When I Quit Being A Wicked Mother-in-law, Everyone Became Obsessed With Me

“Ah.”

Anriche hurriedly withdrew her hand.

With a somewhat embarrassed face, she asked, “I’m sorry, did I startle you?”

“……No, not at all.”

The area where her finger had touched felt hot, as if it had been burned.

Somehow, a tingling feeling arose deep in his chest, and he involuntarily cleared his throat.

“Um, are you having any difficulties taking care of the children?”

“No, not at all. They’re just adorable.”

Anriche shrugged her shoulders and gave a bashful smile.

“I’ve been thinking lately that you’re a really kind person, Your Grace.”

“……Me?”

“If I were you, I would have collapsed into bed and fallen asleep right away. I never expected you to come all the way here just to see the children.”

“That’s…”

Faced with her, he couldn’t bring himself to say that he had come not only to see the children but also to spend time with her.

Alexei merely smiled awkwardly in return.

Just then, Anriche’s eyes widened.

“Oh, dear. You should be sleeping, but I’ve been keeping you too long.”

“No, it’s fine to talk a bit more…”

“No, you have to leave early tomorrow morning, right?”

Hearing her voice full of concern, he felt it was pointless to insist any further.

Swallowing his disappointment, Alexei politely said goodnight.

“Then, have a good night, Your Grace.”

“Good night to you too.”

With a slight bow, Anriche turned back into her room.

Click.

The door closed.

The smiling face disappeared beyond the door, and he could no longer see it.

“……”

Once again, this emptiness.

Alexei stared blankly at the door from which no light was seeping through, then turned his body away.

His steps back to the room felt strangely heavy.

***

Following this, Anriche promptly sent a request to the Holy Academy for a swordsmanship club tour.

The academy replied with an approval.

Hearing this news, Liliana was so overjoyed that she nearly fainted.

“Is it really that good?”

“Yes, yes!”

Liliana nodded vigorously, her cheeks flushed.

Thus, Anriche set off for the academy the very next day, bringing the two children along.

But…

“Why can’t we go on the tour?”

…They were blocked right at the entrance.

Anriche couldn’t hide her astonishment as she glared at the instructor before her.

“I’ve received a tour approval from the academy headquarters!”

She took the tour approval letter out from her belongings to show the instructor.

However, the instructor didn’t even glance at the letter.

Instead, with an expressionless face, he shook his head.

“The reason we allow outsiders to observe the swordsmanship club is to aid in the training of young students who will lead the Empire in the future.”

“Yes, that’s why I want Liliana to observe.”

“But this young lady is not a boy.”

The instructor narrowed his eyes and looked at Liliana.

“If it were Baron Balua’s son, it might be different, but that young lady cannot participate.”

“What did you say?”

“From the beginning, the probability of becoming an excellent knight differs between males and females.”

The instructor clicked his tongue briefly and shook his head.

“No matter how much a girl trains, she cannot escape the limitations of being a woman.”

“What do you mean by that…!”

“If she is to be the fiancée of Baron Balua, she will become the mistress of Balua in the future.”

The instructor continued, pretending to genuinely concern himself for Liliana.

“It would be better for someone like her to go back and learn about being a bride rather than wasting time here…”

“Have you finished saying everything?”

At the sharp tone of her voice, the startled instructor reflexively shut his mouth.

Every word from the instructor was subtly provoking.

Anriche bit her jaw tightly.

‘This is frustrating.’

Though she pretended to respect Liliana outwardly, the underlying stereotype that ‘women are inferior to men’ emerged.

Seeing that stereotype reminded her of her own situation.

Even though she was the eldest daughter of the Huxley Marquis family, she was married off in a political marriage instead of becoming the head of the family.

Of course, Anriche was generally satisfied with her marriage to Alexei.

But sometimes, when she recalled that her marriage was primarily to ensure her younger brother’s stable succession, her heart would inevitably grow cold.

‘As for my temper, I want to overturn the instructor and everything else, but… I shouldn’t do that.’

After all, she couldn’t create a scene in front of Liliana and Elliott.

