Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 165

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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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Side Story 7. A Good Day
Elani hummed to herself as she signed off on documents. My half-brother Ronald, whom I had despised intensely of late, had become remarkably quiet. And for good reason—his gambling debts and scandalous personal affairs were exploding one after another, each revelation more damaging than the last.
“I always knew he was of poor character, but he was meticulous about covering his tracks… and now look at him.”
Thanks to these revelations, Ronald’s influence crumbled despite having the Empress’s backing.
“Since Ronald is unmarried, he wielded considerable sway in high society, but public opinion has turned completely against him now. Has he finally accepted his place and abandoned all aspirations for the throne?”
Elani tilted her head as she spoke.
“Or perhaps my advisor is simply extraordinarily competent.”
“You’ve noticed, I see.”
Fred, standing beside Elani, smiled knowingly.
“I’ve received considerable assistance from Laria.”
“Well, high society has certainly picked up on it.”
“Soon I’ll begin leaking details of His Majesty’s misconduct as well.”
Fred spoke with a gentle tone and a docile smile.
“This will expand Your Highness’s authority over the budget. It’s all for the empire’s future.”
“…Let me correct that.”
Elani set down her pen and fidgeted with her fingers before speaking.
“It’s not that my advisor is competent—it’s that my lover is competent.”
“I’ll correct myself as well.”
Fred, quick to catch on, gently took her hand as he replied.
“It’s not for the empire’s future, but for Your Highness’s future.”
The intensity of their intertwined gazes deepened.
“In that case, would you stay at the Imperial Palace this evening…?”
“Ah… I apologize.”
Fred’s expression grew troubled as he answered.
“This evening is Duke Icard’s birthday.”
“Oh, right. I heard about it but forgot.”
“They’re throwing quite the celebration for that damned birthday, so I should make an appearance.”
In truth, Fred had never forgiven Evan—not once. He was not the type to forgive anyone.
“I don’t particularly want to congratulate him on his birthday, but I want to see Arienne…”
But Laria was happy with that madman, so there was nothing to be done. Besides, his niece Arienne was far too precious for him to wish for Evan’s misfortune.
Honestly, her striking features and vivid crimson eyes, her jet-black hair—all of it screamed Icard bloodline, and he had been disappointed at first. Yet
the way she smiled brightly bore the unmistakable resemblance of both Fred and Laria.
In the end, Fred packed gifts not for Evan, but for Arienne, and headed toward the Duke’s Mansion.
* * *
Sven spent his days in happiness, treating the returned Neo with utmost care.
Neo had once run away to Duke Icard’s Mansion on impulse, but after something went awry and he returned with a sullen expression, he never left Sven’s side again.
He had once harbored boundless ambitions to overturn the world through dark magic.
But upon learning that this world was already an overturned one, he found peace of mind. His new goal became to live as happily as possible in this beautiful world.
‘To live as happily as possible, one needs plenty of money.’
Sven’s Bestian Information Guild transformed from a dark magic-pursuing organization into a capital-pursuing one. Under Laria’s direction, he took on various tasks and eventually opened his eyes to business.
And so Sven joined hands with Simor, and together they were enjoying tremendous success in various ventures.
“Well, so… it seems Kail Dart Labonis has achieved another great success.”
He murmured while reading Simor’s letter.
“At this rate, he’ll end up selling off the entire continent.”
After experiencing heartbreak once, Simor had thrown himself even more passionately into business, convinced that only money was eternal.
Sven set Simor’s letter back on the table and unfolded Laria’s correspondence instead.
Now that Laria had become Duke Icard’s true mistress of the household, she no longer needed to engage in business. Yet Sven still diligently followed her instructions.
The fact that she had overturned this world once, the affection that had accumulated from being at her side for so long, and her current status as the most influential person in the capital—all of these were reasons Sven remained loyal to Laria.
“In any case, so….”
Sven stroked his chin and laughed playfully.
“Tonight, that is….”
* * *
It was Evan’s twenty-third birthday.
Evan hadn’t celebrated his birthday until he turned twenty. It seemed he’d fallen into the habit of not celebrating from childhood.
His twenty-first birthday he’d spent in chaos at Kail Dart Labonis’s mansion, though even that had passed in a blur as he’d moved to Podeline to search for Father.
As for his twenty-second birthday, it hadn’t been properly celebrated either.
At that time, Arienne’s confinement period was approaching, so everyone had been anxious and naturally couldn’t prepare for any parties. When his twenty-third birthday drew near, I declared to Evan:
“Let’s have a birthday party.”
“…What?”
“I don’t want this birthday of yours to pass by unremarkably.”
“Fine.”
Evan answered reluctantly.
“I’m not a child anymore….”
“These are things you never received as a child. Let’s get them all at once.”
When I pressed firmly, Evan, though unwilling, couldn’t offer any further objections.
Of course, I also had no desire to summon servants and have them present gifts just because Evan was no longer a child. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t hold a party at all.
Rather, that would be something for our Arienne to receive….
‘A celebration among family members would be nice. Something modest in scale, just enough to make the Duke’s Mansion sparkle all day long?’
And so, for Evan’s birthday, the Duke’s Mansion came alive with energy. An orchestra played celebratory music all day long, glittering decorations were placed everywhere, and all the immediate family members were invited.
“I’ve arrived, you lot.”
Olivia arrived first from Rivien, bringing a parrot and a puppy with her.
“A birthday party for Evan? Well, that’s something to see after living long. Anyway, I’ve brought plenty of gifts.”
It was a large gift box that would make any child wild with joy.
Evan accepted the gift box reluctantly, and I tilted my head curiously as I looked at the puppy in Olivia’s arms.
“Aunt, where did this puppy come from?”
