I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 251

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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 251 Special Side Story

Special Side Story 3: Mikhail and the Fairy

‘…Are you ready?’

‘Yes.’

Mikhail nodded his head.

* * *

Recently, Mikhail had been sleeping in more in the mornings.

Helene was worried about this.

The day she went outside without waking him… that is, the day she met Cassius.

Even then, she thought Mikhail wasn’t getting up because he was tired.

But as he gradually began sleeping in more frequently, she wondered if he might be sick somewhere.

“Honey? Should I call a physician?”

To Helene’s worried question, Mikhail answered with his usual bright smile.

“I’m fine, I just haven’t been sleeping well. I’ve been having frequent drinking sessions lately, so my body feels sluggish.”

At his perfect smile that allowed no suspicion, Helene also closed her mouth. It was difficult to distinguish whether this was sincere or not.

Mikhail was a man who smiled even when his father tortured him with hot tea water. No one could remove Mikhail’s solid mask. Knowing this fact well, Helene sighed and said quietly.

“If you need help, please tell me.”

“Of course. You have a schedule this morning, right? Go ahead first. I’ll just have a cup of coffee and then leave.”

“…Alright.”

He didn’t say it wasn’t a situation where he needed help. Helene, who noticed that small change, nodded with sunken eyes. She knew from their long married life that no matter how much they talked beyond this point, Mikhail wouldn’t reveal his true feelings.

Helene got dressed first and left the bedroom.

Mikhail, who had waved goodbye to Helene, confirmed the door was closed and collapsed back onto the bed.

“Ah, is this the limit of deception?”

Helene probably thought he had been sleeping in more lately, but the reality was different.

“I somehow managed to get up until now, but is this my limit?”

This pain had been continuing for a year already. He had somehow endured it and pretended to be fine while greeting the morning, but now he seemed to have reached his limit.

He lay looking at the ceiling and rubbed his eyes.

“Ah.”

Despair mixed into his voice as he muttered as if sighing.

“…I’m afraid of the night.”

It was Mikhail’s personal worry that he couldn’t confide to anyone.

* * *

Dreams.

A world of fantasy that sleeping humans fall into.

Children hope to play freely in their dreams, but among adults, there are those who hate dreams.

Those who have many nightmares are especially prone to this.

“Are you awake?”

Mikhail slowly opened his eyes. The gray sky that had greeted him tediously for a year welcomed him again. And an indiscernible black dust clump floated before his eyes.

“Waking up from a dream—that’s a strange expression, Fairy King.”

The dust clump, the one called the Fairy King, answered with a faint smile.

“What can I do? Even if it’s a dream to you, this place is reality to fairies. Now, are you ready for today as well?”

At the mention of being ready, his body tensed up. This terrible nightmare made not only his mind but all his bodily senses vivid. Just as it had been for a year, it meant he would have to experience the upcoming trials as if they were reality.

But Mikhail smiled as usual.

“Of course. Shall we begin?”

‘Mikhail, you can do it. You’re a child who can do it. …I, your mother, know that best.’

He couldn’t waste the opportunity that Mother, Wilhelmina, had prepared for him.

‘No, Mikhail. You mustn’t look. This is my sin.’

For his beloved Helene.

…And also to protect his own children, Zeonil and Minerva.

“Now, let’s begin the trials to remove the curse.”

This curse had to end with his generation.

A year ago, a dust clump appeared in Mikhail’s dream.

The suddenly appeared dust clump danced like a butterfly before Mikhail’s eyes and said this:

“Since we’re meeting for the first time, should we exchange introductions?”

“You are…”

“Hello, Mikhail. I am the Fairy King and Titania’s former companion who cursed you, Oberon. I’ve come to give you trials.”

The dust clump Oberon spoke cheerfully as if he had prepared a delightful story.

“I have a connection with your mother, Wilhelmina, so I was able to enter your dream like this.”

Oberon slowly explained his encounter with Wilhelmina.

The first meeting with Wilhelmina at the lake, the incident where she noticed Mikhail’s curse and called upon Oberon.

And how she tried to save Mikhail by offering the future of the Imperial Palace to Oberon.

“Surely Mother didn’t make such an absurd deal…!”

Seeing the flustered Mikhail, Oberon let out a laugh.

“She didn’t, she didn’t. Don’t worry. I also had no intention of seeking revenge on humans anymore, so I refused. Well, your mother herself had no hesitation though.”

Something like ‘My son is more important than that crumbling Imperial Palace.’ It was a way of speaking that was just like her.

“The destruction of that detestable Imperial Palace would have been amusing too… but there’s someone else moving on that front. I have favorable feelings toward Wilhelmina, so I decided to grant her request. That’s the Fairy Trials.”

“Trials, you mean…”

“If you pass the Fairy Trials, I’ll lift the curse placed on you.”

At those words, a gray sky spread across the previously empty dream space.

