I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 159

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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 159

The birthday celebration was not enjoyable, as expected.

From men subtly throwing flirtatious glances to those who dismissed and checked me simply for being a Western Noble.

The nobles who approached recklessly wanting to build connections were annoying enough, but with all sorts of people gathered, my mind was in chaos.

Every time I experienced something like this, I realized I wasn’t someone who belonged in High Society.

‘Still, I suppose this could be considered a favor.’

It was the Emperor who recommended entry to the Main Palace Banquet Hall.

At least the nobles who entered here had higher status and were more gentle than those elsewhere.

Indeed, most of those who entered were Capital Nobles.

If Western Nobles or Eastern Nobles had been mixed in, factional fighting would have broken out.

At least it meant there was no need to bring up political topics.

“Grand Duchess, you are truly beautiful. It’s regrettable that you remain alone. Such beauty is being wasted.”

“…Thank you for the compliment.”

However, this sly flirtation characteristic of Capital Nobles was difficult to endure.

If this were the Western Region, I would have given him a piece of my mind, but I couldn’t do such a thing in a foreign land, so I forced myself to smile and let it pass.

The man seemed to interpret this as permission, as he continued to approach.

He didn’t care even when other nobles glared at him.

“The harsh gazes and loneliness you must endure alone, I understand them well too.”

“Ah, is that so.”

“Therefore, I would like to share even my humble warmth with you…”

His manners weren’t bad.

He didn’t grab my hand recklessly or close the distance inappropriately.

Seeing that he only made suggestions, he was much better than those ruffians I met in the Western Region.

However, it was hard to just watch a man old enough to be my father talk about loneliness.

‘…Should I step on him pretending it’s an accident.’

I was already annoyed from wearing High Heels, so trying the time-honored High Society tradition of ‘crushing someone’s foot after accepting a dance invitation’ didn’t seem like a bad idea.

No matter how clueless a man might be, he would back off after experiencing that level of pain.

First, I needed to get this man away from me to feel at ease, so just as I was about to grab his hand.

A handsome man walked toward me.

“That person is…”

“Duke Venice!”

At his sudden appearance, the people around automatically cleared a path.

His Dark Red Formal Suit exuded intimidation, and his red eyes that reminded one of monsters from fairy tales held a faint anger.

He was a man who made one’s spine shiver just by looking at him.

As he approached, the middle-aged man who had been flirting with me turned pale and retreated.

The black-haired man took my hand and kissed the back of it.

“Good morning, Grand Duchess. I’ve come to see you as promised.”

‘This man… Duke Venice.’

The promise to come meet me without a mask came to mind.

I thought it was just a polite remark, but he actually remembered it.

I was tremendously surprised by his incredible handsomeness.

I had vaguely thought Duke Venice would be handsome since he was compared to Mikhail, but he exceeded my imagination.

If Mikhail had the beauty of a wingless angel, Duke Venice gave the impression of a black panther turned human.

His appearance was splendid, and true to his reputation as a Master Swordsman, his physique was also outstanding.

‘…This makes it seem like I’m evaluating a person. I should stop.’

I tried to hide my admiration and spoke.

“You’re handsome enough that hiding behind a mask was regrettable.”

“Thank you.”

He rose from his seat and expressed his gratitude.

The moment I made eye contact with him as he approached closer.

‘…Huh?’

My chest began to feel tight.

Pain struck as if someone had placed a heavy rock on my chest, and my head felt hot as if I had a fever.

‘Why is this happening?’

I pretended to be calm and conversed with the Duke.

Just then, Eastern Dance Music began to flow through the Banquet Hall, and he invited me to dance.

‘I should refuse.’

For reasons I couldn’t understand, someone inside my heart demanded it.

But I had already taken his hand.

My heart wanted to reject him, but my body was following him.

It was an indescribably unpleasant experience.

‘It’s like… dancing with an enemy.’

However, contrary to my uncomfortable feelings, my body felt at ease sensing his warmth.

It felt like lying down on the bed in the Annex Building.

A comfort as if something that was mine had returned to my embrace enveloped me.

And simultaneously, love and hate arose.

Anger, resentment, and obsession toward him confused my heart.

I was bewildered.

This was the first time in my life I had been swept up in such complex emotions, and it was strange to feel this toward a man I was seeing for the first time.

…Could it be that this wasn’t the first time I’d seen him?

‘Then in those blank memories, did I and Duke Venice…?’

As the lighting dimmed and we drew closer for the dance, I suppressed my disgust and voiced my question.

“Who are you? What was our relationship?”

I felt his shoulder that I was holding stiffen like rock.

When he didn’t answer, feeling impatient, I spoke once more.

“Answer me. Why do I feel this way when I look at you?”

The choreography brought our bodies together, and I tilted my head against his chest.

From his chest that had stiffened as if he was even holding his breath, I could hear the sound of his heartbeat.

Thump, thump, above the sound of heartbeats, the Duke cleared his throat quietly.

“Grand Duchess, would you like to know?”

The moment I heard that voice, this time my heart sank with a thud.

“What you’re feeling… I can tell you what it is.”

Under the dim lighting, I faced him directly.

We were close enough that I could feel his breath.

Looking into his red eyes, I had the illusion that my entire body was being bound by chains.

My hands and feet, my will to move, even my freedom to breathe were all restrained beneath his body.

Like a child in a fairy tale facing a large monster in the forest, my thoughts and body wouldn’t move.

‘I’ll be devoured.’

For reasons unknown, I had that premonition.

The moment I answered his question, the imagination that he would swallow me whole dominated my mind.

‘Refuse. Get away from him.’

Once again, someone in my heart cried out.

