Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 112
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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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The second dance was quite brief. Yet in that time, I managed to give Simor various instructions.
“Then I’ll complete everything as you’ve requested and report back to you with the results.”
Simor spoke as though he couldn’t be more delighted.
“When would be convenient for you?”
Even if I could justify the second dance, if Evan saw me having another lengthy conversation with Simor, he would truly despise it. So it had to be when Evan was genuinely too preoccupied to notice….
“When the 【Monita March】 plays, there’s bound to be absolute chaos.”
I finished the dance and spoke as I curtseyed.
“Meet me at the Second Eastern Balcony then.”
“Yes, understood.”
The moment Simor and I parted after our dance, several people immediately began clustering around him.
Until now, everyone had dismissed him as a baron of commoner origins. But having danced first with Princess Elani and second with me, he suddenly attracted considerable attention.
I was currently the fiancée of the Duke of House of Icard, the most powerful noble family, and everyone already knew the Duke favored me. Moreover, I had yet to make any appearance in the Capital Social Circle. I was a figure of considerable influence who could wield great power once I arrived in the Capital, so everyone must have been astonished that such a person had been Simor’s second dance partner.
“Litshia Viscount, no less.”
Evan, who had just finished the second dance with Olivia, made no effort to hide his surprise.
“Your ankle must be hurting. Why did you dance a second time?”
“Litshia Viscount is already famous in the Southwest. Everyone’s eager to speak with him.”
I spoke a bit louder, conscious of the people around us.
“He gives so much advice about investment opportunities. I’ve made quite a bit of money following Litshia Viscount’s counsel.”
Those well-informed know how much capital Simor is drawing in. Unlike me, shrouded in mystery, Simor boldly put his name behind all manner of ventures and investments, succeeding in them.
Indeed, I could see people from all directions flocking to Simor. Now the words I’d spoken to Evan would spread in exaggerated form in an instant.
“Laria.”
Evan laughed as though he found it absurd.
“If you wanted investment advice, you should have just asked.”
“Well, it wasn’t that I particularly wanted it. What would I need money for?”
I simply smiled vaguely to brush it off. Evan seemed to want to say more, but sensing that I didn’t wish to continue that topic, he changed the subject.
“Your ankle.”
“Hmm?”
“You danced twice in a row. How is your ankle?”
“It’s fine. The songs were short anyway.”
There was nothing more to discuss.
I told Evan it was fine, but my ankle had begun to throb slightly. I decided that dancing twice consecutively had indeed been too much, so I resolved not to dance anymore. Instead, I sat quietly and watched Simor’s movements with my eyes.
And then, finally, when Jerdi Viscount Yeong approached Simor, Simor smiled at him very brightly, just as I had instructed, and spoke first.
“…Laria.”
As I watched intently the scene I had directly orchestrated, Evan called my name from beside me.
“Hmm? What?”
Without even turning my head to Evan, I asked in return while watching Jerdi Viscount Yeong take the seat beside Simor. But there was no answer for a while.
I slowly turned my head to look at Evan.
“Didn’t you call me?”
“Yes. I did.”
Evan gazed at me steadily with his crimson eyes, his expression growing slightly rigid.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Huh?”
I detected a faint displeasure already coloring Evan’s voice. If I answered with something like “Oh, it’s nothing” or “I wasn’t looking at anything,” I’d gain nothing. Of course, I knew better than to mention Simor’s name here.
“Ah… that man, Jerdi Viscount Yeong.”
Evan flinched at my words.
“He appeared in a vision the Scroll Book showed me.”
When I spoke calmly, Evan let out a soft laugh before responding.
“That book gives medicine with one hand and poison with the other. Why did it show you those foolish days?”
“What medicine?”
.
Evan didn’t answer, but suddenly his neck flushed a deep crimson.
“And foolish? Don’t say that.”
I spoke while taking his hand.
“How could you say such a thing? The real bastard deserving a beating is right there. Truly…”
I hadn’t intended to say this much, but my emotions suddenly surged.
“…I really don’t want to let him off easy. I can’t forgive anyone who caused you even the slightest pain.”
“Laria.”
“Keeping him down for just three weeks back then was far too lenient. Playing with someone’s heart like that.”
After pouring out words like a waterfall, I realized I’d grown somewhat heated. No, it wasn’t supposed to be this intense—I didn’t understand why my words had taken on such an edge. It felt like something beyond my rational control.
“Actually, the Imperial Palace Ballroom was infused with the breath of ancient fairies. They amplified all manner of emotions.”
“So be careful, Laria. As the Imperial Palace banquet progresses, people lose half their reason.”
