I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 153

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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 153

“But isn’t this too late? How can guards be this slow?”

“I apologize. After hearing that the Grand Duchess was hit by magic, I was investigating the surroundings… Are you injured anywhere?”

“No.”

At that moment, he who was holding his sword in a ready stance froze when he looked at me.

“What is it?”

“Your, your hair…”

“Oh, it got cut a little.”

Instead of the woman’s arm, it seemed my hair had been cut a bit.

Even so, it was only a handful, so it didn’t matter much. It was cheaper than my life.

“…I’m really going to die.”

Kenneth muttered in a voice mixed with sighs.

“That sword… You’re that Emperor’s watchdog!”

Judging that Kenneth had no chance of winning, she glared at me once then quickly threw herself toward where her companions were.

I pushed Kenneth’s back.

“What are you doing, stop her!”

“But the Grand Duchess’s protection…”

“There’s only those guys anyway. Hurry!”

Kenneth nodded that he understood and rushed toward the woman in an instant.

The distance I had fled was only about 10 meters, so the woman and Kenneth arrived at Bean’s location in the blink of an eye.

The woman tried to wake Bean, but Kenneth’s sword was faster.

The woman who missed Bean cried out urgently.

“Ugh… Elder Brother, get up!”

“Belua, at least you, run away!”

Whether he had regained consciousness, despite blood flowing from his ears, Bean threw his body and grabbed Kenneth’s ankle.

“This bastard…!”

Kenneth swung his sword to kill him, so I urgently shouted.

“You can’t kill him!”

There’s more than one or two pieces of information to extract from those guys, so why kill them already!

Thanks to that, Kenneth awkwardly stepped back.

At that moment, the man from the Foreign Tribes whose complexion had turned pale as a corpse opened his mouth.

“It’s a failure then. In that case-”

“Wait, Sir Kenneth! That guy’s spell…!”

“Belua, you must survive.”

He must have already been chanting the spell since we started fighting.

He raised his trembling hand and pointed at the woman, Belua.

Magic power flowed from his fingertips and enveloped Belua.

‘Teleportation magic… using it again!’

As the magic power drained away, the man’s body collapsed.

Like a sand castle swept away by waves, his body melted into a grotesque form.

“Wait, Ginua-!”

Belua urgently called out the Foreign Tribesman’s name, but the magic was already transporting her body elsewhere.

Looking down at her blurring arms and legs, Belua sent me a venomous glare.

“I won’t let you get away with this, Wilhelmina Layton! I’ll definitely kill you!”

“…That wasn’t part of the commission, was it.”

At my words, she ground her teeth.

“I don’t care! I can’t forgive you! You and your family, I’ll kill them all…!”

Whoosh-!

Kenneth’s sword flew toward her.

But it couldn’t touch her now semi-transparent body. She disappeared without finishing her words.

Kenneth and I quietly stared at the empty space where she had vanished.

“We let her escape. I apologize, Grand Duchess.”

“No, it’s fine. I expected at least one of them would get away.”

I rubbed the back of my head, which ached from where Belua had grabbed me, and approached Bean.

“Ugh, uugh…”

And I kicked hard at the jaw of him who was groaning.

“Gack!”

With a brief scream, Bean collapsed.

“Sir Kenneth, carry this guy. Let’s return to the Imperial Palace. Oh, Professor Fortran is over there, so please untie him.”

“Ah, yes! That, that mage…”

I sighed as I looked at the remains of the man called ‘Ginua’ who had become an indescribable mess.

“Have someone clean that up later. No one could carry that thing anyway.”

After dusting off my dirt-stained clothes and fixing my hair, I started walking only after confirming Kenneth had Bean on his back.

“Huh, what?”

Professor Fortran seemed unable to grasp the situation, blinking with his disheveled face.

Seeing him covered in saliva and tears, it seemed he too had gone through quite an ordeal.

When I gestured that he should come this way, he began following with awkward steps.

Kenneth stood beside me, apparently thinking he needed to guard me even while carrying Bean.

But somehow his gaze looking at me was quite bothersome.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just… I was thinking you’re remarkably calm. This kind of situation isn’t common.”

True, being kidnapped by teleportation magic that you only hear about in legends, and subduing assassins with sound – it’s not something you experience every day.

“But it’s less than I expected.”

“Less…”

“None of my people died, right?”

“…”

For a situation involving an assassination organization, this was resolved quite well.

Kenneth’s eyes widened as if my words were unexpected.

“Besides, the plan was successful too.”

Although some of my hair got pulled out, we captured a prisoner to extract information from, so it was enough.

Of course, I wasn’t entirely pleased about hearing curses threatening to kill me.

‘They even went as far as threatening my family.’

I could hand Bean over to the Emperor and finish the plan as is, but it left a bitter taste to just end it like that.

I had to give back as much as I received to feel satisfied.

I needed to make those criminals who told me to betray my family pay an appropriate price.

‘Let’s see… that woman Belua definitely seemed to like this man.’

It was time to show them that they weren’t the only ones who could make threats.

Just then, Professor Fortran, who had been frantically chasing after me, muttered.

“Wilhelmina, your expression looks really like an assassin’s.”

“…”

Kenneth silently agreed.

