Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 18
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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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And exactly three days passed since then.
For those three days, Evan left the room with his sword in hand before I woke, and only returned after I fell asleep.
We barely saw each other’s faces. On the surface, nothing seemed to have changed, but his expression had grown strangely dark.
I was determined to corner him tonight and have a proper conversation.
“Hello.”
A young woman with flowing red hair entered my room and greeted me cheerfully.
“I’m Serena Moristo. Starting today, I’ll be serving as your personal physician and checking on your condition daily.”
“The alias for our side’s physician will be Serena Moristo. That way, you’ll be able to recognize her immediately from the name.”
Sven… he’s actually quite competent.
“Thank you, Serena.”
Perhaps to ensure things went smoothly, Lisa didn’t follow either. Since Evan was out every day for sword training, it was just Serena and me in the room.
Serena leaned in beside me, grinning widely as she spoke in a low voice.
“Our guild master specifically instructed me. He said you’re a customer with very deep pockets and told me to treat you well.”
Of course. Do you know how much I’ve invested there?
“Are you actually a real doctor, Serena?”
“No.”
Serena winked confidently.
“I don’t know much about medicine. I crammed by reading a few basic books, but that’s about it.”
“Then how did you pass the interview?”
“The Duke doesn’t know much about medicine either… I passed with a diploma from a famous medical academy, a license, and mountains of recommendation letters.”
“My.”
“Of course, they’re all forged.”
“How is that… acceptable?”
“It’s rare for our guild master to move this much… It seems he’s really taken a liking to you, Laria.”
It’s not that he’s taken a liking to me—it’s my final answer that impressed him. If he’s someone who reads situations well, he’d naturally be curious about House Icard’s affairs, and he’d want to use me to his advantage.
“So what exactly am I supposed to do, Laria?”
Then Serena asked with sparkling green eyes and a playful tone.
“The Duke will keep asking about my condition.”
“Right, that’s true.”
Serena answered thoughtfully.
“There was a condition that I shouldn’t tell anyone about your illness.”
Since I had to remain a terminal patient that no one knew about, that was naturally a given condition.
“He said he’d behead me if word got out. Oh my, how terrifying… He didn’t sound like he was joking at all.”
“He probably wasn’t joking.”
“Pardon?”
“Jokes are even scarier.”
“…I see.”
Serena sighed deeply and continued.
“And he told me not to let you know, but to come to him regularly and report on your condition.”
Everything unfolded exactly as I had anticipated.
‘I mustn’t let my guard down around Duke Icard….’
In the end, Duke Icard hadn’t assigned me a personal physician to cure my illness, but to monitor me.
“Ah, he’s asked me to examine you again and report the findings.”
“That’s probably the final assessment.”
I crossed my arms and let out a smirk.
“Go tell him I have Garva’s Lung Disease—a rare condition with multiple complications that will likely claim my life within six or seven years.”
“What?”
“Say that no medication will help much, but you’ll do your best regardless. Then add that it won’t be easy.”
“My goodness, such an enormous lie?”
“You shouldn’t be surprised. And make sure to tell me exactly how he reacts.”
I predicted the Duke’s response would be: ‘Don’t bother trying to cure it—just monitor the condition and report back.’
“But, Miss Laria—aren’t you actually ill?”
Serena tilted her head curiously.
“Hmm?”
“If you were truly ill, you wouldn’t have purchased an estate under an alias or bought a title….”
“I’m somewhat ill, but it’ll pass soon. Don’t be alarmed if I occasionally cough up blood.”
“Then I really have nothing to do here? I just need to pretend to make an effort?”
“Exactly.”
“Unbelievable.”
Serena clapped her hands once, clearly delighted.
“What an easy assignment.”
Then she smirked and tossed her flowing hair back over her shoulder.
“So, would it be alright if I pursued some romance here? I’ve noticed quite a few attractive servants around.”
“That’s entirely your choice, Serena.”
I answered readily, though her comment caught me off guard, and my expression grew slightly stiff.
“Romance is my hobby, you see.”
