I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I’m a Mother-in-Law, But I Don’t Want Family Conflicts Episode 102

 

I quietly offered my shoulder until Baroness Metokan stopped crying.

 

I understood Baroness Metokan’s circumstances.

 

It was truly an incident befitting this era, born from having exceptional talent.

 

‘Should I say it’s better than having achievements stolen, or that even with this level of talent, this is the limit?’

 

Either way, it was a bitter ending.

 

In this world, it was commonplace for female scholars to have their achievements stolen by husbands or mentors.

 

How telling it was that even at the Capital Academy, which was relatively free from social status constraints, female teachers were limited to home economics and liberal arts.

 

Philosophy and mathematics could be considered closed-off fields of study.

 

Moreover, considering how Baroness Metokan was treated in high society, it was true that she was being looked down upon compared to her achievements.

 

That’s why Baroness Metokan wanted Mabel to become an ordinary person who could live alongside others, rather than someone exceptional.

 

‘And who would have thought that Baroness Metokan would be in more danger than Mabel.’

 

I shouldn’t have been worrying about Mabel.

 

I looked around at the empty bottles placed in every corner of the research laboratory.

 

Just from the number of bottles, I could tell how severe her alcohol dependency was.

 

‘She was drinking that brown beverage at the banquet too. So from her presentation to our conversation, she was drunk the entire time… Is this her true self?’

 

I recalled Baroness Metokan requesting a beverage from Kalsemo when we were talking in the reception room.

 

Though I didn’t know how she masked the smell of alcohol, she couldn’t hide the characteristic behavior of someone intoxicated.

 

I also understood why Kalsemo had sought my help.

 

To think she was more rational when drunk – the servants must have been at their wit’s end.

 

When I said I wanted to talk with Baroness Metokan, Kalsemo had looked tearful, pleading for my help.

 

“Are you feeling a bit calmer now?”

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

After some time passed, Baroness Metokan slowly lifted her head.

 

Since tear stains were clearly visible, I took out my handkerchief and wiped around her eyes.

 

She was flustered and tried to decline, saying it was fine, but eventually lowered her hands at my firm gaze telling her to stay still.

 

“Grand Duchess, you are…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“…No, it’s nothing.”

 

Baroness Metokan turned her gaze away with a complicated expression.

 

In any case, it was fortunate that she had calmed down.

 

And from experience, when you’re in a situation where you’re hearing voices, it’s good to have someone by your side.

 

Because they can help distinguish between reality and fantasy.

 

And now that I knew Baroness Metokan’s circumstances, it was time to reveal Mabel’s true feelings.

 

“Actually, I came here to tell you about this.”

 

I took out from my coat the notes that Mabel had given me after arriving at the mansion.

 

It was the research notebook I had requested from Mabel before coming.

 

Though it contained childishly crooked drawings and complex records mixed with subjective opinions, the genius contained within was astonishing.

 

Moreover, this notebook contained exactly how much Mabel respected her mother, Baroness Metokan.

 

“Do you remember what was presented at the last exhibition?”

 

“Of course I do. The music box, the dispenser that outputs paint in desired colors, and…”

 

There was no way she wouldn’t know what I remembered.

 

I recalled those inventions and opened the notebook. Then I showed them to Baroness Metokan one by one.

 

“This is…”

 

There were analyses of the inventions made by Baroness Metokan written inside.

 

Why these were made, what structure they had, what techniques were used, how they could be improved – all densely written.

 

Analyzing inventions was admirable work, but what I wanted to show was written below that.

 

[Mother is amazing.]

 

Baroness Metokan traced over the notebook with trembling fingers.

 

[Can I become like Mother too?]

 

[I tried modifying it, but the craftsmanship is difficult. Can’t I do it like Mother?]

 

[I want to show this to Mother soon.]

 

All the thoughts were written centered around Baroness Metokan.

 

The sentences hoping for Mother’s praise were countless.

 

“Baron, what Mabel wants isn’t to be an inventor.”

 

“Then…”

 

“It’s you, Miliona Metokan. You are Mabel’s dream.”

 

She continued turning the pages of the notebook.

 

The notebook was full of a child’s heart yearning for her mother’s praise.

 

“Why? I’m not happy. That child’s future should be something better, not like me…”

 

“She probably wants to ‘understand’ your pain.”

 

“…”

 

“By becoming an excellent inventor, she wanted to tell you that the path you’ve walked all this time wasn’t wrong. After all, you and Mabel are…”

 

The only family each other has in this world.

 

Baroness Metokan hugged the notebook to her chest.

 

I silently stepped away from her.

 

It seemed she no longer needed any more interference from me.

 

She held onto the notebook and wept for a long time.

 

At the tears of a parent finally facing her daughter’s true feelings that she had turned away from all this time, I could only wait endlessly.

 

* * *

 

As an epilogue, Mabel and Baroness Metokan both ended up joining our reading club together.

 

Baroness Metokan said she owed me a great debt and tried to repay me somehow.

 

It wasn’t something I did expecting repayment, and it was Mabel’s efforts that were remarkable – I hadn’t really done anything.

 

As I firmly refused, I invited her saying, “Then how about participating in the reading club?”

 

We had just been discussing that we should gradually recruit more members anyway.

 

‘If it’s your invitation, I’d be delighted.’

 

…Somehow her reaction was too polite.

 

Gone was her cold demeanor from before, and she accepted with an incredibly gentle expression.

 

On top of that, she also listened to my advice about quitting alcohol and seeing a doctor.

 

Only after hearing her answer that it would be difficult but she’d try to overcome it could I leave with peace of mind.

 

After that, on the day the reading club was held.

