She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 146

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 146. In the Flames (1)
Moments earlier.
The horse beneath Rainer tore through the forest like a creature possessed.
Hooves struck the earth with brutal force, scattering stones and sending dirt flying in all directions.
Veins stood out prominently across the back of Rainer’s hand as he gripped the reins.
“Faster!”
He had already pushed the horse to its absolute limit.
Yet it still felt woefully insufficient.
Even as he rode, a gnawing worry consumed him—what if Cecilia had escaped the cabin and was wandering lost in the forest?
His eyes never stopped scanning the surroundings as he galloped forward.
But there was no sign of her.
“…Damn it.”
Rainer clenched his teeth.
‘Surely nothing has happened to her already.’
Even as he tried to convince himself otherwise, a terrible premonition gnawed at him.
The thundering of his own heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears.
Then, something entered his field of vision.
An overturned carriage.
“…!”
Rainer knew instinctively.
It was the carriage Cecilia had been riding in.
He drew his horse closer.
Up close, the carriage’s condition was devastating.
The wheels were completely shattered, and the doors had been torn away, lying scattered on the ground.
The rear was smashed to pieces as if bludgeoned by a heavy weapon.
And among the wreckage.
‘…Drag marks.’
Long streaks across the earth caught his eye.
Something—or someone—had been dragged away.
Rainer’s jaw tightened.
There was no need to speculate about who had taken what.
Rosena. And Cecilia.
Given the near-complete absence of signs of struggle.
It was highly likely that Cecilia had been dragged away unconscious.
“…”
The image of Cecilia being abducted by Rosena, limp and helpless, flashed through his mind.
Rainer bit down on his lip without thinking.
‘I can’t waste time speculating here.’
He immediately turned his horse’s head.
If his memory served him correctly, the cabin where Rosena had summoned him should be somewhere nearby.
Rainer’s gaze swept rapidly across the Forest.
And then.
his body froze.
‘That is…!’
Black smoke was rising between the trees.
In that moment, something snapped inside my mind.
When I came to my senses, I was already galloping wildly on horseback.
Branches scraped across my face as I passed, but I barely noticed.
As I pushed through the trees, the air began to change.
The acrid stench of burning and oil assaulted my nostrils.
Soon, as the Forest parted and my vision opened.
A Cabin engulfed in flames came into view.
Whoosh!
The fire licked hungrily at the roof, devouring it.
Black smoke spiraled upward in a vortex, blanketing the sky.
“Neigh!”
The horse, terrified by the scorching heat, reared backward.
Rainer immediately released the reins and leaped down.
“….”
But as I stood on the ground, all color had already drained from my face.
From the moment I first caught the scent of burning in the air.
My hands had already begun to tremble uncontrollably.
The frightened horse backed away slowly, but I couldn’t even think to grab the reins.
The massive inferno filling my entire vision.
was dragging me back to my childhood in an instant.
‘Fire!’
‘Everyone, run!’
‘Someone help! Mariana is still inside!’
The screams of that day echoed in my ears.
Memories I had forcibly buried came vividly back to life.
My breathing grew ragged and my vision wavered.
Present and past tangled beneath the roaring flames.
‘Mother! Mother is in there!’
‘No, Young Master! It’s too dangerous to go in now!’
I tried to rush inside to save my mother.
But the Maids held me back, and I could do nothing.
As I wailed and struggled.
One side of the Manor’s roof collapsed and everyone’s screams erupted at once.
“…!”
Rainer snapped back to awareness, but far too late.
The crimson flames flickered and danced, identical to that day.
‘No.’
Rainer’s breathing came in ragged gasps.
This was not that day.
The fire still burned with terrible heat, and the fear had not faded.
But Cecilia was inside.
The reason I drew breath, the only person in this world I truly loved.
“…I have to save her.”
Rainer’s eyes transformed completely.
I could not lose another loved one to evil.
“Cecilia!”
Without hesitation, he plunged toward the inferno.
“…Hah.”
The heat pierced through his skin like needles.
With each breath, scorching smoke scraped down his throat.
But Rainer did not stop.
He seized his sleeve roughly and pressed it against his nose and mouth.
Holding his breath as long as possible, he stepped deeper into the wall of flames that obscured his vision.
“Cecilia!”
His voice tore from his throat.
Only the crackling of burning wood and the roar of exploding flames reached his ears.
“Cecilia!”
He called out again, louder still.
And when he strained to listen—
“…You!”
A faint cry.
So faint that under normal circumstances, the fire would have swallowed it entirely.
But Rainer’s ears caught it with crystalline clarity.
‘That way!’
His eyes blazed with purpose.
Every sense converged on the direction from which that whisper had come.
Without hesitation, he tore through the flames and ran.
She was still alive.
I could save her.
That singular thought alone drove me through the scorching heat.
Then, at the edge of my vision, I saw a doorframe with its door blown away.
‘Here!’
Rainer knew it instinctively.
Cecilia was inside.
He burst through the smoke and into the room.
“…!”
A figure lay sprawled across the floor.
It was Cecilia—the wife I had been desperately searching for.
“R-Rainer…?”
Fortunately, she was still conscious.
Cecilia looked up at me with an expression of disbelief.
I exhaled a breath of relief.
But there was no time to savor the joy of reunion.
Thud!
The sound of charred debris crashing to the ground echoed through the space.
“We can explain later—we need to leave now!”
I quickly stripped off my jacket and draped it over Cecilia’s head to shield her.
Then I helped her to her feet.
The moment Cecilia gritted her teeth and managed to stand―
Crack!
“Ah…!”
Something seized her ankle.
Cecilia stumbled, losing her balance.
Both our gazes snapped downward simultaneously.
There was….
Rosena, covered in blood and dust, crawling toward us.
Her eyes half-rolled back.
She gripped Cecilia’s ankle with both hands in an iron hold.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
A hoarse voice tore from her throat.
Her clenched fingers conveyed a persistence so grotesque it made one’s skin crawl—she would never let go.
“Rosena! It’s over now! Let go!”
Cecilia tried to wrench her foot free.
But the tighter she pulled, the more Rosena’s grip tightened.
Her arms snaked up to Cecilia’s calf, embracing her leg like a serpent.
“Die together? Go see your parents?”
“You…!”
“Ahahahahahaha!”
Rosena’s lips twisted grotesquely, baring her teeth in a hideous grin.
I tried to pry Rosena’s fingers away, but it was futile.
Perhaps because there was nowhere left to retreat.
Rosena’s strength had become almost superhuman.
As smoke from the flames choked the air around us.
The desperate struggle compounded my exhaustion, draining what little strength remained in my body.
Rosena let out a twisted laugh.
“That’s right, struggling is pointless….”
She gasped for breath as she muttered the words.
“We’ll go to hell together―!”
But before she could finish speaking.
Crack!
A sound of something breaking echoed from above.
Startled by the sudden noise, Rosena’s gaze snapped upward.
Seizing the opening, Cecilia gritted her teeth and twisted her leg free.
Then she kicked Rosena away.
“Ugh! What―!”
Crumpled on the ground, Rosena shrieked and reached out her arms again.
But.
Boom!
The ceiling finally gave way and collapsed entirely.
Burning beams came crashing down.
Directly above Rosena’s head.
“Ah…!”
Terror flooded Rosena’s eyes.
But it was far too late to escape.
“No!”
A brief scream was all that remained.
Rosena’s body was instantly buried beneath the pile of burning timber.

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