I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 151

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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 151

He quietly looked at me.

Due to the height difference, he naturally ended up looking down at me.

“Is there… a reason you wanted to see it?”

I had no proper explanation to give.

It was too incoherent to say that a close Professor had said something strange, making me suddenly curious about black-haired men.

Nor could I think of any valid reasoning.

In the end, what came out of my mouth was an impulsive statement.

“…Actually, I like black hair.”

I never thought I’d end up saying this. Wouldn’t this sound like I was looking forward to seeing his face because I liked black hair?

“No, that’s not it. I misspoke. That’s not what I meant…”

Thinking this was going too far, I tried to correct myself, but the Duke grabbed the edge of his Mask and spoke.

“Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“When blood relatives die, wearing Mourning Clothes for a month is tradition in the Eastern Region. There’s still time left.”

“…Did a family member pass away?”

I had never heard news of a member of the Ducal House dying.

The Duke nodded briefly.

“Yes, someone very… close to me. But I’ll remove the Mourning Clothes for His Majesty’s birthday celebration. So.”

The eyeless Mask looked at me.

“Please wait until then.”

“Ah, yes.”

I couldn’t interfere with tradition without justification.

Thinking my request was rude even by my own standards, I offered an apology.

He shook his head saying it was fine, then led me to the Auditorium.

“I wasn’t intentionally trying to hide my face. I apologize for the discourtesy of meeting you in Mourning Clothes from our first encounter. Let’s properly greet each other at the celebration.”

Adding an apology so I wouldn’t feel embarrassed, he took out a Note from his chest and handed it to me.

“This is the investigation results I mentioned earlier. I’ll explain as we go.”

The Note had several names of Professors, employees, and Students written on it.

According to the Ducal House Informants’ investigation, there were signs these people had dealings with Black Hand.

But he added that it wasn’t certain.

“There’s a possibility it’s Criminal Organizations other than Black Hand.”

“Ah- there are those. Places like the Black Market or Illegal Bookstore.”

“Did you know about them?”

“Vaguely.”

Having wandered around various parts of the Academy in the past, I had seen and heard quite a lot.

Rumors like Professors buying and selling Magic Herbs or Treasure for research funds, or Students frequenting Forbidden Book Stores – the Duke’s investigation seemed to have captured such activities as well.

However, while they found circumstantial Evidence, they couldn’t obtain direct information about Assassination.

‘Strange, if I were an assassin, I think I would have killed before the special lecture.’

Right now was the perfect opportunity to kill me.

This wasn’t the heavily guarded Imperial Palace, but the Academy where entry was free.

There wouldn’t be another situation where I’d be exposed to such danger again.

‘Did they feel threatened because of the Duke?’

I glanced at Duke Venice who was guarding beside me.

Even though I couldn’t see his face, it was well known that he was an extraordinary person like Mikhail.

From his reputation, he must be someone who excels in both literary and military arts.

But if they were going to retreat because such a guard was scary, shouldn’t they have avoided showing themselves in the first place?

It was a rather bland move for the Empire’s top assassination organization.

“What about Sir Kenneth?”

“He’s patrolling the vicinity.”

‘Is it really that the infiltration failed because the security is so tight?’

The special lecture might end without any incident.

Then the plan would only be half successful.

Though it was ridiculous to be disappointed that there was no assassination threat.

‘I should rather put my hopes on Samuel’s side.’

Anyway, the Duke’s investigation results were useful.

If anything happens in the future, I can prioritize investigating those on this list.

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

Finally, we entered the auditorium.

In the auditorium decorated splendidly with magic lighting, countless students and professors were waiting for me.

The marriage annulment lawsuit must have had some publicity value, as more people gathered than expected.

“Ah, Grand Duchess Layton is entering-”

Clap clap clap-!

Receiving their cheers, I headed toward the platform.

Before going, I didn’t forget to signal to the Duke and Nata with my eyes.

It meant we shouldn’t let our guard down until the very end.

