I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 12
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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 12
“There’s a shop that sells flour, salt, sugar… things like that, and she’s the manager there. Her name was Jane, I think? That lady is really unique.”
Johan added an explanation about the manager named Jane.
Excluding her appearance and way of speaking, to summarize, she was the youngest of the Goldrail family and an ambitious merchant.
She would come up with clever advertisements to sell flour, or hold tasting events to let people know the taste of expensive sugar.
There were times when such events were stopped by employees who were presumably from the head office trying to dissuade her. That’s why Johan thought of her as a peculiar person.
‘She even cursed at the employee who tried to stop her.’
Stubborn, highly ambitious, and the youngest of a nouveau riche family. Her abilities seemed quite decent too.
‘She’s perfect.’
I didn’t expect such a perfect person to appear right away. It really seemed like enticing Johan was a good choice.
I took out a pen and notebook from my pocket. Then I quickly wrote down a greeting. The content that would follow was about my identity and an invitation to meet.
“Johan, could you deliver this to that Jane person?”
“What is this?”
“A letter. I’d like to have a conversation with her.”
Johan tilted his head, then neatly folded the paper I gave him and put it in his pocket.
“Are you starting some kind of business?”
“Well…”
I’d have to meet her in person to decide on specifics, but there were several things that came to mind.
Developing inventions would be too much. So I was thinking of proposing suitable products that combined this world’s technology with modern convenience.
Of course, I wasn’t planning to hand over business proposals right away, so this letter contained ceremonial greetings about wanting to build a friendship with her.
“I’ll have to try whatever I can.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.”
I patted Johan’s head and got up from the bench.
Before I knew it, time was approaching lunch.
It was time for Johan to go tend to the garden, and I was planning to head to the main house.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“I need to meet the Duchess.”
“Gasp…”
At the story of going to meet a noble, Johan covered his mouth with a worried expression.
After gesturing for him not to worry, I slowly headed toward the main house. Helene’s butler, who had been waiting in front of the garden, followed me.
Early in the morning, he had come to me and conveyed Helene’s opinion.
There were many flowery words, but the conclusion was that there was a conversation to be had about the celebration.
It was bothersome to walk to the castle, but I couldn’t really summon the actual mistress to the annex building, so I agreed.
‘The topic is obvious.’
It was about the incident that happened at the celebration.
In any case, it was a celebration I attended as the mistress of the ducal house, but I didn’t participate saying I would take care of the baron’s daughter, so there would be much to say.
The Margrave said it was the mistress’s duty… but well, are there many people in high society who only have good intentions?
‘It’s better if I take the blame instead. That way, the rumors about Ilina will die down too.’
Gossip has the nature of concentrating on one person. If I become the protagonist of the rumors, Ilina’s incident will naturally be buried.
If Helene expresses dissatisfaction, I decided to apologize appropriately.
After a long walk, we arrived at the reception room. The Butler opened the door, and I stepped into the reception room.
As soon as I did, I hardened my expression upon seeing the man who greeted me.
“Ah! You’re here! Please sit here. Come on, Helene. Relax your expression.”
“…Yes.”
“You didn’t come here to fight, right?”
The man, Mikhail, seated me in a chair and spoke with the brightest face in the world.
“Finally, our three family members are gathered together. Mother, what kind of tea would you like? I’ll brew it for you personally.”
A duke brewing tea for a fake mistress of the house?
And right in front of the servants? When your wife is glaring at me like she wants to kill me?
‘This bastard… is a flower garden.’
This is trouble.
I recalled the next advice from the student who had advised ‘if you’ve been reincarnated, you should make money.’
‘Teacher, actually the type you should avoid most in these novels isn’t really the villains.’
‘But villains are the bad guys.’
‘No, there’s something worse than them. Something avoided in romance fantasy, cliché novels, any genre…’
“Or shall we have a meal together here? You haven’t had lunch yet, right?”
‘It’s the oblivious character.’
Mikhail was exactly that oblivious character.
