I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 182

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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 182

“You even had surveillance on me, so cut the nonsense. Anyone listening would think you welcome me.”

Raymond stood up from his seat and faced me.

I could feel magic power emanating from his body.

There was no doubt that Raymond was the center of this magic.

I turned my gaze and spoke to Helene, who was still keeping her head down.

“Helene, let’s go home. Get up quickly.”

“…”

But she didn’t answer.

She didn’t even move, as if she couldn’t hear me at all.

I frowned and tried to approach her, but Raymond blocked my path.

“She has already finished making her choice.”

“Shut up. That’s not a choice, it’s a threat.”

I glared and called out to Helene again.

“Helene, let’s go. I don’t know what you heard, but at least deciding here is…”

“No, Mother.”

“What?”

Helene slowly stood up from her seat and looked back at me.

Seeing her pale complexion and unfocused eyes made my heart sink.

It was the face of someone who had given up everything, something I never expected to see from Helene.

“This is my duty. I will not reverse my decision. Mother, you should return to the Annex Building.”

“What kind of nonsense are you…”

I urgently tried to approach Helene, but for some reason my feet wouldn’t move at all.

Feeling as if my feet were stuck to the floor, I looked down to examine the ground.

‘It’s magic.’

I could feel magic power faintly spread across the temple floor.

It seemed to be magic deployed to prevent intruders from moving.

I didn’t know he had such skills.

When I glared at Raymond, he spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s a trap I set up just in case. I didn’t expect the Grand Duchess to get caught in it.”

It seemed the magic was only blocking me, as he moved his steps toward the temple edge where the cemetery was located.

“It doesn’t seem to be my turn yet. First, please have your conversation.”

“How confident. When Mikhail returns, this kind of situation…”

“Grand Duchess, you are mistaken. What I want is for that Mikhail Layton to return.”

Raymond’s cold and dark eyes made me feel as if my blood had frozen.

Because I understood the meaning of his words.

‘Is everything already prepared?’

It was the composure he could show because the magic to make Mikhail kill Helene was already activated.

Then the only remaining method is to persuade Helene.

Recalling the secret Oberon had told me, I urgently spoke to Helene.

“Helene, listen carefully. This isn’t your duty. I’m looking for a way to resolve the curse. So you don’t need to sacrifice yourself.”

“What kind of method is that?”

“That is…”

‘Oh no, I spoke too hastily.’

To explain the solution, I would somehow have to mention Oberon’s name.

If that happened, disaster would surely befall Helene as well.

I frowned and muttered quietly.

“Right now… I can’t explain it.”

“…”

My desire to save Helene got ahead of me, causing me to make an uncharacteristic slip of the tongue.

Normally I wouldn’t have acted so recklessly without a plan, but it was a painful mistake.

“But… please trust me. I’ve never lied to you once. I will definitely save you and Mikhail…”

“No, Mother. The curse isn’t my only duty. As the Lady of the House of the Layton Family, I have matters that need to be settled.”

“Settled? What do you mean by that?”

What I had guessed was Helene’s purpose was to sacrifice herself for Mikhail and atone for the sin of killing the Late Duke.

Though Mikhail hadn’t revealed exactly who killed the Late Duke, I already had the intuition that the culprit was Helene.

Since Helene had killed him, Mikhail must have desperately destroyed the evidence and protected her.

But to think there was another reason besides that – it was an unexpected answer.

Helene looked at me quietly with dry eyes, then shook her head.

“I cannot answer that for you, Mother. This is strictly a matter of the Layton Family.”

“I am also the Lady of the House of the Layton Family. If it’s family business, I have the right to know.”

“The cause of this matter predates your arrival in the family. You don’t need to know about it.”

“That’s not a reason for me not to help you both. I am your mother.”

“…”

Helene glared fiercely and bit her lips.

As if she wanted to spit out curses, she moved her lips for a while before continuing in a low voice.

“How long… do you plan to keep pretending to be family?”

The moment I was taken aback and closed my mouth, Helene scolded me as if venting her complaints.

“Wilhelmina, you are intelligent. You have excellent judgment and are wiser than anyone I’ve ever met. So someone like you would know that you bear no fault in this tragedy.”

Even the title of Mother had disappeared.

