She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 68
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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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Chapter 68. Settling the Score
“A, a request?”
“That’s right! They specifically asked us to work you extra hard! Said you need to properly pay for your crimes against the Imperial family.”
The guard chuckled wickedly.
“They said as parents, their hearts ache, but this time they need to be firm. Like you said, it’s an order from that great Duke’s family – what choice do I have?”
There had been many requests for favors for family members.
But this was the first request to treat someone more harshly.
‘What a scoundrel he must have been.’
The guard clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Ha! Parents?”
Evan’s face flushed red.
A father only four years older and a mother the same age as that father.
It was absurd, but.
‘Whatever, what’s the difference between uncle and father anyway. I have to serve and respect them all the same.’
Wasn’t it he himself who had readily signed Rainer’s adoption papers from the beginning?
How many times had he suffered because of that foolish choice?
He couldn’t even count anymore.
‘Damn it!’
Finally, Evan gritted his teeth and picked up the pickaxe that had fallen to the ground.
His palms were scraped and his arms trembled, but the guards wouldn’t show any mercy.
That’s when it happened.
“Hey! Come over here! You have a visitor!”
The labor camp stirred.
It was Cecilia who had come to see Evan.
Her hair neatly arranged, her dress without a speck of dust.
Her appearance, completely out of place here, drew everyone’s attention.
“It’s the Duchess!”
“Really? Why would such a noble person come here?”
“Why else? Her son is here.”
“Son, my foot. Where do you see a son the same age?”
The laborers snickered and whispered among themselves.
Evan stared at Cecilia with his mouth agape.
‘Could it be? Did Lia come to save me?’
After briefly looking around, Cecilia spotted Evan and approached him.
Evan unconsciously straightened his back and stood properly.
‘I knew it!’
Cecilia definitely couldn’t abandon Evan.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for her to come to such a place personally!
Evan’s lips curved upward uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, Cecilia approached closer.
“Evan, how’s the work going?”
“Oh, that. It’s, it’s fine, no, it’s fine! This much is nothing… really!”
Evan straightened his back even more and shouted.
Every muscle in his body was screaming and he felt like he might collapse at any moment.
But at this moment, he didn’t want to appear weak.
“Really? It seems to suit you, so that’s a relief.”
Cecilia nodded as if genuinely relieved.
As if that solved everything.
‘Huh? This isn’t right?’
While Evan was bewildered by the unexpected reaction.
“Then I can get straight to the point, right? I don’t want to stay in a place like this for long.”
Cecilia pulled out a document from the small bag she had brought.
The rustling sound of paper cut through the sound of pickaxes and pierced his ears.
“Wh, what is this…?”
“Read it.”
Evan took it with a bewildered expression.
Perhaps it was an imperial decree exempting him from labor.
For a moment, he had such hopes, but.
“…A bill?”
Evan looked at the paper up and down again in disbelief.
The sentence clearly written at the bottom caught his eye.
「Debtor Evan Hays must repay the principal amount of 7,000 crowns in full.」
“What does this mean…?”
“What do you mean? I paid your personal debt with the family’s assets, so naturally you have to pay it back.”
The family’s losses because of you are considerable.
Cecilia’s voice as she added this was endlessly calm.
“Still, since you’re still a member of House Hays, we decided not to charge interest. It’s Rainer’s consideration, so be grateful.”
Evan’s mind went blank.
Of course, he had been quite surprised when Cecilia actually brought the real crown.
But then he was rather relieved.
It meant she had ultimately settled his debt.
‘Damn it! I thought the debt was over with that!’
He believed that if he just endured the labor, he could return to being a minor duke.
That he could live lavishly like before.
But debt.
And 7,000 crowns at that.
“W, wait a minute Cecilia! No, Lia!”
Evan desperately stepped forward.
He fell to his knees on the dirt ground.
“I, I was wrong. I was really wrong! So just this once!”
Crawling on his hands and knees, he grabbed onto Cecilia’s skirt.
His dirt-covered hands soiled her clean clothes.
His sobbing voice gradually cracked more desperately.
“Pl, please have mercy just once. We’re family, aren’t we? Huh?”
“…”
Cecilia looked down at Evan with an incredulous expression.
Family, now of all times.
Thud.
Cecilia kicked Evan’s arm without hesitation.
With a dull sound, Evan’s body rolled to the side.
“Aaah!”
Evan screamed and rolled on the ground.
People around glanced over at the commotion.
But Cecilia calmly took out a handkerchief and brushed off her skirt without any sign of disturbance.
Then she looked down at Evan collapsed on the ground.
“Seeing you like this reminds me of the old days, doesn’t it?”
“Th, the old days…?”
“The day my life almost got ruined by marrying you.”
“…”
“Evan, you seem to keep misunderstanding, so let me be clear. From the day I kicked you at the wedding ceremony, I have not a speck of mercy left for you.”
Evan lay sprawled on the floor, looking up at Cecilia with a dazed expression.
Cecilia tilted her head slightly.
“If you don’t pay back your debts obediently, know that I’ll have you expelled from the family entirely.”
“Th-that’s ridiculous! You’d expel me, the heir?”
“Why not? Jeremy is already here.”
“…!”
Evan’s face hardened at the fact he had overlooked.
Moreover, hadn’t Rosena warned him before?
That once Cecilia bore a child, Evan and Jeremy would become leftovers.
There were already more than enough people to replace him.
“B-but I… I can’t repay that money…”
Evan trembled as he sat collapsed, unable to properly get up.
“That’s your problem.”
Cecilia coldly turned her back.
Though Evan looked utterly pitiful and wretched, she felt not an ounce of sympathy.
“I hope you’ll repay it faithfully from now on. Of course, after you finish the hard labor His Majesty sentenced you to.”
“W-wait a moment!”
Evan desperately reached out toward Cecilia.
But she didn’t look back at all.
Her resolute figure receded like an iron gate with its bolt firmly shut.
“Don’t leave me here! Please!”
“Alright, alright, break time’s over! Go back to work!”
“The Duchess specifically ordered us to be extra strict with you, so be prepared!”
Instead of Cecilia, other guards approached and roughly grabbed Evan’s shoulders.
After the grueling work, his hands, arms, legs, and back would surely be in terrible condition.
“Aaaahhh!”
Evan thrashed about while screaming desperately.
But no one pitied him.
* * *
The rumor that the Young Duke and his wife had deceived people with imperial jewels spread throughout Brussel in an instant.
The same was true for Michel, who lived in the Lower Slums.
“…What?”
Michel frowned as he chewed hard morning bread while reading the newspaper.
In the center of the newspaper was an illustration of the Young Duke and his wife in a ridiculous state.
The two people in the illustration were sobbing while swinging pickaxes.
As if worried someone might not recognize them, there was even an annotation reading ‘Rosena from Osburn County.’
“Huh…”
Count Osburn, indeed.
Michel read the article next to the illustration.
Along with news that the Duke and Duchess weren’t very active in saving their children.
Even the long-standing conflict between Cecilia and Rosena was being discussed.
The article concluded with speculation that the House of Hays had split into two factions.
Michel’s eyes narrowed.
‘…This is a bit different from what I was thinking.’
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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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