The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 55

But I had underestimated Dante’s possessiveness.

‘What’s going on here?’

The next evening, when I went down to the banquet hall for dinner, I was very puzzled.

There were clearly seven place settings, including mine and Inanna’s… so why were only Dante and Ian sitting down?

Where did everyone else go?

“Welcome, Florin. How was your day today?”

Ian, who is a great comfort to me, asked kindly as always.

“Oh… it was good. But are the others running late?”

I found the place with my name card and sat down, then looked around.

“Inanna won’t be pleased if they’re late for the banquet.”

“Well, the thing is…”

Ian gave Dante a meaningful look with a troubled smile.

Then Dante snorted so loudly that the banquet hall echoed.

“Weaklings.”

“…Dante, what did you do?”

“I just suggested a sparring match because I was bored.”

“Sparring? With you?”

“I felt sluggish from just eating and playing around.”

How can he lie without batting an eye!

I stared blankly at Dante, who was answering so brazenly without a flicker of guilt.

So, he beat everyone up because he didn’t want them to come to the banquet.

“I’m just saying we sparred, okay? And the only one who cowardly avoided the sparring was that guy sitting next to you.”

“You should call me ‘hyung’ [older brother, a Korean term used by males]. And not accepting a sparring match doesn’t make someone a coward!”

Good heavens. Now I understand why you ruined the family in the original story…

I sighed, holding the back of my neck. Inanna will be here soon; what am I going to say?

“Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even sparring. He just grabbed a wooden sword and started swinging at my head.”

“What?”

Bang!

Excited by Ian’s testimony, I slammed the table.

“Dante! You can’t do that!”

“Oh, that was just because it was you. I formally requested a sparring match with the others, okay?”

“You shouldn’t do that to Ian either!”

How can I make this guy a decent human being?

It’s no use just telling him no. He won’t listen at all.

‘I have to make him human somehow. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee my future…’

I stared at the fork with a gloomy look.

The future plan I had in mind was being modified little by little, and Dante was the biggest reason for it.

‘At first, I thought I could just get close to the people in this family to stop Lahin. And get close to the original male lead first.’

But now I see that it’s no use. No matter how well I do, the problem is Dante.

The fact that Ian, who is patient and mature, is here is probably the only reason it’s only this bad.

‘But when he grows up… he’ll meet Yuri.’

And Dante and Yuri will clash over everything. Lahin, of course, won’t have the power to mediate between them.

“There’s nothing to gain from fighting you, so why should I fight, little brother?”

“I told you not to call me little brother all the time.”

“But you are my little brother? You should have been born earlier if you’re so upset.”

Ian smiled gently.

But when I looked closely… I could feel a coldness, so he was definitely angry.

“Ian, were you hit by the wooden sword?”

“No. But I was very surprised.”

“I would have been very surprised too…”

“Would you like to have dinner with me and take a walk later? I think walking with Florin for a while will calm my surprised heart.”

Angry heart, probably.

I corrected Ian’s words in my mind and nodded.

I should soothe Ian while taking a walk. Dante… I’ll think about it later.

“Cowardly fox.”

Screech.

Dante picked up a knife and scraped the empty plate, making a terrible sound.

His actions were full of spite, and I just prayed that Inanna would come quickly.

I’m suffocating!

“I’m going to get indigestion eating like this.”

Then, salvation appeared. Inanna had arrived.

“To knock them down and get rid of them because you don’t want to see them. You’re so much like your mother.”

“Am I a lot like Mom?”

“Yes. But it’s not a compliment.”

“Tch. Still, it’s good. I’m like Mom. Because I’m Mom’s son.”

Dante emphasized ‘son’ in particular. As if he were the only son.

Ian listened silently, which made me feel even worse, so I secretly reached out and took Ian’s hand.

“!”

Ian flinched and looked back at me. I pretended not to notice and pulled my hand inside the table to hide it.

This was… yes, a sense of kinship.

I suddenly remembered having to remain silent in front of friends who were happily talking about going on trips with their parents because I had nothing to say.

Ian always reminded me of when I was Kim Ah-ram.

“Bring out the food.”

