I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 175

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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 175

For a moment his mask crumbled, but Rohanos struggled to regain his composure and took Wilhelmina’s hand to pull it down.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Playing dumb at this point? If you’re going to deceive me, you got the order wrong.”

“…Order?”

“If you had really acted for your own sake, you would have erased your associates’ memories too. Coram’s memory was intact, wasn’t it?”

“…!”

When an unexpected name spilled from Wilhelmina’s lips, Rohanos’s eyes shook violently once again.

“My associates don’t remember the Academy student Rohanos, but he even knew that you had graduated. Strange, isn’t it? That he retained memories that were hazy even to Academy insiders.”

It couldn’t have been some half-hearted reason like leaving the memory because he was a friend.

It would mean that Rohanos, who had erased dozens of people’s memories and eliminated clues, couldn’t even keep his friend’s mouth shut.

“The reason you didn’t erase his memory is obvious. Because there was no need to erase it. What you needed to erase was ‘the relationship between Wilhelmina and Rohanos,’ not Rohanos’s memories.”

Wilhelmina had seen through that small difference.

If it were true that Rohanos had erased Wilhelmina’s memory because of his own wrongdoing, he should have erased the memories of everyone who might know about that wrongdoing.

But he hadn’t erased the memories of people like Coram who weren’t connected to Wilhelmina. It proved that the subject of the incident was Wilhelmina, not Rohanos.

“Besides, you said you wouldn’t tell the truth even if you died. Those words sounded exactly like…”

Wilhelmina drew closer and pressed her forehead against his.

“A resolve made not for yourself, but for someone else.”

“…”

“I’ve felt it since you first took off your mask, but you like me, don’t you?”

He could feel the heat from Wilhelmina’s knees as she straddled him.

As he felt her sweet breath on his cheek, heat rose in his head instead of the confusion that had filled it.

“Actually, I just became certain that you erased my memory for my sake. I felt intense affection in your expression and voice.”

“…Get down, Wilhelmina.”

“If I hadn’t felt affection from you, I might have been fooled. Instead, I would have been curious about why you, who took on the risk of erasing memories, didn’t kill me.”

“I’m telling you again, get down and…”

“How noisy. If you want me to get down so badly, push me down with your own hands. You’re not even pushing me away.”

Wilhelmina looked down at Rohanos and let out a laugh.

As if pleased by his stiffened expression and body, and his arms frozen because he couldn’t bring himself to touch her, her crescent moon-shaped eyes glinted mischievously.

“If you didn’t like me, if it really was something you had done wrong… you should have killed me, the witness to the incident. But you chose surveillance instead of killing, so it was easy to deduce.”

“…There was no need to kill you. Erasing your memory was sufficient.”

“That premise is wrong, I tell you. Is there any reason to keep me alive while going so far as to abuse methods that shouldn’t be known to the public? There’s nothing except pitiful love.”

It was a shameless declaration of affection, but he had no words to refute it.

Wilhelmina was always like this. She had no shame when discussing affection.

Rohanos of the past had always been defeated by that boldness.

This time was no different.

“And what you just said about accepting judgment can only be said because you love me. Concealing the truth for the person you love… it’s a plausible story.”

Perhaps feeling Rohanos’s stiffened waist, Wilhelmina smiled mischievously with her eyes.

“How admirable. To endure all that hardship for such a long time, determined to protect the person you love.”

Though she was clearly talking about the past, it somehow sounded like she was teasing the current Rohanos, who was desperately suppressing his instincts with all his might.

“So…”

Still leaning her weight on Rohanos’s hand that was gripping her arm, Wilhelmina rested her chin on his shoulder.

“You can tell me the truth.”

“…”

“Now that I know of your affection, I won’t blame you. I can swear to it if you want.”

Go ahead and confess. You can be at ease now.

Rohanos slowly released her arm. Instead, he tightly embraced her slender body that had come into his arms.

Unlike Rohanos’s body that was hot with fever, Wilhelmina’s skin was cold from the night breeze.

That pleasant temperature difference helped cool his head a little.

‘As expected, you’re the strongest.’

Feeling Wilhelmina gently patting his back, Rohanos recalled the past.

The flower garden that belonged only to two wounded people, the small courage he had received from her there.

No one knew that the reason a mere soldier, a bastard son destined to be used as a disposable pawn, came to harbor hope was because of his love for her.

She had always been strong.

Once she noticed a lie, excuses wouldn’t work on her.

“It’s okay. I won’t hate you for what you did for my sake. So, you can tell me.”

She knew how to hold affection. She had the strength to forgive mistakes made out of love.

‘Listen well, Rohan. I will definitely remember you.’

It had been the same back then too.

She who had struggled desperately, telling him never to erase her memory, had said those words while looking at Rohanos’s expression.

