The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 18

Rapiren, who had been the subject of curious gazes, soon returned to his seat.

Adjusting his glasses, he cleared his throat and began to answer my question.

“First of all, only one of the three family head candidates is chosen. You must be wondering what happens to the other two.”

“Yeah!”

“Those who are not chosen gain the title of Margrave and go to a place far from the capital. If they have children there, they send those children to the mansion.”

Those children are the heirs of Driblianne. So, it’s an opportunity given fairly to both direct and collateral lines. Even if they couldn’t become the head of the family, their children could, so perhaps that hope suppresses any opposition.

“Of course, there have been cases where they refused even that tradition and tried to seize the position of head of the family by force.”

“Gasp!”

“However, in such cases, the step in to mediate the dispute.”

“Paladins?”

“The Paladins are all Sword Masters, maintaining a number of twelve. If you want to become a new Paladin, you must defeat an existing Paladin.”

“Whoa……!”

Cool. In the original story, Dante was one of the Paladins.

“Also, the Paladins are a group that does not belong to any country. Nationality, gender, or race doesn’t matter to them. The only requirement is that they must be superior Alphas. No matter how strong you are, you cannot defeat them, and no matter how much you try to appease them, it is useless, so they are easily subdued.”

So, it’s an international armed conflict mediation organization.

I understood perfectly, and I thought I was so cool.

“I have more questions. What about the kids who couldn’t even become family head candidates?”

I mean, the kids who didn’t even get into the main residence.

“Those who fail to become family head candidates take on key positions within the family, if they don’t cause any problems, that is.”

“Ah.”

Then maybe it would be better not to become a family head candidate at all.

Living in the borderlands for the rest of my life seems too lonely.

After carefully storing what I learned in my head, I cautiously opened my mouth. Since Rapiren was taking the time to explain, I intended to ask everything I was curious about.

“Then, when did the daughter-in-law start choosing the family head?”

“That was the will of the first family head. To have the strongest male lead Driblianne through an environment where extreme competition is inevitable.”

“Only males?”

What if a strong daughter is born?

“Yes. Originally, only males could become the head of Driblianne. It was an old-fashioned idea, but it was maintained in the name of tradition… until Ariadne broke it.”

For a moment, Rapiren stopped talking.

Then, when he opened his mouth again, his voice was slightly trembling.

“Ariadne was someone who was beyond all standards. If she were alive, she would have brought about innovation.”

Ariadne was a person who extremely hated being fitted into any standard.

As a reader of the original work, I thought Rapiren hated Ariadne. Rapiren was the type to adapt to his surroundings wherever he went.

He might have been envious of Ariadne, who was loved no matter what.

‘What about me…….’

Ariadne, you’re so cool!

‘It would have been so nice if you were alive.’

Rapiren took shallow breaths as if trying to calm his chest, and then began to take off his glasses and wipe them. It seemed to be his way of controlling his emotions.

“Originally, if the young family head, who was nominated as a family head candidate, died in an unforeseen accident, the appointed mistress would choose one of the remaining candidates again.”

“Yes.”

“But as I said, in the case of the 19th generation… Ariadne was so outstanding that there were no other candidates. If you exclude Ariadne, the next most outstanding was naturally Kiraxus. So, Kiraxus should have quickly succeeded to the position of young family head before more rumors spread…….”

“Didn’t accept it and dodged it.”

“That’s right. He was running around saying he would never do something like being the young family head, but suddenly he changed his mind again like this.”

Rapiren laughed heartily and gritted his teeth.

Maybe Rapiren suffered a lot while Kiraxus didn’t work and ran away.

“But now that we have the little mistress, he will be quiet.”

Ah, you seem to think of me as Kiraxus’s weakness or something-

‘No, I’m not.’

I snorted inwardly.

We talked about everything yesterday.

‘I’m like, an evil-doer’s conscience protection charm.’

If he abandons even me, he’s a real bad guy, but by holding onto me, he has a slight feeling of repentance… or something?

“Then I’ll see you next time. Please think carefully about Gerd.”

“Yeah, no, wait!”

Just one more thing!

I ran up and grabbed Rapiren’s collar tightly.

“Then… where is Ariadne’s husband?”

In fact, I knew who Ariadne married because I read the original work, but I pretended not to know and asked. This way, even if I know that information later, it won’t seem strange.

“Ariadne chose the person she wanted and married them directly. Not a wife, well, no one would have said anything even if it was a wife, but anyway, it was a husband. It was Dien Glanz.”

“Ah. Where is that person?”

Dien Glanz.

The biological father of ‘Dante Driblianne’ in the story and Ariadne’s only husband.

“He went with Ariadne.”

“Oh, I see…….”

That’s right. Dien Glanz was portrayed in the original work as a delicate and sensitive person with too much sensitivity. And he couldn’t accept that Ariadne was dead.

It was said that he ended his life with his young son in military academy, which broke the hearts of Ariadne fans in the original work.

“Then I’ll really go now. I’m already late for my next appointment.”

“Okay. Thank you, Sammy.”

Soon, I waved my hand at Rapiren as he left. It was quite a refreshing and cheerful greeting, considering we had conspired to remove someone from the heir position.

“Okay, now let’s study the family tree!”

I opened my eyes wide and checked the squiggly letters one by one. Then I found Kiraxus’s name, but there was no one below it.

‘Well, he took a vow of chastity, so.’

Actually, even if he took a vow, it didn’t seem like Kiraxus would keep it… but he really kept it. He doesn’t have any kids.

Next, I checked the names written under Ariadne.

Ian Driblianne

Dante Driblianne

Yuri Yerevan Helicoprion Driblianne

‘Huh?’

Ian?

‘Was there even a kid like this?’

I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere… but it’s not a character that appeared in the original work.

‘Hmm, hmm.’

I feel like I’m about to remember something, but not really…….

But before I could think any further.

“Little Mistress! Little Mistress!”

Linda called me in a fuss.

“What is it?”

“T, t, the Grand Duchess is calling for you!”

“Hick?!”

Really?!

* * *

‘Where on earth do I go to earn merit?’

Because I’m a weasel, no matter how urgently I move, I can only take one step for every three steps a person takes. So, even as I was being held in the nanny’s arms and hurrying to see the Duchess, my little head was filled with this one thought.

‘I wish I could read the original work again!’

Isn’t there any national disaster that could happen around this time? If I prevent something like that, I’ll have earned an enormous amount of merit.

‘I must get the right to choose who to weed out.’

That way, I can cut off not only Gerd but also the kids who are lining up for Gerd.

The boys in the heir’s quarters don’t all think they can become the family head. There must be quick-witted guys who are attached to a promising heir, hoping to enter key positions in the family.

I wanted to clean them up too. I want to cut off any risk factors that could harm this family in advance, not just my old age.

“I’ll tell you in advance, but the Duchess is not in good health. Please be careful not to upset her.”

The elderly head maid gave me that warning before opening the door. Judging from her tone and expression, she didn’t have any liking for me, but she didn’t hate me either.

‘She just seems deeply worried about the Duchess.’

The bedroom, known to have been stayed in by successive Driblianne Duchesses, felt much warmer than I had imagined.

‘Wow, the windows even have cranberry-shaped stained glass.’

Overall, it looks magnificent, splendid, beautiful, and expensive. For some reason, I felt a familiar feeling as soon as I stepped in. It’s very strange.

I’ve never been here before. Or does this wealth just give me comfort?

‘Am I perhaps born to be rich?’