Chapter 96: Luden (3)

When I previously spoke about it, I might have exaggerated about knowing absolutely nothing about my mother-in-law, but that was merely from the perspective of a reader of the novel. To say I had no information about her wouldn’t be true; it wasn’t like I was completely in the dark.

Essentially, being the minor head of the Kraus family, I was expected to keep information about the high nobility of the empire in mind, and that included knowledge about her, the lady of the Edelweiss house.

More importantly, even though I had thoughts of breaking up my engagement at the time, she was an elder from the opposing family, so I didn’t have to seek out information actively; it naturally flowed to me.

I might have neglected this information, considering I never intended to meet her, focusing more on other things, but that didn’t mean I completely ignored it. For instance, I remembered things like her being a former professor at the Golden Tower and her known hobbies and preferences in the social circles.

However, perhaps due to the tension, what I thought I had comprehensively understood now feels as vague and misty as looking through a fogged, blurry mirror.

Thinking about all this didn’t seem to calm my trembling heart, so I shook my head slightly, trying to erase these thoughts from my mind. Yet, my head remained cluttered, and the space I thought I had cleared was soon occupied by another thought.

Why do memories of meeting Elena for the first time come to mind now? I don’t recall being this nervous back then. My feet might have trembled, but still.

I closed my eyes for a moment, following the stream of consciousness that brought up these seemingly related memories.

I had intended to clear my mind and relax, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

It seemed my mind was over-conscious about her, automatically bringing up what it thought might be helpful. Normally, this would work fine, but now it was like a malfunction, completely haphazard.

It was like typing into a cheap search engine, where all sorts of random thoughts pop up as results.

It might have been better not to think of anything at all; due to my nervousness, only useless information had been haphazardly pulled into my mind. The unordered stream of information swirling in my head was causing chaos rather than being of any help.

Despite my efforts, my heart wouldn’t calm down, so I leaned my head against the window, half in resignation.

The sight of Elena and Hailey, beaming and laughing beside me, provided some comfort, but it was insufficient to quell the storm in my mind.

Embracing this turmoil, I gazed out the window at the mansion that was now close at hand. It looked like a well-maintained, impressive, but strangely, it felt to me more like a demon lord’s castle.

As the carriage stopped in front of the door, a strange gaze swept over us, and then, without anyone’s aid, the doors to the mansion opened by themselves.

Is this the so-called fantasy-style automatic door I’ve only heard about in stories?

It seemed the mansion was equipped with multiple such devices, likely because both my mother-in-law and Elena’s brother were versed in alchemy. The devices, unnoticeable from the outside, only start triggering their magic once one crosses the threshold.

‘Is this place not a house, but a fortress..?’

Upon entering the mansion, what appeared ordinary from the outside was actually protected by an invisible system.

If I hadn’t been so tense and focused, I might have missed the subtly hidden magical waves emanating from all around. Being a layman in magic, I couldn’t precisely identify the purpose of these magical waves, but I could roughly guess their nature and size from the magical fields they created.

After all, a place inhabited by two magicians, nearly archmages, couldn’t be ordinary. The white castle of the Edelweiss family, though overshadowed by the grandeur of the Mage Tower, was fortified with all sorts of magic.

But in my overly tense state, I should have stopped my thoughts there. Instead, I irrationally worried whether this security system might target me. It was an absurd thought, and I knew it, but for some reason, it just crossed my mind.

It was only when I mentally breached the mansion’s final security system that I returned to reality.

It wasn’t voluntary. I didn’t even realize where I was walking until Elena took my hand.

‘Were you nervous?’

Elena spoke to me without making a sound, moving only her lips so Hailey, walking ahead, wouldn’t hear. To her question, I nodded silently without saying a word.

Elena didn’t continue the conversation.

Instead, as if trying to ease my tension, she started tickling the hand she was holding. I responded to her playfulness by bumping my fingers against hers. Was it just my imagination? Today, her touch seemed unusually warmer.

When our eyes met again, she replaced her question with a refreshing smile. I responded in kind, silently moving my lips as she had.

‘I’m okay now.’

Perhaps pleased with my answer, Elena intensified her playful finger attack.

Although clearing my head was still impossible, it felt like I could at least fill it with this single thought.

***

What could be the way to instantly recognize the relationship between a parent and their child?

In modern times, the answer might immediately point to a DNA test, but that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the elements that enable one to discern the relationship between a child and their parent when they are seen together.

For instance, the acquaintances of my father immediately recognize me as Arthur Kraus’ son when they see me. This isn’t just because black hair is unique to the Kraus family in this world, but also because my face closely resembles my father’s.

Like in the case of Franz I encountered recently, he commented that our temperaments and personalities were similar. Honestly, I might agree with the temperament, but I can’t quite see the similarity in personality. Nevertheless, such elements exist that make people around us judge, ‘This person is the son or daughter of so-and-so.’

These are subjective judgments, not always accurate, but in novels and comics, such elements often help readers connect the relationships between characters, and they usually turn out to be correct.

That was exactly the case right now.

“Adelia Edelweiss. Pleased to meet you. Kraus...no, Prince Damian. This is our first face-to-face meeting, isn’t it?”

When I first entered the drawing room, I immediately knew that the woman sitting in the chair was Elena’s mother.

Was it more about the atmosphere than the appearance? Just like how Franz associated me with my father upon seeing me, the moment I saw Adelia, Elena’s face instantly came to mind.

Her sparkling eyes looking at me were exactly like Elena’s when she looked up at me with joy.

I kept seeing Elena in her, and suddenly, my tension seemed to dissolve. Now that I think about it, why didn’t I consider that Adelia would resemble Elena? If I had thought of that, maybe I would have been less weary.

“Ah, hello, ma’am. I received your letter. Thank you so much for allowing me to stay here until I enroll in the academy.”

The tension draining away, I felt the rigidness in my body loosen. I hurried to gather my scattered thoughts and opened my mouth to speak.

It was somewhat different, but recalling how I usually talk to Elena made it easier for me to start a conversation without feeling as intimidated as before. The fact that I managed to initiate without any blunder brought me a small sense of relief, though it seemed I was still not completely at ease.

“Wow...”

But... why does my mother-in-law’s reaction seem a bit odd?

Adelia’s response to my answer was so unexpected that it made me reconsider what I had just said. She started looking at me as if she had seen something fascinating.

She then muttered something under her breath, too quietly for anyone else to hear. However, since I was concentrating on what she might say next, I managed to catch her words clearly.

“...To see a face so identical to Arthur’s responding so politely, it’s somewhat hard to get used to.”

Father!!

--- END OF CHAPTER ---

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