The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 89

Chapter 7. Let’s Go to the Arkalik Principality Meeting!

Twelve hours after my kidnapping.

Hwairan, along with my stepmother, father, grandfather, and Inanna, had disappeared somewhere.

I didn’t know how things would turn out, but I couldn’t kill Hwairan if I wanted to save Yuri. So, I confided everything I was planning to Inanna, who seemed the most rational. Because Inanna would also want to rescue Yuri.

“Ta-da! This is a gift for Linda!”

“You’ve been through such a big ordeal, and yet you still brought me a gift. Hwaaa.”

“Ah, no… I bought it before I was kidnapped. And this is a gift for the nanny!”

“Every time you go out of the mansion, this nanny’s heart will sink. How could you go through such a terrible thing… That bad guy!”

“Um… I’m fine. I’m okay. I heard that being kidnapped is something that Driblyane’s daughters-in-law usually experience.”

During the fierce war with the Holy Empire, the appointed mistresses—the 17th and 18th generation mistresses, who were Inanna’s predecessors—were kidnapped and imprisoned at least five times each.

I learned that in a class teaching the history of the Driblyane family.

“That doesn’t mean Florin-nim has to go through it too!”

“That’s right. You must have been very surprised. I should ask them to make a big strawberry shortcake, because you like it…”

The nanny sniffled and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

I smiled and hugged the nanny tightly.

‘Actually, my favorite dessert isn’t strawberry shortcake.’

I kept asking Dante to make strawberry shortcake for me, so that’s how that perception became solidified in the mansion.

Well, it’s delicious, so it doesn’t matter!

“If you’re going to the kitchen, I’ll go too. Actually, I bought gifts for the kitchen staff too.”

“Oh my! How can you be so considerate and warm-hearted? Everyone will be very touched.”

“They always make delicious food for me, so I should be grateful.”

There were a lot of employees in the mansion. There were many whose names I didn’t even know and faces I had never seen. So, there was no reason to buy things for all of them, and I couldn’t.

‘But I want to take care of the people I recognize and have become close to.’

Not just because of the Laheen prevention plan, but because I’m really grateful.

“By the way, where’s Ian? Hasn’t he come back yet?”

“Ah, I haven’t seen Ian-doryeonnim [a respectful title for a young master] lately.”

“I wanted to give him his gift right away. What a shame.”

I hope he’s okay at the border.

I wanted to ask Father to send a letter with magic, but that was purely my greed. What if his concentration is disturbed because of me during dangerous training?

‘I’ll keep it safe and give it to him when we meet.’

He’d be surprised to find out that the acrobat we found with Ian was actually from Arkalik.

‘I like this.’

Sharing the same memories and being able to talk about them. I guess that’s what close friends are.

“How could you do all this…”

“I, Jeff, will cherish this as a family heirloom for the rest of my life. Thank… you. Little Madam.”

“Heo. This is the first time in my life that I’ve seen someone take care of the kitchen staff like this.”

And a little later, when I appeared with everyone’s gifts, the kitchen was almost in ruins.

First of all, Jeff, the head chef, suddenly started shedding tears like chicken droppings, and the other cooks wiped their eyes with their sleeves.

‘I knew they’d like it, but…’

I was a little embarrassed because I didn’t know they would be so happy, and then I hugged Jeff tightly.

“Thank you for always making delicious food. Thanks to Jeff and the kitchen staff, every day is happy.”

“Keu, keuheup… Keuheoeoeong!”

Jeff eventually buried his face in his pot lid-sized hands and burst into tears.

The head cook, with reddened eyes, came to me and whispered.

“Jeff has dedicated his whole life to this family. He’s been helping with the kitchen work here since he was ten years old, and he’s risen to the position of head chef now.”

“Eung [a soft affirmative].”

“But… Florin-nim is the first person to come and acknowledge our names, and to buy us gifts because you thought of us when you went on a trip. So he’s so moved; if you leave him alone, he’ll stop crying.”

