I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 134

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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 134

 

Mikhail’s disheveled hair was so impressive that I wanted to take a photo of it.

 

He must have been quite startled, as he stammered with his eyes wide open, a blanket half-wrapped around his waist.

 

“M-Mother?”

 

“Yes, you still have enough sense left to call me Mother.”

 

I chuckled softly and dragged a chair from the corner of the room.

 

I placed it beside the bed and sat down in a comfortable position.

 

Mikhail hastily adjusted his clothes.

 

“Wait, what is this… Why are you here, Mother?”

 

“I heard my son was sick, so I came to visit. Would you like some fruits?”

 

I took out a fruit from the basket I had placed on the floor.

 

When Mikhail awkwardly shook his head saying he didn’t need it, I told him to eat it later and tossed the fruit to him.

 

Mikhail caught the fruit with both hands reflexively.

 

“…Thank you for visiting me, Mother. But I’m not feeling well right now.”

 

“So I can see.”

 

“How about we have our chat next time?”

 

Even though he probably hadn’t fully shaken off his drowsiness, Mikhail spoke politely.

 

But I had no intention of getting up, so I leaned back in the chair and rested my chin on my hand.

 

“I want to talk now.”

 

“Mother, I’m sorry, but…”

 

“I also have something to say about your curse.”

 

“…!”

 

Mikhail, who had been running his hand through his hair with a troubled expression, froze completely.

 

His blue eyes shook violently, unable to focus.

 

‘He can’t even manage his expression, so his condition really must be poor.’

 

The usual Mikhail would never have made such a mistake.

 

It was a curse that made one lose their humanity and corrupted the soul as their power grew stronger.

 

I recalled the method Orb had mentioned for slowing down the curse.

 

[To maintain sanity with the level of power the head of the family currently has, there’s no choice but to become an emotionless doll.]

 

Currently, Mikhail couldn’t control his emotions. This meant the curse was growing stronger.

 

Mikhail seemed not to have expected that word to come from my mouth, as he muttered in a trembling voice.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“Don’t panic, take a deep breath.”

 

“Helene is…”

 

“She’s away. Don’t worry, I’ve never told Helene. This is the first time I’m telling you.”

 

Mikhail let out a sigh of relief.

 

It seemed like a great comfort that he hadn’t spoken with Helene.

 

“You seem quite certain for someone claiming it’s just a cold. How did you find out?”

 

“There was a hidden room in the Annex Building. It was a research laboratory where the Late Duke conducted studies to break free from the curse.”

 

In truth, I had learned about the curse thanks to Orb, but I couldn’t explain that. Instead, I concealed the truth by saying I had accidentally obtained the information from the Secret Room.

 

“Such a place in the Annex Building… How much do you know about the curse?”

 

“I know it can control people, and that one loses their humanity as time passes.”

 

“That’s quite sufficient knowledge.”

 

“And also that there exists a method to neutralize that curse.”

 

“…”

 

Mikhail slowly opened his eyes. Seeing him clamp his mouth shut as if he wouldn’t speak about that, I let out a short sigh.

 

‘He has no intention of talking.’

 

But I absolutely had to hear the truth from Mikhail.

 

Because I believed that was a Mother’s role.

 

To make him open his mouth, I decided to first reveal the secret I had discovered.

 

“In that room… I found a Portrait with my face painted on it.”

 

The colors had faded so the hair and eye color were unrecognizable, but the Portrait’s subject was unmistakably myself.

 

Given the words ‘my beloved Wife,’ it seemed clear that she was the Late Duke’s former Wife.

 

Jane, who had considerable expertise in art appraisal, estimated when the Painting was created.

 

“It was a Painting drawn around the time I was born. She looked exactly like me, but she wasn’t me. She was…”

 

“My Second Mother. She remarried Father not long after my birth Mother passed away.”

 

Mikhail took over with a bitter smile. He seemed unwilling to hear stories about the former wives from my mouth any longer.

