Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 135

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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.”
I never did learn the true nature of my illness.
“Don’t grow too fond of me.”
But one day, I spoke to him with utmost sincerity.
“Let’s just… get along moderately. I think that would be better.”
Evan’s complexion deteriorated day by day, even more than mine, and I continued speaking between fits of coughing.
“Somehow… my body keeps getting worse… But I still want to live a little longer. There’s so much I want to do.”
“What do you want to do?”
When Evan asked, brushing back my hair, I smiled softly.
“I want to live until your birthday.”
“…What?”
“I want to tell you happy birthday on your twenty-first.”
“…”
“Now that I think about it, I’ve never once wished you a happy birthday. Though you haven’t done it for me either.”
“Ah. Don’t worry about my birthday.”
Evan spoke quietly.
“Since I was young, I’ve given direct orders that no one should acknowledge my birthday.”
“I don’t like that. I want to celebrate you.”
I said firmly.
“I’ll gather all the retainers and celebrate your birthday with the entire family present, even inviting musicians.”
“And yet you say that…”
Evan buried his face against my body.
“How can you speak of getting along moderately? You fool.”
After that, I lived for exactly two more months. During that time, a sudden terrorist attack burned down the study.
Taking advantage of the chaos, a man named Simor discovered the books of Rollaide, the first family head, and took a newly discovered gold mine.
None of it mattered to Evan. He simply stayed by my side always. He had no interest in pursuing the terrorists. Each day with me was far more precious.
It was the day of a Royal Court banquet. My condition deteriorated rapidly. Though I didn’t fully understand my illness, even I could sense that something was gravely wrong with my body today.
“What a shame.”
I looked at Evan’s ashen face and spoke with forced cheer.
“If I were healthy, I would have danced our first dance with you, wouldn’t I?”
“…Then who would you dance with for the second dance?”
“Well, anyone?”
“I wouldn’t let him off easy.”
“…You’re quite possessive, aren’t you? That won’t do. Are you planning to restrict your wife’s entire social life?”
“Then I’ll just kill him in my mind.”
“…”
“About a hundred times?”
I started to respond but broke into a cough, then laughed weakly and lost consciousness.
Hours later, when I came to, I called out Evan’s name—he was still there beside me in the same position as before.
“Evan.”
Evan gripped my hand tightly.
“Thank you for everything.”
“…Don’t say things like that.”
Evan’s voice grew hoarse.
I wiped the blood from my lips and took several deep breaths.
“I… I was so indifferent to you for far too long. I don’t deserve to hear such words.”
As Evan spoke with a trembling voice, I shook my head and replied with a sorrowful tone.
“I was the same way.”
I rolled up his sleeve and traced the deep scars.
“I really should have prevented this, at least…”
“If by some chance you could live once more, Laria.”
Evan spoke quietly.
“Don’t meet someone like me.”
“What?”
“Find a man who watches over your illness carefully from childhood and loves you all along.”
“Is that okay?”
“And I’ll kill that bastard in hell.”
“…”
I stared at him in disbelief, then let out a soft laugh.
“If I could live once more, you should do that for me.”
“…”
“I don’t need another man.”
And then I fell into a deep sleep once more.
That dawn, I left this world as if merely falling asleep, leaving behind only the words “Take care.” Evan shed not a single tear. After all, he had no intention of living long without her.
* * *
Princess Elani was first in line for the throne, but with the Emperor being so young, no one knew when she would inherit the crown—a beautiful princess nonetheless.
Calaudin had never intended to persuade the Emperor to unseal dark magic. The Emperor desired nothing beyond his petty tyrannies. So seven years ago, the plan had been to connect Evan and Princess Elani through marriage to somehow obtain the Imperial seal.
Time passed, and Princess Elani came of age. After Evan learned all the circumstances from Calaudin, he threw himself into some frenzied endeavor once Laria fell asleep.
The night after Laria’s funeral, Evan went directly to Calaudin and spoke in a low voice.
“It seems I can obtain permission without necessarily going through with the imperial marriage.”
“…What?”
Calaudin saw his son wearing the exact same expression he himself had worn in his youth.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell Evan to seduce Princess Elani through the imperial marriage—whether through charm or by any means—and obtain authorization for dark magic. Yet Evan had brought an entirely different solution.
“Princess Elani’s desire for divorce law reform is far more passionate than expected. Our cooperation is essential for that law to pass.”
The House of Icard was now the de facto leader of the Nobility. After learning all the facts from Calaudin, Evan had instead begun taking the initiative to accelerate the implementation of dark magic.
Calaudin could only watch his son, who seemed to have built a new wall between them, without saying much.
But each time Calaudin saw his son growing gaunt, he deeply regretted his choice. After all, Evan would experience the same pain he himself had felt.
“However, Princess Elani is not the sort to grant dark magic merely in exchange for such legislation.”
“I’ve agreed to strip Prince Ronald of his succession rights. He said it’s unbearable how the Emperor’s mood is affected by the prince.”
“…What? Evan, that’s not something you can do….”
“I promised to make him unable to inherit. Whether by rendering him incapable of functioning as a human, or if that proves difficult, by killing him.”
Despite his youth, Evan was far more intellectually sophisticated than I in many ways, and he had ultimately reached a settlement with Princess Elani.