“Yes, Great Madam.”

I had to let go of his hand as the food came out, but I hoped that I had given him a moment of comfort.

I picked up my fork and knife, hoping that Ian wouldn’t feel too sad.

The meal was delicious enough.

* * *

After eating vanilla ice cream with plenty of caramel syrup and candied cherries for dessert, I patted my stomach and went out into the garden.

Dante quickly got up to follow me, but thankfully Inanna stopped him.

Inanna said she wanted to talk for a bit; how could I ignore that?

“It’s been a while since we walked alone together, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Ian has been busy training too, right?”

“Yeah. The head of the family called him separately a while ago.”

“What?”

“He praised him for doing well.”

“That’s great!”

Being recognized by grandfather is not easy. I knew that well, so I could be genuinely happy.

“Congratulations, Ian.”

“It feels good to be congratulated by a baby.”

“Oh, come on. Baby? I’m only two years younger, you know?”

“You’re two years younger.”

Why does Ian keep calling me a baby? I’m called a noble lady outside.

‘Well, Ian feels like a real big brother, so I don’t mind.’

Still, I puffed out my cheeks for no reason.

“Oh, are you sulking?”

“No. I was just kidding.”

The weather was nice all day, and the moon was bright even at night.

The gentle spring breeze softly caressed my cheeks, and the trees that had sprouted fresh buds gave off a cool and refreshing scent.

I walked a few steps ahead, passed Ian, and smiled brightly as I turned around.

“Ian oppa!” [older brother, a Korean term used by females]

“!”

“How is it? Do you like hearing ‘oppa’?”

“…Yeah. I like it too much.”

Ian’s eyes widened slightly as if he was surprised, then he smiled softly.

Dante calls Ian a fox, and to be honest, I thought it suited him well. He really looks like a fox when he smiles like that sometimes.

Maybe his father’s side was from the fox clan?

“Ian, don’t you want to meet your dad?”

“Father… well. He must be a pretty good person since my mother chose him.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So I don’t want to meet him right now.”

A shadow fell over Ian’s face. Maybe that’s why he felt so serious, and I felt like I had to be careful even breathing.

“I don’t think my father knows I exist.”

“Yeah.”

“I was born when the war was intensifying. The family must have kept the information about who my father was as quiet as possible. My biological father is the enemy, after all. Besides, my mother’s personality would have played a part. There’s no way that mother would have made things complicated by telling anyone.”

A cynical tone. A pathetic expression.

Those two things hurt my heart.

Because… because a really okay kid wouldn’t make that expression.

“I miss my father.”

“Well… now that the war is over, maybe someday. I rummaged through all my mother’s belongings, hoping she had left something about my biological father, but there was nothing. She must have wanted to make sure no one could ever find out who my biological father was.”

“Who could he be that she hid him so well?”

I muttered without realizing it.

I was just a spy, so my biological parents wouldn’t be that great. They’d be commoners.

Maybe the Albino thought I was useless and sold me for money.

No matter how I looked at it, only negative results came out, so I had no good feelings about my biological parents at all.

I don’t really want to meet them, and I hope I never know them for the rest of my life.

What if they show up later and grab my ankles like in a hundred billion sweet potato drama [a Korean drama trope where a character’s life is made miserable by others]?

But Ian’s situation was a little different from mine.

“Well… I’m still young, so the information I can access is limited. But…”

“But?”

“During the war, the Holy Empire hired a lot of mercenaries because they didn’t have enough troops. And this is something I found out recently.”

Ian stopped in front of a large tree and took a deep breath. The moon hanging in front of Ian was so beautiful that I thought he had just come down from the moon.

“…The Mercenary King’s hair color is red like mine.”

“Wow, really? Then Ian could be the Mercenary King’s son!”

“I just wish that were the case.”

Ian chuckled.

After a while, we returned to the building, laughing amicably.

Ian kept making jokes that I couldn’t help but laugh at. In the end, I was laughing so hard that I even teared up.

But when we passed through the entrance, there was Dante.

I thought he had already gone to his bedroom, so I was very surprised.

More than anything, Dante’s expression wasn’t good, as if Inanna had scolded him.