Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 28

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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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“How so?”
“You don’t need to know, Laria.”
I stared at him intently.
Who asks a question expecting such an evasive answer?
Yet Duke Icard, who rarely spoke falsehoods, wouldn’t say such a thing unless he possessed some truly extraordinary method.
I sighed inwardly. It was such a shame that I had possessed this body without fully understanding the circumstances of House Icard.
‘I should have read the side stories too.’
I knew far less about House Icard than I had expected.
The only details I remembered vividly were the male lead’s actions….
“…If all my plans come to fruition.”
“….”
“Everything that has gone wrong will return to its proper place. So I cannot stop.”
I could discern what he meant by “cannot stop.”
Becoming the hidden hand that controls everything. In other words, once all his plans succeeded—once Duke Icard completely swallowed up both the Nobility and the Imperial Family.
Once he could accomplish whatever it was he desired. Even Evan’s unstable emotional state would be resolved. Far more fundamentally than through mere words, wouldn’t it?
‘But is that even possible?’
The more I thought about it, the deeper I sank into confusion. Now that I considered it, he hadn’t made those absurd jokes he habitually directed at me this time. It meant he was truly serious.
I was desperately curious about the Duke’s true intentions, but the atmosphere suggested I shouldn’t ask further, so I remained silent.
I already knew that my death was included in that “plan” that would allow Evan and Duke Icard to find true happiness.
After that, Evan changed in a peculiar way. It was fine that he wanted to get along with me better, but…the problem was that he seemed like a different person.
We began having breakfast together again without incident, but Evan subtly involved himself in my meals while reading the newspaper with his usual indifference.
Cutting meat for me, peeling fruit, pouring water before my glass even emptied.
I seriously contemplated this sudden transformation of Evan.
“Why, why are you doing this? I can do it myself, Evan.”
“I was truly sorry for everything.”
“What, bringing this up again….”
Evan spoke without meeting my eyes.
“The truth is, I wasn’t sincere back then….”
I had already sensed that much.
But there was no need for him to be this attentive.
“So I’ll do better from now on, to make up for what I couldn’t do.”
Was he doing this out of guilt for ignoring me all this time? Come to think of it, my performance that night—sobbing before sleep—deserved an award.
I emptily finished my plate and rolled my eyes.
“Once you’re done eating, shall we take a walk?”
It was clearly affectionate, but slightly intense.
“Hmm… aren’t you going to the Training Grounds?”
I had heard that Ludba remained imprisoned, and the Vice Captain had temporarily assumed the position of Knight Captain.
After that, Evan no longer went to the Training Grounds at dawn. He had started lessons as the heir to House Icard and seemed quite busy because of it, but he came back without fail before I fell asleep.
“I have time for a morning walk with you.”
“No, I mean….”
“You like going to the Mansion Garden, don’t you? Let’s go together.”
The Mansion Garden had Occlasia fruit trees, after all…
As I took a walk with Evan, that strange oppressive feeling I’d sensed continued unabated. He cleared away even a single fallen leaf from our path, and he didn’t forget to position himself busily between me and the sunlight, creating shade for me. Of course, he wasn’t saying anything particularly noteworthy in the process, so it felt awkward to ask outright why he was acting this way.
‘What on earth is going on? This isn’t his character at all.’
Though I was already destroying the original work left and right, I adhered to the character settings from the source material because I believed in the saying that “people don’t change”—which made this situation deeply disconcerting.
‘Something’s off.’
Watching Evan fan me with a hand fan while asking if I was too warm, his delicate smile in place, I couldn’t bring myself to feel entirely pleased.
‘No, the original description said he wouldn’t even cry if his wife died, so why in the world—’
He wasn’t originally a tender character, so becoming tender was clearly abnormal. Moreover, Evan’s relationship with Duke Icard hadn’t actually been repaired. The Duke had simply thrown out that one remark and hadn’t had a proper conversation with Evan since.