‘I will never forget you. I won’t forgive XX. This… isn’t your fault. So Rohan- don’t touch my memory.’

Her face ruined by despair and shock, her uncharacteristically stammering speech, the memory of that night he truly wanted to forget.

In the dark kitchen of Windsor Mansion, she had pleaded not to have her memory erased.

She had cried out that this was a sin she had to bear, that she must not forget it.

Though the time and place were different, her conviction was the same.

She wouldn’t run away from her sins and her family’s responsibility.

‘As expected, you haven’t changed.’

Even having lost her memory, even with her personality changed, Wilhelmina remained the same.

That’s why Rohanos…

“I cannot tell you.”

He refused her wish.

The fact that she hadn’t changed meant that a future where she would make the exact same choice as back then was predetermined.

‘I’ll confess. I have to pay for my sins.’

Looking down at his hands stained with his father’s blood, Rohanos refused once again, determined to completely erase from this world the image of her speaking so calmly.

“I cannot lose you twice. Whatever you say, even if you hate me, it doesn’t matter.”

“Rohan….”

“To you who hasn’t changed… I cannot tell you the truth.”

Rohanos slowly separated himself from Wilhelmina’s body.

He wanted to hold her in his arms again right away.

He wanted to return to the time when they shared love, to stop this terrible charade.

But just as Wilhelmina’s beliefs remained unchanged, Rohanos’s resolve also did not waver.

Wilhelmina’s eyes that faced him were still calm.

The more he looked at her beautiful and strong eyes, the more regret welled up.

He never knew he would find himself so detestable for ignoring her heart in order to protect her.

“Rohan, a long time has already passed. With my current status, whatever wrong I’ve done….”

“It’s not about the weight of the sin. As long as you are Wilhelmina, I cannot reveal it.”

“…It’s a secret that will be revealed someday. Do you think I won’t be able to find it?”

Rohanos smiled faintly.

‘Yes, you would find it. No matter what interference I cause, you will grasp the truth.’

That’s why he wanted to buy time, at least until then.

He needed time so that she could postpone her final choice, and so that he could create a world where she wouldn’t be judged.

“Mina, I still love you. So… I won’t tell you.”

At his unwavering resolve, Wilhelmina closed her mouth with a sorrowful expression.

Even now, two years after the incident, the man’s love remained unchanged.

Whether in a good sense or a bad sense.

* * *

‘I’m going to the battlefield.’

At the Academy before winter break, while students were cheerfully discussing their vacation plans, Rohanos spoke with a determined voice to Wilhelmina whom he met in the flower garden.

‘I found a way. If this succeeds… I can become the heir.’

Wilhelmina, who was sitting with her back against the garden trees, opened her eyes wide. Soon she seemed to think deeply about something, then frowned.

‘Is succession rights worth risking your life for?’

‘For me, it is.’

‘Gambling with your life in front of your lover, are you sane?’

Though she spoke with a sharp voice, he knew from experience that this was Wilhelmina’s way of showing concern.

‘It’s okay, I won’t die. I’ll definitely come back alive.’

‘…I have nothing to say. You know that in novels, soldiers who say such lines die first, right?’

‘This isn’t a novel.’

‘That’s not what I meant… Ugh, never mind.’

Wilhelmina sighed and reached out her hand to Rohanos. Rohanos naturally took her hand and helped her up.

‘You won’t listen even if I tell you not to go.’

‘It’s already decided. Even if I don’t go now, I’ll be forcibly conscripted someday.’

‘Sigh, fine, then promise me just one thing.’

‘A promise?’

She placed her hand on Rohanos’s cheek. Then she mercilessly pinched his cheek as she spoke.

‘When you come back alive, come find me first. I have something to give you.’

‘Why?’

‘By then, that matter I mentioned before will probably be finished… I’ll be able to meet you in a free state too.’

‘…Don’t overdo it.’

‘Who’s talking to whom? Between me going to trial against the Imperial Family and you standing on the battlefield, who’s in more danger?’

When Rohanos, left speechless, pressed his lips tightly together, Wilhelmina found even that endearing and forcibly stretched his cheeks to make him open his mouth.

‘Anyway, you absolutely must come find me. Don’t stop anywhere else.’

‘…Yes, I promise.’

As Wilhelmina’s finger was about to enter his mouth, Rohanos finally burst into laughter.

This kind of stubborn promise wasn’t something he’d experienced just once or twice while dating Wilhelmina.

But Rohanos couldn’t keep this small promise. The battlefield wouldn’t let him go, and those flames spread even to the Western Region.

‘No matter what happens, I’ll come to see you right away.’

He didn’t know yet that this would become the promise he’d regret most in his entire life.

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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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