I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 201

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I’m a Mother-in-Law, But I Don’t Want Family Conflicts Episode 201

I quickly finished preparing to head to Jormon Territory.

To solve the problem before winter came, I had to start moving now.

‘I’d like to look into the black market too if I could… but they won’t allow that.’

Instead, Jane and Baroness Metokan said they would investigate the black market indirectly.

Since it’s not a field I know about, it would be better to leave the black market to them.

“Grand Madam, we’ll be departing.”

“Alright.”

After boarding the carriage, I nodded to the coachman and leaned back against the seat.

It took a full two days by carriage from Layton Territory to Jormon Territory.

It was quite a distance for what could be called a brief outing, so perhaps for that reason, Mikhail provided the knight order for my safety.

Layton’s finest knights escorted me with soldiers in tow.

Thanks to this, such a massive group was prepared that one might suspect we were going to invade Count Jormon’s house.

Even when I said this much wasn’t necessary, my son wouldn’t listen at all.

‘No, actually this might be good for pressuring Count Jormon’s house.’

If I bring this kind of army, they won’t dare move recklessly either.

Trying to think positively, I turned my gaze and met eyes with Gideon, who was looking at me from the carriage next to mine.

He seemed startled that our eyes met and hastily turned his head away. In front of him sat Jace with a disgusted expression.

Gideon seemed impressed by the tremendous procession, making sounds like “As expected of the Grand Duchess” while looking up at me admiringly.

It was the completely unpredictable mindset of an adolescent boy. I had no idea when he had started respecting me.

“Grand Madam, shall I bring out some tea?”

As the carriage began to move, Anna, who had been organizing luggage in the corner, asked.

Since riding the carriage alone felt lonely, I had Anna and Mirinai board the carriage with me.

“Yes, please do.”

While drinking tea and looking out the window, Anna spoke carefully.

“Grand Madam, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“You said Lord Windsor was going around pretending to be a noble. Both Baron Vesta Family and Count Jormon Family – why did they believe such a person? Only you are recorded in the registry.”

“Ah, so that’s what you were curious about.”

Anna seemed to wonder if impersonation could really be done this easily.

Well, she wouldn’t know how flimsy identity verification is in this world, so it was a reasonable question to have.

“First of all, checking another family’s registry isn’t something ordinary nobles can do. It’s difficult to prove unless a contract is concluded through imperial mediation.”

“Is that the only means of verification?”

“No, self-verification is possible through documentary evidence of owning territory, one’s own family genealogy, or guarantees from related families. The problem is that since it’s such a cumbersome process, people usually prove it through other means.”

“What would that be?”

“The family seal.”

The family seal – in modern terms, it could be called a personal seal or stamp.

Family seals made from special metal said to contain the power of the Sun God were powerful evidence that couldn’t be forged.

“Lord Windsor was said to be carrying that seal. He actually used it to stamp the mediation contract.”

“Could it be that he stole the seal?”

“Well….”

Taking this opportunity to explain my deductions to Anna, I set down my teacup and closed the window.

“Actually, I thought my marriage to the Late Duke was Father’s decision. Because the marriage contract had our family seal stamped on it, even though I never stamped it myself.”

Marriage contracts in this world don’t require a woman’s seal.

While men can use their personal seals, for women the family seal is sufficient.

And the official procedure ends with exchanging engagement or marriage tokens and creating a registry.

So when I married the Late Duke, I couldn’t even properly read the contract.

“Grand Madam….”

Anna’s eyes reddened with sympathy.

I wanted to say it was fine since I met you all after marriage and lived comfortably, but I held back thinking Anna might actually burst into tears.

“But thinking about it now, the sequence seems strange.”

“The sequence?”

“Yes, our father passed away, right? So when did he use the seal?”

Though not specific due to gaps in my memory, I clearly remember holding Father’s funeral.

It was a small, shabby funeral with no mourners, but that much wasn’t a fabricated memory.

“It definitely wasn’t before he passed away. I first encountered the Late Duke’s subordinate… that is, Raymond, after Father died.”

Raymond made the contract after discovering me, who resembled his daughter.

By then, our family had already fallen into ruin after Father’s death.

So who stamped the seal?

“Did Lord Windsor steal it?”

“That’s probably right. The problem is the timing. Whether it was before or after Father’s death… I think it was before.”

At the funeral, a funeral official came from the Imperial Palace.

He offered condolences for Father’s death, confirmed there was no heir to the Windsor Family, and said he would delete us from the registry before leaving.

The funeral official didn’t retrieve the seal then. Of course, when I left for the Duke’s Estate carrying my meager dowry, the seal was nowhere to be found.

‘But the problem is, even though the seal disappeared, Father remained unchanged.’

