Episode 31 of “She’s My Mother-in-Law, But I Don’t Want Conflict”
I turned to look at Jace again. Though he pretended to be polite with his hands folded neatly, the displeasure in his eyes made it obvious—he wanted to go home right away.
“One of the educational methods I know… is called ‘table manners education.’”
Who would’ve thought I’d be promoting Korean Confucian values in a medieval fantasy world?
Instead of the usual dining hall, I ordered the staff to prepare a meal in a smaller dining room with only four chairs and a modest table.
The son of Viscount Milo, Jace, had absolutely no idea what situation he’d gotten himself into.
‘Why am I even here?’
He kept sneaking glances around. Within arm’s reach sat a stern-looking woman silently spooning her cream soup.
He didn’t understand why he was here, why the woman—introduced as the Grand Duchess—had brought him to this dining room, or what any of this meant.
Normally, he would be eating dinner in the mansion’s main dining hall with the viscountess and her students by now.
And he’d probably be whining about why there wasn’t any meat or how annoying it was to pick out fish bones.
But in front of this woman, he couldn’t even think of opening his mouth.
“I don’t like celery…”
He tried dropping the comment casually.
“In that case, we’ll have celery fritters tomorrow.”
The terrifying reply came immediately. Wondering if she’d said it on purpose for him to hear, he glanced at her, but she continued eating her celery with an unreadable expression.
‘Wait… she said I’m coming here again tomorrow? Then… I’ll really have to eat celery fritters? No way…’
Afraid that not finishing his plate might lead to even more celery tomorrow, Jace forced himself to eat it. Then the woman spoke again.
“Actually, meatballs would be better.”
No boy hates meatballs. Reassured that he had made the right choice, Jace swallowed the celery whole without even chewing.
“Pfft…”
The viscountess beside him let out a small laugh, but Jace was too busy stuffing his mouth with soup to forget the taste of celery to notice.
When he finished the soup, a dish with roasted cabbage and carrots topped with minced meat was served. He tried to push aside the vegetables, but then Wilhelmina spoke.
“…Why did you push Rose earlier?”
Jace blinked and glanced at the viscountess. She didn’t react, her gaze still fixed on her plate.
“Who’s Rose?”
“The girl you pushed—the one who broke the flowerpot.”
“She was… rude!”
He’d learned to answer questions with confidence. Jace straightened his shoulders and responded proudly.
“She’s just a maid and disobeyed my order. That’s why she got punished.”
“But the viscountess asked her for something first.”
“But I gave my order after that. And isn’t it a bigger mistake to leave a guest waiting at the door?”
The vocabulary was a bit too complex for a child, clearly mimicked from something an adult had said.
Wilhelmina, seemingly catching on, gave a faint smile and asked,
“Do you act the same way at home?”
“At home…?”
“I mean, do you treat your father’s servants the same way?”
“Of course! All the servants at home are under me!”
Even though she had deliberately emphasized “your father’s,” Jace didn’t catch the nuance.
To Jace, servants were simply subordinates who had to obey noble commands—regardless of whose servant they were or what the order was.
If something went wrong, it was always the servant’s fault.
Wilhelmina turned her head toward the viscountess.
“…So this is what you wanted me to teach him?”
“Yes.”
“…?”
Jace tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what they were talking about.
“Jace, do you have any siblings?”
“I have a younger brother.”
“What’s he like?”
“He’s a crybaby! He always cries over everything, so I don’t play with him.”
“I see. And at the academy? Who do you hang out with?”
He wasn’t sure why she was asking, but it wasn’t a hard question. Jace clearly listed the names of the kids he spent time with.
Baron’s son Neil, knight apprentice Jonas, the merchant’s son Sanson… and proudly added that he was their leader.
“What about others? Kids from families ranked higher than yours?”
“…No.”
Jace’s eyes wavered slightly. Worried she might ask again, he stammered,
“Th-they have their own group. They’re not like me.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Listening to his answer while finishing her plate, Wilhelmina set down her utensils and muttered,
“Classic case of picking on the weak and only hanging out with your underlings… Got it. Jace?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have any friends, do you?”
With no warning, Wilhelmina stabbed the boy with a verbal dagger.
“You didn’t mention a single person you’d actually call a friend.”
“Well…”
“You don’t need to say it. I’ve seen plenty of kids like you.”
And with a surprisingly cheerful face, she took a sip of water.
A bright expression the viscountess had never seen from her.
“You’re actually a loner, aren’t you?”
Jace could only breathe heavily, like a boiling kettle ready to explode.
‘Kids like Jace are everywhere.’
There’s always that one bratty “playground boss” in any group. Back in the modern world, they were often the physically strong or tall boys. But this world was a bit different.
Here, that role was decided by “status”—the absolute standard that could even warp the social lives of children.
Kids from noble families automatically became leaders, while lower-status kids had to follow.
It was cruel, but there wasn’t much a single teacher could do to change such a system.
‘But I can at least teach him some empathy.’
That’s what the viscountess had asked of me.
She knew I got along well with the staff and hoped I could teach Jace the values of empathy and responsibility expected of a noble.
‘There are a few ways to deal with a playground bully…’
At the afterschool academy I used to attend, the Taekwondo instructors usually handled kids like him.
For boys at that age, physical activity was one of the best ways to get through to them.
‘That must be why noble families send their sons to sword training once they hit puberty.’
Even at the capital’s academy, noble boys loved to boast about having taken fencing lessons when they were younger. Maybe knights in this world served the same role that dojang masters did back home.
But I couldn’t rely on that method here. So as I considered my options over dinner… a very useful bit of information landed in my lap.
Jace had never had a real friend.
‘Peer bonding, social skills training, guilt development… Nice. This could work.’
If I tried this in Korea?
I’d be fired before the disciplinary committee even convened. But in this world, there were no such things as “gentle teacher rights.”
‘Let’s start by punishing him for breaking that flowerpot.’
It had been a while since I acted, and oddly enough, I was starting to enjoy it.
The next day, after sleeping over at the viscountess’s estate, Jace proudly marched into the Layton duchy from early morning, feeling more confident than ever.
He had spoken with other noble kids he boarded with and finally got some info on Wilhelmina.
‘What? She was a fallen noble!’
No wonder things felt off. To him, a duchess was supposed to be a radiant woman with golden hair and overwhelming charisma.
But Wilhelmina gave off a heavy, composed air instead of anything flashy—more like a strict academy teacher than a grand noble lady.
So how could she be a duchess?
Hearing about her background finally made it click.
‘She’s a leech!’
He didn’t know what kind of bug a “leech” was, but it was a word seniors at the academy often used.
They’d call low-born fiancées or incompetent attendants “leeches.”
People of low status who clung shamelessly to nobles.
Jace didn’t know what the actual insect looked like, but he fully understood the insult.
If Wilhelmina was one of those, then he had no reason to be afraid of her. After all, his father was a prominent noble of the northwest.
‘My dad is way more important than hers!’
That baseless confidence was enough to puff out Jace’s chest again.
With swagger in every step, he walked toward the annex. His posture was so exaggerated that one of the maids who happened to see him stifled a laugh.
‘First things first… I’ll make her apologize! And then I’m ending this whole “education” thing!’
