Because She Had A Time Limit, She Became The Villain’s Daughter-in-law - Chapter 96

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

I was somewhat startled by Evan’s words. For some time now, he had maintained a certain distance between us. I had assumed we were aiming for the kind of marriage between friends in a political arrangement—nothing more.
“Evan, we’re husband and wife right now. Why would you say such a thing…?”
“I…”
It was strange. He wore a mask, so I couldn’t see his expression or even his face, yet my heart betrayed my will and began to pound.
“You always make me anxious.”
The cheerful music, the sound of lovers holding hands and stepping in rhythm while concealing their identities, laughter and countless conversations…all of it felt distant and far away.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.”
Suddenly, I felt something strange.
Was Evan truly an indifferent husband? A husband who never touched me, someone who despite his kindness maintained an odd distance, my childhood friend who kept a clear boundary between us?
“But if you just occasionally showed me your face like this and…remained as the Icard Nobleman for me.”
I found myself thinking anew how difficult Evan truly was.
“And sometimes, if you would just think of me like this and search for me frantically among all these people…”
Finding someone difficult was a thought I had never entertained since arriving in this world.
“Then no matter how anxious or restless I become, that single moment would make me eternally happy.”
In that instant, a completely unexpected emotion washed over me. My heart, which had only ever responded to money until now, suddenly sank with a heavy thud. The black cat mask whose expression I couldn’t read, the large hand carefully touching the ends of my hair.
“Perhaps I desperately need even your pity.”
The low voice and the distant meaning it carried.
‘Ah.’
Until now, seeing only his face, I hadn’t truly noticed, but with the mask on, he was unmistakably a large man.
As if meeting someone entirely new, I quietly bit my lower lip. My breath caught. Time seemed to stop, and the world beyond us blurred.
‘Perhaps I…’
The shy, adorable little boy from the beginning no longer came to mind. That young Evan had been simple and cute, but this man was difficult and somehow distant.
“Laria, I…”
I froze completely, staring at him blankly.
“…”
In that moment, I was overwhelmed by a truly strange emotion. A subtle atmosphere that I believed had never existed between us.
Whatever he said before this was separate from that feeling.
“Evan.”
I gazed at his black cat mask as if whispering.
“I know it’s really, really, really a foolish thought…”
My heart pounded strangely.
“You…could it be…”
It was an irrational action.
I had just heard him say he disliked physical contact with women…yet this was a question I had to ask.
Because it was a more difficult question than ever before, I hesitated for a long time.
“…Do you like me?”
It was natural that Evan liked me. We had been close since childhood. Besides, if he didn’t like me as his wife, that would be a problem too. So, more than just liking me, more precisely…
“In other words, do you like me as a woman you want to hold? Like a lover? Is that how you like me?”
He didn’t answer for a moment.
It felt as though an awkward eternity was passing. Suddenly, I realized how truly impulsive I was. What if he answered yes to this?
I had thrown out the question without even being able to handle what came after. It was an absurdly ridiculous question that I myself couldn’t justify. Fear suddenly surged up, and I was on the verge of shouting at him not to answer under any circumstances.
“…No.”
He whispered his response.
A strand of my hair slipped from his hand with a soft sound.
“I’ve never thought about holding you…that way.”
The tension drained from my body. Perhaps I had anticipated this from the moment he suggested we not share a room.
“…Not even once.”
“I see.”
I forced a smile and responded. Even as I felt relieved, there was something hollow about it.
“I’m sorry for saying something pointless.”
“I’m happy right now.”
Evan’s voice softened instantly.
“If I could spend my whole life like this, that would be enough. As a friend—my closest friend, someone I’m this close to.”
“Closest friend….”
I murmured for a moment before asking back.
“Evan, then who’s your second-closest friend? I’m sorry, but it seems I really don’t know your social circle.”
His answer came quickly.
“There is no second-closest.”
“Ah…I’ll take back my apology. Turns out I knew your social circle quite well after all.”
Evan said nothing more. He simply maintained his silence behind the black cat mask. He didn’t even ask what I was thinking.
‘He’s so decisive. But still, I’m his wife—isn’t he cutting me off a bit too harshly?’