 

“And as Mother suspects… she too passed away before long.”

 

‘As expected.’

 

Clear Physical Evidence had already emerged. I had hoped otherwise, but my expectations were never wrong.

 

I frowned irritably.

 

“…I’m not curious about the Late Duke. I don’t care who he fell in love with, or what number Wife I am. But I need to hear whether you knew these secrets.”

 

Her identity, the Late Duke’s feelings, such things didn’t matter at all.

 

What Wilhelmina wanted to know was just one thing.

 

How much of the truth Mikhail and Helene knew, and what kind of future they were thinking about.

 

In fact, it was a matter I could guess without hearing the answer, but…

 

“If I remain silent, will you leave?”

 

“No. I think my temper will only calm down if I hear it from your mouth.”

 

She thought certainty was needed more than guesswork.

 

Mikhail muttered in a clouded voice.

 

“…What a cruel person.”

 

The Public thought the wives had died because of the Late Duke’s violent temper. Whether they took their own lives or fell ill.

 

Though scandals had occurred, the Late Duke was a tremendous tyrant. No one dared discuss morality in front of him.

 

But I knew the truth.

 

‘The Late Duke had been killing his wives all this time… to break his own curse.’

 

In the past, Orb from the Fairy Kingdom had told him how to break the curse.

 

[You just need to kill your beloved with your own hands. The stronger the love, the greater the sense of loss, the more the curse loses its power. Of course, if the love is insufficient… the curse will return again.]

 

To break the curse, one had to kill their beloved lover with their own hands.

 

It was a horrific method that would only appear in tragic novels.

 

The tyrannical Late Duke who lived long, his four wives who briefly stayed by his side before leaving, and the cruel solution.

 

With this many clues gathered, it was easy enough to guess what the Late Duke had been doing.

 

The problem was what came next.

 

“Mikhail, did you know the method to break the curse?”

 

Did Mikhail, who was currently suffering from the curse, know about this solution?

 

Instead of answering, Mikhail met my gaze.

 

Looking at his expression, whose inner thoughts I couldn’t read, I poured out the doubts I had been harboring.

 

“Until now, I thought it was a coincidence that I became the fifth bride. But after seeing that portrait… I realized all of this was the Late Duke’s plan.”

 

A new sacrifice who looked exactly like the wife he loved most.

 

This sacrifice (Wilhelmina) would surely bring a longer lifespan than the other wives.

 

…That would have been the case if someone else hadn’t discovered the plan.

 

“But miraculously, he never got to meet me. Because in just the few days it took me to travel from the capital to the ducal territory, he died of unknown causes.”

 

“…His physical condition deteriorated.”

 

“What a conveniently opportune coincidence. But if you had known the solution to the curse all along, I might think differently.”

 

Thick killing intent began to seep from Mikhail’s body. It was a sign of the curse.

 

Nata, who had been hiding behind me without spreading her wings, quietly stood beside Wilhelmina.

 

A refreshing energy wrapped around me protectively.

 

“If you, or Helene… had killed the Late Duke.”

 

If there had been urgent circumstances requiring them to hastily kill the Late Duke before the fifth mother arrived… that could explain his sudden death.

 

‘The circumstances were probably… tyranny and abuse.’

 

I had heard from Anna about how the Late Duke treated Mikhail.

 

Patricide. The crime of unfilial conduct that the Empire punished most severely. The crime that even the current Emperor sought to avoid suspicion of, Mikhail and Helene might have committed it.

 

“Do you have evidence?”

 

The curse began to taint his voice. If I had come alone, I would have helplessly succumbed to his curse.

 

Entrusting everything to Nata’s magic power, I opened my mouth.

 

“No. Only circumstantial evidence.”

 

But the cause and effect were clear. If the secret of the curse was revealed, people would consider them strong suspects.

 

“Mother… did you want to confirm whether we were the ones who killed Father? Are you telling us to admit to that crime?”

 

As his emotions intensified, the curse grew darker in color. It meant this was a sensitive issue for him.

