Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 23

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

* * *
Calaudin was swamped with work in his office, barely finding a moment to breathe.
He wasn’t merely governing his dukedom—he was maneuvering the political landscape of the entire Empire.
Though his power was still somewhat limited, if he continued to build his influence gradually, within five years there would be no nobleman bold enough to stand against him.
The real problem was the Royal Court. Marriage seemed to be the only leverage he could wield, but he hadn’t yet devised a way to manipulate them beyond that.
‘Because Princess Elani is the very center of the Royal Court.’
Though the Emperor was still young and hadn’t yet taken a prominent role, everyone anticipated that she would eventually become the true power behind the throne.
Then came a knock at the door.
“Father, it’s Laria.”
“Come in.”
The door creaked open slightly, and Laria scurried inside.
“Thank you so much for the gift, Father.”
Laria smiled brightly and bowed respectfully.
“I’m wearing the dress and hair ornament and necklace you gave me!”
Calaudin lacked any particular sense for women’s fashion, so he simply nodded curtly. To his eyes, there was little difference between what she wore today and what she’d worn yesterday.
Laria had an innocent and adorable appearance regardless of what she wore. The way she darted about with curious eyes reminded him of a squirrel.
‘Perhaps because she’s actually been ill, she seems a bit shorter than children her age.’
Even compared to Evan, who was a year younger, she was a full head shorter. The difference in build was considerable, even accounting for Evan’s naturally tall stature.
“So I’ve been thinking about how I could properly express my gratitude to you.”
At Laria’s words, Calaudin chuckled and spoke.
“Never mind. If you want to express your ‘thanks,’ you should tell the chef, not me.”
“…Pardon?”
“‘Thanks’—as in, gratitude.”
“Oh!”
Laria’s expression lit up with wonder for a moment before she burst into delighted laughter.
“Ahahahahaha! Father, that’s so funny! Ahahahahaha!”
After laughing for quite some time, Laria, who seemed rather pleased with herself, held out a piece of paper to him.
“It’s a modest gift, but something I prepared for you.”
Laria handed him a piece of paper while he was lost in thought. When he’d first seen it, he couldn’t make anything out, but now he thought he might be able to.
Beneath the words “Father, I’m truly grateful,” there were drawings of three people—crude renderings that bore little resemblance to anyone in particular.
“Is this me?”
“…No, that’s Evan.”
“Then this is me?”
“…It seems you’re getting them all wrong.”
Laria’s shoulders drooped.
“But you seemed to like it, so I drew it anyway.”
From the moment he first saw her, she’d struck him as a sickly, insignificant girl with no particular talents—which he’d considered fortunate. Yet strangely, she was endearing.
Now that he thought about it, it was thanks to Laria that he and Evan had gone out together for the first time. Until then, they’d had virtually no interaction whatsoever.
Evan was a complicated existence that Calaudin preferred not to dwell on too deeply.
At first, he’d been too consumed by the loss of Matilda to properly attend to his son. Then, before he knew it, the boy had grown up, and it had become awkward to suddenly try to get along with him.
That said, Evan was far from unimportant to me. Of course, he was part of the reason I was working so diligently behind the scenes to make up for everything.
Still, after Matilda left, I had never truly envisioned what a harmonious family might look like.
I believed a warm and bright home was impossible without Matilda. Yet unexpectedly—very unexpectedly—this daughter-in-law I had merely intended to exploit was….
“Father.”
Laria’s eyes widened.
“You know, now that I think about it, the three of us haven’t been together since the Racetrack event.”
“…I never spent much time with Evan anyway.”
“But we’re family.”
As if that single word could solve everything, Laria tilted her head thoughtfully.
“We should get along well.”
“We each spend so much time apart that I don’t feel any particular need to get along.”
“But even with your separate time, you can support each other, and that would be wonderful!”
Laria clapped her hands once with genuine excitement, as if struck by a brilliant idea.
“Evan seems to be practicing swordsmanship so diligently. Would you like to go watch with me?”
“Enough of that.”
Calaudin cut her off immediately.
I knew Evan trained in swordsmanship with the Knight Order, but I hadn’t given it much thought. Since I too had loved the sword as a child, I simply assumed he was following the same path of development.
I’d heard he’d won first place in some competition, but wasn’t that only natural for my son? I saw no reason to offer praise. After all, he was a child who resembled me in many ways.
“But I really want to see him… Ever since Evan met with the Knight Captain, he comes home at dawn and leaves at dawn. I can barely see his face anymore….”
“Then go watch alone. I’m busy. I don’t have time to stand around watching some boy swing a sword.”
“But Evan isn’t a boy!”
“At thirteen, everyone’s still a boy.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true, but….”
Laria fidgeted with the painting, her voice growing quieter.
“We’re a family of three….”
“….”
“When we were at Rostri Manor, our family relations were really strained. But here, I truly want us to get along well… to create many good memories together as three….”
“….”
“Even at the last tea time, I was so sad that Evan wasn’t there… *cough, cough, coooough!*”
Her increasingly weakened voice was eventually drowned out by violent coughing.
