When I previously spoke about it, I might have exaggerated about knowing absolutely nothing about my mother-in-law, but that was rely from the perspective of a reader of the novel. To say I had no information about her wouldnt be true; it wasnt like I was completely in the dark.
Essentially, being the minor head of the Kraus family, I was expected to keep information about the high nobility of the empire in mind, and that included knowledge about her, the lady of the Edelweiss house.
More importantly, even though I had thoughts of breaking up my engagent at the ti, she was an elder from the opposing family, so I didnt have to seek out information actively; it naturally flowed to .
I might have neglected this information, considering I never intended to et her, focusing more on other things, but that didnt an I completely ignored it. For instance, I rembered things like her being a forr professor at the Golden Tower and her known hobbies and preferences in the social circles.
However, perhaps due to the tension, what I thought I had comprehensively understood now feels as vague and misty as looking through a fogged, blurry mirror.
Thinking about all this didnt seem to calm my trembling heart, so I shook my head slightly, trying to erase these thoughts from my mind. Yet, my head remained cluttered, and the space I thought I had cleared was soon occupied by another thought.
Why do mories of eting Elena for the first ti co to mind now? I dont recall being this nervous back then. My feet might have trembled, but still.
I closed my eyes for a mont, following the stream of consciousness that brought up these seemingly related mories.
I had intended to clear my mind and relax, but it wasnt as easy as I thought.
It seed my mind was over-conscious about her, automatically bringing up what it thought might be helpful. Normally, this would work fine, but now it was like a malfunction, completely haphazard.
It was like typing into a cheap search engine, where all sorts of random thoughts pop up as results.
It might have been better not to think of anything at all; due to my nervousness, only useless information had been haphazardly pulled into my mind. The unordered stream of information swirling in my head was causing chaos rather than being of any help.
Despite my efforts, my heart wouldnt calm down, so I leaned my head against the window, half in resignation.
The sight of Elena and Hailey, beaming and laughing beside , provided so comfort, but it was insufficient to quell the storm in my mind.
Embracing this turmoil, I gazed out the window at the mansion that was now close at hand. It looked like a well-maintained, impressive, but strangely, it felt to more like a demon lords castle.
As the carriage stopped in front of the door, a strange gaze swept over us, and then, without anyones aid, the doors to the mansion opened by themselves.
Is this the so-called fantasy-style automatic door Ive only heard about in stories?
It seed the mansion was equipped with multiple such devices, likely because both my mother-in-law and Elenas brother were versed in alchemy. The devices, unnoticeable from the outside, only start triggering their magic once one crosses the threshold.
Is this place not a house, but a fortress..?
I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 2
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I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 2
Upon entering the mansion, what appeared ordinary from the outside was actually protected by an invisible system.
If I hadnt been so tense and focused, I might have missed the subtly hidden magical waves emanating from all around. Being a layman in magic, I couldnt precisely identify the purpose of these magical waves, but I could roughly guess their nature and size from the magical fields they created.
After all, a place inhabited by two magicians, nearly archmages, couldnt be ordinary. The white castle of the Edelweiss family, though overshadowed by the grandeur of the Mage Tower, was fortified with all sorts of magic.
But in my overly tense state, I should have stopped my thoughts there. Instead, I irrationally worried whether this security system might target . It was an absurd thought, and I knew it, but for so reason, it just crossed my mind.
It was only when I ntally breached the mansions final security system that I returned to reality.
It wasnt voluntary. I didnt even realize where I was walking until Elena took my hand.
Were you nervous?
Elena spoke to without making a sound, moving only her lips so Hailey, walking ahead, wouldnt hear. To her question, I nodded silently without saying a word.
Elena didnt continue the conversation.
Instead, as if trying to ease my tension, she started tickling the hand she was holding. I responded to her playfulness by bumping my fingers against hers. Was it just my imagination? Today, her touch seed unusually warr.
When our eyes t again, she replaced her question with a refreshing smile. I responded in kind, silently moving my lips as she had.
Im okay now.
Perhaps pleased with my answer, Elena intensified her playful finger attack.
Although clearing my head was still impossible, it felt like I could at least fill it with this single thought.
***
What could be the way to instantly recognize the relationship between a parent and their child?
In modern tis, the answer might imdiately point to a DNA test, but thats not what Im referring to. Im talking about the elents that enable one to discern the relationship between a child and their parent when they are seen together.
For instance, the acquaintances of my father imdiately recognize as Arthur Kraus son when they see . This isnt just because black hair is unique to the Kraus family in this world, but also because my face closely resembles my fathers.
Like in the case of Franz I encountered recently, he comnted that our temperants and personalities were similar. Honestly, I might agree with the temperant, but I cant quite see the similarity in personality. Nevertheless, such elents exist that make people around us judge, This person is the son or daughter of so-and-so.
These are subjective judgnts, not always accurate, but in novels and comics, such elents often help readers connect the relationships between characters, and they usually turn out to be correct.
That was exactly the case right now.
Adelia Edelweiss. Pleased to et you. Kraus...no, Prince Damian. This is our first face-to-face eting, isnt it?
When I first entered the drawing room, I imdiately knew that the woman sitting in the chair was Elenas mother.
Was it more about the atmosphere than the appearance? Just like how Franz associated with my father upon seeing , the mont I saw Adelia, Elenas face instantly ca to mind.
Her sparkling eyes looking at were exactly like Elenas when she looked up at with joy.
I kept seeing Elena in her, and suddenly, my tension seed to dissolve. Now that I think about it, why didnt I consider that Adelia would resemble Elena? If I had thought of that, maybe I would have been less weary.
Ah, hello, maam. I received your letter. Thank you so much for allowing to stay here until I enroll in the academy.
The tension draining away, I felt the rigidness in my body loosen. I hurried to gather my scattered thoughts and opened my mouth to speak.
It was sowhat different, but recalling how I usually talk to Elena made it easier for to start a conversation without feeling as intimidated as before. The fact that I managed to initiate without any blunder brought a small sense of relief, though it seed I was still not completely at ease.
Wow...
But... why does my mother-in-laws reaction seem a bit odd?
Adelias response to my answer was so unexpected that it made reconsider what I had just said. She started looking at as if she had seen sothing fascinating.
She then muttered sothing under her breath, too quietly for anyone else to hear. However, since I was concentrating on what she might say next, I managed to catch her words clearly.
...To see a face so identical to Arthurs responding so politely, its sowhat hard to get used to.
Father!!
--- END OF CHAPTER ---
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