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

Huh?

The instructor looked up with a bewildered expression.

The usually polite Alexei was nowhere to be seen; now he faced the instructor with a fierce gaze.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Excuse me?”

“What happened to your apology regarding the mistress of Balua?”

An apology?!

At the unexpected remark, the instructor’s eyes widened in shock.

But Alexei was serious.

“If you respect Balua, you should show respect to its mistress as well.”

“B-but, Your Grace…!”

“Nevertheless, you have consistently treated my wife with disrespect, so shouldn’t you apologize for that?”

A smooth smile curled on Alexei’s lips.

It was a sharp smile, like a finely honed blade.

“Or do you want to make an enemy of Balua itself?”

“I don’t want that…!”

“Then you should apologize.”

Alexei made his point firmly.

“Politely, I mean.”

Anriche stared blankly at the side of her husband’s face.

Now that she thought about it, it had been quite a while since she had seen that cold expression on Alexei’s face.

‘Of course, Alexei is the type to clearly differentiate right from wrong, so it’s not surprising that he acts like this…’

Seeing Alexei refer to her as ‘the mistress of Balua and my wife’ made her feel oddly strange.

It was like a soft feather brushing against her heart, creating a bizarre tickling sensation deep within.

“I-I’m sorry…”

In the end, the instructor bowed his head to Anriche as well.

Meanwhile, Anriche felt a twist of resentment at his submissive attitude.

‘Wow, look at how he changes his tone the moment Alexei steps in.’

All the confidence he had while confronting her had vanished, replaced by a slumped posture.

Anriche narrowed her eyes and spoke up.

“Alright. I’ll accept the apology regarding my person.”

“Th-then…”

“However, blocking a student who has obtained permission to observe is a violation of the academy’s regulations.”

With a light shrug of her shoulders toward the now-flushed instructor, Anriche continued.

“I will be contacting the academy regarding your misconduct.”

“Y-Your Grace!”

“That would be a wise decision.”

The instructor hurriedly tried to dissuade Anriche, but just then, Alexei interjected, missing the opportunity.

Alexei looked down at the instructor.

“Do you have any objections to my wife’s judgment?”

The sharpness in his icy blue eyes was so intimidating that the instructor felt a chill running down his spine.

“…N-no, I don’t.”

Only after confirming that the instructor had taken a step back did Alexei turn to Anriche and the children.

“Shall we go?”

“Ah, thank you. Let’s go in, kids.”

Anriche wrapped her arms around the children’s shoulders as they moved forward.

As they entered the courtyard, the vast academy grounds came into view.

The Huangli Academy was not just for swordsmanship but also had departments for arts, politics, and social studies, among others, teaching students in various fields.

Naturally, the scale was quite large.

The children who rushed ahead were engrossed in exploring the academy’s interior.

“Kids, didn’t I tell you not to run in school?”

What if they trip and fall!

While following the children, Anriche began to worry aloud when she suddenly felt a gaze and turned around.

‘Ah, we made eye contact.’

A pair of gentle blue eyes, as serene as the autumn sky, were looking at her.

Anriche opened her mouth with a smiling face.

“I’m sorry for the late introduction. Thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing. It’s absurd that a girl can’t observe swordsmanship.”

Alexei’s attitude was rather nonchalant, as if it were no big deal.

“More importantly, this is your first time at the academy, so let me help guide you.”

“Oh, you seem to know your way around the academy?”

“I attended classes here for about six months in the past.”

…Really?

She quickly searched her memory, but it was still something she had never heard before.

It seemed that the original Anriche truly had no interest in Balua or even her husband.

Anriche struggled to hide her awkward expression.

“Among the lesser branches who will continue the family line, those who aspire to swordsmanship must take classes at the academy for at least six months.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. It means pledging loyalty to the imperial family.”

Alexei shrugged his shoulders and continued his calm explanation.

