The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 36

“Hmm, not bad.”

Florin and Ian stood a few steps away from Immanuel, the Head of the Family.

Immanuel held his wife’s hand tightly. She had rarely attended banquets lately. He examined Ian.

“Ian really resembles you a lot. You know that, don’t you?”

“Of course. Of course, I do, my dear.”

When his wife subtly pointed it out, Immanuel smiled like a boy, an expression that seemed uncharacteristic for his age.

“Even though half of him is of the Holy Empire’s blood, the other half flows with Dribljane blood… He was someone who could ignite at any moment, given the chance.”

The Dribljane family doesn’t favor or cherish direct descendants more than others. Treating all successors equally is the family’s rule.

Of course, there were some who were expected to achieve great things, but Ian wasn’t even included in that group. How could anyone expect anything from someone who always had such lifeless eyes?

A weed that had already withered on its own before anyone could trample on it. That was Ian.

But the current Ian was completely different.

Inanna paused for a moment, wondering if that child was really the grandson she knew. The child holding Florin’s hand and shining fiercely with both eyes… seemed like a completely different person.

“I still remember. The day of your welcoming banquet, my dear.”

“Why do you remember something that happened so long ago?”

“How long ago, my dear? Even though I’m old, it still feels like yesterday.”

Immanuel smiled contentedly and reminisced about the old memories.

“You wore a pure white dress that day, my dear. I couldn’t stand seeing those other guys approaching you and acting all cute. It was hard to bear.”

“You were the only successor who didn’t talk to me that day. That’s why I liked you. It was too noisy, and my ears hurt.”

When Inanna retorted with a slightly sulky tone, Immanuel burst into loud laughter.

Inanna also smiled soon after.

“As time passed and I got too bored, I ran away to the garden… I still remember it. The sound of the insects that day. That summer night.”

“It was clear you wanted to be alone, but they wouldn’t leave you alone.”

“Yes. Eventually, other successors followed me to the garden… and I ran away, even losing my shoes. Then, I was so exhausted and didn’t know what to do, and that’s when you appeared, holding the shoes I had lost.”

They say that as you get older, you start living by relying on old memories, and that was exactly right.

Inanna gently gazed at her husband, whose wrinkles had deepened and hair had turned white.

The boy who held her and ran away into the trees that day still overlapped with his current image. A delicate, caring, and considerate boy.

Maybe this is what love is.

Immanuel also looked lovingly at his wife, quietly took her dry hand, and kissed the back of it.

“It would be nice if Florin chose our grandson, but… let’s enjoy watching how it turns out.”

“There are still two more successors that Florin hasn’t met yet.”

“That’s right. But they will meet soon. I’ve decided that Florin’s first external schedule will be at the academy.”

Dante is at the academy.

The academy has a dormitory system where, once you enter, you can’t leave until you graduate. The founding headmaster had a principle of evaluating students solely on their skills, not on their status or wealth. Therefore, to prevent external power from influencing the school, visits from family members are strictly limited.

He was frustrated because, even if he wanted to know how Dante was doing, there was nothing more he could do other than donating a lot of development funds to the school.

“If adults go on parents’ visiting day, the school will organize everything and make it look good, so you can’t know the real situation.”

“But if Florin goes to the tournament winner’s match… they might let their guard down.”

“That’s right, my dear.”

‘It would be a relief if he’s really doing well….’

Just as Immanuel’s eyes grew heavy.

“Grandfather! Can I open the presents now?”

A lovely girl with fluttering silver hair ran up to him.

Stroking the small head that he kept wanting to touch, Immanuel nodded.

“Yes, let’s see how much sincerity everyone has shown.”

* * *

In the Mado Empire’s social circles, it was common to have servants in charge of gifts and tables at the entrance of the banquet hall when a banquet was held. Because there was a tendency to prioritize arrogance over humility and material things over spiritual ones, the number of gifts received was a measure of the banquet host’s power.

“Now… the most important and enjoyable time of the Great Mado Empire’s banquet! The gift opening ceremony will begin!”