 

I explained the story so far to the members.

 

Leaving out the sensitive topics, I appropriately conveyed the result that Baroness Metokan would be joining future gatherings.

 

“So this is how it turns out.”

 

Jane nodded with a complicated expression.

 

Ilina, who was beside her, stopped eating sweets and laughed mischievously.

 

“I’ve seen this in a novel. They called it ‘charming,’ a protagonist who just charms everyone they meet…”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Wondering if there were trendy expressions here too, I asked back, and Jane covered Ilina’s mouth while answering.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing. But Grand Duchess, is that young master Jace?”

 

“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced him.”

 

I turned my head toward Jace, who was sitting in a corner seat.

 

Jace, the greatest helper in this matter, frowned when he received my gaze.

 

The Baroness tried to scold him for his rude behavior, but I stopped her.

 

Considering Jace’s contributions, I could overlook this much.

 

“This is Jace Mylo. He’s a student taught by the Baroness and a grateful child who helped me.”

 

The members exchanged brief eye greetings with Jace.

 

Somehow it annoyed me that while he frowned when looking at me, he acted politely toward the other members.

 

“Jace, I invited you to express my gratitude. Since you helped our member Mabel, I’ve prepared a token of appreciation.”

 

“…What is it?”

 

I took out a small card I had prepared and handed it to Jace.

 

I heard other gatherings used accessories to prove membership, so I made my own membership card.

 

The card created with Jane’s help was similar to modern business cards.

 

It had elegant patterns along with my signature proving membership.

 

“It’s an honorary membership certificate. With this, you can participate in the reading club anytime.”

 

You might think a mere membership card is a poor gift, but such tokens were quite useful weapons in noble society.

 

Joining a gathering meant the gathering’s leader vouched for their relationship with that person.

 

It meant something like ‘I’m someone who even goes to saunas with your leader’ would work.

 

‘Though I’m not sure if it’ll be useful to Jace.’

 

Besides, my reputation wasn’t that great, so its utility wasn’t broad either.

 

So I prepared another token of appreciation. It was a hardcover edition of an adventure novel that was popular among boys recently.

 

Since he didn’t seem particularly satisfied, I took out the book I had prepared.

 

“Isn’t that enough? Then I’ll give you this book as a gift too…”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

Jace shook his head and refused the book.

 

When I looked at him with wide eyes as if surprised, Jace muttered in a grumbling voice.

 

“…I said, it’s fine.”

 

“What did I do?”

 

“I helped because I wanted to… I said it’s fine. Helping people isn’t such a bad thing either.”

 

At those words, the study was enveloped in silence.

 

Jace’s appearance, turning his head away with a slightly flushed face, seemed a little cute.

 

“Ah, already like this…”

 

The Baroness was moved to tears.

 

Jace blushed and told her not to do such things, but he couldn’t stop the teacher’s emotion at her student’s growth.

 

‘He must have learned a lot.’

 

The incident at Western Sun seemed to have been of great help to Jace.

 

Perhaps it meant that meeting one person was more important than dozens of hours of lessons.

 

I smiled invisibly.

 

“Ah, Jane. Wait a moment.”

 

Behind the commotion of members adoring Jace, I quietly called Jane.

 

She got up from her seat with a hardened expression after seeing my face. Then we headed to the corner of the library, pretending to look for books.

 

“I need you to investigate that bastard named Lotos.”

 

“Lotos… you mean Baroness Metokan’s former husband?”

 

“Yes, judging by when the rumors started and their content, that bastard is definitely involved.”

 

No matter how many people envied Baroness Metokan, the content of the rumors was quite malicious.

 

Yet they were subtly specific, so someone with intent must have leaked information from behind.

 

“As expected of the Grand Duchess. You never let your guard down.”

 

“I don’t want to leave unnecessary worries behind. Contact me when you find him. I’ll handle the disposal myself.”

 

“No, I’ll do it. Though it may be small, I have the power to help the Grand Duchess…”

 

Just as I was about to cut off her words saying it wasn’t necessary, someone knocked on the study door.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Ah, Grand Madam. It’s nothing urgent, but… Lady has come. She’s waiting in the garden right now.”

 

“What? Helene? Why?”

 

“We don’t really know her business either…”

 

Jane and I made eye contact simultaneously.

 

There was no scheduled meeting with Helene.

 

Moreover, Helene terribly disliked the annex building, so we always met in the castle’s reception room. For such a Helene to come directly.

 

Thinking it must be quite urgent business, I asked the members for their understanding and headed straight to the garden.

 

I could see Helene waiting with a parasol in the center of the garden. By her side was the butler I always saw, holding the parasol with her.

 

“Helene?”

 

“Have you been well all this time, Mother?”

 

“…Yes, I was fine.”

 

Seeing her greet me so calmly, was it really nothing serious?

 

Before I could ask why she had come to see me, Helene stated her business in a calm voice.

 

“I came to speak with you about Chloe Tilim.”

 

As for Chloe, I had just received word that she wouldn’t be able to participate today.

 

I was about to ask why Chloe’s name was coming from Helene, but.

 

“As of today, Chloe Tilim is withdrawing from Mother’s reading club.”

 

“…What?”

 

Before I could even ask a question, Helene delivered news I never expected.

 

“The Tilim Family has informed us that they can no longer send Lady Chloe to Mother’s reading club.”

 

“Wait, is that Chloe’s decision?”

 

“That doesn’t really matter, Mother.”

 

Helene’s dry eyes turned toward me.

 

“This is a decision between families. Count Tilim proposed it, and I accepted. From now on… Chloe Tilim will not be able to set foot in the Layton Ducal Castle.”

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