“Since I inherited the Balua family’s swordsmanship, I only attended basic classes, but the curriculum itself is quite good.”

“Hmm, then should Elliott also attend swordsmanship school?”

“Well, if Elliott is intent on becoming a knight, that would be necessary, but…”

Alexei glanced briefly at his son.

With a curious expression, Elliott was tugging at Liliana’s sleeve while looking around.

“Look at that building, Liliana!”

“Wow, there are so many windows! Are those all classrooms?”

“Seems so! I heard there are many departments besides the swordsmanship division!”

“How exciting! I want to go in too!”

Watching the two children chatter, a faint smile appeared on Alexei’s lips.

“I don’t want to force Elliott to become a knight.”

“Then…”

“I plan to respect Elliott’s wishes on that matter.”

From Alexei, there was a palpable sense of a father’s affection, and Anriche nodded happily.

Come to think of it, Alexei seemed to have quite a kind disposition towards his family.

What would the original Anriche, who had received such disdain from him, think?

Sigh, what’s the point of thinking about that now?

Complaining about the original Anriche felt like spitting on her own face at this point.

Just then, as Anriche sighed inwardly, Alexei stopped walking.

“This is the department building used by the swordsmanship division.”

Before them stood a large three-story building made of reddish bricks.

The group stepped inside the building.

Upon entering, they found that the department building was structured around a training ground.

Perhaps it was training time; the shouts of students echoed loudly.

“Ha!”

“Haap!”

Liliana bounced on her feet and looked up at Anriche.

“Um, can I take a closer look?”

“Of course, feel free to watch.”

Since they had received permission for the observation, what was the problem as long as they didn’t disturb the trainees?

Anriche smiled brightly.

As soon as permission was granted, Liliana dashed over to the window.

She pressed her nose against the glass and gazed with wide, sparkling eyes.

“Wow…”

Beyond the window, students were fully engaged in their training.

Liliana watched in a trance as they wielded wooden swords, thrusting, extending, and cutting with precision.

“I can’t believe I get to observe the training of swordsmanship students; it feels like a dream…”

Before she knew it, Liliana was clutching her chest with both hands, her heart racing with excitement.

Elliott shook his head in disapproval.

“Really, Liliana can’t think straight whenever swordsmanship comes up.”

“Well, you were also glued to the art gallery last time, trying to stay there all day.”

“When did I ever do that?”

The two children began bickering.

Unable to stand it any longer, Alexei interjected.

“Both of you, stop that and let’s head out to the training ground.”

“W-what? Can we really go to the training ground?”

Liliana exclaimed, surprised, raising her head sharply.

Alexei, looking into Liliana’s starry green eyes, patted her head a couple of times.

“Sure, it seems the training has just ended, so it won’t disturb the students.”

“I really wanted to see the internal facilities too… Thank you, Your Grace!”

The two of them conversed in a way that seemed more like a friendly father and daughter than a daughter-in-law and father-in-law.

Anriche felt pleased at the sight.

Finally, Alexei turned to Anriche.

“Then let’s go, my lady.”

Feeling warm inside from Alexei’s attentiveness that included her, Anriche couldn’t help but think.

‘…Still, I feel like my relationship with Alexei has improved a bit compared to before?’

With a contented heart, Anriche followed behind her husband and the children.

***

The training ground was full of energy, just as the training had ended.

Liliana clung tightly to Anriche’s side, constantly glancing around and chattering like a little bird.

“Mom, look at those students!”

To Anriche, they seemed like ordinary students, but perhaps they appeared differently to Liliana.

Liliana clenched her fists and exclaimed.

“Aren’t they really impressive?”

“I-impressive?”

“Yes! I want to spar with them once!”

Before she knew it, Liliana was igniting her characteristic fighting spirit.

This seemed like a perfect situation for Elliott to get jealous…

Anriche glanced over at Elliott.

Just as I thought.

Elliott was pouting, glaring at the students with a huff.