Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 123

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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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“…Kail Dart Labonis?”
Evan asked quietly.
“That man is certainly irritating, but at least he’s already left for the Eastern Continent….”
Simor couldn’t continue. Evan had risen and brushed past him without a word.
The moment he disappeared, the subordinates standing behind freed the rope wound around Simor’s hands.
“You seem to have provided rather useful information.”
Nathan sighed as he spoke.
“Otherwise, there’s no way we’d let you go unscathed like this.”
“…Useful information? Me?”
Even Nathan, his aide, didn’t answer that question.
Nathan, who had been observing this interrogation that wasn’t quite an interrogation, felt he could sense what his next task would be.
When Nathan approached Evan, who was leaning against the wall, Evan spoke in a low voice.
“Kail Dart Labonis. Find out everything you can about that man. Even the smallest details.”
“You know his full name.”
“I know the names of all the nobles in that region.”
“He doesn’t seem to be anyone particularly noteworthy. Since I’m unfamiliar with his name, he was probably just an ordinary person with nothing special about him.”
Until now, Evan had deliberately avoided paying attention to the social circles of the Southwest. He didn’t want to pry into Laria’s private life.
But Nathan knew Evan’s true feelings well. He understood that if any man became too close to her, Evan would never let it slide.
What Evan feared most was conflict with Laria, which is why he had deliberately avoided taking interest in the first place.
Evan had brought Simor in the first place because he thought he might know Laria’s whereabouts. But from what Simor had said, it seemed he knew nothing about where Laria had gone.
Imprisonment? If that wasn’t the case, then Simor would be a method actor worthy of historical acclaim.
“Instead.”
Evan continued slowly.
“Investigate very discreetly. If it’s true that Laria is connected to Kail Dart Labonis, our investigation could be discovered if we’re not careful.”
“Then a diversion would be best. We can make a loud show of investigating elsewhere while secretly looking into Kail Dart Labonis. And….”
Nathan glanced back at the warehouse as he spoke.
“What about him?”
“Keep watching him, and when he lets his guard down, we’ll have another private conversation. He’ll definitely let something slip without realizing it.”
Evan seemed to have no intention of clearing up Simor’s misunderstanding. Rather, he was devising a strategy to extract information by using that very misunderstanding. Often, the most important information came from what people revealed unconsciously. Just like with Kail Dart Labonis.
“Young Duke…. Rather than searching like this in the shadows, wouldn’t it be better to search openly?”
“We still don’t know Laria’s intentions.”
Evan answered in a low voice.
“She might hate being found so conspicuously.”
Nathan sighed as he observed Evan’s complexion, which had been pallid and haggard ever since Laria disappeared.
“Laria broke her promise to stay with me, ignored my pleas to always be by my side, and disregarded my desperate appeals not to abandon me….”
Evan muttered while rubbing his dry eyes.
“…But I’m still most afraid of being hated by Laria.”
“….”
“That man and she joined hands, and it seems she even accumulated quite a bit of money behind the scenes. Did she prepare this long ago, saving money so desperately just to leave….”
Evan couldn’t understand Laria’s true intentions. He had to meet her and question her about everything. A single letter left him unable to bear the endless doubts that arose.
But she had hidden herself so thoroughly that I couldn’t find her no matter how hard I searched. Even Serena, my personal physician, couldn’t locate her—and she was someone who had done plenty of shady work in her past.
I had thought finding one person would be trivial, but Laria had vanished like smoke.
Starting from the Southwest, I combed through the entire Eastern Continent. From nobles no one had ever heard of to those whose movements seemed oddly suspicious. Yet I couldn’t grasp a single thread of her trail.
So I eventually dragged Simor into it as well, but I didn’t think Laria had found another man. Because ever since the incident with Ludba when she was very young, Laria had made me a promise. That she would never create problems by involving another man.
And Nathan observed this and vaguely understood.
Evan wasn’t sleeping now, wasn’t eating properly, and was frantically searching for any trace of Laria—but fortunately, it didn’t seem like Evan’s mind had completely broken yet.
Of course, that relief didn’t last long.
* * *
“Hmm….”
I was absorbed in thought while reading a dark magic tome.
“Awakening…. I need to awaken….”
I had somehow decided to become the world’s greatest dark mage as a hobby, but the dark magic books were dreadfully difficult.
Most importantly, the texts said that to become a dark mage, one must experience an awakening. When and how that awakening arrives, no one knows. But it’s usually said to manifest before the age of twenty. I was twenty-one, and all that had manifested in me so far was a sharp and powerful hunger for authority and wealth.
“Meow.”
But then again, Neo followed me around so closely that I couldn’t quite say I wasn’t a dark mage. Cats supposedly don’t care much for humans, yet Neo was always at my side.
“Meow.”