I snorted and said.

“I’m someone who hasn’t gotten a single drop of blood on my hands so far.”

“In the future… will there be blood?”

I didn’t answer.

* * *

According to what I heard later, the Academy’s operations were paralyzed after that by soldiers who came rushing in from the Imperial Palace.

The story of assassins bursting into the auditorium meant there were holes in the Academy’s security, which implied there were inside collaborators.

Based on Duke Venice’s investigation, repeated interrogations caught several conspirators.

Of course, they made excuses that they didn’t know I would be put in danger.

‘Well, Blackhand wouldn’t have contacted them revealing their real name.’

Most were crimes like revealing security gaps for smuggling or providing storage rooms for illegal herbs.

The professors and employees who realized they had been used for the assassination attempt on the Grand Duchess broke out in cold sweats during their investigations.

I hoped this opportunity would reduce some of the corruption that had been eating away at the Academy.

I also heard that Billia had been crying and looking for me everywhere.

I ordered Anna to comfort her well, and I consoled Nata who was ready to commit ritual suicide.

Even when I told him not to worry since teleportation magic was like a natural disaster, he wouldn’t listen at all.

Since he kept despairing that it was all his fault, I poured out all the comfort and encouragement I could give in a lifetime.

After that round of chaos passed, I faced the Emperor.

“I have no intention of ending it here.”

Being treated with great hospitality and guided to the reception room, I stated my purpose instead of greeting first.

“While we’re at it, it’s better to sweep them all away at once. We can’t stop here.”

“…Have you forgotten that your life was in danger?”

The Emperor asked back with bewildered eyes.

“I was going to apologize to you. Although we made a deal, it’s undeniable that I put you in danger… So I was going to exclude you from this matter.”

No wonder he had been strangely polite since I entered the reception room – it seemed he felt indebted due to the kidnapping incident.

That was a good thing. It was a debt I could use someday.

But I couldn’t be satisfied with just that.

“They’re targeting my family. They told me to betray the Layton Family and stand on their side.”

“…Just because of that?”

Just because of that? I frowned and glared at the Emperor.

He widened his eyes as if he truly hadn’t expected this.

“I heard that your treatment wasn’t very good.”

The assassin had said the same thing, so it seemed my reputation in society was unexpectedly harsh.

Like being treated as an old person confined to the Duke’s Estate.

…It’s not entirely wrong though.

“That doesn’t become a reason to let go of an assassin who threatens my family.”

“But you might become more dangerous?”

“Isn’t the family’s danger my danger as well? And…”

I gave him a look that said I didn’t understand why I had to explain even this.

“Mikhail is my child, and Helene is my daughter-in-law. Even if I’m only a mother-in-law in name, I have to protect them.”

No grand reason was needed to protect our kids.

“…”

The Emperor was stunned. He stared at me blankly, then soon raised his gaze to the ceiling. And he remained silent for a while, leaning back against the sofa.

“…Fine.”

And after a few minutes had passed, the Emperor turned his head back.

He had already returned to a solemn expression.

“I’ll follow your words. I have too many shortcomings to refuse help.”

“You know yourself well.”

“…Ahem.”

I had meant it as a joke, but it seemed to have unexpectedly hurt him, as the Emperor avoided my gaze and cleared his throat.

“So what specifically are you going to do? It’ll take a few more days to extract information from that Bean fellow.”

Though I didn’t say it outright, Bean would be undergoing interrogation in the underground prison by now.

It’s called interrogation, but since this is medieval times, there would probably be torture too horrible to watch.

“Your Majesty, do you know the strategy called ‘good knight, bad knight’?”

“No? I’m hearing it for the first time.”

Since there’s no concept of police here, I roughly substituted it with knights.

I raised the corners of my mouth and continued explaining about the ‘good cop.’

A strategy where the bad cop corners the criminal’s mind, and then the good cop appears to comfort them and extract information.

This concept seemed applicable in this world too, as the Emperor agreed it was effective, but questioned me taking the role of the good cop.

“I don’t think he’ll like you.”

“Of course not. Because he remembers me.”

“Right, assassins are strong-willed to begin with. Even if we threaten their life, getting them to side with us is…”

“Then, what if we change those memories?”

“…What?”

Organizing my conversation with Professor Fortran, I thought of someone.

Memory gaps, memory manipulation caused by them – there was someone else besides me who had experienced this.

‘The first duke, Titania.’

The Fairy King, Titania, who forgot she was a fairy and fell to become human.

In the past, I would have laughed it off as self-consciousness, saying there was no way she and I could be connected, but not anymore.

‘It was the First Emperor who altered her memories.’

Whether it was his own ability or a subordinate’s ability didn’t matter.

The culprit who erased my memories is inside this Imperial Palace.

Finding that culprit and uncovering the past was important, but now was the time to use that ability.

“Your Majesty, let’s erase the assassin’s mind.”

“You, right now…”

“Let’s make him believe that Wilhelmina Layton is the saint who saved him.”

Opening his eyes to find himself in a torture chamber, repeated pain, and then the appearance of a beautiful savior he’s never seen before.

It’s a chance to build a bond as strong as the ‘family love’ he has for Belua.

At my smile, the Emperor’s face turned deathly pale.

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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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