobility under his control. The obvious answer here would be to begin mining operations, but he’d narrowly avoided that predicament last time thanks to Laria’s quick thinking. He couldn’t evade it forever.
Yet after the masquerade ended, something entirely unexpected occurred.
[Massive Iron Ore Deposits Discovered – Hanua Reconsidered]
[Hanua Becomes an Iron Ore Source]
Every newspaper was ablaze with the scoop. Iron ore began flooding into the frozen raw materials market.
The prices that had been skyrocketing finally found a ceiling. Most importantly, the Emperor no longer had any justification to pressure him into developing mines.
“It seems as though good fortune is smiling upon House of Icard.”
“What do you mean?”
“There have been several crises that could have escalated, yet they’ve passed smoothly. And difficulties that might have worsened have often resolved easily.”
He couldn’t fathom why Evan’s words came to mind. Certainly, dangers seemed to loom only to fade mysteriously. As if, truly, someone were protecting him.
When Laria had feigned illness and pulled him away, he’d thought it merely a temporary measure.
Had he remained trapped there for hours, continuing to refuse, it would have been clear that his relationship with the Emperor would have become irreparably damaged.
But when his thoughts extended to Laria, Calaudin buried his face in his hands.
Serena, her physician, had said there was truly not much time left. Though Laria herself didn’t know it, as he’d said from the beginning, she was never meant to live long.
He’d brought her here thinking he’d simply let her die. But at some point, he’d come to genuinely cherish her.
After she’d gone to Borotna for recuperation, they’d seen each other only occasionally, so he’d simply been delighted each time without thinking deeply about it.
Assigning Serena to her care had helped, as Laria’s condition appeared quite improved on the surface. No matter how often he heard the predicted time of death, watching Laria prance about made it feel unreal. And now time had already slipped away like this.
Laria would die. Like Matilda.
Only then did Calaudin realize how terrible a thing he had done.
He’d thought that since the child was going to die anyway, it didn’t matter if she died here. Was this the price for treating a child’s life as a tool and wielding it so carelessly? The consequence of arbitrarily deciding that living here was better than being shuffled about as an unwanted burden in relatives’ homes? His entire body trembled at the thought of losing someone precious once more.
Until now, Laria had seemed so healthy that he’d dismissed his doubts. But when he heard that Laria had collapsed during the Emperor’s audience, it felt as though the sky were crashing down.
Only then did reality begin to sink in.
And…
What had he done to Evan? He knew better than anyone how that boy looked at Laria.
‘It will all disappear once I turn back time anyway.’
Those were the days he’d driven himself forward with that single conviction.
‘But…’
Even so, days still remained where he would have to endure Laria’s death. Now, only Serena and he knew of her illness.
Calaudin grew distant without realizing it, unable to lift his face for a long time. He remained frozen, feeling as though he were caught in a trap of his own making.

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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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