I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 249

—————
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 249 Special Side Story

Helene was also aware that Wilhelmina had quite a few subtle fans. However, due to her special position as a young Grand Duchess, few openly displayed their admiration.

But Cassius was different.

“What? You don’t understand the content? That’s your comprehension problem. Should the Grand Duchess provide commentary for ignorant people like you? And battle attire? Have you never seen a knight before? Have you been living locked away in some small room?”

And the degree of it was severe.

The embarrassingly excessive praise made Helene’s ears tingle. She too was someone who held Wilhelmina in high regard, but not to that extent.

Moreover, her attitude of directly countering the criticism directed at herself was also remarkable.

‘Her speech is so harsh… Is it because of the southern dialect?’

She didn’t mix in any curses, but her speaking skills were sharp enough to make the bystanders flinch.

Seeing that made her feel a strange sense of déjà vu.

Someone who never backs down and speaks up in unfair situations… It was exactly like the mindset she had told Wilhelmina about last time.

Even that attitude of following Wilhelmina.

‘Am I like that? No, that’s not right.’

Helene shook her head. No matter what, she wasn’t that unreasonable. She could speak much more politely and aristocratically.

‘…Of course, that doesn’t mean I would forgive them.’

She would probably thoroughly humiliate them so they couldn’t set foot in high society for a year or two.

But Cassius and I are different, Helene tried to rationalize.

“Grrr…”

“Why? Are you angry because you have nothing to say? Come on, let’s see who’s in the wrong.”

If everything Cassius said was correct, it was true that the ruffians were at a disadvantage. Though it was an obvious trap, they seemed not to have expected Cassius to fight back like this.

‘Such groups always have sloppy endings. Well, until now, when they bullied someone, the victims would keep their mouths shut…’

When such incidents occurred, typical victims would exit while swallowing their tears like Ilina.

But Cassius knew how to use the situation.

Since there were many eyes watching here, it was easy to make the incident public. Though her tone was emotional, the act itself was effective.

Not foolish enough to miss that, the ruffians subtly stepped back.

“I don’t know… what you’re talking about. Throwing mud? Why would I have my servant do such a thing?”

“Then let’s check right now…”

“I can’t. I came in this person’s carriage, so I didn’t bring any servants.”

Though she spoke like that, she had already signaled with her eyes for her servant to leave. Cassius looked sharply toward the alley where the carriage was parked, but unlike their master, the clever servants had already departed with the carriage.

‘How naive. She could just stop them right now.’

Since Cassius had also brought servants, there were still means to counter them. But Cassius only glared and didn’t pursue them.

Perhaps she hadn’t actually used the situation, but was just led by emotions?

“Well, it seems there was some strange misunderstanding… Let’s end it here, Miss Cassius. If our ‘chatter’ offended you, I’ll apologize. We were worried about you, but we were rude.”

She deliberately emphasized the word ‘chatter.’

It meant she would bury the mud-throwing incident and only apologize for the insults. That was a half-hearted apology.

She shouldn’t back down here. She should pursue their guilt to the end…

“Fine, let’s do that. Please be careful from now on.”

“…What?”

But Cassius accepted their apology. The ruffians glanced at Cassius with ‘I told you so’ looks and fled toward where the carriage was.

Judging by their quick pace, it seemed they too thought there was nothing more to gain from further conversation.

‘Why?’

Helene simply couldn’t understand it. To escalate the fight like this, only to back down now.

Setting aside the insults, throwing mud and dirtying her shoes was clearly a crime. It was a situation where victory was assured, so what were they afraid of?

“….”

Cassius quietly glared at those walking away, then turned her head to look up at the stage. There, Wilhelmina was laughing with the reading club members as they cleaned up the stage.

Clenching her fist tightly, Cassius stared at Wilhelmina for a long while before turning and heading toward the alley.

Without realizing it, Helene carefully followed her. For reasons she couldn’t understand, she felt that Cassius shouldn’t be left alone.

Upon entering the alley, Cassius’s back came into view.

“Damn it, it won’t come off.”

In the dark, quiet corner of the alley, unlike the bustling event venue, Cassius was crouched down.

She was scrubbing her shoes vigorously with a handkerchief.

But the dried mud wouldn’t come off easily.

“My younger sister made these for me… come off, please.”

…She could hear crying.

A choked voice that gritted her teeth, with a resolve not to cry. But the tears falling onto the dirty alley floor couldn’t be hidden.