“Wilhelmina proposed a method to nullify the curse by having you reborn as a fairy. It’s quite an efficient proposal, but… I don’t particularly like it. I’ve already decided on a different human to turn into a fairy. So I prepared my own trials.”

“What do curses and trials have to do with each other?”

“You’ll be able to confirm that after the trial ends. I can’t give you an answer right now.”

Trials were the stage for heroes in mythology. When they overcame the trials, transcendent beings would grant their wishes.

Was Oberon trying to recreate that process?

‘But can I trust this guy?’

Doubt crept in. His sudden appearance was bewildering enough, but he couldn’t even tell if this self-proclaimed Oberon had the power to break curses.

And conducting a trial in a dream world—wasn’t that only favorable to Mikhail?

Oberon muttered quietly toward Mikhail, who was hesitating to answer.

“It’s something I always feel, but humans are creatures of suspicion. In the old days, I would have turned you into charcoal on the spot… Fine, I’ll show some consideration.”

He continued speaking while flying around the gray sky.

“When you wake from this dream, you’ll feel the curse’s power has weakened. I’ll appear again in tomorrow’s dream, so decide then whether you’ll accept the trial.”

“You’re saying you’ll prove that you have the power to break the curse.”

“It’s not exactly ‘my power,’ but… it’s a similar story. I have to show you this much for you to believe.”

It was a proposal Mikhail had no reason to refuse. He nodded in acknowledgment, and at the same time, the sky began to collapse.

It was a sign of waking from the dream.

“Well then, see you tomorrow.”

As if anticipating Mikhail’s acceptance, Oberon casually sent him off.

…And the next day, in the dream world.

Mikhail said to Oberon.

“I’ll accept the trial. Your power seems to be real.”

“Good, I like how quickly this is moving along.”

Oberon’s words had been true. When he woke from the dream, Mikhail felt his body and soul had become lighter. The strange pressure that always weighed on his heart had also disappeared.

Of course, it didn’t last long, but the claim that the curse would disappear wasn’t mere bluster.

Perhaps pleased with Mikhail’s resolute expression, Oberon, who had been floating around dancing, suddenly flew up into the sky.

“Then let’s begin right away. Now, here’s the first trial.”

Just as he was tensing up wondering what the trial would be, dozens, hundreds of shadows appeared in formation before his eyes.

And they gradually transformed into human shapes. It was like sculpting humans from clay.

“What is this…?”

“Don’t you recognize their faces?”

Oberon perched on Mikhail’s shoulder. He spoke in a carefree voice like an audience member waiting for a play.

“Look closely, still don’t recognize them?”

Their faces and attire were all different. Made from shadows, they consisted only of black and white and were blankly staring into space.

Since most were people he’d never seen before, Mikhail could only roll his eyes without answering Oberon’s question.

Then, he spotted a familiar person in a corner seat of the front row.

“Mother?”

A woman with Wilhelmina’s face was standing there.

He tried to move toward her, but Oberon stopped him.

“Wait, does that woman really look like Wilhelmina to you? Isn’t she a bit different?”

“…You’re right. Her height is slightly different. Her fingers are longer too.”

“I didn’t expect you to notice that much… Anyway, that woman isn’t Wilhelmina. She’s your father’s second wife, ‘Adeline,’ who looks exactly like Wilhelmina.”

Adeline.

The mastermind behind the tragedy, Raymond’s daughter, and the woman the Late Duke loved.

“…No way!”

Only then did Mikhail realize who the people standing here were.

“I’ve gathered the souls murdered by the Previous Family Heads of the Layton Family. Wife, attendants, friends, children, companions… I brought them all. Your first trial is to apologize to them.”

[Now, go forward.]

An invisible hand pushed Mikhail forward.

Mikhail found himself standing before some unknown woman. As Mikhail approached, life returned to her clouded eyes.

“You, you are…”

And she began to shed tears of blood.

With a face contorted like a demon, a body trembling with rage, and a voice filled with grief, she approached Mikhail.

“You damn bastard who betrayed me…!”

“Urgh…!”

A small dagger had appeared in her hand before he knew it. She stabbed the dagger into Mikhail without hesitation. It was a slow attack, but somehow Mikhail felt he shouldn’t dodge it.

“You, you killed me and Mother! You said you loved me, you said you would save our Mother!”

She continuously stabbed Mikhail’s stomach.

As Mikhail endured the pain, Oberon spoke with delighted laughter.

“Apologize to everyone like this. Until their anger is appeased. Until they say it’s enough.”

Clearing the karma of the Layton Family. That was the beginning of the trial.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have any wounds in reality. But since you’ve started the trial, you can’t escape now. You must meet them in your dreams every night and apologize. Naturally, resistance is forbidden.”

When he sleeps, he will face hundreds of people who hate him.

He will be killed by them hundreds of times.

Until their resentment disappears.

…The nightmare had only just begun.

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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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