She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 150

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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 150. Rainer’s Dilemma (1)
“That’s on you.”
Nicholas shrugged his shoulders.
“You’ve been putting off the wedding ceremony under the guise of everything that’s happened, and here we are.”
“….”
Rainer said nothing.
A wedding ceremony.
The words felt strange, as though I were hearing them for the first time.
After all, our marriage had never been conventional in the first place.
Neither Cecilia nor I had ever given the ceremony a moment’s thought.
By the time we’d confirmed our feelings for each other, mountains of urgent matters had already accumulated.
We simply had no room to spare for such things.
“I knew it.”
Nicholas, unaware of the full circumstances, interpreted my silence in his own way—as the indifference of a husband who had always been cold toward his wife.
Just as the Duke had always been.
Nicholas’s brows furrowed.
“Duke, I’m giving you sincere advice here….”
Nicholas tapped my shoulder and continued.
“If you keep this up, you’re going to be in real trouble. Don’t take my words lightly.”
“Real trouble?”
“Yes. If you disappoint your wife over something like this… that stays with her for life.”
Nicholas let out a heavy sigh.
“Besides, a wedding ceremony is once in a lifetime. How can you brush past it so carelessly?”
He clicked his tongue.
“It’ll become the greatest mistake of your life. One day you’ll wake up in the middle of the night and she’ll demand to know why you did it that way, and whenever you try to eat together, you’ll hear things like, ‘Oh my, surely you don’t mind eating carelessly, do you?’ That’s what awaits you.”
“….”
“After that, you won’t even be allowed to hold her hand or enter the bedroom, and eventually you’ll end up sleeping in the Stable—a true tragedy.”
The example felt far too vivid and realistic.
My eyes narrowed.
“Is that experience speaking?”
“…It’s not?”
Nicholas denied it a beat too late.
But I had already seen the wavering in his gaze and shook my head.
“Ahem, well, anyway.”
Nicholas cleared his throat and waved his hand.
“The important thing is that I, the Crown Prince of this Empire, have already finished planning your wedding ceremony.”
Nicholas glanced over with a face seeking praise.
He’d intended to present it like a gift at the right moment, but the tactless Duke had ruined everything.
Where else in the world could you find such a friend?
For a while, complaints and self-praise continued.
“….”
Rainer said nothing.
Just as he was considering whether to throw Nicholas out for his audacity—
“Duke, imagine it.”
Nicholas’s voice dropped lower.
“The Duchess in a wedding dress.”
At those words alone.
Rainer’s movements froze.
Suddenly, the image of Cecilia emerging from From Sabina Dress Shop in a new dress came flooding back.
“How does it look?”
“…It’s lovely.”
When I had seen Cecilia walk out shyly.
That moment when everything seemed to stop was still vivid in my mind.
If a wedding dress were involved, just as it had been that day.
“….”
Watching Rainer momentarily lose his words, Nicholas chuckled.
“You want to see it, don’t you?”
“….”
“You want to see it, right? Hmm?”
“…That’s enough.”
“Tsk, what a liar.”
Noticing that Rainer’s ears had flushed crimson.
Nicholas laughed with delight.
“I understand your intentions perfectly well.”
He nodded with satisfaction.
“Leave the ceremony to me and Mary—we’ll handle all the preparations, so you needn’t worry about a thing.”
“That only concerns me more.”
“Ha, you jest.”
Nicholas, interpreting Rainer’s words however he pleased, patted his shoulder twice.
And finally, he leaned in close and whispered.
“Still, make sure you propose properly. Understand? I botched mine so badly they nearly planted me in the Imperial Palace vegetable garden instead of carrots.”
“….”
“Say, is the examination complete? How is the Duchess’s condition?”
Having finished his counsel, Nicholas casually turned his steps toward Cecilia and the Physician.
Rainer watched the three of them conversing quietly for a moment.
“Pointless drivel.”
Rainer muttered softly, crossing his arms.