Elani’s warning came to mind, and I hastily closed my mouth, but Evan’s expression had already grown somewhat stiff.
“I’d forgotten about it myself, so why are you so concerned?”
His hand released mine and slowly slid along the inside of my arm.
The clinging warmth was so intense that I momentarily tensed. Suddenly I wondered if the fairies’ breath was affecting him as well. If so, did that mean he truly paid no attention to that wretched man?
“I don’t even have interest to spare for someone like that.”
“Well, that might be true overcoming, but still…”
“So…”
He slowly pulled my arm toward him.
“…I’d prefer you didn’t look at other men.”
Though we sat side by side with some distance between us, that gap closed in an instant.
“As if I weren’t the protagonist of your life. Every time your body is beside me but your eyes wander elsewhere, I…”
In that moment, the overwhelming presence Evan radiated made my body stiffen.
“…don’t want to play the good boy anymore.”
Evan and “good boy”—words that couldn’t fit together less perfectly.
I’d already noticed that Evan wore a mask of appropriate tenderness and kindness before me, concealing something beneath. Since I’d already seen through it, I was about to respond that he was no longer a good boy.
Evan suddenly released my hand and pressed his forehead.
“If you slapped my cheek here like you did at the Magic Tower, the entire Capital would hear about it.”
“Huh?”
“Cursed fairy’s breath…. Laria.”
He sighed as he spoke.
“Would you slap my cheek?”
His condition must be quite serious.
So I answered with full consideration.
“Should I? If you’re going to get hit anyway… it won’t hurt as much if I do it than if you do it yourself.”
I was contemplating which cheek to strike when I heard Princess Elani’s cold voice from afar.
“I simply cannot call this anything but a disgrace.”
A sudden silence fell like ice water had been poured over everything, and all eyes turned toward one side of the Banquet Hall.
“How can you torment a young lady not even half your age?”
“This girl was impudent enough to spill orange juice on my shoes. Why are you, a third party, interfering?”
“Isn’t that the kind of mistake anyone can make? If she apologized, that should be enough. Why extract tears like this?”
“Princess, please stay out of this.”
Princess Elani and Olivia faced each other with fire in their eyes.
“Weren’t you holding a grudge because at the masquerade, people said Duke Icard’s sense of humor matched you perfectly?”
“What? Really, I was trying to be lenient because you’re old! I should have called you out from when you were playing around with dark magic!”
“Don’t discriminate against the elderly. Why are you, someone so inexperienced and green, even looking out for me?”
The argument between them grew increasingly heated.
“You mustn’t forget that emotions will only escalate. If you do, you’ll cause an accident. You should always remain composed like me, keeping that fact in mind with good judgment.”
Princess Elani kept that fact in mind with good judgment, yet her anger toward Olivia seemed unavoidable.
Their relationship had grown distant since the masquerade, and the Imperial Palace banquet became the decisive turning point where they truly turned against each other.
“Good heavens! Look at this young person glaring at an elder! Back in my day, we always apologized unconditionally to those older than us!”
“That’s funny—just now you said not to discriminate against the elderly! But fine, I understand. I’ll apologize willingly.”
“Hmph, I won’t accept it right away, but go ahead and try.”
“In my next life. Absolutely not in this one!”
As their argument grew fiercer, I thought they might actually grab each other’s hair at any moment. Because neither of them was inferior to the other in terms of spirit and strength.
“Evan, shouldn’t we stop them?”
And there was no one who could dare to stop their fight. The Emperor was completely drunk and couldn’t even control his body, and Prince Ronald had tried to say a few words before getting hit by Princess Elani instead.
“My father should step in rather than me… Oh dear.”
Evan groaned and rose from his seat. Duke Icard, who had been sitting at the table of middle-aged high-ranking nobles just moments ago, was nowhere to be found.
“I need to go find him. Laria, don’t come with me.”
I had no intention of going anyway.
“If I get hit even slightly by those flailing arms, it will hurt.”
Wait, if it’s a slight hit, that means it shouldn’t hurt….
Even if Evan went, this wasn’t a fight that would be easily stopped. It would only end when Olivia collapsed.
Of course, she wouldn’t collapse from being hit or having her blood pressure rise. She would collapse after trying to grab Princess Elani’s hair and missing her footing in her high heels. If she had actually succeeded in grabbing Princess Elani’s hair, Olivia would likely not have escaped the charge of attempted regicide against the royal family, so it was fortunate.
‘If Evan and Princess Elani marry, the relationship between those two will become even worse….’
So I quietly rose and moved to the Second Eastern Balcony.
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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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