He had compromised on unsealing black magic to permit demon summoning, the throne itself, and the passage of divorce legislation. Calaudin was inwardly astonished that Princess Elani’s desires ran so deep.
‘I naturally assumed she would abhor black magic as befits the imperial bloodline.’
Moreover, he had believed her to be a daughter who pleased the Emperor well, so he had not known her ambitions for the throne ran so profound.
“It appears Princess Elani harbors considerable resentment toward Prince Ronald. I heard he carelessly put the late Empress’s belongings up for auction.”
To be precise, her deep hatred was directed at her father and half-brother, but in any case, Evan had uncovered Princess Elani’s true intentions.
“But how could you possibly plan to directly eliminate a member of the imperial family….”
“It’s a promise that won’t need to be kept once time reverts anyway, so I simply wagered the seal of House Icard as well.”
In other words, Evan had burned his bridges entirely. He had secured this compromise by staking even House Icard on something that could never be fulfilled.
In reality, Princess Elani had agonized greatly before promising to permit black magic.
“My convictions matter more to me than the Empire’s stability or the Royal Court’s authority. Since Icard already has everything, they won’t do anything that causes great harm to the Empire anyway.”
“I intend only to show my mother’s face to Father once. It won’t throw the world into chaos at all.”
“Is there such black magic? Well, I know the Duke of Icard’s sincerity. I’ll trust you.”
Evan had grasped this before Calaudin did.
He could understand that sentiment. If Laria had left behind even a final wish, Evan would have turned the Empire upside down to fulfill it.
“I told Princess Elani it was merely black magic to see her mother again. I didn’t bother mentioning anything about time reverting.”
In short, he had completely deceived Princess Elani. The consent of the Nobility and the approval of the imperial family—the former Calaudin had achieved through twenty years of foundation-building, and the latter Evan had secured through negotiation and deception.
Only a handful of people knew that one could revive the dead simultaneously with reversing time, so Princess Elani could not have imagined it.
At last, deep beneath the Imperial Palace, the Altar of Darkness opened for the first time in centuries. Evan and Calaudin stood alone upon that altar. Following the ancient texts Calaudin had studied, Evan recited the incantations with composure and split the sacred object in half at the center of the magic circle.
* * *
―It has been an eternity since I last came to the human realm. Over a thousand years, perhaps?
The demon had no physical form, only a magnificent voice that resonated through the altar.
―You who dared summon a demon, what contract do you wish to make with me?
“I wish to reverse time, alter causality, and resurrect the dead.”
―Heh…. If you reverse time, even you would not remember the reversal and would live anew.
“I don’t care.”
―And black magic is not magic favorable to humans, so you must pay a considerable price.
“Resurrect my wife. And in exchange, take my life or my soul—take whatever you wish.”
At Evan’s calm words, Calaudin immediately seized his arm.
“What are you saying?”
The demon’s voice cut through Calaudin’s desperate words.
―Hmph, you showed some wit, but demons do not make deals in such fashion. One causality demands one life, without exception.
Evan’s expression grew crestfallen. He had thought that if he himself ceased to exist, Matilda could be revived as well.
But the demon seemed to have immediately grasped Evan’s calculation.
―The only way to resurrect Matilda Larilashu Icard is for you never to be born. Her body was never meant to bear children in the first place. There is no other way.
The demon’s voice continued.
―Therefore, saving both is not a fair exchange. Your life is bound by the causality of reviving your mother anyway….
It was Calaudin who immediately cut off those words.
“No, Demon. I did not come here to resurrect Matilda.”
“Father?”
Evan’s brow furrowed at the unexpected words. Until now, he had unquestioningly believed that Calaudin would naturally choose Matilda over him.
To Calaudin, Evan had always been a wrongly born child, the very cause of Matilda’s death. He had thought that if he disappeared from this world and Matilda could be resurrected, it would naturally be a good ending for everyone.
“Then why…”
Calaudin gazed at Evan quietly, then surprisingly, took his hand. It was the first physical contact between father and son.
“Evan, in my desire to resurrect Matilda, I ruined your childhood. Yet I never stopped, clinging to the hope that I could undo it all.”
“…”
“That does not mean I did not love you. I simply wanted to give you complete love. When I thought I had already failed, I became trapped in an even darker path, obsessing over dark magic.”
So Calaudin had chosen to somehow do his utmost to restore what was already broken, rather than recover the father-son relationship midway through.
The more he regretted not paying attention to Evan in the past, the more he threw himself into his work, wanting to start anew—a vicious cycle that repeated endlessly.
He added quietly.
“If I had to choose between you and Matilda, we have already made our choice.”
“…”
“When you were born… Matilda said she would bear you no matter what, and I chose to respect her will.”
“But…”
“I am sorry, Evan. I too was a parent for the first time and did not know what to do. It seems this is how I must repay that debt.”
Evan, bewildered, could offer no response. It was a situation he had never anticipated.
“Therefore, Demon.”
Calaudin spoke quietly.
“Take my life.”
There was not a shred of hesitation in his voice, as if he had been contemplating this for a long time. It seemed he had decided this from the moment Evan mentioned his affection for Laria.
“I wish for you to resurrect my daughter-in-law, Laria Rose Icard.”

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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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