I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 239

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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 239

Theorne quickly began cleaning the living room. He shoved underwear and towels into the remaining room, and roughly stuffed liquor bottles under the cabinet. Fortunately, he had only been living properly for about a week, so dust hadn’t accumulated.

After cleaning for about 30 minutes, the living room had transformed into something resembling a place where people lived.

‘Phew, this should be enough.’

He wiped away his sweat, arranged his hair, and stood in front of the door again.

When he opened the door, he saw Wilhelmina sitting with her back against the wall next to the door, apparently tired from waiting. She looked up at Theorne.

“Can I come in now?”

“…Yeah.”

Perhaps because it had been so long since they met, even her crouched figure looked cute.

‘Forget everything my ass, I’m just overflowing with lingering feelings.’

He tried to hide his pounding heart as he let her into the house.

Sitting on the sofa in the living room, she glanced around. Worried there might be dirty spots somewhere, cold sweat ran down Theorne’s forehead.

“Surprising. Since you live alone, I thought there would be some… smell.”

“Smell?”

“It’s nothing.”

Wilhelmina said with a slight laugh. Seeing that expression, she had definitely been thinking something rude.

“More importantly, you must have cleaned hard before I came in.”

“…I just tidied up a little.”

“Hmm, let’s go with that.”

Wilhelmina’s eyes turned toward the cabinet. Looking closely, the cabinet was slightly open and the neck of an empty liquor bottle was visible. Theorne subtly stood to block the cabinet.

“So what’s your business? Why did you suddenly come looking for me?”

“That’s what I want to say. If you disappear without revealing your destination, what are the people trying to find you supposed to do? And leaving behind an Imperial Edict too.”

“If you heard the Imperial Edict, following it would be the duty of an imperial citizen.”

Wilhelmina shrugged her shoulders.

“What I found wasn’t His Imperial Majesty, but Theo, wasn’t it?”

“You…”

Playing word games at this point, he was about to say something but held back his anger. He knew there was no point in arguing further with an opponent he couldn’t beat.

He also had no confidence he could handle it if she became stubborn.

“I’m not complaining about you taking vacation. From what I heard, your workload was excessive. There’s no law saying high-ranking people can’t take vacations.”

In this aspect, she was strangely without prejudice. Normally, if an Emperor ran away on vacation, people would at least give troubled looks.

Theorne let out a slight laugh at Wilhelmina’s unconventional thinking that he felt after so long.

“So? What business do you have in looking for me?”

“There was some trouble in the Eastern Region. A monster appeared, and it’s unfortunately at the Capital Border…”

Wilhelmina briefly explained the situation.

A monster had suddenly appeared in the Eastern Region, and since the location happened to be at the Capital Border, permission was needed to move the army.

No matter how close Theorne was with Rohanos, the Duke of the Eastern Region, he couldn’t operate the army without permission.

Theorne thought for a moment, then nodded.

“When my vacation ends, I’ll tell the Administrator in advance.”

“But that might be too late.”

“You can move the army in advance. We can smooth it over by saying it’s preemptive action followed by a report.”

It was a refreshing decision. Wilhelmina also seemed to have no intention of adding more words, answering that she understood.

“…But is that the only reason you came to see me?”

“Why? Were you hoping for more?”

At Wilhelmina’s subtle question, Theorne frowned.

“I understand it’s urgent business, but it’s a problem that could be solved without you specifically coming here.”

No matter how much he had declared a vacation, he had left some means of contact for truly urgent situations. There was no need for Wilhelmina to come in person.

“Well… there’s business, and various other reasons.”

“Reasons?”

Wilhelmina seemed to find it difficult to speak, moving her lips slightly. Her unnatural hesitation was unlike her usual self.

“Maybe I just came because I wanted to see you, Theo.”

“That’s a lie.”

If read as text, it would have been a heart-fluttering line, but looking at Wilhelmina’s expression, he immediately saw through the falsehood. The way she slightly averted her eyes and nervously crossed her legs made it obvious.

‘This girl is surprisingly bad at lying.’

He hadn’t known because she was always so composed, but this was a newly discovered fact.

“If you’re going to lie, at least put some effort into it.”

“Mmm…”

She made a troubled sound as if in distress.

“Don’t say strange things for no reason, just tell me properly. Why did you come to see me?”

“…Sigh, I was planning to talk about it once I was a bit more prepared.”

