I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 232

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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 232

I whispered to Anna and Lena, then slowly approached the man.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t pity me. I won’t be humiliated by such…”

“You have a lot of sand on you. Shall I lend you a handkerchief?”

“…Ah.”

I had intended to find out his identity by showing kindness, but somehow the man’s reaction was unusual.

When I wiped around his eyes with a damp handkerchief, he stared at me with his mouth agape, as if he had witnessed something incredible.

‘Did he recognize my face?’

I hadn’t thought there would be such a person in this remote place. I was trying to gauge his reaction when he stammered.

“Th-thank you. I needed that just now…”

He was even nervous, it seemed, as his voice cracked in the middle of speaking.

“Are you perhaps…”

“Ah, I’m a pilgrim who serves the Wolf God. My name is… please call me Rohana.”

“Rohana… what a beautiful name.”

‘…What’s with this guy?’

He suddenly tried to grab my hand, so I instinctively pulled it away.

Just then, I heard Lena clicking her tongue behind me.

“Tsk, there’s another one.”

I’m not sure what she meant by that.

* * *

The man who had been humiliated by the soldier, Gerta, was indeed a noble as Wilhelmina had expected.

He was from a knight family that owned a small territory in the Northern Canyon, and had set out on a journey to follow the old custom of finding a bride himself upon reaching adulthood.

Though his family was a fallen old-era knight family with no lord to serve, he had been educated in chivalry, justice, and tradition since childhood, making him more resolute than most knights.

To him, Haldia was nothing short of a city of corruption.

The soldiers who should maintain public order were blinded by bribes and turned a blind eye to crimes, while the city’s merchants displayed fake goods to deceive visitors.

Not only that, but this city was hiding a great secret.

As a noble, he could not ignore corruption.

Gerta’s sense of justice ignited as he approached the soldier.

Though he was hiding his status according to his family’s tradition, he intended to offer counsel to the Lord of Haldia.

‘You there, soldier. Come here.’

Though his outward status was that of a merchant, Gerta couldn’t abandon his noble attitude and arrogantly called to the soldier.

The soldier initially lowered his posture thinking he was a noble, but soon changed his attitude after seeing Gerta’s appearance.

His clothes were like rags, and he didn’t even have attendants by his side.

‘What? He has complaints about Haldia? This merchant bastard…!’

And so he was beaten by the soldiers and rolled shamefully on the floor.

He wanted to draw the sword he had hidden and fight back, but he could only endure it, thinking that wielding a sword against mere soldiers would go against chivalry.

‘These ignorant fools…!’

His face turned bright red with shame as he lowered his head to avoid people’s gazes.

The people also seemed to think they shouldn’t get on the soldiers’ bad side, so they pretended not to know him.

At that moment when no one offered a helping hand, a woman approached him.

“Are you alright?”

The voice heard amidst the soldiers’ mockery and curses penetrated his ears like the opening of a masterpiece.

“Don’t pity me. I won’t be humiliated by something like this…”

“You have a lot of sand on you. Shall I lend you my handkerchief?”

He didn’t like being ignored by people, but he also didn’t like receiving pity from a woman.

He tried to politely decline the woman’s kindness, but when he saw her face, his entire body froze.

“…Ah.”

The red-haired woman with the sun behind her violently shook Gerta’s heart.

Having never left his territory due to training until he became an adult, the woman before his eyes came as a shock to him.

It wasn’t something that could be dismissed as simply beautiful appearance.

Her calm atmosphere and melancholy eyes, the kindness of wiping his face with a handkerchief, the fragrance emanating from her and the cool air… Everything felt charming.

‘Father said that if I travel, a fateful encounter awaits. Could this person be…?’

Just because she offered him a handkerchief, he bloomed with delusions about fate. Already imagining even their wedding, he stammered to ask her name.

“Y-you are perhaps…”

“Ah, I’m a pilgrim who serves the Wolf God. My name is… please call me Rohana.”

“Rohana… Even your name is beautiful.”

She even serves the Wolf God.

Recently, the Wolf God had been treated as a relic of the past, but Gerta’s affection only grew stronger. She seemed like such a pure and faithful person.

On top of that, red hair, the symbol of the Wolf God… His heart, which couldn’t resist tradition, pounded incessantly.

“What is the gentleman’s name?”

“Ah, I’m late with introductions.”

He reached out his hand to return the handkerchief, but Rohana quickly pulled her arm back and stood up.

Gerta also stood up following her.

“My name is Gerta. I’m a merchant.”

“A merchant… I see.”

For a moment, Rohana narrowed her eyes. But Gerta, thinking his acting was perfect, paid no mind and continued his introduction.

“I came here to try doing business in Haldia. Though I was humiliated by those ignorant soldiers…”

“Do the soldiers look down on merchants?”

“Well, I understand them looking down on merchants, but that’s not the problem.”

“Something must have happened?”

“That’s right.”

He spoke in a strange manner mixing noble honorifics and casual speech, but Rohana didn’t bother to point it out.

“I also felt a strange energy in Haldia. I’d like to hear Lord Gerta’s thoughts.”

“I don’t think it’s related to the pilgrim Lady Rohana, but….”

“The Wolf God said that the corrupt ones must be punished.”

‘Was there such a passage in the scripture?’

Since Gerta had learned about chivalry but didn’t know much about theology, he just accepted it.

She quietly guided Gerta to a secluded place.

Continuing the conversation was something Gerta also wanted, so he reluctantly followed along.

“…Is that person a maid?”

As he stood beside Rohana, he felt the fierce gaze of the maid who was assisting her.

Even though she was wearing a mask, her stare was so blatant that he could feel her glaring at him.

Somehow his spine felt chilled, so when he asked about her identity, Rohana spoke soothingly.

“Lena is a good… maid. You don’t need to worry about her right now.”

‘…Right now?’

Somehow those last words made his ears tingle, but he deliberately ignored it. He was afraid to face that masked maid directly.

* * *

I unpacked my luggage at an inn on the outskirts of Haldia.

I thought one or two rooms would be enough, but Lena paid extra money and even drove out the guests who were originally staying there, then rented the entire inn.

Thanks to that, we were able to enter while receiving the inn owner’s utmost hospitality.

After that, I headed to the bedroom to recover from the journey. Then I looked at Lena organizing my clothes and asked.

“…Lena, what do you think about Gerta just now?”

“I think he’s a vulgar man.”

“No, not his image, I mean the information he brought.”

I didn’t expect her to suddenly curse like that. Seeing my uncomfortable expression, Lena sighed.

“Lady, you should be careful with your conduct.”

“It’s been a while since I heard that.”

“I’m not joking. He’s definitely the type of man who will be troublesome if you give him any opening.”

If I removed her mask, she would probably be glaring at me.

I avoided her gaze and said.

“Still, we gained information thanks to him.”

Before coming to the inn, I had a brief conversation with Gerta. He was a fellow with strange speech, but I gained quite a bit.

We had only been watching the flow of funds in Haldia, but Gerta focused on the people entering and leaving Haldia.

‘There are clearly more people leaving than entering. It means all those people are hiding somewhere.’

For a fake merchant, his observation skills were surprisingly good.

Disgusted by Haldia’s corruption, he seemed to think that the travelers coming and going here were also accomplices.

It’s a trading city, but there must be a reason why people who aren’t merchants visit.

It was an unreasonable complaint, but it wasn’t an incomprehensible argument.

‘Thanks to that, I also learned where to investigate.’

On the way to the inn, I realized that this city’s ground was strange.

Even though it was an unpaved road, the ground beneath the sand was very hard.

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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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