I tore my gaze from the tedious dark magic book and stroked Neo’s head.
“Do you like me that much? Enough to follow me as your master?”
“Meow.”
Looking at the sleek black fur and the jewel-like gleaming red eyes, someone came to mind.
“That’s why I’m so happy and content just being with you like this. I don’t need anything else.”
At the masquerade, the mask Evan wore looked just like a black cat. So Evan really was impossible to read. If he was going to say things like that, he shouldn’t have said he’d never thought of me as a woman.
‘Stop it. Don’t think about it.’
I shook my head and forcibly erased the image of Evan wearing that black cat mask.
“Who summoned you here? You must have made a contract to come here too, right?”
“Meow.”
“Did you make a good contract? If you accidentally wrote an ambiguous one, you’ll have quite a hard time of it.”
There was a man who even wrote contracts meticulously for casual wagers.
‘What is this, thinking about Evan again.’
Troubled, I shifted my gaze from Neo back to the dark magic book.
[Most dark magic can be reversed by anti-magic power, but once a “rift” forms, even anti-magic power becomes useless.]
“I see. I had forgotten about anti-magic power.”
I still had an ancient magic artifact—a doll imbued with anti-magic power.
‘If I had used this anti-magic doll at the Royal Palace banquet, I could have brought Duke Icard back to his senses immediately.’
But it was all in the past anyway.
I should stop thinking about the Icard Ducal House. Besides, the Icard Ducal House is chasing after me with bloodshot eyes trying to kill me. The fact that they’re searching for me so secretly can only mean they plan to capture and eliminate me. Since Serena has disappeared too, they must have realized that everything was a deception.
‘Don’t think about it. The more I think, the more depressed I become.’
Sadness was indeed the truth, so I sprang to my feet. I put on the finest jewelry and opened the most expensive wine. My philosophy was that when sadness strikes, you might as well spend money—at least then there’s some satisfaction in being sad.
Surrounded by such expensive things, I indulged in sorrow for a moment, then turned my attention back to the dark magic book.
[However, through anti-magic power, one can discern the origin of the “rift.”]
A rift….
I had heard that word before from the Scroll Book at the Magic Tower.
[But you…. You’re a child saved by the rift.]
Is that why I’m living a second life here, and why blessings don’t work on me?
If Duke Icard turns back time and saves Matilda…. Since I’m a child created by the rift, wouldn’t my memories potentially persist unnaturally once more?
So there’s a possibility I’d live a third life while retaining my regression, remembering everything, isn’t there?
“Meow.”
Perhaps because I wore such a serious expression, Neo tapped my arm gently.
“If, if that were the case….”
I gazed into Neo’s crimson eyes and drank another glass of wine, muttering to myself.
“I could have the Rostri Count’s family pull out all the stops so I could become the Icard Nobleman’s consort once again.”
“Meow?”
“Honestly, with my abilities, I could manage that much even overcoming an unfortunate family environment.”
“Meow….”
“No pride? Ah, I was born without such a thing. But I have plenty of greed instead, so it’s fine.”
If Evan had been raised with unconditional love from his parents, he wouldn’t be so indifferent now. He might become a completely different person, but Evan is still Evan regardless.
“No matter how Evan changes, I think I could still love him.”
“Meow.”
“I didn’t know I was so devoted.”
I was admiring my own unwavering devotion while pretending to read a dark magic book when it happened.
“Laria!”
I heard a knock, and Serena entered the study.
“Oh, Serena!”
As the vice-guildmaster of the Dark Guild, Serena moved about quite freely even while in hiding.
Disguised with a brown wig and thick glasses, she roamed the Southwest without particular restrictions and evaded the Icard Ducal House’s surveillance network.
“I received word from Sven. He said he’d like to visit you.”
“Is that so? He’s always welcome.”
Normally I wouldn’t have welcomed him quite so enthusiastically, but lately I was bored and wanted to see anyone.
“He said he’s completely finished studying the magic to resurrect the person you were curious about.”
“Ah… I see.”
“And those people pursuing you have kidnapped Viscount Litshia!”
“What? Simor?”
I gasped in surprise, my mouth falling open.
Just how much do they know….
Fortunately, Simor knew nothing about my disappearance, so he wouldn’t have given them any useful information.
What startled me was the word ‘kidnapped.’ Are they really going to such extreme lengths just to find me….
“And they’re continuing to track Viscount Litshia. Fortunately, they’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“…I have nothing but apologies for Simor.”
I truly felt sorry, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“That stalker… well, I apologize to the Viscount, but in any case, we can probably relax a bit. Even if they torture Viscount Litshia, there’s nothing to extract anyway.”
“I suppose.”
I gnawed at my fingernails, seized by an ominous foreboding.
In any case, even if the worst came to pass, I still had my teleportation scroll.

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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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