He resolved to prevent the Crown Prince’s unnecessary visits in the future.
And yet.
‘…A proposal.’
His gaze naturally drifted toward Cecilia.
While watching her bright smile.
Nicholas’s words lingered persistently in my mind.
* * *
A few days later.
Rainer was attending to his duties as usual.
Yet despite holding the documents open before him, his eyes remained fixed on the same passage for quite some time.
“….”
Only then did he realize he was reading the same section for the sixth time.
Rainer paused and lifted his head.
Then he pressed his fingers firmly against the bridge of his nose.
“Sigh….”
As he exhaled softly, Harry—who had been buried in documents until that moment—looked up.
“My lord? Is something troubling you?”
Rainer remained silent for a moment.
As the silence stretched, Harry ventured a cautious glance.
‘Why does he look so grave all of a sudden?’
The Duchess was recovering well.
And House of Hays’s business had weathered the recent turmoil, returning to stable footing.
Finding nothing obvious to latch onto, Harry’s mind churned earnestly.
“…Harry.”
Then Rainer spoke.
“You’ve met quite a few women, haven’t you?”
“Suddenly? Well, I suppose…?”
At the unexpected question, Harry shrugged his shoulders.
In truth, Harry had experienced several brief romances.
The reason he couldn’t sustain them was due to excessive work.
“…But why are you asking me that?”
“I need someone who understands women’s hearts well.”
Rainer hesitated briefly before continuing.
“I intend to propose to Cecilia.”
“Eh?”
Harry’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“But haven’t the two of you already married?”
Of course, it began as a contractual marriage.
But Harry was well aware that they had already confirmed their feelings for each other.
Yet now, a proposal?
Wasn’t the order rather drastically reversed?
“…Indeed.”
Rainer too pressed his forehead with an embarrassed expression.
“But I heard that even if The Prince were to die, the wedding must still take place.”
“The Prince?”
“Yes.”
Rainer sighed and held up a bundle of letters.
Nicholas had been sending reports documenting the wedding preparations all this while.
And every letter ended with the same refrain: “I cannot make the proposal on your behalf, so prepare it properly.”
At first, I had dismissed it as mere jest.
But as the letters repeated themselves over and over, it was as if I had been brainwashed.
Now I found myself contemplating the wedding with genuine seriousness.
Or perhaps, deep down, I had always wanted this.
‘Cecilia had once walked down the wedding aisle with that bastard Evan Machi.’
Of course, it had ended in a disaster of a ceremony.
But the thought of Evan calling Cecilia his bride, even for that brief moment, made my stomach turn.
I wanted to make it clear to everyone that it was I who stood beside her.
And beyond that, wouldn’t we be creating one more precious memory together?
When I thought of it that way, not doing it would be the greater loss.
“But the real problem is the proposal, you see.”
Rainer muttered under his breath.
Gifts could be given today and tomorrow without issue.
But a proposal—that happens only once in a lifetime.
I didn’t want to bungle it.
“I truly have no idea what to do.”
“Oh….”
Harry’s eyes widened in surprise.
Though I had stood by his side through countless battlefields and long years of service.
This was the first time I had ever seen him so flustered.
‘So the Duke needs my help right now, is that it?’
Harry’s lips curved into a subtle smile.
“Hmm, Duke. I could offer some advice, but you see…”
Harry suddenly straightened his back against the chair and assumed an exceedingly arrogant posture.
He even propped both feet up on my desk without hesitation.
“What will you give me if I help you, Duke?”
“….”
In that moment, I wondered why all the men around me were like this.
As if they had been waiting for an opportunity to mock me.
“Come now, do tell.”
Harry wiggled his toes and grinned mischievously.
“If you meet my demands, I can devise a truly perfect plan for the Duchess―”
But Harry’s insolent attitude did not last long.
Cecilia, who had entered the study unnoticed, looked between the two of us with a tilted head.
“What are you doing for me?”

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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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