Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 25

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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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“Young Master, are you alright?”
The servant Laria had pointed to was named Cop. Cop quickly moved to support Evan, but Evan rose to his feet with such ease that he brushed the dirt from his clothes as if nothing had happened.
Yet moments ago, in front of Laria, he had been drooping listlessly as if drained of all strength….
Cop’s concern proved entirely unnecessary, so he hastily withdrew his support and clasped his hands respectfully.
Evan casually dusted the soil from his body and smoothed back his hair. Laria had pleaded with such desperation that Cop had even prepared himself to carry Evan and run, leaving him feeling embarrassed standing alone.
Laria and Evan seemed to be whispering something to each other, but they were too far away for Cop to hear anything, leaving him unable to grasp the situation.
“I’m fine.”
He picked up the wooden sword that lay scattered on the ground and suddenly addressed Cop.
“What’s your name?”
“Cop Johansen, Young Master.”
“Are you married?”
“Not yet, sir.”
“Then go. You’re not someone I should be asking for advice.”
“Well, I did have someone I dated for a long time. We’ve parted ways now, though.”
At the mention of their separation, Evan’s brow furrowed slightly.
Cop quickly continued.
“But, well, it seems there’s a woman things are going well with recently.”
“So you’ve met a woman twice, in any case….”
Evan fell silent in thought for a moment, then asked in a cool voice that resembled Calaudin’s.
“Am I cute?”
Cop was suddenly caught in tremendous conflict. It was certainly clear that he was not cute at all, but his long experience had taught him that honesty alone was not always a virtue. However, as he hesitated, Evan spoke in a low voice.
“Speak honestly. That’s an order.”
Since it was an order… Cop answered with complete honesty.
“Not cute at all, sir.”
“Is that so? I think the same.”
Cop thought that perhaps honesty might indeed be a virtue for Evan. With an employer who possessed such excellent self-awareness, there was no real reason to lie.
“Is there truly nothing cute about me at all?”
“Well, to be honest, Young Master, you come across as rather… mischievous rather than cute.”
“…You’re remarkably honest.”
Evan rolled his eyes and asked again.
“Then why would someone call someone not cute at all cute?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. I don’t use the word ‘cute’ very often….”
“I’m particularly curious about what it means when a woman uses it toward a man.”
With newfound loyalty, Cop, who looked like a bandit, recalled when his ex-girlfriend had called him “cute.”
When he wore strange clothes, his kind-hearted ex-girlfriend had said things like, “Well, that’s cute, but….”
“Hmm, if that woman happens to be kind….”
“She really is kind.”
That was an indisputable fact. Ordinarily, if someone weren’t kind, they wouldn’t laugh so readily at Calaudin’s ridiculous jokes. Cop answered quickly to Evan’s firm statement.
“It seems to be a word used when one should say something nice but has nothing particularly praiseworthy to say.”
“…Ah.”
From the moment I was born, I had been surrounded by people grieving because of Matilda.
Calaudin had only been angry at being swayed by his subordinate—he made no comment about Ludba’s actual words. He had even said “by selling Matilda.” The foundation of that tremendous rage was not me, but Matilda.
So I fundamentally didn’t think Ludba’s words were wrong. That’s why Calaudin sent me away to the Academy.
From childhood, I believed I had to unconditionally obey whatever Calaudin’s intentions were, given that he had become a completely different person after Matilda’s death.
So even when he arranged my marriage to a girl I’d never seen before at the age of thirteen without even asking my opinion, I accepted it without complaint.
It was truly a marriage with no expectations whatsoever, but strangely, whenever I saw Laria’s violet eyes, I felt like I became a very ordinary boy. I began to have things I wanted to do, things I liked. For example, I enjoyed it when she nestled against me in her sleep, and I also enjoyed the warmth of her arms when she held me as I collapsed earlier.
At first, I just wanted to respond to her words about wanting to get along well with me. In my eyes, Laria was a bright, cheerful child—one blessed with good fortune like sunlight itself.
‘So that’s why the horse I picked without thinking at the racetrack came in first.’
