I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 40

—————
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 40

“Of course it’s because of you. If you hadn’t come, Mirinai wouldn’t have had to stand trial.”

It means your rudeness and misdeeds were disguised as someone else’s thanks to your family.

Before I knew it, Jane began reciting Mirinai’s punishment.

“Though granted the excessive privilege of entering the office, you abused it. This is not a crime to be taken lightly…”

“Jace Mylo, you’ve never considered the weight of your words. Because your family is superior, because they’re your subordinates, you’ve never thought about the consequences.”

If I had said this when we first met, he wouldn’t have listened at all, but in front of Jace stood Mirinai.

A friend about to be punished for his mistake. A true friend who stayed by his side without being ordered, waiting with his head bowed to receive punishment.

Only then did the opportunity come for Jace to feel the weight of words spoken by himself, by a noble.

“This time too, you’ll return home without receiving any punishment. Just like you always have, you won’t feel any guilt about tormenting others.”

“…”

“Do you remember what I said when we first met? That you seemed to have no friends.”

Only now did Jace’s green eyes look childlike. Frightened and innocent eyes.

The children bullied by this boy must have had faces like this too.

“I was right, wasn’t I? In the end, you’re just leaving after causing trouble for your friend. You’ve lost another friend this time.”

The violence children possess was a serious social problem even in modern times.

Children who should be innocent torment other children. They hurt people under the guise of pranks, and light punishments cover up their malice.

Ironically, even in modern times without social status, the culture of hierarchy remained.

Children from wealthy families, children with loud voices and strong bodies, the majority who first formed groups and found justification for ostracizing others…

And the incompetent teachers who couldn’t solve these problems.

As merely an academy teacher, I had never guided such students. School violence usually ended with the perpetrator’s victory.

“…But I’ll give you one last chance.”

So Jace is the first perpetrator I can save.

“I can’t stop this trial either. This is the Ducal House’s decision. But I can be a little unreasonable. For example…”

I whispered brief words in his ear. Then Jace opened his mouth and asked in a small voice.

“Won’t Mirinai… hate me?”

Finally, a childlike worry had returned. This kind of thing is what I should solve as a teacher.

“He might hate you. Even if you ask for forgiveness, you might not be able to return to being friends like before. That’s how it usually is. Apologies are difficult and scary. You have to take responsibility too.”

When a child first makes friends, there are two things taught first.

One is “thank you,” the other is “I’m sorry.”

‘Both are difficult words to say even after becoming an adult, so there’s a need for early education.’

So Jace’s reaction of being afraid to apologize was perfectly normal.

“If you’re scared, I’ll go with you.”

“…Together?”

“Yes, when you go to apologize to Mirinai, I’ll stay by your side.”

If someone laughs asking what help that would be, they’re an adult. An adult who has forgotten that saying your first apology is difficult and scary.

When friends fight and reconcile, having a teacher nearby isn’t just for mediation, but because they need an adult to tell them “you’re doing well.”

Jace stared at me blankly and said.

“I’ll listen on your behalf.”

“What?”

“…I heard similar words before.”

Then he smiled faintly.

His expression, which had been wavering between determination and hesitation, guilt and burden, slowly returned to its proper place.

It was the stubborn expression befitting a troublemaker of a noble house.

Jace stood up from his seat, opened his bag, and took out a document bundle. He entrusted it to me, and the child headed toward the courtroom.

The servants participating as jury members watched Jace intently. Jane also stopped speaking, and Mirinai, who had just woken up, slowly raised his head to look at him.

Everyone’s attention was focused on him.

He straightened his shoulders like a noble, held his head high, and faced Jane. Then he firmly grasped the hand of Mirinai, who had been sitting alone.

“Mirinai did nothing wrong.”

“…Young Master Jace?”

“The one who did wrong was me. I was the one who asked Mirinai to enter the office. So Mirinai is innocent.”

