Mother-in-Law Refuses to Regress! (7 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 24
Larisa’s new governess—once again, to be clear—was a truly strange person.
“Larisa… what do you think happiness is?”
Larisa blankly echoed back, stunned by the philosophical question she’d never heard before in her life.
“Huh?”
“What is happiness?”
“Well… I’m not sure.”
Larisa wanted to study literature. Or maybe mathematics. And since she might go on another journey someday, she also wanted to learn a foreign language. But the teacher didn’t seem interested in teaching any of those things at all.
“Larisa, perhaps the fate of this world hinges on your happiness.”
“What?”
Larisa gaped stupidly at the sudden, out-of-nowhere remark. Did all mages talk like this—so strangely?
Unaware of what Larisa was thinking, Siod sighed and stared out the window with a sorrowful expression.
‘If this kid becomes unhappy, Bera will die, our son will rewind time again, Lord will step in and kill everyone, and then I’ll lose my mind too.’
It’s doom.
“So let’s be honest with each other. What’s the one thing people need most to be happy?”
Larisa thought for a moment before answering.
“Money?”
Money. As someone who’d grown up in the slums, money was always what Larisa most desperately wanted—money for food, money to buy medicine for her sick mother. To Larisa, money meant survival.
“You already have plenty of money.”
“…But I don’t have any.”
“William’s rich.”
Larisa knew that very well—she was the one who’d once stolen from William’s wallet, after all. William was already a millionaire.
“Anyway, once you marry, William’s money becomes your money.”
“My… mother said I don’t necessarily have to marry William.”
‘Well, that’s because she swore to prioritize your happiness and safety above all else.’
Siod swallowed his true thoughts and smiled as he spoke.
“But Larisa, if money equals happiness, wouldn’t it be best to marry the richest man in the world?”
“Is William really that rich?”
“Of course. Every year, ten percent of Adelia’s national defense budget goes straight to the Rodante family. Because Bera protects this nation.”
Though the words were too complex for a child to fully grasp, Larisa nodded as if she understood.
“In any case, the Rodantes are the wealthiest family in Adelia, and if Guinevere sets her mind to it, they could become the wealthiest family on the continent.”
“Okay…”
“So you absolutely must marry William.”
Siod didn’t wait for Larisa’s reply, but at this point he decided he was satisfied. If he brainwashed her like this every day, she’d never get any other ideas later on.
“By the way, Larisa, what’s your ideal type?”
“What’s an ideal type?”
“I mean, what kind of man would you like to marry?”
“…”
This teacher was seriously weird. Larisa began wondering if she should ask Guinevere for a new tutor.
“I’m giving you advice because you’re still young and probably don’t know much—but a spouse’s most important quality is their face.”
“Face…?”
“Yes. Pretty and handsome is best.”
Larisa gave a vague smile.
“And as you probably know, there’s really no boy as handsome as William. Honestly, I wonder who he takes after—hah!”
Why did the teacher sound so proud? Larisa thought he was really strange, but when she thought about it, his words didn’t seem entirely wrong.
“You think the same, don’t you? William is handsome, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. He’s cool.”
“Exactly. Handsome, rich—the perfect husband, isn’t he? We’re all rooting for you.”
Uncomfortable under Siod’s sparkling gaze, Larisa shrank into herself slightly. Still, she was the kind of child who always said what she thought.
“Um, but…”
“Yes?”
“I really want to start studying soon. I want to learn a lot so that someday I can help lots of people in need, just like my mother.”
Larisa clenched her tiny fists as she spoke, her determined expression adorably earnest. Siod felt both proud of the child’s admirable intentions and touched—but at the same time, a sigh escaped him.
“It’s okay to live a little more materially in this world…”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
Siod couldn’t bring himself to crush a growing child’s dreams, so he bit back his words. Maybe her perspective would change once she matured a bit in a few years.
“Then can we start studying now?”
“Sure…”
Siod replied gloomily.
*
When the weekend came, William paused as he was about to climb into the carriage heading home—someone was already seated inside.
“Oh, sorry.”
William quickly apologized and tried to close the carriage door. But then he noticed the Rodante family crest engraved on the door.
