Chapter 33: She’s My Mother-in-Law, But I Hate Mother-Daughter-in-Law Conflict
“Hmm…”
It was too bothersome to explain that I did it because I didn’t want to resort to corporal punishment.
In this era, everyone chose physical discipline, and Nata had once belonged to a group that imposed rigorous training on misbehaving children.
It would be hard to convince him that there were punishments more effective than hitting.
“Sure, maybe you can fix things with a beating. Like disrespectful behavior or a teenager’s aggression. But what I want to teach… can’t be done with a stick.”
“What is it that you want to teach?”
I leaned in close to Nata and whispered quietly into his ear.
He flinched for a moment at my sudden proximity, then rolled his eyes in confusion as he heard my words.
“Is that even something you can teach?”
“It’s difficult. That’s exactly why a simple beating won’t work.”
If this were a problem that could be solved with corporal punishment, the viscountess wouldn’t have asked me in the first place.
And she seemed to sense that if this wasn’t resolved quickly, something big would happen.
She was right.
“I don’t think that child will reflect on his actions in just ten days.”
“Still, we have to try. This is his last chance.”
“Why is it the last?”
Nata seemed quite curious about my teaching methods. He was talking more than he did when we met Jane.
As I entered the annex, I smacked the back of a servant muttering something about wanting to go on vacation like Rose.
“Nata, when do you think is the best time for someone to truly reflect on their wrongdoing?”
“…When they mature?”
“No. It’s when the damage they’ve caused is at its smallest.”
“……”
Whether the perpetrator matured, became an adult, or succeeded later in life… the actual timing of their reflection didn’t matter much.
The optimal time was when the number of victims was still small, and the wounds they caused hadn’t turned into scars yet—when it was still possible for remorse to be forgiven.
“Sounds like wordplay, doesn’t it? If someone were the kind to reflect so easily, they probably wouldn’t have done anything wrong to begin with.”
“…So that’s why you said this is his last chance.”
“Yeah. If we leave that kid as he is, he’ll definitely do something worse later.”
Rose had left for her month-long vacation with a cheerful grin.
She even said Jace’s verbal abuse was nothing compared to the former duke’s behavior, and that she’d meet Jace again if it meant getting another vacation.
Even his actions at the academy could still technically be resolved with an apology—for now. Though he treated friends like subordinates, he hadn’t used violence or participated in bullying.
That’s why this was the final chance, before his growing body and temperament collided and created more victims.
There were countless kids in the modern world who committed irredeemable crimes after missing their window for discipline.
“This is why education is such a hassle… Oh, if he gets out of control, I’ll have to resort to a stick. In that case, I’ll leave it to you, Nata. I don’t have much strength in my hands.”
“If you command it, I’ll use a cane—just hard enough not to break any bones.”
“…A cane can’t usually break bones, you know.”
“Because the disrespect he’s shown to the madam can’t be punished with just an ordinary cane.”
I wish he wouldn’t say things like that with such an absurdly beautiful face. Getting hit by someone that good-looking might leave me with another kind of trauma.
I brought Jace to the study. Inside, a beginner-level workbook for academy students was already waiting.
I had brought it with me when I married into this house. Naturally, I had never solved a single page of it—so it was practically brand new.
Back when I packed it, I wondered why I even brought it, but I didn’t really have many possessions. Maybe it was like a keepsake of sorts.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Ten pages a day. A hundred pages total. Finish the whole workbook.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yup.”
Jace’s crumpled expression lit up. He hadn’t expected lessons to be this simple.
He must have figured that since he solved workbooks like this every day back at the academy, it’d be no big deal.
“If I finish it all, can I leave early?”
“Sure. But if you take longer…”
“Fine! I’ll start right away!”
“……”
He seemed a bit intimidated when signing the consent form, but clearly hadn’t changed his habit of ignoring what people said.
Jace sat at the desk with the workbook, and I went over to the sofa across from him and laid down.
“Alright then, get started.”
