I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 88

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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 88

 

Kalsemo, the butler of the Metokan Baron House, had been wiping away cold sweat throughout the presentation.

 

Even though it wasn’t summer, his pores seemed to have opened up, and this was already the fifth handkerchief he had used today.

 

‘Will the young lady be able to do well?’

 

The source of his worry was Mabel, the only daughter of Baron Metokan.

 

Today was the annual invention presentation by Baron Metokan.

 

Although the scale was large, since Baron Metokan didn’t place much importance on this event, the servants had prepared with light hearts.

 

Kalsemo had been working at the Baron House for fifteen years now, and he could manage this level of event with his eyes closed.

 

Before such a man, the trial named Mabel had appeared.

 

‘I also want to do a presentation.’

 

At the request of the young lady who had become dejected after experiencing a series of recent misfortunes, Kalsemo was caught up in the greatest dilemma of his life.

 

Mabel’s request was something Baron Metokan would definitely refuse.

 

Even if it was an event she disliked doing, it was still a banquet where influential people from the Western Region gathered.

 

There was no opportunity for Mabel, who hadn’t even had her debutante ceremony yet, to step forward.

 

Moreover, a presentation – Kalsemo knew well that the inventions Mabel made were just as bizarre as her mother’s.

 

Presenting those in front of guests would be too risky a gamble.

 

He suggested trying it on a different day instead,

 

‘No, I want to do it in the same place as Mother. On the same day, at the same time.’

 

He was refused.

 

Mabel’s stubbornness was immovable.

 

In the end, it was Kalsemo who gave in first.

 

He could have reported to Baron Metokan to settle the matter, but Kalsemo couldn’t bring himself to do so.

 

The reason was…

 

‘The young lady came out for the first time in a month. And she trusted me!’

 

Because Mabel had come out of her room for the first time in a month to make this request.

 

After some misfortune had occurred, Mabel had been holed up in her room, heartbroken.

 

How much effort the servants had put in to get her out of that room.

 

He didn’t know why her stubbornness about wanting to do a presentation had suddenly emerged, but whatever the reason, he wanted to grant her request.

 

Even though she was a blunt young lady, the servants’ opinion was that they would do anything for her sake.

 

Kalsemo carried out something the head of the house had not permitted.

 

He tried to excuse it by saying it was for the future head of the house, but in truth, he had already prepared his resignation letter in advance.

 

That’s how precious Mabel was to Kalsemo.

 

There were two inventions Mabel wanted to present, and they had already rehearsed once in the rest room.

 

Although the operating method was somewhat bizarre, he thought this level could be overlooked as charming.

 

He had secretly prepared the plan with such thoughts… but on the day of the presentation, Mabel suddenly appeared wearing a strange mask.

 

‘Miss, what is that?’

 

‘I’m embarrassed, so I want to wear it.’

 

‘Ah, yes.’

 

It was too late to cancel the plan now.

 

Kalsemo, who had hidden Mabel wearing the mask of the monster from the fairy tale play ‘Bayaga’ backstage, wiped away cold sweat and kept his nerves taut until just before Baroness Metokan left her seat.

 

Baroness Metokan left without noticing anything strange until the end of the first act, and Kalsemo immediately brought Mabel onto the stage.

 

“…There will be a presentation by Lady Bayaga.”

 

His face was burning hot and he wanted to run away immediately, but he endured it, telling himself it was for the young lady.

 

He immediately brought the prepared giant canvas onto the stage and waited for Mabel’s invention to activate.

 

Now if only that strange but splendid painting would unfold on that canvas…

 

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

 

But contrary to his expectations, what unfolded was not a painting but chaos.

 

“Wh-what is that!”

 

Kalsemo was horrified at the sight of the blood-colored paint.

 

Originally, a painting mixed with sky blue and gold color should have emerged.

 

Though it was a painting he couldn’t understand well either, it still had diverse colors and possessed a kind of complex beauty.

 

That artwork was now filling the canvas, transformed into red paint.

 

With the colors unified in blood red, the complexity had transformed into something grotesque.

 

It was a hideous painting that looked like a giant demon spreading its wings and glaring down at those below the stage.

 

“No! This invention wasn’t originally like this…!”

 

Kalsemo tried urgently to resolve the situation, but the chaos had already spread.

 

“It’s a demon! A demon has appeared!”

 

“S-someone call the guards!”

 

The banquet hall filled with screams.

 

Kalsemo’s shouts couldn’t even be heard.

 

Just when Kalsemo was panicking, his mind going blank about how to handle this situation.

 

“Miss!”

 

Mabel came down from the stage carrying her second invention.

 

It was an invention contained in exactly the same kind of box as the first invention.

