Episode 36
I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Hate Family Feuds
As Mirinae proudly looked over the problems she had solved, she murmured to herself,
“If Jace hadn’t helped me, I would’ve had to go looking for the answer sheets. I’m glad.”
“…Answer sheets?”
Jace tilted his head and asked. Mirinae pointed outside the study.
“Yeah, the madam said that when she’s too busy, I should study using the answer sheets.”
‘You need answer sheets for problems like these?’
Jace looked back at the notebook, dumbfounded. In his eyes, these problems didn’t even require understanding.
He was about to scoff and mock her for being stupid, but then Mirinae’s next words made him freeze.
“There are a lot of question and answer sheets in there. I want to solve them all.”
“…A lot? Hey, do they have this one too?”
Jace showed Mirinae the cover of the ‘San’ workbook he had opened on the desk. Mirinae examined it closely, then nodded.
“Yeah, they have it. A new copy.”
“…!”
Jace almost slammed the desk but stopped himself just in time and pulled back his hand. Then, he glanced over at the sofa in the corner of the study. Wilhelmina was still fast asleep, not moving a muscle.
“C-Can you go get the answer sheets?”
“Why? Do you not know something too?”
“Just shut up and go get them!”
“Uh…”
Mirinae flinched at Jace’s sudden shift in tone. Her shoulders shrank like a frightened little animal. Jace felt a twinge of guilt, but instead, he grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke with urgency in his voice.
“I really need them. Okay? I helped you earlier, right? If we’re friends, you should return the favor.”
“But… I was told not to go in there unless I’m getting my answer sheets.”
“Where is ‘there’?”
“The former master’s office.”
“You mean… the former Duke’s office?”
Come to think of it, Jace had heard from the viscountess that this annex used to be the late Duke’s residence.
‘But if it’s an office…’
Normally, not even family members could enter a lord’s office casually, let alone servants. At Jace’s family estate, only the steward and retainers were allowed in the office.
“I was told not to touch anything else. Just take what I need.”
“Then it’s fine if you only bring the answer sheets.”
“But it’s not mine…”
“Are you ignoring me? You think I’m gonna steal anything else? I’m just asking for the answer sheets.”
Even though she hesitated at the mention of the office, the former Duke was already dead.
Meaning, the office was now under Wilhelmina’s use. So, there was nothing to fear.
Wilhelmina was like a parasite living in the Duke’s household. Even if he snuck into the office, she wouldn’t be able to scold him.
‘Even a kid like her goes in and out of it.’
Office or not, it probably wasn’t much different from a study.
‘Once I finish this weird workbook, I can go home. Even the viscountess won’t say anything then.’
Thinking it was his chance to end this annoying boarding situation, Jace became more impatient. As he pressured her with a stern tone, Mirinae glanced anxiously at the still-sleeping Wilhelmina.
“I want to ask the madam first.”
“No!”
“Ah!”
There was no way Wilhelmina would give permission. Jace pinched Mirinae’s cheek just as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Hey, we’re friends, right? You can’t do me one favor?”
“…”
“If you tell the madam, we’re done. I won’t teach you anymore, I won’t talk to you, and if I ever see you again…”
Jace fell silent when he saw Mirinae’s eyes well up with tears from the pinch on her cheek.
If it were one of his subordinates at the academy, he would’ve threatened them harshly. But facing her big tearful eyes, he found himself unable to say more.
“A-Anyway. Just do it.”
“But… the madam said…”
“Mirinae!”
It was the first time Jace called her by name.
“Just this once, okay? Just this one time, please.”
Moved by his desperate tone, Mirinae slowly nodded.
Unaware that Wilhelmina’s eyes were half-open behind them.
“You did great. All of them are correct.”
The answer sheets Mirinae brought were perfect. Since they were the official answer keys for the workbooks, they even included full explanations. Thanks to that, he avoided any suspicion from Wilhelmina.
‘She doesn’t really check anyway.’