‘You can’t raise a child that way…’
I mean, what kind of parenting advice was it to tell your son, “Don’t let inferiors treat you carelessly”?
No matter how fundamental the solution might be, since I didn’t know the circumstances, I felt frustrated for now. Evan probably still couldn’t escape the thought that he was “the source of the Count’s Manor’s misfortune.”
‘So while he’s twisted up like that, he’s being this kind to me?’
He was terribly affectionate, but something felt off about it, so I couldn’t help but remain suspicious.
That was when it happened.
“Oh? Are you two taking a stroll?”
It was the servant I’d hastily entrusted Evan to earlier.
“Ah, Cop. Good morning.”
So his name was Cop? But this wasn’t a place servants usually came to.
“I was actually hoping to see you, Young Master.”
Cop approached us with a grin. And I felt a spark of intuition. An actor recognizes another actor. Especially, a master can spot an amateur at a glance.
“A relative of the person my younger sister serves is enrolling at the Academy where you graduated, Young Master!”
“Is that so?”
“I heard you graduated from the Academy as the top student, Young Master?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“And you even won first place in the youth swordsmanship tournament hosted by the Academy last time, I heard. Quite impressive at twelve years old.”
“It’s nothing special.”
“Nothing special? But I heard the age limit was seventeen, so you were at a significant physical disadvantage!”
This servant certainly knew a lot about the Academy that the relative of the person his younger sister served would be attending.
I chuckled to myself internally.
‘It’s obvious those two cooked this up together.’
Though I’d caught on, I decided to play along a bit.
“My goodness, Evan! That’s amazing. I had no idea.”
“Well, it’s all ancient history now.”
“Still, first place? That’s really impressive. The Academy must have so many students.”
At my exaggerated reaction, Evan smiled contentedly.
Cop said he’d be on his way and left after spouting unnecessary information.
“I haven’t been living carelessly all this time, but I’m going to try to live more earnestly from now on.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“You said it yourself. Mother would want that too.”
A rather plausible thought suddenly occurred to me.
Could Evan be projecting his mother onto me? He was still so young, after all. Moreover, Evan was currently in an emotionally unstable state because of Ludba.
‘Come to think of it, everything I’ve done for Evan is something I wished my mother would have done for me.’
I realized that my mention of “if Mother were still alive” had led him to see me that way.
‘That makes the most sense. Because Evan isn’t kind to any other woman, but… he occasionally shows longing for his mother.’
So he must have wanted to show me things he wished to boast about to his mother. And I wasn’t the only one who saw Matilda in me. Even Lisa said that when she looked at me, Matilda came to mind.
“When I see you, Laria… I think of Matilda a lot. The atmosphere is so similar.”
It felt as though all the mysteries had been solved, and I finally felt some relief wash over me.
“Have you talked with your father at all since that day?”
“No, not really.”
“Maybe you should talk and try to get along…”
“I’ll just follow Father’s wishes anyway.”
Evan plucked a flower from the flowerbed and handed it to me as he spoke.
“So there’s no real need to talk.”
I see.
Nothing has really changed after all.
‘Your father’s wish is to kill me and take the Princess as his new daughter-in-law.’
In any case, the distance between Evan and Duke Icard hadn’t closed one bit.
“Ah, never mind those ridiculous jokes anyway. He doesn’t make them in front of me anyway.”
On the surface, Evan appeared completely fine.
He trained in swordplay, attended heir lessons, ate well, slept well, and Ludba was being thoroughly punished.
But even brief emotional abuse couldn’t leave a child unscathed. The Evan I’d come to know up close wasn’t so much indifferent as he was starved for affection.
‘It’s as if he doesn’t know how to communicate between people?’
I stroked Evan’s hair. Seeing his pleased expression, I resolved to treat him like a mother would, at least until his wounds from Ludba’s beating healed.
Because I had always been weak when it came to Evan. I vaguely wished for him to be happy. He seemed to have lived so sadly until now.

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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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