“Hello. Some of you I haven’t seen in a long time, and some I’m meeting for the first time. I am Wilhelmina Layton. I’m pleased to meet the scholars of the Ivory Tower.”

I began the special lecture with prepared greetings.

People’s sparkling gazes focused on me.

I could feel all kinds of looks filled with curiosity, wariness, jealousy, and unpleasant dissatisfaction.

‘If they still don’t come out after this, I’ll thoroughly tear them apart.’

If the fish don’t come even after shaking the bait, I’ll have no choice but to throw rocks and knock them unconscious.

I smiled with a fishy grin and opened my mouth.

“…Do you know about a criminal organization called Blackhand?”

And so the special lecture began.

“Blackhand, they were colluding with Edwin to target the Tilrim County. I noticed their scheming and…”

As I continued the lecture, the heated reactions I had expected followed.

“Oh my, goodness…”

“Anyway, these criminals!”

The collusion between the marriage annulment lawsuit and the assassination organization was as sensational as a novel.

Students angered by Edwin’s actions, professors clicking their tongues at Black Hand’s crimes… it felt more like hosting an entertainment show than giving a special lecture.

“So Black Hand had established a communication post in our Layton. I discovered it and…”

Just as I was about to explain Black Hand’s methods—their codes and organizational structure.

“…!”

All the lights on the ceiling went out.

Since the windows were also covered with curtains, the auditorium was instantly filled with darkness.

Fortunately, thanks to the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains, it wasn’t so dark that I couldn’t see anything.

“Sir Nata!”

“Grand Madam, stay where you are!”

Nata urgently rushed toward me.

People startled by the sudden darkness began screaming here and there.

“What, what’s happening?”

“Kyaaah! Someone, someone hit me…!”

“Hey, don’t push!”

Taking advantage of the darkness, something moved in the audience seats.

At a glance, more than ten people were pushing through the audience and rushing toward me.

Their inhuman, eerily agile movements were like centipedes crawling forward.

The moment I stepped back, Nata and the Duke, who had somehow arrived in front of the platform, drew their swords toward them.

“How dare they…”

Nata muttered quietly and swung his sword.

The enemies were helplessly pushed back by the sword swinging at speeds too fast for the eye to see.

The Duke’s side made no sound at all.

Each time he moved his hand, red lines appeared on the assassins’ chests and necks.

Human lives were being snuffed out in an instant.

It was a horrific sight, but I didn’t retreat and kept my composure.

I couldn’t fall into panic and interfere with those protecting me.

The auditorium was already in chaos.

People terrified with fear screamed in panic.

The exits had somehow been blocked, and they cried out to be let out.

‘But… isn’t this too reckless?’

By rough estimate, the number of assassins far exceeded twenty.

No matter how much they were the Empire’s top assassination organization, they couldn’t have hundreds of assassins, yet they threw away their lives like moths to a flame.

Even if twice this force came, it didn’t seem like they could handle Nata and the Duke.

Hidden weapons thrown from afar or surprise attacks couldn’t even wound these two men.

‘What’s their purpose?’

Though I thought they would target me, I didn’t expect such a reckless method.

While I was questioning their real purpose, I heard a voice from behind me.

[Liu Asquna-]

It was in a language I had never heard before, neither Imperial nor Korean.

I turned my head to see who was speaking and spotted a man glaring at me from behind the auditorium stage.

Sunlight streaming through the curtains illuminated the face of the man wearing a black robe.

‘That face…’

I had seen it in a book.

Long teeth, black pupils with no whites, small horns on his forehead… He was one of the Foreign Tribes said to live beyond the Western Mountains.

“Wilhelmina!”

Only then noticing the man’s presence, the Duke urgently called my name.

He tried to approach me, but as if waiting for this moment, numerous assassins swarmed him.

“Gah…!”

Instinctively realizing that the Foreign Tribesman was more dangerous than the assassins, I moved my feet to run toward the Duke and Nata.