 

She approached a man who was screaming loudly in front of the stage with staggering steps.

 

And she held out the box.

 

“This is…”

 

“Hii, hiiek! Another demon is coming!”

 

“No, this isn’t, that’s not…”

 

She moved her hands to open the box in front of the man.

 

That invention was very safe and ordinary, unlike the previous one.

 

Kalsemo tried to approach to let them know this, but…

 

“D-don’t open it! Get away from me!”

 

But before that, the man with his eyes tightly shut swung his arm toward Mabel.

 

His arm struck the Bayaga mask, and Mabel, with her small frame, was sent flying helplessly to the side.

 

“Miss!”

 

The mask was heavy, so if something went wrong, she could be seriously injured.

 

Kalsemo screamed and tried to jump down from the stage, but he was neither a knight nor a mage.

 

No matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t save Mabel.

 

The moment Kalsemo reached out desperately toward Mabel with earnest eyes… a woman hidden in the crowd approached Mabel.

 

As if she had been prepared, she caught Mabel in her arms with gentle hands.

 

Clang-!

 

And the box Mabel had been holding fell to the floor, opening with a loud noise.

 

“Kyaaaah!”

 

Someone screamed in fear that another demon might emerge.

 

However, contrary to expectations, what flowed out of the box was neither blood-red paint nor a demon.

 

[♪…♪….]

 

…It was music.

 

The delicate, beautiful melody that came from the box covered the screams in the banquet hall.

 

The woman holding Mabel, Wilhelmina, asked with an admiring voice.

 

“This is the theme song from the Bayaga fairy tale play, isn’t it? Little one, do you like Bayaga?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

She had noticed Mabel’s sincerity that even the servants hadn’t recognized.

 

That wasn’t all.

 

“And that painting, it’s trick art, right?”

 

“Trick?”

 

“Oh, is that not what you call it? I mean… it’s a different picture when you look at it from the left versus the right, isn’t it?”

 

“…That’s right.”

 

Hearing her words, Kalsemo turned his head in a daze and examined the painting.

 

‘Now, now that I think about it…’

 

Finally realizing the painting’s true nature, he moved back and forth between the left and right sides of the stage.

 

Though it had become faint due to being covered in red, if you looked carefully, it was a painting divided into two parts.

 

From the left, you could see a large rod, and from the right, a wolf.

 

The boundary where the rod and wolf’s heads intersected had blurred, making it look like a demon’s head.

 

While the audience’s misunderstanding was understandable, why hadn’t even Kalsemo, who had seen the finished work, recognized the painting’s true identity?

 

The reason was simple.

 

‘Because we did the rehearsal… in the rest room.’

 

Having seen that painting in a cramped space, he couldn’t have known its true nature.

 

“Amazing, did you make this?”

 

“That’s right… yes.”

 

“What about this music box?”

 

“I did the design, and had the craftsmanship done…”

 

Mabel stammered as she whispered to Wilhelmina what she had originally planned to say at the presentation.

 

These were the lines she had memorized dozens of times before going to sleep at night, before taking the stage.

 

Wilhelmina brushed off Mabel’s clothes while adding interested exclamations.

 

“Amazing, you even did the musical arrangement yourself. Ah, you took the pictures from a fairy tale book? Yes, I see.”

 

She slowly set Mabel down on the floor and straightened her crooked mask.

 

She picked up the music box that was rolling on the floor and placed it back in her hands.

 

Pat pat, Wilhelmina gently patted Mabel’s shoulder and gave her a bright smile.

 

“You’re a little inventor. Just like your mother.”

 

And then… she gave her the praise she had wanted to hear most.

 

‘You are…’

 

As his tension faded, Kalsemo’s legs gave out.

 

He slumped down at the edge of the stage, breathing heavily as he looked back and forth between Wilhelmina’s smile and Mabel clutching her box tightly.

 

In the end, the presentation had become a mess.

 

A man cursing about what kind of play this was, a noble lady turning her head away because she didn’t want to look at the stage, knights who had come after being summoned and were standing around blankly – none of this was the ending Kalsemo had wanted, but.

 

‘Even though it’s hard to see clearly because of the mask… Miss, you seem to be smiling.’

 

At least, it seemed he had obtained what he wanted most.

 

[♪…]

 

The music box’s melody began to gradually fade, and people who had come to their senses started approaching Mabel one by one.

 

They intended to take this opportunity to make an impression on Mabel, the future head of the family.

 

Other servants went down below the stage to take care of Mabel.

 

And Baroness Metokan also returned, carrying an armful of her inventions.

 

“What… is going on here?”

 

She dropped the monocle she had been wearing and muttered while blinking her eyes.

 

The situation was so complicated that no one answered her.

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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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