I had brought misfortune to this Count’s Manor from the moment I was born. The reason I had said things I didn’t mean all this time was because of Ludba’s words—that if I got along well with her, it would be bad for Calaudin.
But to some extent, I also thought that an angelic child like Laria and I were simply incompatible anyway.
Yet in this moment, I realized something. When I was at my most wretched, you were the first person to embrace me and comfort me warmly, saying “it’s not your fault.”
No matter how badly I pushed you away, you always said it was fine and held me warmly. You are my only ally in this Count’s Manor.
And perhaps… you are the only one who sees me not as Matilda’s shadow, but simply as Evan Liner Icard himself.
I had been foolish to try to distance myself.
If Laria has grown distant because of my actions, I will try harder. If that’s something I shouldn’t do according to Ludba’s words and Calaudin’s will, then I will do what I shouldn’t. Even if she is a ray of sunlight incompatible with me, mired in filth as I am….
Since Ludba was wrong, I will return to the beginning. Back to when I first saw her, when I thought we should get along well. Once more.
My crimson eyes gleamed.
“Cop.”
“Yes.”
“What do men usually do when they have a woman they want to get along with?”
My resolve to obey all of Calaudin’s will—the will born from the misfortune I caused him—remained unchanged. But before all of that, Laria came first.
Because even though I had clearly done wrong, she told me it was fine between us as husband and wife. Once I decided that, urgency seized me at the thought of having hurt the first precious person I’d ever had.
Cop tilted his head slightly as he looked at the thirteen-year-old young master’s seemingly serious face. Thirteen… wasn’t he still too young to have his eyes opened to the opposite sex? So he wasn’t sure where or how to begin explaining.
“Explain it quickly.”
“First, you must take good care of yourself.”
I nodded seriously.
“You need to appear attractive to that woman, after all.”
“I see.”
“And then you gradually grow closer. You eat meals together, things like that.”
“Hmm.”
“Once your feelings for each other deepen that way, you marry. Then you live together in the same house, sharing one bed, growing closer day by day.”
“Yes.”
“And then you have children, and so on.”
I suddenly realized that my relationship with Laria was far from ordinary. We were already married. We already ate meals together and lived in the same house.
‘Having a baby should probably wait until I’m an adult.’
In the end, if I removed everything I had already accomplished from Cop’s explanation, only “taking care of myself” remained.
But….
“Because she’s cute.”
According to Laria’s brief answer….
“It seems like the kind of thing people say when they feel obligated to offer praise but can’t actually find anything worth complimenting.”
So in her eyes, I was a husband with “nothing worth complimenting.”
I’d expected as much, but the wind went out of my sails. All this time, I’d pretended not to notice when she cried herself to sleep alone, and I’d gotten irritated when she gave me a heartfelt gift, saying I didn’t need it. I’d treated her carelessly, and all that karma was piling up—and now I was apparently an unattractive man on top of it all. At this rate, there was no way Laria would want to spend time with me.
“How stupid do you have to be to just sit there and listen to all this nonsense?”
Calaudin had called me an idiot right in front of her…
“Don’t you think it would be better if you tried living a bit more earnestly yourself?”
Apparently, she thought I wasn’t living earnestly enough.
I felt a twinge of indignation. Back at the Academy, the other students used to whisper behind my back things like, “Look at him studying without playing at all. Isn’t that kind of gross?” But in front of Laria, I seemed to have become nothing more than a pathetic child who just loafed around.
“Why did I just stand there and take it like an idiot… and I’m supposed to be good with a sword.”
I’d claimed to love swordplay, but all I’d shown her was getting one-sidedly beaten by Ludba. The truth was, the difference in build and weapons was just too great, but I really was skilled with a blade…
In any case, I needed to recover my image, which seemed to have completely fallen into the gutter because of this incident.
“Cop.”
“Yes?”
“I have something I need you to do.”
I gave Cop a quiet instruction.
Cop’s eyes widened as he listened intently, then he nodded eagerly as if he understood.

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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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