Laria held a handkerchief to her mouth for a long moment, coughing desperately.
“Lisa said that she hasn’t even seen Evan at the Knight Order, *coooough!* that they just told her not to look for him, *cough cough!* so I, *cough!* couldn’t go alone….”
The way she hastily hid the handkerchief within her dress hem made it look as though she’d coughed up blood again.
“I’m ill… I spend most of my time lying down… *cough,* and whenever I can move at all, I just want to create good memories….”
Calaudin took the painting from Laria’s hands.
He placed it on the desk in his office, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“*Cooough! Cough, cough!* I really… truly want Evan and Father to… *cooough!*”
Laria was now coughing violently, nearly collapsing.
I recalled the moment I had decided to take Laria in as my daughter-in-law.
“Matilda, my heart is so heavy. I came to you.”
I went to Matilda’s grave, only to find a woman who had arrived before me, weeping softly to herself. It was the Rostri Countess.
“My husband is too preoccupied with his infidelities, the son who defied him has been banished to the Eastern Continent, and you, my dear friend, have left me far too soon….”
I had long known that Matilda was her close friend.
“But our daughter Laria has a terminal illness. Garbas Castle’s lung disease mixed with various complications. The doctors say she won’t live past her early twenties. I’ve been so devastated I haven’t told a soul.”
He held his breath and waited quietly for his wife’s friend to finish speaking.
“What am I to do about our Laria…. Every time she coughs up blood, my heart shatters.”
After that, the Rostri Countess and her husband died suddenly in a carriage accident.
Upon hearing this news, Calaudin immediately brought Laria to him and had her marry Evan. Since Laria had nowhere else to go, he thought this was better than her wandering pitifully from relative to relative before dying.
With Evan at the Academy, there could be no proper wedding ceremony—only documents were submitted.
For now, she would serve as a convenient screen to deceive others’ eyes, and when the time came, she would simply die. That was what he had thought….
“Very well, let’s go.”
She was a child destined to die young; I couldn’t refuse even this request. Lately, every time I looked at Laria’s face, an inexplicable sense of guilt washed over me. Or perhaps it wasn’t guilt at all….
“Let’s go make those damned beautiful memories.”
Laria’s cough stopped gradually, as if it had been a lie.
I gazed at her sparkling eyes and murmured to myself.
“It’s not that I particularly want to grant your request.”
My plan would be completed through Princess Elani. Without the Royal Court’s cooperation, my secret ambition could never be realized.
I couldn’t afford to lose my resolve now. I had never once thought to observe my son’s sword training. Since he was my son and resembled me, I assumed he would manage well enough on his own.
“Yes, Father! Let’s hurry!”
Laria, barely half my height, grabbed my arm excitedly and pulled me along. I let myself be dragged, but she led me in an unexpected direction.
“Laria? That’s not the way.”
I naturally intended to head toward the training grounds and furrowed my brow, but Laria shook her head with wide eyes.
“No, sir. The knights said Evan receives private instruction! From Knight Captain Ludba!”
“…You heard this from them?”
“Yes. They said it was definitely behind the Rose Garden.”
Laria smiled innocently, as if she knew nothing.
I had no choice but to follow her with reluctant steps.
‘The Rose Garden is a place I haven’t visited since Matilda passed away.’
Seeing the roses deprived of their caretaker’s tender care was itself painful for me.
‘And if it’s Ludba….’
He was the one who had always looked at Matilda with a gaze I disliked from the start. When Matilda said she was going into the city, I assigned three guards to her, but two of them suddenly withdrew at the last moment.
So Ludba and Matilda went out together once, and I was in a foul mood about it.
I suspected Ludba had orchestrated it deliberately, as his eyes were constantly fixed on Matilda.
If Matilda hadn’t stopped me, I would have driven Ludba away on suspicion alone.
Of course, everyone whispered that it was more my obsession than any fault of Ludba’s. After all, I had been quite obsessed with Matilda….
But after Matilda passed away, I lost all interest in Ludba.
And when the Knight Captain recommended Ludba as his successor before retirement, I approved it without much thought.
Since then, Ludba had caused no trouble. Moreover, he had done nothing to defy me.
Yet I was hearing for the first time that he was giving Evan private instruction.
The people of the Count’s Manor spoke minimally about Evan-related matters, knowing I had little interest in him. There were far more pressing concerns for me than Evan at the manor. But private instruction from Ludba? Something felt wrong.
By the time I heard the report that Evan had gone to the training grounds, I was already regretting not asking for more details instead of letting it pass with indifference.
“Father.”
Laria whispered softly.
“Let’s not let him know we’re here—let’s watch from a distance. I want to see if Evan is truly skilled. But if he’s aware of our presence, it might distract him from his training.”
After all, he hadn’t come of his own volition. Since Laria had insisted on coming, he had no reason to object, so he nodded listlessly.
Sure enough, in the distance, I could see Ludba and Evan wielding their swords against each other.
They crept forward with hushed footsteps, moving slowly and cautiously. A few steps behind them, Lisa and Serena, who had been bickering as they followed from outside the Duke’s Office, noticed and fell silent.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————