The workbook was appropriate for Jace’s grade level—not too difficult. He opened it confidently… then froze, his eyes going wide.
“W-What is this…”
I yawned and picked up the book I had left on the sofa. I planned to finally finish the novel I had started a while back, while casually supervising Jace’s progress.
“There’s too much!”
“Yeah, there is. It’s a ‘San’ workbook.”
There seemed to be a similarly named workbook in Korea, but I ignored the coincidence.
That workbook had a notorious reputation even at the capital’s academy—due to its ridiculous amount of content and overwhelming variety of problems.
Professors loved it, but students who had experienced it even once hated it. The one I gave Jace was the beginner-level version.
“If you think you can’t handle it… want to give up?”
“Ugh…”
With no other option, Jace buried his face in the workbook and got to solving the problems.
Thankfully, as the viscountess had said, he wasn’t exactly bad at studying. He even used a spare notebook to work things out.
‘Now then…’
The next candidate to take over would probably be arriving soon.
About two hours passed, and just as lunchtime approached, someone knocked on the study door.
“Who is it?”
“Madam, it’s Mirinae.”
When I told her to come in, Mirinae struggled to open the heavy door and stepped inside. Her frizzy auburn hair bounced like clouds as she walked.
“Excuse me.”
“Here to study again today?”
“Yes.”
Lately, a few kids—Mirinae included—had developed a fondness for studying.
They had enjoyed the fairy tales I read aloud so much that some of them memorized the stories, which sparked an interest in reading.
Only a handful of children pursued it further, but among them, Mirinae had made exceptional progress.
Though she was slow to speak, she was incredibly smart. Even though she was late to reading, she picked up arithmetic in no time—so much so that Anna, who helped her, was astonished.
She even told Mirinae to save the money she earned to apply for the academy someday.
“The desk is taken right now, so… sit here.”
I brought over a makeshift desk, a little distance from Jace’s.
Mirinae only had time to study from lunch until right before afternoon chores resumed—barely two hours.
The other kids preferred to study after their shifts ended, but Mirinae always came during her lunch break.
I patted her head affectionately and fetched the textbook from the shelf.
“Do you remember what we did yesterday?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s review.”
Right now, Mirinae was studying basic arithmetic and reading. I had taught young kids before in cram schools, so teaching a smart kid like Mirinae wasn’t hard at all.
“Okay, so here…”
Jace, unintentionally joining the lesson, frowned at Mirinae at first, but soon began glancing curiously, as if fascinated by me teaching.
‘Do I really not look like a teacher?’
I half expected him to complain about the servant sitting nearby, but he let it slide quietly—thank goodness.
I didn’t want to leave a bad impression on their first encounter, and if Jace caused another scene right after being scolded at the gate, that’d be annoying.
Before I knew it, lunchtime had come. I glanced at the lunchbox Mirinae had brought and asked,
“Are you eating here again today?”
“Yes. Is that okay?”
“Of course. But you have to eat only at the desk.”
Mirinae smiled brightly and nodded. She looked so cute that I patted her head again, then turned to Jace, who was suffering over the mountain of problems.
“Jace, what about you? Want to come with me to the dining hall?”
“…Eat with you?”
“There’s just the two of us here, so yes. We’ll eat together.”
Jace’s face twisted in disgust. Judging by yesterday, he clearly didn’t want to eat with me even if it killed him.
“If you don’t like that, should I send someone else here? Want to eat with Mirinae instead?”
“…I’ll eat here.”
“Alright, then play nice until I get back.”
I left the study. Behind me, I could hear Mirinae calling Jace’s name, but I pretended not to hear and closed the door.
Outside, Nata was waiting for me with a document in hand.
“It’s the permit from the main house.”
“You even got a permit? What a hassle.”
The document stated that Jace was permitted to enter for ten days. From now on, he could come to the annex without any security checks at the castle’s main gate.
‘So they really are monitoring the Viscount Milo family.’
When the viscountess and I informed the main house about Jace, Mikhail sent his response back quickly.