When I met Mikhail at the celebration, I secretly thought he might be someone with rotten intentions despite pretending to be foolish on the outside.
That was my image of medieval nobility.
‘This one’s real.’
But from Mikhail’s way of speaking and Helene’s expression, I could guess that his appearance wasn’t fake.
Clueless, overly optimistic, and annoyingly righteous.
That guy doesn’t know what ‘a thoughtless husband taking his mother-in-law’s side in front of his wife’ looks like.
This situation arises because he doesn’t think of me as a real mother, because he doesn’t know how to understand Helene’s feelings.
I looked back and forth between Mikhail with his cheerful face sitting in front of me and Helene who had stiffened coldly.
“I heard you called for me.”
“That’s right, I thought our three family members should meet at least once.”
I wasn’t asking about Mikhail’s business but about Helene’s business, yet the answer came from the wrong place.
“Actually, we were going to go to the annex building…”
As soon as I heard Mikhail’s unnecessary addition, I let out a small sigh.
He seemed unable to think about how humiliating it would be for Helene, the mistress of the house, to visit a younger mother-in-law.
Even I, who am ignorant about noble culture, know that much.
‘Taking in a mother-in-law she’s never even met would be humiliating from the start.’
I firmly rejected Mikhail’s suggestion.
“There’s no need to come to the Annex Building. There are watching eyes, so it’s proper for me to come.”
“Is that so?”
Is that so? He’s saying that.
Perhaps my words were unexpected, as Helene’s eyes wavered slightly.
“If it’s not urgent, you can use letters. Both of you must be busy with work.”
In other words, let’s not bother meeting for troublesome matters and communicate in writing instead.
However, my gentle expression was once again crushed by Mikhail’s brazen personality.
“How could we do that when we’re family of the same Ducal House? How about enjoying tea and refreshments together once a week? We do need a family gathering at least once.”
‘I really don’t want to.’
Enjoying tea and refreshments in such an uncomfortable atmosphere? I’d rather sit in the garden with cold wind blowing and eat ice cream.
It seemed Helene felt the same way. She gently cut off Mikhail’s words.
“Honey, I have something to tell Mother about this banquet, so I’d like to have a conversation.”
“Ah! I see, I should step out then?”
Mikhail smiled as if urging us to talk and withdrew.
Helene calmly composed her emotions and looked at me.
“I heard about the matter concerning the young lady of House Millize.”
“It was a small commotion.”
“Yes, because of that you didn’t attend the Margrave’s celebration banquet.”
Though I waited until the entrance, I ultimately couldn’t properly give my congratulations, so it was indeed non-attendance.
When I silently affirmed, Helene took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to me.
Pink, cute letter paper – judging by the seal, it was a letter from House Millize.
“The young lady of the Baron’s house sent a letter of gratitude.”
“…Thank you for delivering it.”
The seal was unbroken.
That meant she hadn’t checked the contents.
I thought she would censor something like this, so it was unexpected.
“It was an excellent response. The young lady of House Millize – this was her first banquet since her debutante. If she had made a mistake at this celebration banquet, it would have left a great stain on her life.”
A stain just because the child felt a bit nauseous? That’s going too far.
“However, the mistress of the Ducal House not attending the celebration banquet could also be considered an unfortunate incident.”
“But Helene…”
“Mikhail, Helene hasn’t finished speaking yet.”
I was sure he was going to say something like ‘Mother did nothing wrong,’ so I spoke firmly to Mikhail.
He seemed momentarily flustered, but respected my wishes and closed his mouth.
“…Therefore, I would like to entrust Mother with organizing the next celebration banquet.”
“The next celebration banquet?”
“This celebration banquet was for the Margrave, and the next celebration banquet is for the Margrave’s soldiers and the knights of the border.”
From the explanation, the previous celebration banquet was for the Margrave and other nobles, while the following celebration banquet was more like a victory feast for soldiers and knights.
Since my non-attendance at the Margrave’s celebration banquet might seem to others like I was disrespecting the military, she was giving me a chance to make up for it.
‘It’s just covering one’s eyes and pretending.’
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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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