Anriche calmed her boiling insides and asked calmly, “Since when did this Empire become a nation where future and occupation are determined by gender?”

“……That’s…”

“To sum up the current situation, it’s simply your arbitrary judgment preventing the student from touring, isn’t it?”

Since that was the truth, the instructor could only glare at Anriche in displeasure, unable to refute her.

Anriche seized the momentum and asked the instructor again.

“There’s no law stating that Liliana cannot observe, so by what authority are you acting like this?”

Her sharp, violet gaze directly met the instructor’s eyes.

“This is quite unpleasant. I will formally file a complaint with the academy about this matter.”

“W-wait a moment! A complaint?!”

The instructor, caught off guard, inadvertently raised his voice.

It would have been easier to handle had he shouted and gotten angry.

After all, the Duchess of Balua already carried the label of ‘villainess,’ so it would have been easy to dismiss it as ‘the villainess did something villainous.’

But now that she was addressing regulations and laws, the instructor found himself in a more difficult position.

“It’s unreasonable for you to act this way!”

“It’s you, not me, who is acting unreasonably.”

Unlike the instructor, who was now raising his voice with veins showing on his neck, Anriche maintained her calm expression throughout.

“It’s up to you to choose.”

“Lady Duchess of Balua!”

“I will publicly protest against the discrimination I have just faced at the academy by exposing your disrespectful attitude, instructor.”

Anriche tilted her head slightly to the side.

A cold smirk lingered on her lips.

“Or you can just let us in as we are.”

“That’s…!”

“Which one will you choose?”

At that elegant question, the instructor’s face turned bright red.

But just then…

“What on earth is going on here?”

A cold voice interrupted the conversation.

“Y-Your Grace, the Duke of Balua?!”

It was Alexei.

“Dad?”

“Your Grace!”

Elliott and Liliana, as well as Anriche, widened their eyes in surprise.

‘Now that I think about it, he did say he would stop by the academy if he had time…’

Alexei was such a busy person that she hadn’t truly expected him to come to the academy.

The instructor, wearing a look of injustice, began to complain to Alexei.

“Well, it’s because the Duchess has been unreasonable…”

“Unreasonable?”

Alexei’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes. The Duchess wants to allow this young lady to observe the training of the swordsmanship club…”

“And?”

“Honestly, isn’t that absurd?”

As he said this, the instructor glanced cautiously at Alexei.

After all, it was widely rumored that the Duke and Duchess of Balua had been living almost like strangers after years of conflict.

So surely he would side with me, right?

“It wouldn’t be good for her emotions to see the training scene anyway.”

With a dubious glance at Anriche, the instructor sighed heavily, as if to emphasize his point.

“Usually, noble ladies only want to show their daughters beautiful and elegant things, but I wonder why the Duchess is behaving this way…”

He spoke as if Anriche were raising Liliana very poorly.

“For a woman, isn’t finding a good man and getting married the most comfortable and secure life?”

“Why do you think you have the right to judge that?”

“……What?”

Caught off guard by the question, the instructor instinctively stiffened his shoulders.

Her icy blue eyes glared at the instructor with a chilling light.

“I’m asking why you think you have the right to judge that.”

“T-that’s just natural…!”

“Liliana, whom you suggested should just take ‘bride lessons,’ is my student whom I taught myself.”

What did he just say?

The instructor doubted his ears.

However, Alexei was not finished speaking.

“Doubting Liliana’s potential as a knight is the same as doubting my judgment for having taken her as my student.”

“N-no. That’s…”

“If that’s not the case, then there’s absolutely no reason to prevent her from observing.”

***

The instructor’s face turned red and purple.

But he couldn’t find a way to counter Alexei’s words.

After all, Alexei was the Empire’s greatest knight, and opposing his words meant…

‘That would mean questioning the Duke’s abilities.’

Damn it.

The instructor bit his jaw in frustration.

While the Duchess of Balua’s reputation wasn’t good, he could not afford to fall out with the Duke.

“……Let’s go in, then.”

In the end, the instructor bowed his head.

But just then…

A sarcastic voice dropped from above the instructor’s head.

“Let’s go in, then?”