The distance was only five steps at most, but the Foreign Tribesman finished his incantation faster.

[…Wand!]

At that moment, everything before my eyes turned black.

My body became heavy along with nausea that felt like blood rushing backwards.

It was as if dozens of times normal gravity was pressing down on my body.

I gritted my teeth and raised my head to escape the pressure.

Only then did I confirm that the area around me was changing.

‘This is…’

Like a scene from a movie, the surrounding scenery changed.

The auditorium disappeared, and dense trees and grass spread around me.

The name of magic that could explain this phenomenon came to mind.

“Teleportation?”

That miraculous magic had been cast on me.

Once the surrounding scenery completely changed, the nausea and pressure also disappeared.

I slowly turned around.

“Cough!”

There, the Foreign Tribesman who had cast magic on me was coughing up blood.

He collapsed into the grass field, spilling dark red blood.

From the circumstances, it seemed he had used teleportation magic.

“What, is that all you’ve got?”

Just as I was about to step back to get away from him, a woman’s voice came from across the forest.

The woman who emerged from the tree shadows was wearing the same type of robe as the man.

Behind her followed a man.

What was unusual was that his hands were bound with handcuffs, and he had a gag and blindfold on.

Though I couldn’t see his face, I could identify him just by looking at his hair.

‘Professor Fortran?’

Green hair – it was Professor Fortran.

The woman held a rope in her hand, with the other end tied to Professor Fortran’s handcuffs.

When the woman pulled the rope, Professor Fortran was dragged along without even being able to scream.

The woman standing next to the foreign tribesman clicked her tongue briefly and helped him up.

“To think the sacrifice of a Grand Mage who lived 100 years only amounts to this much, what a terribly inefficient magic.”

“Shut… up. Hurry up and start working.”

“Pull yourself together before talking. And conversation isn’t my responsibility.”

She propped the man against a tree, then approached me.

She was perhaps a little taller than me, and though I couldn’t see her face due to the shadow of her robe, judging by her voice alone, she seemed to be around Ilina’s age.

“Ah- so you’re Wilhelmina Layton?”

“That’s…”

“You don’t need to answer. I can tell just by looking at your face. Your clothes are fancy too.”

She shrugged and cut off my words.

“I heard you came from poverty, but you look surprisingly noble. Money really is good, isn’t it?”

I could feel her looking me up and down.

“I heard that you made it big by marrying well to some old noble? Making money through marriage, nobles have it good. Living life so comfortably. By any chance, did you kill that old noble too?”

The foreign tribesman who had been listening to her insults suddenly shouted angrily.

“…Hey!”

“What, can’t I even joke around?”

She said it was a joke, but I could sense sincerity in her voice.

Though it was a brief time, I had roughly grasped her personality.

‘Inferiority complex about her origins, jealousy, and her words about conversation not being her responsibility… I can roughly guess.’

She disliked me, but seemed to be in a position where she couldn’t carelessly lay a hand on me.

The evidence was that despite her harsh words, she didn’t come closer than a certain distance, and despite kidnapping me, she didn’t kill me immediately.

Probably the kidnapping was the extent of her job.

Her provoking me was venting her frustration about not being able to touch me directly.

Now that I was certain of this, I didn’t need to just take it lying down either.

“Of course I look noble. This dress costs several times more than that blood-reeking robe. And could you step back a little? It’s horrible breathing the same air as something so lowly.”

“…”

Perhaps not expecting to be insulted like this, she gaped and was at a loss for words.

“And are you jealous that I married well? A young girl shouldn’t speak so carelessly. If you’re too aggressive, all the men will run away, you know? If you’re a criminal who commits murder and can’t even get married, what’s left in your life?”

I even added some discriminatory harsh words I would never normally say.

Of course, I wasn’t being serious.

I just picked out ‘the most unpleasant things to hear.’

It seemed quite effective, as even an assassin couldn’t withstand a mother-in-law’s criticism.

“Hey- you…!”

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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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