That night was certainly strange.
With my ankle aching, I returned on Evan’s back. And as I did, I caught sight of a man and woman wearing white butterfly masks in a secluded spot, conversing just as Evan and I had been moments before.
‘It’s Elani and Simor.’
I thought this while riding on Evan’s back.
‘So this event really did bring them closer together. The power of the original story is truly remarkable….’
I tightened my arms around Evan’s neck, lost in peculiar thoughts.
‘…But Evan is still unclear to me.’
In the moment he touched my hair, I thought that Evan might actually like me. Just as Serena had warned since I was young. Despite all logic suggesting otherwise, I simply felt it.
If he liked me as a woman, why wouldn’t he touch me even with a fingertip, and why did he give me a separate room?
We were officially husband and wife, and our relationship wasn’t poor. If he desired me, there would be no reason to hesitate.
‘Why, unlike when I was younger, won’t he even hold my hand or give me a light embrace?’
Two years had already passed since Evan came of age. During all that time, he hadn’t laid a hand on me. And yet, despite that….
I buried my face against his broad back.
‘But what can I do when my intuition feels this way? When my instinct tells me this.’
If he truly said he liked me, what would I say? If that thing Serena had constantly warned me about actually happened.
‘I…I….’
Honestly, I didn’t dislike it. We married without even seeing each other’s faces as children, but we eventually grew close, and he’s been kind all along. No matter how much I tried to deny it, the distance he kept from me felt lonely. If he would just come a little closer, just a little closer to me.
‘He’s good as family, good as a friend, but as a man…he might be acceptable too.’
‘So couldn’t I lay everything bare and make a truly selfish choice? That your father might try to kill me. If you like me, please protect me.’
‘Ah, if that happened, there would truly be bloodshed, and everything would descend into chaos no matter what.’
Worse still, I would be turning Evan into a filial wretch who abandoned even resurrecting his mother for the sake of love.
‘No matter how selfish I am, this is truly not something I should wish for. I must not entertain such thoughts.’
Until now, I had pressed forward alone on my path of escape with unwavering resolve, yet my thoughts spiraled endlessly. And no matter how much I deliberated, they held no real value against my own life.
‘I should not dwell on this. It’s all just my misunderstanding—why would I stake my life on wishing for Evan to commit such a transgression?’
Thinking about it objectively, Evan had made it abundantly clear. He did not love me as a woman, and he had never once entertained the thought of holding me. So I barely managed to erase the delusions that were raging through my mind.
‘I’ve grown old, Laria. Once I had keen instincts and sharp perception, but now I cannot afford to trust my own feelings so much.’
In fact, if Evan were to say he loved me, the situation would become terribly complicated, and I would need to push him away. Serena had even warned me years ago that such an outcome must not come to pass, yet I had been so selfish.
Suddenly overcome with remorse toward Evan, I pulled him close and embraced his neck tightly.
“Evan.”
“What?”
“Have you bought a fortune cookie? Almost everyone seems to be checking their fortunes.”
“No.”
“My, why not? Don’t you like waiting in line?”
“That’s not the reason.”
“Then what is it?”
Wondering if I had overlooked something in my business venture, I asked desperately.
“I will never read such fortunes for the rest of my life.”
If it was a matter of the person rather than the item, I could take some comfort in that. As I breathed an inward sigh of relief, Evan continued.
“Because I’m certain any fortune I receive would be unfavorable.”
“What? That can’t be right.”
From behind Evan, I shook my head vigorously. I was about to quickly deny it, wondering if his unhappy childhood had made him such an extreme pessimist.
“Whatever fortune I was born with, I must have spent it all the moment I met you.”
Suddenly, I found myself hoping this journey back, with me riding on Evan’s back, would never end.
“I think asking for any more good fortune would be something I could never do before God. Ah, but since I was never baptized, perhaps I can ask for a bit more?”
“….”
“Don’t get hurt, Laria. If you’re hurt, I hurt.”
The reason I could say nothing was because I had become afraid of something.
“I just hope I have enough fortune left in my life for you not to be hurt.”
With nothing but strange emotions filling my chest, my masquerade ball came to an end like this.

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