Logically, if the family seal disappeared, shouldn’t he have at least reported it stolen? But Father just stayed quiet.

Was he simply not telling me, or perhaps he didn’t actually have it stolen but gave it to Lord Windsor?

Since my memories from that time are so jumbled, I couldn’t tell what was true.

“Lord Windsor stole the seal, appeared after Father’s death, and sold me to the Duke’s Estate… That’s my theory.”

That would also explain how Lord Windsor could masquerade as a noble.

Even though we had fallen, it was true that he possessed the seal.

After my explanation ended, Anna nodded as if she finally understood.

“Of course, there are still many suspicious points. That’s why I’m searching for traces of Lord Windsor.”

“Isn’t this almost completely solved?”

“No, it’s not. My memories are fading even at this moment.”

“…What?”

I sighed while looking at the shocked Anna.

I had considered not telling her out of worry, but since things had come this far, it seemed easier to let Anna know.

“The gaps in my memory are getting stronger. If time passes like this, I’ll forget the memories of that time just as Rohan wants.”

“S-surely not even our first meeting…”

“No, the memories I’m talking about are from before I came to the Layton Family. So… the last memories of Wilhelmina Windsor.”

It was difficult to express what I meant.

Should I say that I thought I had memories of my family, but when I actually tried to recall them, they wouldn’t come to mind?

It was a past I could definitely recall just a few years ago, but now it was covered by blurred paint and I couldn’t make it out.

Realizing that my memories were being erased was more terrible than I had thought.

‘That’s probably what Rohan wants.’

I couldn’t accept such a version of myself.

Those were the memories of Wilhelmina Windsor, not Kim Hana.

Therefore, as the memories fell away, the Wilhelmina Windsor in my heart became incomplete.

‘I am both Wilhelmina and Kim Hana. I don’t want either side to disappear.’

Someone might call it stubbornness, but for me it was an important matter.

I didn’t want to deny myself.

I wanted to decide the address of my soul myself.

“…Anyway, that’s why I can’t back down. The seal that Lord Windsor took is also something that rightfully belongs to me.”

For the first time besides Mikhail and Helene, I revealed my true feelings.

Perhaps my resolve was somewhat heavy, as Anna couldn’t bring herself to speak.

As the carriage filled with silence, I opened the window again.

Before I knew it, the carriage had left Layton Territory and was racing refreshingly across the autumn fields.

* * *

Raymond was imprisoned in the underground prison of the Imperial Palace.

Exhausted from dozens of interrogations and investigations, Raymond leaned his back against the prison wall and closed his eyes.

The investigators came out peacefully as if they had received word from Duke Layton, but for Raymond, who had lost his vitality, each day was tiring.

To him, who was only waiting for the day to receive punishment for his sins, a man appeared.

“…It’s been a while.”

The man who appeared without even a sound of footsteps flashed red eyes in the darkness and approached Raymond.

“I have something to ask.”

Raymond let out a hollow laugh at the question from the man, Rohanos.

“I didn’t expect you to come seeking answers from me.”

“Just answer the question.”

“Why, couldn’t you trust that man’s words?”

“…”

It was clear who ‘that man’ referred to without having to say it.

Raymond clicked his tongue at the killing intent that filled the prison.

“When I headed to Layton Territory, I heard news that the man had died. Was that your doing?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“That’s right, it doesn’t matter. That man was in a situation where he could die at any time due to the karma he had accumulated, so it doesn’t matter who killed him.”

However, Raymond continued.

“The fact that you came looking for me means you weren’t satisfied with the truth that man revealed. Hoping that I would give you a different answer…”

“Raymond, I didn’t come here to engage in trivial chatter.”

“…!”

Raymond’s body froze under the powerful aura that constricted his throat.

Though he had lived a long life and experienced countless dangers, the killing intent of a war hero who had slain hundreds and thousands of barbarians was on a different level.

“Answer me, Raymond. Who killed Wilhelmina’s father?”

Everyone knew there was a predetermined answer.

After all, it was Rohanos who had discovered the blood-stained Wilhelmina and her father’s cold corpse.

But just in case, in that darkness where he couldn’t make out the details, what if it wasn’t actually Wilhelmina who had stabbed her father…

Raymond steadied his voice with effort and asked.

“Do you want to know the truth? Or do you need false evidence for Grand Duchess Wilhelmina’s sake?”

But Rohanos didn’t answer.

Did it not matter either way, or was he afraid to make a choice?

Raymond, with his pale complexion, slowly opened his mouth.

“Very well, I’ll tell you. The one who killed Wilhelmina’s father, the Head of House Windsor, the one who stabbed him was…”

The moment the answer was finished, Rohanos’s red eyes shook violently.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————