Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 122

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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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“Confined?”
Simor slammed the table and shot to his feet.
“Those despicable villains are keeping Laria locked away?”
“Well… it’s true that House of Icard has some questionable dealings, but they’re not exactly villains of that caliber.”
“My apologies. I confess my bias is showing.”
“Why would someone like you harbor resentment toward House of Icard?”
At Elani’s genuinely curious question, Simor hesitated briefly before answering.
“…The Young Duke doesn’t seem to favor me very much.”
“Why? Does the Young Duke of Icard even acknowledge the existence of a mere baron like you?”
“Well… whenever he looks at me, his eyes turn murderous, and he deliberately positions himself right beside Laria.”
“How adorably jealous. Though I suppose being misunderstood would sour anyone’s mood. But I’ve heard the men of that house tend to be rather possessive by nature.”
Elani chuckled softly. Evan was handsome enough, but his expression was certainly intimidating—staring with such ferocity would unsettle anyone.
“Still, in time the Young Duke will realize that even if you lack some manners, you’re not entirely without sense…”
“It’s not a misunderstanding. I confessed to Laria on the night of the ball.”
“This senseless fool has lost his mind.”
At Simor’s words, Elani hastily rang the bell in the drawing room.
“Bring me tea. Make it hot and plenty.”
As the maid hurried out with a bow, Simor laughed helplessly and spoke.
“Wouldn’t something cold be better if your chest feels tight?”
“I’m not drinking it—I’m pouring it on you. What do you think you’re doing with a married woman?”
Elani’s face twisted with genuine contempt as she lashed out.
“Was your passion for divorce law rooted in this same reason?”
Elani, who had been shouting loudly, suddenly raised her hand to her mouth as if struck by realization.
“Ah.”
“…Yes?”
“I understand now.”
“Understand what?”
“You said you confessed on the night of the ball! And Laria disappeared after that night!”
“What does that have to do with—”
“He locked her away! That madman locked her up because another man made advances on his woman!”
Simor’s mouth fell open at Elani’s words. He had never considered such a possibility. No matter how extreme, he couldn’t imagine someone actually confining their own wife simply because she’d received a confession.
“That’s absurd—”
Simor was opening his mouth again when—
“There was once an incident where the Icard Duchess happened to go into the city alone with the Vice Captain of the Knight Order.”
Elani spoke in a sinister tone.
“That day, Duke Icard commanded that the Vice Captain’s eyes be gouged out for daring to look at her.”
“…”
“Only after the Duchess pleaded with tears and the other guards testified that circumstances had made it unavoidable did the matter end. And…”
Elani leaned forward, breathing heavily as she whispered.
“Young Duke Evan is the spitting image of Duke Icard.”
“What if the Icard Duchess had heard a direct confession from someone?”
“Well, probably…”
Elani answered Simor’s words calmly.
“I would have torn that bastard to shreds. You’d be found as a corpse.”
“Surely not… surely not. Even if I bought my title, I’m still nobility. You can’t just do whatever you please.”
“Go ahead and make your will now. I’ll listen.”
“I hope you won’t return my vast wealth to society, but instead bury it with me.”
“…What a wretched fellow. If you’re going to be buried anyway, why not give it to me?”
“It was a joke anyway, so why speak seriously about it?”
“Hmm.”
“Ah, my will itself wasn’t a joke. Your Highness was the one joking.”
However, it didn’t take long for Simor to realize that Elani wasn’t the type to joke about such things.
That very night, intruders stormed the Viscount’s Manor, and Simor was kidnapped. With both hands bound, he was locked away in an unknown warehouse.
* * *
‘So this is how I die.’
Simor thought in the pitch darkness.
‘At least I left a will. That’s something.’
He had certainly lived without fear until now. He never lost his nerve even before the Princess Elani.
Simor’s life had gone smoothly so far. That’s why he possessed some inexplicable confidence that ‘whatever I do, it’ll be fine.’ And such confidence could only be broken by experiencing real consequences.
‘I really have been reckless and cocky all this time.’
Even now, he worried whether Laria was trapped in the Duke’s Mansion. Seeing that concern, it didn’t seem he regretted the feelings he held for her, even after being kidnapped like this.
‘Besides, it’s not the kind of heart that can even feel regret.’
He thought of Laria’s fresh expression.
‘I didn’t even choose to like her.’
As he was thinking such thoughts, the warehouse suddenly flooded with light. Between flickering torches, a man sat in a chair.
‘Again…’
Simor looked up at him from the ground and swallowed hard.
‘What a foul expression. It’s been like that since childhood, but he’s grown even more repulsive.’
Evan Liner Icard. The thirteen-year-old brat he’d encountered in Borotna had already reached adulthood.