Wilhelmina, who had let out a sigh, closed the curtains of the window behind the sofa. When she pointed to the window on the opposite side, Theorne closed those curtains without complaint.

A dim darkness unsuitable for morning enveloped the room.

“There’s a guard knight in the next room, will our voices be heard?”

“…I’ll order him to close his ears.”

“Can you trust him?”

“He’s the subordinate I trust most after Rohanos.”

In that case, Wilhelmina nodded her head.

Theorne gave orders to the waiting guard knight, then returned to the living room.

“…”

And then a brief silence passed. Wilhelmina was choosing her words on how to explain, while Theorne felt tension at the fact that they were alone in the dark room.

‘What… I’m not some adolescent kid.’

Perhaps it was because he had been on vacation too long and his body had become too relaxed. When he was active as Emperor, he maintained a strong mentality, but after living a lax life, his heart was easily shaken.

He brushed the back of his neck unnecessarily to shake off the burden.

“Recently, you’ve issued many policies.”

Finally, Wilhelmina opened her mouth.

“The rumors are rampant even in Venice. That strange policies are trending in the capital.”

“Trending… I’m going to properly establish them all.”

“That’s right. The moment I heard the content of the policies, I felt your determination.”

“…Which policy are you concerned about?”

She tilted her head while resting her chin on her hand.

“The Council of Elders. Selecting people from various classes like nobles, citizens, and scholars to participate in politics… was that it?”

‘Indeed, so that was the reason.’

Theorne’s eyes sharpened.

Because he realized what Wilhelmina was trying to say.

Theorne’s ambition was extremely progressive. To create a country more practical, efficient, and ‘equal’ than the Empire of the past. He was prepared to dedicate his life to that cause.

He had explained this to Wilhelmina before. She was the second person, after Rohanos, to understand Theorne’s ambition.

And the first step of that ambition was precisely the Council of Elders.

“The justification of listening to political advice from different classes and establishing effective policies sounds good. Nobles can’t match the perspective of citizens, and citizens find it difficult to understand politics, so it would serve as a place for communication.”

It sounded like a plausible justification. In fact, when explaining the Council of Elders, most high nobles and administrators were positive about it.

But this policy had a blind spot.

“In reality, it doesn’t end with just listening to advice, does it? You’re planning to give them voting rights.”

“…”

The rules of the Council of Elders were long enough to fill an entire book. It wasn’t reader-friendly writing, with plausible words repeated or lengthy digressions attached. Moreover, in the busy situation where more than ten policies were being established each month, the administrators couldn’t examine these rules closely.

Thus they failed to notice that there was a poison clause hidden among the rules stating ‘granting voting rights to the Council of Elders.’

“To someone who doesn’t know, it would read as if voting rights are used in the process of integrating opinions… but the wording was clever. You plan to cite their voting results and use them for policy approval or rejection, don’t you?”

Currently, all policies of the Empire follow the Emperor’s will.

In the past, the two dukes also had decision-making power, but Mikhail and Rohanos had transferred their decision-making authority to the Emperor, except for military policies.

But the Emperor, Theorne, was trying to transfer part of that policy decision-making power to the Council of Elders.

For the sake of equality.

“It’s too radical.”

Wilhelmina sighed.

“It is an innovative policy for this era. It’s not easy for such a policy to be established when there’s no war. But… it was too hasty. This policy will definitely fail.”

“…Why do you think so?”

“Because the redistribution of power hasn’t finished yet.”

Wilhelmina continued her explanation calmly.

The power in this world was entirely concentrated in the hands of the nobles.

Magic, treasures, wealth and force… commoners couldn’t grasp any of it. Especially magic, an innate talent that slowed scientific progress, was now virtually the exclusive domain of nobles.

In such circumstances, aristocratic politics wouldn’t change just by giving voting rights alone. So there would be trouble… she said.

‘As expected, she’s brilliant.’

Theorne leaned his back against the wall and focused on her voice.

Even setting aside her rational charm, she was an attractive companion. She was the first person to dissect his inner thoughts so thoroughly.

“I understand your ambition is grand, but this matter went too far. At least by taking time slowly…”

“No.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said no. I hate the words ‘slowly’ and ‘little by little.'”

Wilhelmina frowned at Theorne’s childish words.

“Wilhelmina, your words make sense too. In the current state of unbalanced power, the Council of Elders will certainly cause conflict.”

“Then why…”

“But I don’t have time.”

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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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