“Ah… I see.”
Only then did I realize she was quite a sensually attractive beauty. Her bold features were matched by equally flamboyant attire.
“If you ever develop feelings for a man, please tell me in secret. I’ll help arrange your secret meetings.”
“What, what did you just say?”
“That’s my specialty—not medicine, but secret rendezvous. Leave it to me.”
Serena winked.
Honestly, even for the Dark Information Guild, assigning someone with this personality was unexpected.
“I’m… I’m already married….”
“It’s a political marriage, isn’t it?”
Serena spoke casually.
“All nobles bound by political marriages in childhood have affairs. Ninety-nine percent of the gossip in high society is about exactly that.”
Well… the original work was, in a sense, a story about infidelity too. Though Evan wasn’t a good husband, Princess Elani was still a married woman after all.
‘This is quite the melodrama. What was the author thinking.’
The author’s pen name was ‘Devil Cat’.
No matter how I thought about it, despite the cute pen name, the writing was definitely rather strange.
Of course, Evan was at the level of a rickshaw that couldn’t even compare to a cart from Princess Elani’s perspective, so none of the readers blamed Princess Elani. And since divorce wasn’t permitted under Imperial law, it seemed like such situations would occur frequently.
I had to keep in mind that this wasn’t a modern society like my previous life, but a completely different world. In a country where parents arrange marriages as they please, infidelity would naturally be different from my common sense.
“If you ever need advice about men, I’m always happy to help. I’m something of an expert in that area.”
Serena smiled at me with confidence.
Sven…. He really was the right person to assign, wasn’t he?
In any case, since I couldn’t move freely, it would be convenient if I could manipulate the people of the Bestian Information Guild as I wished.
“Say, Serena.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“I have something to tell Sven.”
I tossed out the words casually.
“I was strolling through the city the other day and noticed a burning smell coming from the building behind that cafe.”
“Really? A burning smell? Behind the cafe?”
Serena’s expression turned serious.
“Yeah. Tell him it would be good to look into it carefully.”
“Oh my, yes!”
“It’s just that we’ve formed such a good connection, and I’d hate for something bad to happen.”
I put on a gentle expression and spoke softly. This was also a story from the anecdote between Simor and Sven, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to borrow it a little.
“It could be overlooked, but there’s no harm in being careful either. As you can see, I’m not free to move about, so each connection I make is precious to me.”
“Oh my….”
Serena’s expression softened with slight emotion.
Then it was time to deliver the finishing blow with a shy smile.
“So both you and Sven are very precious to me.”
Hey, could you put up a subtitle please?
‘Laria (14), Transmigrator / Takes acting seriously’ in Gungsuh font, if you would.
As expected, Serena took my hand and answered earnestly.
“How could you… thank you so much for caring about us.”
Sven’s mother lived in the building behind the cafe. And on the floor below, a strange mage obsessed with experiments had recently moved in. So it made sense that Serena wore such a grave expression.
In fact, in the original work, that mage caused an entire building to be destroyed. The story described how Sven fell into a state of helplessness after losing his mother in that incident.
‘By now, Simor probably hasn’t gone to Sven yet.’
So Simor, who was in contact with Sven while purchasing the Hanua Estate, would have a slightly difficult time. But now Simor should be able to purchase the estate easily without any issues.
‘At this level… it wasn’t intentional, but it should be a good thing for Simor too.’
I had felt guilty about seemingly taking a share of Simor’s wealth anyway, so this was a way to cleanly repay that debt of conscience.
Fundamentally, it was right to give a heads-up since it involved saving someone’s life, but I was also taking a bit of credit in the process.
‘Now he’ll think of me as his benefactor.’
Then he would do his best whenever I asked him to do various things.
I needed to become firmly entangled with Sven regardless. If I could just command an Information Guild as I pleased, that would be like giving wings to someone like me, a transmigrator.
I had transmigrated into the worst possible conditions—narrow freedom of movement, a weak body, and no special abilities—but….
‘I’ll survive through shamelessness and audacity!’
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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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