 

Faced with curse power incomparably more intense than what I had seen before, I clicked my tongue and said.

 

“What nonsense are you talking about. Why would that matter?”

 

“…What?”

 

“I’m not interested in who killed that rotten Late Duke.”

 

Mikhail’s momentum wavered for a moment in confusion. Looking at his dumbfounded expression, I snorted and continued.

 

“Patricide or whatever, so what? A person who deserved to die simply died.”

 

“W-wait. Then why did you bring up that topic just now…?”

 

“Because I didn’t want to hide my thoughts from my son. Even if my deduction is correct, I don’t have any particular feelings about it.”

 

I simply shared the thoughts that came to mind while looking at the portrait and research documents.

 

Though I was shocked, I had no intention of using it to blackmail Mikhail.

 

‘Besides, badmouthing family would be like spitting on my own face.’

 

Whatever they might think of me, I had not abandoned my parental duties.

 

“Think back to my question. Mikhail, I asked if you knew how to solve the curse.”

 

“…You did.”

 

“Your answer?”

 

“Of course… I knew.”

 

Mikhail tilted his head as if wondering why I was asking such a question now.

 

“I thought so. Then here’s my next question.”

 

Everything had been leading up to this moment.

 

“So, are you planning to kill Helene to break the curse?”

 

“…”

 

“Mikhail. I came here to hear that answer.”

 

Mikhail couldn’t readily open his mouth.

 

His hesitation meant either he hadn’t made his choice yet, or…

 

‘Helene had stepped forward to sacrifice herself.’

 

Considering Helene’s personality, the latter was quite possible too.

 

Honestly, either one was fine with me.

 

Just the fact that he hesitated to answer was enough.

 

If he had answered positively, I would have shown him a mother’s physical discipline. Of course, it would be Nata doing the actual work, not me.

 

“Don’t kill her.”

 

I scolded him firmly, like a proper mother.

 

“Listen carefully. A lifespan or comfort gained by killing someone you love is utterly useless.”

 

“…Mother.”

 

“If you’re human, if you want to die as a human, throw away such thoughts. Rather than living by abandoning your humanity, tell Helene you love her one more time and then die.”

 

Mikhail even stopped breathing as he stared at me.

 

“Don’t become like Father, Mikhail. You, gritting your teeth and enduring the pain, are more admirable than Nikolai who survived for so long.”

 

A cautionary tale, a lesson from others’ mistakes – whatever words I used to describe it were fine.

 

A young man dying while maintaining his pride was more admirable than an old man who survived by abandoning his humanity.

 

‘Of course, I won’t let him die either.’

 

I had learned during my investigation. The key to solving this incident lay with the fairies.

 

In that case, I had a very good consultant available.

 

“I’ll find a way to solve the curse.”

 

“Is that… possible?”

 

“It has to be possible. Because I’m a mother, because I’m a mother-in-law.”

 

So you, I added, picking up the fruits that had been rolling on the bed and placing them back in his hands.

 

“Don’t lose to something like a curse. Endure it. Even if it’s difficult and painful, bear it and overcome it to protect Helene.”

 

He tightly gripped the fruits in his hand.

 

I won’t let Mikhail age disgracefully.

 

There’s no meaning in the life of evil wearing a human mask.

 

I hope he can live even a little more humanly.

 

“Mikhail, you can do it. You’re a child who can do it. …I, as your mother, know this best.”

 

Pfft- He let out a hollow laugh.

 

“We’ve only known each other for barely a year.”

 

“Don’t talk back to adults.”

 

“Ah, ahaha-!”

 

He leaned his body toward the bed.

 

Thump, burying his head in the pillow, he turned his face slightly toward me and gave an innocent smile befitting a young master.

 

“You’re right. It’s Mother’s nagging, so what did I know.”

 

“That’s right, there’s only a little wrong with what parents say.”

 

I can’t say there’s nothing wrong at all.

 

I smiled back at him.

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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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