“She prepared these so carefully for me. Those terrible people…”

Even in this state, Cassius’s servant was nowhere to be seen.

Only then did Helene realize.

Cassius was alone.

‘It wasn’t that she had no will to stop the carriage. She had no servant to give orders to. …Come to think of it, earlier she said “when I got off the horse,” not that she came by carriage.’

In other words, she had ridden the horse alone.

That’s why the ruffians had so boldly moved their carriage away. They thought Cassius, being alone, wouldn’t be able to chase after them.

Then what would clothes made by family mean to her, who had no servants?

‘She liked Mother. Since Mother rarely goes out, she’s a difficult person to meet. So this charity event must have been a precious opportunity for her.’

Someone she desperately wanted to meet.

To meet that person, she had come wearing precious clothes and jewelry prepared by her family.

She could imagine what thoughts went through her mind when mud got on those shoes.

‘Have a good trip!’

‘This is grandmother’s precious bracelet. You wear it when you go out.’

She didn’t want to go back. Her family would have encouraged her to have a good time.

But she also didn’t want to be seen by Wilhelmina in this state. She was ashamed of being caught in such a miserable condition.

So she had quietly watched the puppet show from a distant seat. Even when the curtain call came down, she didn’t go out to meet Wilhelmina.

Without realizing it, Helene clenched her fist tightly.

‘She’s not like me.’

She had overlooked Wilhelmina’s advice again.

She had said that everyone’s pain is different, so don’t judge arbitrarily, yet she had once again dismissed Cassius.

“Sob, sniff…”

The tears falling grew more and more numerous. Once tears begin to burst forth, they are difficult to stop. No matter how much she wiped, the spreading mud, the pathetic inability to even approach Wilhelmina, and herself who couldn’t even retaliate against the ruffians who insulted her… her sorrow only grew like a snowball.

“Ah…”

At that moment, Cassius tried to bring a handkerchief to her wet cheeks. She intended to wet the handkerchief with tears and use it to clean her shoes.

“Stop.”

But Helene blocked Cassius. She grabbed Cassius’s arm that was holding the handkerchief.

She felt that those tears shouldn’t be used to clean shoes.

“Y-you are…”

“Get up. Are you going to sit here pathetically in a place like this?”

“Yes, yes?”

Having abruptly helped Cassius to her feet, she headed straight for the alley exit. Cassius, who had been grabbed by Helene in bewilderment, stammered.

“W-who are you? What’s this all of a sudden…”

Helene answered while walking quickly.

“I’m late with introductions. I am Helene Peon Layton, the Lady of the House of House Layton.”

“Huk…”

Cassius froze like a statue.

Regardless, Helene guided her to her carriage. Cassius belatedly tried to stop and say to let her go first, but…

“What strength…!”

She couldn’t resist the power of a swordsman acknowledged even by Nata.

Cassius ended up boarding Helene’s carriage as if being kidnapped.

* * *

Upon arriving at the carriage, Helene immediately lifted her veil, revealing her face.

Cassius, faced with Helene’s face, opened her mouth wide in shock and couldn’t speak for a while.

She quickly came to her senses at the sound of Helene clicking her tongue.

“Explain the situation. You, why were you crying earlier?”

“Ah, th-that…”

Cassius, without understanding why, explained in detail about the situation she was in.

It was mostly within Helene’s expected range.

‘A small family that lived in the Southern Region, her father hastily moved to the Western Region because of the dyeing business, and she just started showing her face in social circles…’

Cassius’s family were reclusive nobles, uncommon in the Empire. Though they had a long family history, in reality they were mountain valley nobles with only a small village. So much so that Cassius had never set foot in the Capital, let alone the Western Region.

Having neither made her debutante nor received Imperial etiquette training, it was natural that she was pointed at as soon as she showed her face in Western social circles.

‘While I was away, the waters became quite muddied.’

It seemed they hadn’t encountered each other since she had been absent from small banquets due to recent work.

Anyway, from then on, the bullying of Cassius began. While she could endure the verbal abuse, perhaps because Cassius’s attitude of silently ignoring wasn’t satisfactory, the degree of harassment gradually worsened.

What reached its peak was today’s incident of throwing mud.

Worried that Helene might be suspicious, Cassius added with a hardened face.

“It might sound like a lie, but… it’s true. I saw the culprit.”

Helene nodded.

“I know you’re innocent. I’ve been watching since earlier.”

“If you were watching… even during the puppet show?”

“Yes.”

Cassius nodded with a complicated expression.

“Then… did you bring me here out of pity?”

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