The senior servant in charge of the event shouted loudly, and the magicians hired by Dribljane carefully moved the three gift towers to the center of the banquet hall.

Soon, the silver-haired girl, the main character of this banquet, stood in front of the gift boxes, which were as tall as an adult.

“She’s quite cute, even though she’s an albino.”

“I agree. Anyway, it’s good to be on good terms with her since she’ll be leading Dribljane in the future.”

In fact, the girl’s appearance was really out of place for Dribljane.

Cherry-like eyes and a small nose. Her small height made her look like a doll. Instead of the arrogant pheromones that overwhelm others, her bright expression and delicate pheromones, typical of her age, were lovely.

“I hope she likes the gifts… I heard her eyes are like cherries, so I barely managed to get rubies from the Malik Kingdom.”

“You’ve shown a lot of sincerity.”

“Yes. I think I did well to do so. After all… this is the first time a banquet has been held properly since that ominous event.”

The noble ladies all fanned themselves, covered their mouths, and whispered.

When gifts were received, it was customary for the host to open about ten of them in front of the guests.

A golden birdcage, a music box inlaid with diamonds, a fan that could be used when she grew up, silk gloves for children, and a treasure chest… There was another gaze watching the girl take out various items and smile happily.

‘I should have done this a long time ago.’

In fact, Kiraxus had been at the banquet hall for a while. He had just been hiding his presence because he didn’t want anyone to talk to him.

When the gift opening ceremony finally began, Kiraxus opened a subspace [a personal warehouse that a magician creates in another dimension; the size of the warehouse can be increased by the size of their magic power] and took out the gift he had prepared. And he waited for the right timing to give it.

‘I didn’t know that your life was always a thorny path, Florin.’

In the lost time, Florin didn’t smile so brightly. She was always somewhat intimidated and seemed somehow anxious.

It was only later that he learned that Florin had tried to look good to him, so she wouldn’t die.

‘My ignorance drove you to the edge of the cliff, and you ended up finding Dice and constantly eating them.’

To maintain humanization.

Because she had to be useful.

Because she didn’t want to be abandoned.

So Florin ate Dice. She didn’t know it would shorten her lifespan, but she would have eaten it even if she had known.

‘But now I will give you what you so desperately wanted, which is family love.’

Even if you don’t want it, I’ll force it on you. Until you get tired of receiving love and become a spoiled and unruly child.

‘Not always a quiet child who doesn’t cause trouble…’

So that she would become a child who believes that no matter what she does or where she does it, adults will naturally take care of it.

Kiraxus decided on his parenting method that way. Florin deserved it.

If someone asked who determined that qualification, Kiraxus could confidently answer. He, who had regressed from the future, had determined it.

“Florin.”

“Ah, Father! Why are you so late? You’re a tardy!”

Florin shouted with a bright face.

However, some clueless nobles who heard Florin’s title began to frown.

“Father? Of course, Kiraxus will become the 19th Duke in the future, and that child will become the 20th Duchess… but not now, right?”

“It’s right to call him Young Head or Kiraxus for now. She has no manners.”

“Oh my. Anyone who hears it would think Kiraxus is her stepfather. If you think about it, he’s not even her father-in-law.”

“That’s right. Dribljane’s daughter-in-law system is ‘married to the family from a young age’… but Kiraxus doesn’t even have children because of his premarital purity. But calling him Father out of the blue is strange.”

Like vermin.

Kiraxus clicked his tongue inwardly and meticulously remembered each of their faces.

It was something he had allowed. If he hadn’t allowed it in the first place, who could have called him Father?

Kiraxus liked the title ‘Father’ coming from Florin’s mouth. He couldn’t be a dad, but he could be a father, couldn’t he?

It was a bit of a stretch, but what did it matter? He wanted it.

Kiraxus had never failed to get what he wanted.

“I was late because I was making your gift, so it’s unfair to call me tardy.”

Kiraxus skillfully glossed over the atmosphere and lied about being late.

Then, Ian, who was standing next to Florin, raised one eyebrow with a strange expression, as if he knew that he had been at the banquet hall for a long time.