All this time he’d prayed inwardly, ‘Please stop growing and let your face get uglier!’ but no such thing happened. He’d grown considerably taller, and his features had sharpened into a handsome man with a cold impression. Wickedly handsome, but undeniably beautiful.
Evan stared down at him expressionlessly. The torchlight cast deep shadows across his face.
‘Now that I think about it, he looks even older somehow. His complexion is…’
Evan’s eyes were bloodshot, and the skin beneath them was hollow as if he hadn’t slept in days.
‘He looks gaunt too…’
With that appearance, resembling the very grim reaper himself, Simor couldn’t help but think that his confession truly had been worth his life.
“Is Lady Laria…?”
Since Evan before him showed no sign of opening his mouth, Simor spoke first.
“…Is Lady Laria alright?”
Evan stared at him quietly with his arms crossed. Then, in a hoarse voice, he spoke low.
“Why are you asking me about Laria’s wellbeing?”
“That, that’s it!”
His voice was so eerie that Simor found himself calling upon God for the first time in his life. Yet even now, his feelings for Laria ran deeper than his faith.
“Surely you’re not confining Lady Laria at Duke Icard’s Mansion right now, are you?”
“Confining?”
Evan chuckled softly as he asked.
“Where on earth did such a word come from?”
“Lady Laria has never secluded herself even once while in Borotna.”
Simor chose to speak around the matter rather than directly confess, fearing he might actually die if he did.
A brief silence fell, and Evan ran his hand through his hair while muttering.
“I expected as much.”
His locked voice carried deep fury.
“How utterly displeasing.”
Suddenly, Simor noticed that Evan, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time since the banquet, appeared quite gaunt.
“That attitude of yours, speaking as though you know Laria so well.”
The aura Evan emanated was so precarious that Simor instantly realized he was no match for him.
Until now, he had merely been a handsome nouveau riche with a talent for making money. Only now did he realize that his fearlessness stemmed from never having truly suffered defeat.
“…But it is the truth.”
Unfortunately, his courage was not swift enough to return simply because he had grasped the truth.
“I am confident that I know Lady Laria far better than you do, Young Lord Evan.”
Evan laughed softly at those words while looking at him, but his eyes did not smile at all—it was slightly grotesque. Simor thought he deserved a blow, yet instead, a very long silence fell.
Just as Simor was wondering if he should say something more, Evan slowly murmured.
“It’s sad that I cannot deny it.”
Simor’s expression became smug with a strange sense of victory.
“You wouldn’t know, Young Lord Evan. How brilliant Lady Laria truly is.”
“…”
“She was a genius at investment and business. Listening to her insightful words makes one want to kneel.”
“I’m not entirely ignorant of it.”
Evan furrowed his brow and spoke curtly.
“I’ve received her instructions before.”
“Ah, well…”
“Yet your eyes have seen and your ears have heard that expression and tone of hers, which I have only experienced once…”
Evan’s voice grew tense, and a murderous gleam flickered in his eyes.
Only then did Simor’s courage, which had been arriving slowly, finally arrive completely.
“…I want to destroy you.”
“P-please restrain yourself, Young Lord.”
“I must restrain myself, of course.”
Evan slowly tilted his head as he spoke to Simor, whose voice had begun to tremble.
“I’ve already restrained myself a hundred times.”
“Pardon?”
“From the moment I first saw you until now, I have never gone a single moment without the urge to kill you.”
“Of course! I’m admittedly a rather handsome and capable man. B-but that’s beside the point….”
Simor spoke while rolling his eyes.
“Lady Laria has never harbored even the slightest affection for me. So please, refrain from confining her.”
“….”
Evan maintained his silence, and Simor’s entire body went rigid as a sudden inference flashed through his mind.
If Evan’s complexion had deteriorated to such a degree… could Laria truly be gravely ill? She had often coughed and shown signs of poor health, which made him suddenly anxious.
Of course, he wondered if there existed any madman who would confine his own wife simply because she had received a confession from another man….
‘That bastard seems far more than merely insane. Just look at his expression.’
His eyes gleamed with madness, and his rough features were nothing short of menacing.
“Her lungs are already in poor condition, and being confined would only worsen her state. I’m concerned, so please….”
“Concerned? Why would you concern yourself with my wife’s health? I brought you here because….”
“Is it because I’m the problem that you won’t send me to Borotna?”
Simor writhed and finally dropped to his knees.
“But if you do that, Lady Laria’s condition will only deteriorate further. Rather than that, I won’t set foot in Borotna, so please provide her with proper treatment.”
Evan’s expression turned incredulous, but Simor, gasping for breath and bowing his head, spoke again.
“Is it possible that the reason you won’t send me to Borotna isn’t just me, but also Kail Dart Labonis?”
That man’s name, which he had been turning over in his mind all along.

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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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