The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 19

Before entering the bedroom, I paused in the small drawing room, fidgeting with the pink ribbon the nanny had tied around my neck. She’d insisted it was crucial to make a good impression on the Duchess during our first meeting.

“You may enter now.”

The nanny, looking extremely nervous, stood up. Her cautious steps mirrored my own apprehension.

‘Is she a very scary person?’ I wondered.

The nanny likely knew the Duchess far better than I did.

‘Could it be… did she summon me to scold Gerd for biting me?’

Or perhaps it was my failure to offer a proper greeting?

Lost in anxious thoughts, a composed voice interrupted my worries.

“So, you’re the child Kiraxus brought.”

“H-hello.”

As I raised my head to greet her, I was struck by two overwhelming impressions.

‘She looks like she could crumble away at any moment… so fragile,’ I thought.

She appeared utterly drained of life.

Her lips were dry, struggling to form words. Her skin lacked vitality, devoid of makeup. And her eyes… they seemed already dead.

Inanna was alive, but barely; she seemed to exist only in a physical sense.

‘And yet…’

The dignity and grace she had cultivated throughout her life remained. They projected an aura that was almost overwhelming.

I hesitated to speak to the old woman sitting upright in bed.

“I wanted to call you earlier, curious about the kind of child you were, but… I was unconscious until yesterday.”

“Do you still hurt… now?”

“Yes, you could say that. But I feel much better today. Come closer. Let’s talk.”

Her elegant tone betrayed no dislike, despite my unusual fur and eye color. I hadn’t cared about being ignored or disliked before, but strangely, I felt I would be hurt if she rejected me.

“Evangeline, you take care of this child?”

“…Yes, Madam.”

“When you… took care of our Ariadne, I never imagined such a future would exist…”

The nanny’s shoulders trembled at the sigh in the Duchess’s voice.

Silently listening, I wiggled my toes and perked up my ears. I wanted to offer comfort, but I didn’t know how.

‘The nanny was originally Ariadne’s nanny,’ I realized.

I filed away this new piece of information.

“Child, there’s a reason why the Lord [referring to Emmanuel Driblane, the head of the family] gave you Evangeline.”

“A reason…?”

“Do you know about my daughter?”

Her voice seemed to sink deep below the surface, like a stone falling into water.

Her expression remained unchanged, but as soon as she mentioned her daughter, Inanna’s face paled, and her pheromones [chemical signals used for communication], already weak, diminished noticeably.

“Yes, I’ve heard… about her.”

I answered cautiously.

“You’re clever. Evangeline was the wet nurse who raised my daughter. When that brilliant child rose to the position of Lesser Lord [a high-ranking title within the Driblane family], Evangeline was naturally by her side.”

“…”

“The Lord has given you… the close aides that Ariadne had.”

As her sad tone faded, I twitched my ears.

I had already sensed the power struggles within the Driblane family. They remained hidden while Lord Emmanuel was healthy.

The elders seemed to have grand plans for their own gain.

So, Lord Grandfather [Emmanuel Driblane] was showing his determination to consolidate power by assigning Ariadne’s close aides to me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re a prudent child. Not only clever but wise. Such a nature is rare.”

Inanna’s lips trembled as if she knew I understood everything. She seemed to be trying to smile.

“Madam, the tea is ready.”

Just then, the head maid appeared with tea and cookies on a silver tray.

They were chocolate chip cookies with a strong buttery scent, enough to soothe my disappointment after giving caramel to Lapiren.

“It must be uncomfortable looking like that. Do you know how to sense Iculus [magical energy]?”

I wanted to answer, but my cheeks were full of cookies, so I nodded.

“Iculus is spread throughout the world. If you learn to condense the Iculus in the air, you can transform into a human. It will be twice as hard as others, but it’s not impossible.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. Beastkins [people who can transform into animals] instinctively sense Iculus, but it’s inherently difficult for albinos.”

That’s why being born an albino was considered a punishment in the original story.