Her appearance as she spoke with her hands tightly clenched was as fragile as a believer confessing sins.

Somehow, I was reminded of my student at the Academy.

The image of a child lying about no longer wanting to rely on their teacher overlapped with Helene.

“The reason you involve yourself with me, this role of mother… please give it up now. Even if I’m sacrificed, no one will blame you. Rather, in Layton without me, you would have a more solid position as the Lady of the House…”

“Do you think I’m stepping forward now because of my position as Grand Duchess, out of a sense of duty?”

“If not that, then what reason?”

I knew she was a fool with high pride and self-esteem, but I didn’t know she could be this foolish.

I suppressed the urge to sigh and spoke.

“Do you remember what I said when I first met you?”

“….”

She would remember. It was an impressive meeting for both her and me.

At that time, I looked at her and said this.

“I said I thought you were an amazing daughter-in-law. That it was sincere praise.”

“…You did.”

“That’s still the same now. I like people with strong convictions like you.”

The problem was that she was so straight that she would break rather than bend.

I always liked people who knew how to face storms.

“Moreover, as time passed, I grew to like you all more. You might not think so, but I was quite happy to become part of your family.”

Helene froze with her eyes wide open.

Her expression showed she never imagined I would say such things.

Cheerful but actually more serious than anyone Mikhail, Helene who was serious about everything and had pride as a noble, the lovely servants… There were more than enough reasons for me to love the Layton Family.

It didn’t matter how outsiders viewed the relationship between me and the Layton Family. To me, the Layton Family was another hometown and family.

“So this isn’t about responsibility. I already….”

My sincere feelings were cut off by Helene’s anguished voice.

“No, Wilhelmina. This is nothing but playing house.”

“Helene.”

“Because I have never once acknowledged you as my mother.”

“….”

That’s a lie.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have spoken with such a pained expression.

But the words that followed were resentment that couldn’t be dismissed as lies.

“Looking at you makes me angry. The way you give away what I couldn’t have, what I couldn’t achieve, as if it’s worthless, that blind kindness, that complacency as if everything can be solved once it’s in your hands… I hate it all. It feels like you’re… calling me incompetent.”

Her eyes trembled violently, as if she couldn’t believe she was saying such things.

Once a dam breaks, it doesn’t stop until all the water is released.

Helene poured out all the words she had been holding back.

“I know you haven’t done anything wrong. I also know that the Layton Family did terrible things to you. I know I’m not in a position to be angry, and that you have no ill will… But if I acknowledge all of that, what am I supposed to do?”

She clasped her hands so tightly that the blood drained from them, breathing like a lost child.

“For my family, what exactly can I do?”

“…No one wanted you to sacrifice yourself.”

“Then what can I do besides sacrifice? Should I just stand still and wait until Mikhail dies? While praying that he overcomes the curse? While ignoring my sins and the Layton Family’s sins? I can’t do that. For me… such a thing is impossible.”

Helene’s pride was so heavy that doing nothing and just watching was more frightening than sacrificing her life.

I never dreamed that my existence was becoming a burden to her.

Since she showed little interest in me, I thought the best approach was to maintain this relationship while slowly closing the distance between us.

However, Helene’s heart was purer than I had expected.

“I can’t solve things like you can. The only means left to me is… this.”

‘I didn’t know she felt guilty about hating me.’

She was hating me while blaming herself.

If a mother-in-law like me was bothersome to her, she could just hate me comfortably. It’s natural for people to blindly hate someone at least once in their lives.

But Helene could not tolerate that simple act.

One should not hate someone without reason.

Especially if that person was an Elder, a victim of the Family House.

Even if an Elder who suddenly occupied the Family’s Inner Chamber solved family matters big and small, conducted business, and earned the trust of children and servants, she should not mind it. No, rather, she should respect them.

That was the proper attitude to have as Imperial Family, as Lady of the House.

That fact oppressed Helene’s heart even more.

She hated Wilhelmina while simultaneously loathing herself for having no justification.

Though Helene possessed the pride of Imperial Family, the self-respect of Lady of the House, and the etiquette of a Noble Lady, she lacked the callousness to hate without guilt.

“…How foolish.”

It seemed I still didn’t fully understand Helene’s true feelings.

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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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