“Well… my emotional wounds were too severe, so I couldn’t keep a cat. That mischievous creature would toy with me?”
‘That mischievous creature’ seemed to refer to Neo.
While I was examining the puppy from every angle, Evan opened the gift box Olivia had brought and was so startled that he hastily shut the lid again.
“A-Aunt!”
Evan, who rarely showed embarrassment, had his face flushed bright red.
“Why?”
Olivia laughed with a giggle.
“I paid a fortune for it. It wasn’t easy to obtain, you know?”
“What on earth… why would you…”
“Don’t you dare throw it away. Even if it seems trivial, I paid a thousand gold for it.”
“Ha…”
Evan muttered in disbelief.
“A thousand gold? Whose dog’s name is that? A thousand gold for this…”
“How did you know? Say hello. My new friend—his name is Cheongeuldeu.”
“Woof woof!”
“…”
So Olivia’s puppy’s name was Cheongeuldeu.
“What is it?”
Unable to contain my curiosity, I opened the gift box again, checked its contents, and hastily closed it.
“It’s a birthday gift, I’m telling you. Only I could have procured this. Would any of you have the nerve to acquire something like this?”
“…”
“…”
“Wait for the second piece of news.”
Olivia laughed heartily, then took Lucifer and Cheongeuldeu with her, striding back to her seat.
“I’m terrified someone might see it. Let’s hurry and take this to our room.”
I quickly handed the gift box to Lisa, instructing her to bring it to the room immediately and absolutely not to look inside.
The next person to arrive was Fred.
“My apologies. I wasn’t able to prepare a birthday gift. I can hardly buy a gift from a kidnapper, can I?”
“…Brother. You said you forgave me.”
“I forgave you. I haven’t forgotten.”
“If you didn’t bring a gift, you should turn right back around…”
“Instead, I brought a gift for Arienne. Is she over there with her nanny?”
“…Don’t go. Your seat is over there.”
Paying no mind to my words, Fred rushed over to Arienne and busied himself with all manner of antics.
“Orololololo, Uncle’s here, Uncle!”
No matter how publicly acknowledged his status as a future Duke was, he was nothing but a human toy before Arienne. Fortunately, Arienne, who smiled brightly at everyone, giggled at all the human toy’s affections.
The last person to arrive was Father. He greeted Olivia, lingered near Arienne, was pushed aside by Fred, and then approached us.
“Ahem, Evan.”
Father seemed somewhat embarrassed, his eyes slightly avoiding Evan’s.
“Happy birthday.”
It was a simple thing to say, yet somehow it made all of us feel strange.
“It feels like you’re saying it for the first time.”
“…”
“I’m sorry for being such an inadequate father—one who only knew how to allocate budgets and never picked out a birthday gift myself.”
When I was pregnant, for some inexplicable reason, the two of them had grown quite close. But that was then, and the past didn’t simply disappear. So it was only natural that we all felt an awkward atmosphere before Evan’s birthday.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to care for him, Laria.”
Father first expressed his gratitude to me slowly, then handed Evan a long box.
“I chose it carefully over a long time.”
“This is….”
When Evan opened the box, it contained a set of what appeared to be quite expensive adult and children’s swords.
“If only I could return to the past, I wanted to teach you sword training myself.”
We all fell silent. We understood the significance of Evan’s sword training. Rather than entrusting him to someone like Ludba, he wanted to teach his son directly—the one who inherited his own talent….
“You teach Arienne directly.”
It would take several more years before Arienne could wield this sword, but regardless, it was an incredibly symbolic gift.
“…Thank you.”
“Thank you for coming to us, Evan.”
“….”
“I’m sorry for saying it so late.”
“Father.”
Evan looked at Father and smiled softly.
“Please don’t apologize anymore. Don’t regret it either. There’s truly no need for that now.”
Watching the two of them become completely free from the past like this, I felt tears welling up strangely in my eyes.
Father seemed embarrassed and cleared his throat several times before hurrying over to Arienne. After that….
Honestly, it was Evan’s birthday, but everyone’s attention inevitably turned to Arienne.
Arienne kept smiling brightly as if admiring the glittering dining hall, and her body swayed continuously to the music.
“Whose daughter is she that she’s so beautiful….”
Watching Arienne surrounded by many people and loved, I felt nothing but pride. Unlike us, Arienne would truly grow up in a harmonious home, showered with love.
“Happy birthday, Evan.”
I sat beside Evan and whispered.
“I’ll celebrate your birthday like this for the rest of my life.”
“Actually….”
Evan scratched the tip of his ear awkwardly as he spoke.
“When you first suggested having a birthday party, I wondered what the point was, but now that I’m being celebrated, it feels good.”
I was glad that Evan could say he felt “good” without hesitation.
“Thank you, Laria.”
He gently took my hand as he spoke.
“I’m truly grateful. How did a woman like you come into my life.”
Our gazes met, warm and tender. The evening was equally warm. And that night….
Evan was kidnapped by a carriage that Sven had secretly prepared, his eyes blindfolded and his hands bound.
Of course, he followed along very willingly with my clumsy kidnapping act.
“Is this your birthday present for me, Laria?”
“….”
“I’ve always been waiting for this. It’s that secluded mountain village you secretly purchased, right?”
Because Evan’s voice was so full of anticipation, I sighed and spoke.
“…I can’t stay long because of Arienne.”
And Evan asked urgently.
“Did you pack the gift Aunt gave you?”
“Of course.”
And so we spent time together, just the two of us, for the first time in ages… though technically speaking, we were filming a kidnapping and confinement scene.
And Olivia’s insight proved correct once again.
“Ugh.”
Inside the carriage on the way back, Evan began to feel nauseous.

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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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