They seemed to cry out in anguish, telling me not to allow him, that I must not forgive him.

However, Duke Venice before my eyes looked more pitiful than the someone in my heart.

The monster trying to devour me looked like a wild animal wandering on the brink of death, unable to overcome its hunger.

The sight of him pitifully opening his mouth, trying somehow to catch his prey.

I even had the vague impulse that it might be okay to let him eat just one of my fingers.

“I am…”

As I opened my lips to answer, desire surged in his eyes.

‘He’s focusing on my lips.’

Just as I was about to give the answer he wanted to the beast that seemed ready to bare its teeth at any moment.

“Now- the first night of the celebration has finally ripened!”

The lighting in the banquet hall suddenly brightened.

“Oh my…!”

“Ah, my eyes!”

Startled people screamed simultaneously.

Due to the sudden brightening of the lights, I also frowned as I had been looking up.

As I lowered my head, the oppressive feeling that had been restraining me also naturally disappeared.

“Hah-!”

And I breathed roughly.

Only then did I realize that my breathing had stopped.

‘What is this…?’

Covering my mouth, I turned my gaze to Duke Venice.

He was looking at me with wide eyes.

Despite having captivated me, his expression showed he didn’t know why he had done such a thing.

“Duke?”

“…I apologize. Please forget what I said.”

“Pardon?”

After suggesting he would tell me himself, now he’s telling me to forget.

As if he had no intention of continuing this topic any further, he grabbed my arm and escorted me to the edge of the banquet hall.

I was dragged along without even being able to resist his delicate consideration, as if handling a glass jar.

Meanwhile, on the balcony, the Emperor, who had clearly turned on the lights to stop the Duke, was excitedly shouting.

“Children of the Sun gathered here today, I thank you. Though I was not born with platinum, my heart is as bright and hopeful as the sun….”

These were empty words that didn’t need to be heard.

The nobles showed respect to the Emperor by clapping and being moved, but I noticed that the Emperor’s gaze occasionally turned toward the Duke.

‘Are they conspiring together?’

I couldn’t guess what the situation was.

Why did the Duke say such things to me, what was the Emperor’s reason for intervening, and….

‘Why didn’t I refuse it?’

Why did my subconscious want to accept his proposal,

If the Emperor hadn’t stopped us, I would have embraced him.

And while stroking his back with love and resentment….

“…What did I want to say?”

[Never… I will never…!]

The cry in my head had disappeared before I knew it.

And Duke Venice had also left me.

Left alone in the crowded banquet hall, a place full of people, I watched Duke Venice’s back.

He still looked lonely.

* * *

“…That’s what happened.”

After returning to the villa, I confessed everything that had happened at the banquet hall to Anna, Nata, and Professor Fortran.

The bitterness, desire, and regret of parting I felt at the banquet hall… I explained such things roughly.

Such personal emotions had already flown away long ago while walking back to the villa.

After hearing my explanation, Anna stamped her feet.

“Oh my, it was such a romantic situation, but I couldn’t see it directly…!”

“It’s nothing special, so stop it, Anna. I just got a little excited because there was a handsome person in front of me.”

Nata nodded with an awkward expression.

“…Grand Madam’s emotions are sometimes unpredictable. Should I call it dry, or rational.”

“Enough about my story. Now, Professor, you heard everything too, right?”

Professor Fortran, who had been staying with me at the villa after being targeted by an assassin, nodded bewilderedly.

“Uh, yeah.”

“What do you think?”

“What do you mean… You want me to grade your first love story?”

As expected of a professor, bringing up grading first.

I tapped the sofa armrest, indicating that wasn’t what I meant.

“Professor, you said I had a black-haired boyfriend. But I don’t remember that time at all. Someone erased my memory.”

“Erasing memories is impossible even in the realm of ancient magic. That’s….”

“Since I’m the victim, proof doesn’t really matter. More importantly, does that Duke Venice look like my ex-boyfriend to you, Professor?”

“Uh….”

Professor Fortran scratched his cheek.

He rolled his eyes around with an expression wondering if he should say such things.

“First of all, I don’t know that boyfriend’s name. I only heard a little from you. Besides, you… weren’t you a poor noble family’s young lady back then, not the Grand Duchess?”

“That’s right.”

“But you dated a Duke?”

“Yes, is that strange?”

Professor Fortran closed his mouth as if he had lost his words.

I frowned in disbelief myself.

“The Duke must have fallen for me at first sight.”

“Don’t you usually think it would be the opposite?”

“Absolutely not. I saw the Duke’s eyes, and his feelings toward me were passionate. I thought I was going to be devoured.”

Given Wilhelmina’s and Kim Hana’s personalities, there was no way they would have such feelings for someone.

So the Duke must have been the one who fell first.

This was a matter directly connected to my pride.

But Anna, who had been listening, seemed to notice something strange and cautiously raised her hand.

“But Grand Madam. Those feelings… were they really love?”

“Probably? I’ve never loved someone like that either, so I don’t know well. But I did feel obsession.”

“You said you were almost devoured, not that he kissed you or hugged you or anything like that, right?”

“Right.”

“Then… couldn’t it be that it wasn’t love?”

“…Huh?”

Suddenly my thinking took a complete turn.

“For example, it could be like mortal enemies. What if Grand Madam actually did something terribly wrong, but lost that memory for some reason? And if the Duke is waiting for Grand Madam to remember….”

“The reason he looked at me like that was because he really wanted to kill me once I remembered?”

“It’s, it’s something that often comes up in mystery novels.”

The affectionate expression ‘I want to bite you!’ was actually a cry toward an enemy meaning ‘I want to bite you to death!’

‘Huh? That makes sense?’

I was quite susceptible to advice from the bookworm.

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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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