Wilhelmina often left the study unattended. Around noon, she chatted with a scruffy boy in the garden, and in the afternoon, she went to the main house and didn’t return until sunset.
One time, she was even teaching the servants how to fold paper airplanes. A grand duchess sitting at a table with servants, folding paper? It was a sight Jace had never imagined.
‘Is she even really a duchess?’
Anyway, copying from the answer sheets during those times was a piece of cake.
‘The problem is that there’s more than one answer sheet.’
There were three in total, and Mirinae had only brought one.
Jace, thinking one or two made no difference, asked Mirinae to bring the next one.
She looked conflicted, aware that she had disobeyed Wilhelmina, but Jace’s sweet words swayed her again.
‘If I don’t have the answer sheets, I’ll just have to ask the madam, right? Isn’t it better to spare her the trouble by bringing the answers?’
Bringing up Wilhelmina usually made Mirinae cave.
And so, starting from the second day, Jace began using the answer sheets and breezed through the assignments.
Strangely, the nagging viscountess stopped interfering, and Wilhelmina, as long as he completed his homework, didn’t say anything either. Time flew quickly.
‘Tomorrow, it’s over.’
The promised ten days were finally coming to an end. One more day of lessons, and this awful boarding period would be done.
It should’ve been something to celebrate, but Jace, having finished all the problems, spent the afternoon lazily yawning on a bench in the garden.
“Ah—so boring.”
Once the assignments were done, he had free time until he returned to the viscountess’s mansion. But with no entertainment except books, he quickly grew bored.
As he idly sat there, a voice called out to him from afar. A head of reddish-brown hair he could spot from a distance—it was Mirinae.
“Jace!”
“Yeah.”
Jace waved at her as she approached from the opposite end of the garden.
Thanks to all the free time, he had ended up spending more time with Mirinae.
‘Was she assigned to wait on me?’
Normally, she’d be working, but ever since he finished his assignments, Mirinae showed up without fail.
Jace suspected Wilhelmina had assigned her to assist him as a temporary servant.
Either way, over these ten days, the two of them explored the annex together.
They snuck snacks from the kitchen, played treasure hunts in the old stable grounds, and guessed flower names in the garden.
None of it was fun for Jace, but with nothing else to do, he reluctantly joined.
This time, Mirinae had taken an interest in the books in the study.
“Have you read this one?”
“What, the founding myth?”
The founding myth was a required read for nobles. Jace had read it countless times.
It was a frequent topic on the academy entrance exams, and he could recite entire lines from it.
“I read it last night, but there’s a lot I don’t understand.”
“That’s because of all the ancient terms.”
The founding myth was full of archaic proper nouns, making it difficult for commoners to grasp.
Figuring he had time, Jace tilted his head as if to say, show me what parts you don’t get.
“Here and here.”
“This part is about the Ivory Tower. It originally…”
Jace explained smugly while Mirinae looked at the letters with shining eyes. But he couldn’t hide how fast his heart was pounding.
‘She’s kind of cute.’
Big eyes, rosy cheeks, and tiny hands and feet.
He’d never cared for dolls, but watching Mirinae, he could understand why people collected them.
Though her hesitation every time Wilhelmina’s name came up annoyed him, spending ten days with her made her feel more familiar than his lackeys at the academy.
Whenever he shared a small piece of knowledge, she looked at him with curiosity. She even saved her leftover snacks in a handkerchief to share with him.
Those small acts of kindness melted the rough edges of his heart.
‘Should I take her back home with me? I just need to pay her more, right?’
Servants below the rank of personal aides often moved from house to house based on salary.
Being a page in a duke’s household meant she was likely paid well, but it wouldn’t be hard for Jace to offer a better wage.
‘Upperclassmen don’t need nannies, right? I could make her my personal servant.’
Jace was already getting excited about the idea of living with Mirinae. Though not at the duke’s level, the Milo Viscount family was one of the wealthiest in the region.