I swallowed the cookie and imagined myself as a human. I thought I would be kind of cute.

“I should assign you a teacher to teach you how to sense Iculus. Although we started as animals, we can’t stay like that forever. Usually, they transform into humans around the age of four or five…”

If that happened, nothing could be better. Lapiren told me to plot, but there’s not much I can do as a white ferret with a soft pink belly.

I was also curious about my age.

“But… Grand Madam. Even if I can’t feel Iculus… can I still transform?”

“Grand Madam?”

To be honest, I didn’t know what to call her.

Grand Madam? Duchess? Inanna? Or… Grandmother?

Unsure, I chose something plain, but her puzzled reaction made me shrink.

Should I have been more formal?

“Ah, you don’t need to call me that. Just call me Inanna.”

After a moment, the Duchess repeated, as if realizing something.

“That would be better for Kiraxus.”

Her quiet voice was filled with concern for her son.

“If I seem close to Inanna, will it help Kitty… I mean, the Lesser Lord?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll come every day and show you lots of fun things!”

Inanna was my direct superior. I had much to learn from her.

To do that, Inanna needed to cheer up quickly…

‘I don’t know how great the sorrow of losing a child is.’

I knew about loyalty, but not family affection.

I had read about it, seen it in movies, and heard others talk about it. I knew about family affection as information, but I didn’t know what it tasted like, felt like, or what made it so strong.

‘It must be so painful to lose a beloved child.’

I looked pitifully at the Duchess, who was already panting, even though we hadn’t spoken much.

Even though the steam from the warm teacup was cooling, the Duchess seemed to be trying to quickly drive out the remaining life force in her body.

It was as if she couldn’t kill herself because it would hurt the remaining people, but she wanted someone to take her breath away from her dried-up body.

Everyone seemed to sense the Duchess’s impending death, and I felt breathless.

“Um, can I look around the bedroom?”

It was too heartbreaking to sit there, so I smiled brightly and raised my hand.

“There were a lot of shiny things over there!”

“Yes, you must be bored. Go ahead and take a look.”

“Thank you!”

I greeted her energetically and ran around, looking here and there.

The Duchess’s bedroom was magnificent… Huh?

‘W-why is this here?’

I discovered a piece of furniture and felt like I was going to stop breathing.

A forgotten memory surged up. It was the memory of when I was that damn tree.

“Beautiful flowers have bloomed on the lingonberry tree, Mother.”

It was the relaxed, arrogant voice of someone born to rule. The woman smiled at her mother, reassuring her.

“I’ll be back, Mother. Please stay healthy.”

“Don’t forget that this is the last war. The last one. And when you come back, have pity on your old mother and go for walks with her often.”

“I will. I promise, my beloved mother.”

The life of a tree was boring. I could only listen.

I soon became bored, and after becoming completely assimilated with the tree, I could no longer feel anything other than the sap and aphids flowing through my body.

‘But… there was a terrible cry that I especially remembered.’

The old woman, who always came to wipe the leaves and water the tree, cried that day as if she were vomiting her lungs.

Crash!

She broke all the flowerpots she could grab, and her hair, always neat, was disheveled.

Fortunately, she collapsed before she could touch me, but the grief she exuded was enough to turn my fresh leaves yellow.

“My baby! My baby, my proud daughter…! Take me with you. You should have taken me too!!!”

Not long after that, I withered and died. Plants are sensitive to pheromones, and unrestrained pheromones were emitted from all directions, so I could no longer live.

‘But…’

The memory, forgotten after repeatedly possessing bodies, struck me as soon as I saw the fancy dressing table.

‘Pure gold leopard decoration.’

When I turned around, I saw an elegant green couch and blue porcelain collectibles.

‘I wondered why I didn’t recognize it right away…’

There were no family portraits in this room. No flowerpots. The place that used to be filled with the refreshing air emitted by plants was now overshadowed by death.

I was heartbroken by the change.

‘And it’s also strange. How… did I come back to the place where I had my first possession?’

How could this happen?