He slowly bowed his head to Mirinai. Mirinai’s eyes widened, and I could hear the Baroness gasp from behind.

Not stopping there, Jace turned his head again and bowed to Jane and the servants.

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I tried to steal the answer sheet. Please don’t suspect Mirinai. I’m sorry for causing this to happen. It’s all because of me.”

Without raising his head, Jace muttered in a voice mixed with tears.

“I’m truly sorry.”

Jace knew he had to repeat these words, even though no one had taught him this.

“I’m sorry.”

Though no one answered, in the quiet garden, Jace’s crying and apologies reached everyone’s ears.

* * *

As an epilogue, after cleaning up the garden, Jane came to see me.

“But will you be alright?”

“About what?”

“The lie about using confidential documents for origami with the pages…”

What I had told Jace at the end was the absurd scheme of ‘actually, I’ll say the documents were my mistake.’

I had once enjoyed doing origami with the children using unused papers.

I planned to insist on the ridiculous story that I unknowingly used financial records that had fallen on the floor at that time, and only discovered it now.

So now I’m in the reception room enjoying snacks while carefully folding paper airplanes with the Knight Order’s financial records. I’ll roughly unfold these and send them to the main house.

Then officially, Jace will only carry the ‘sin of making an unreasonable request to Mirinai.’

It wasn’t the ending Helene wanted, but from my perspective, this was just right.

“It’s fine. They weren’t that important documents anyway, and would they really get angry at me for handling this matter well?”

“Sometimes when I look… I can’t tell if the Grand Duchess and the Ducal House have a good or bad relationship.”

“How disappointing. There’s no mother-in-law who thinks of her daughter-in-law as much as I do.”

“…”

Jane, with a complicated expression, silently drank her black tea.

Just then, the reception room door opened, and Anna arrived.

“Grand Madam, I delivered the letter and recommendation letter properly.”

“Good work.”

After the trial was finished, I immediately instructed Anna to prepare paper.

The letter contained information about the ‘friends’ the Baroness had told me about. The names of friends whom Jace had troubled or bullied.

‘If we had left it like this for about a year… there would have been trouble.’

No matter how stressed he was from boarding, thinking about how Jace had pushed Rose, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had caused trouble with violence before long.

In that sense, the timing of Jace’s parents asking the Baroness for help could be considered appropriate.

‘Though the heir education seems half-hearted.’

They were typical noble parents. The type who loved their child, but considered the family’s glory and honor more important.

If I explained Jace’s case to other nobles, about half of them would tilt their heads wondering what was so pitiful about it.

Even when I attended the Academy, children like Jace weren’t uncommon.

‘The biggest problem would be Count Jormon’s house.’

I can only hope that Baron Milo’s house makes a wise choice.

Anyway, among the students the Baroness had raised, there were several Academy professors, and using those connections, I thoroughly investigated Jace’s friendships.

From among them, I compiled a list of friends who deserved apologies and sent it to him.

The meaning of sending it was obvious.

‘To apologize.’

Just because he apologized to Mirinai didn’t mean he had reformed completely. Offering apologies to the friends he had treated as subordinates and receiving their forgiveness was the final lesson.

Whether he could be forgiven was uncertain. Jace might have bullied friends in ways the Baroness didn’t know about, and the victims might have suffered more than imagined.

What’s important in forgiveness isn’t the perpetrator’s sincerity, but the victim’s magnanimity.

Once you become a perpetrator who has caused harm, perfect atonement doesn’t exist.

I could only hope that Jace wouldn’t forget his feelings from the trial and would mature.

While thinking about various things and eating the remaining tea and refreshments, Nata, who had been standing guard, carefully approached.

“…Grand Madam.”

“Yes?”

“That recommendation letter… is it the place I’m thinking of?”

At Nata’s question, I smiled mischievously and nodded.

As punishment for using Mirinai, I had given Jace the penalty of ‘using this recommendation letter.’

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