Jeff was now sobbing.

I patted Jeff on the back and then hugged the other cooks one by one.

“We have always thought it was a great honor just to serve the Duke’s family.”

“That’s right! It didn’t matter if you didn’t know who was making the food.”

“But we’re glad that you recognize that there are people behind the food. We didn’t know it would make us this happy.”

Ah, that’s right. That’s it.

‘There are people behind the food.’

There are people behind the well-ironed clothes, and there are people behind the clean sheets. I must not forget that.

‘I’m glad I bought the gifts.’

I smiled brightly and then shouted loudly.

“I want to eat strawberry shortcake today!”

“Of course, of course! I’ll make it right away. This Jeff will! The most delicious strawberry shortcake in the world… Keuheong, I’ll make it!”

“Thank you!”

I smiled brightly and waved my hands at everyone. It was a pleasant afternoon.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a place for adults that children shouldn’t know about, deep, deep below the kitchen, was the Driblyane family’s secret prison.

“That’s too much. I followed you here willingly, but this is how you treat me.”

In the history of Driblyane, this secret prison has never been empty.

Even now, opposite the narrowest and dirtiest prison where Hwairan was imprisoned, quite a few people were thrown around carelessly.

Their pupils were all clouded, and they had lost their reason and could not use Iculus [magical power] properly. Some had lost their minds from repeated pain and tried to transform into animals. Of course, they couldn’t even transform properly and became a terrible sight, half human and half animal.

Once you enter, you can’t leave even if you die. Even imprisoned in such a scary place, Hwairan was not very flustered.

“Oh, that’s a place called the Military Academy on the ground. Isn’t that its emblem?”

Hwairan, who was leisurely looking around, paid attention to the emblem attached to the clothes worn by his fellow prisoners.

In fact, he couldn’t help but pay attention because there were so many people wearing clothes with that emblem.

“Did they do something really wrong? Judging by their weak pheromones, they’re just servants at best.”

However, no matter how much he rambled, there was no answer. Silencing the opponent with silence. Hwairan knew that method well too.

If he were in the opposite position, he would have done the same. Imprison them, pressure them with the atmosphere. After extracting information, he would have wondered how to kill them in the most painful way.

Hwairan looked at the dimly shining turquoise eyes and already realized that he was of the same kind as himself. So he knew that he was conflicted.

“Hey. You already know about me, Princess? Besides, the Princess definitely wanted to go to Arkalik.”

Of course, the Princess firmly said she wouldn’t go. However, the man in front of him couldn’t know that fact, so Hwairan decided to lie without any pangs of conscience.

“The Princess belongs to the sky. She is not someone who should be treated as a lowly albino on the ground.”

Oh, there’s a little reaction this time.

Hwairan quickly judged what among the words he had just said might have stimulated him, and he spat it out again.

“A lowly albino. Yes, I too would be called lowly here, but not in the sky. The Princess is a Gaiyanos [a person from Arkalik] like me. She must return to where she originally belonged.”

Of course, I don’t know if she’s really a princess yet.

Just as he was thinking that, the man asked back.

“So, what if she’s not a princess when she goes?”

“Then it would be right to immediately re-exile her as a descendant of a sinner, but if you wish, I will try to persuade her to live in Arkalik. She can live on my island.”

“Not worth listening to. Isn’t that just using the child as you please? If she’s such a precious daughter, why don’t you come down yourself?”

His Majesty to come in person?

There’s a limit to crazy talk.

Hwairan rarely became serious.

“His Majesty is an existence like a god. How would those on the ground know that he is not someone who can move carelessly?”

“If you can’t even come in person to find your precious lost daughter, what kind of father is that?”

Kirakserus chuckled and sneered.

In fact, rationally, he already knew that the plan put forward by Florin was quite good. He also knew that it would benefit the family if it proceeded that way. But his heart couldn’t agree.

A biological father. There might be a biological father.

‘My biological father didn’t appear in my past life.’