‘That’s definitely ours.’
Looking utterly baffled, William opened the door again. Inside, a beautiful man with long silver hair smiled faintly and spoke.
“Hello.”
“Who… are you?”
The man crossed his legs and asked meaningfully,
“Hasn’t Bera told you about me?”
“Bera?”
“I mean Guinevere.”
William had never met anyone who used such a silly nickname for his mother. He stared at the man silently for a moment, then wordlessly climbed into the carriage and sat opposite him, eyeing him warily.
Siod was slightly impressed. Even at his young age, the boy already knew how to create an atmosphere of tension. He looked far too mature for a boy who’d just turned fourteen.
‘If he could recognize me as his father, maybe he could sense my identity too?’
Siod watched William quietly, harboring a faint hope. William, in turn, kept his eyes on him—perhaps blood really did call to blood, even if he couldn’t sense the dragon’s magic.
Siod’s eyes sparkled with absurd expectation—until William finally spoke.
“Why is the Magic Department professor riding in our family’s carriage?”
‘Ah.’
He doesn’t recognize me. Siod cleared his throat awkwardly and replied,
“I guess you didn’t hear—I’ve taken on the role of Miss Larisa’s governess.”
“Lala has no talent for magic.”
“There’s plenty to teach besides magic—manners, life lessons…”
“Are you that free?”
Siod bristled. Why the hostility? But William didn’t seem intent on arguing—he simply opened a book and started reading. Siod glanced over and saw it was a book on alchemy.
“You like alchemy?”
Siod despised alchemy. After all, the origin of alchemy lay in humans extracting magical power from dragon corpses.
Contrary to expectations, William nodded obediently.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That’s none of your business. Please stop prying.”
Siod bristled again.
“We’re going to be bored on the way—just tell me the reason.”
“Then teleport straight to the mansion.”
Siod rubbed his furrowed brow lightly and said,
“I’m just trying to get to know you. We’re not exactly strangers anymore, are we?”
“Dunno.”
What don’t you know? William clearly had no intention of elaborating.
‘Does he think I might get fired?’
Siod couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
“Don’t ‘dunno’ me. Miss Larisa’s just so adorable—I’m trying my best. We’ve already gotten pretty close, you know.”
At the mention of Larisa, William finally looked up. Seeing him react properly at last, Siod gave an unashamed smile.
William frowned as he studied that half-smug face.
“What’s your relationship with my mother?”
The shameless smile on Siod’s face cracked. Did he really have to attack so suddenly? For a moment, Siod struggled with how to answer.
“…We’re close acquaintances?”
That was all he could say—they’d even seen each other naked, after all. But William, having satisfied his own curiosity, simply fell silent again.
With no other choice, Siod glanced sideways at the book William was reading and asked,
“This is quite an advanced text—who taught you?”
“…”
“I know a bit about alchemy myself.”
William answered readily.
“I’m self-taught.”
After exchanging a few words, Siod could sense it—this kid simply lacked social skills. It didn’t seem like he was deliberately being rude.
“It’s rare to meet someone who likes alchemy.”
He tested the waters—and got an immediate reaction.
“If you’re a mage, Professor, don’t you not need to learn alchemy?”
“That’s true.”
William’s face now looked genuinely curious, much more like a typical fourteen-year-old boy. Siod offered a vague explanation.
“I just happen to like unusual things.”
William thought he was strange, but accepted it. After all, the world had all kinds of people.
Usually, alchemy was a discipline pursued by those who yearned for magic but lacked talent—since mages had no need to extract magical power from nature to replicate spells.
So it was quite surprising to hear that a gifted mage, young enough to be a professor at the Royal Academy, had also studied alchemy.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t it your birthday recently, William? I was wondering what to get you as a gift. If you hit a wall in your alchemy studies, feel free to come find me.”
“Then… actually, I’m stuck on this part right now.”
‘So soon?’
Siod inwardly winced at the thought of his carefully hoarded alchemy texts, which he’d painstakingly suppressed over the years. Maybe he should check if any of the dragons happened to own some perverted alchemy manuals.
After hearing Siod’s explanation, William felt like someone lost in the desert who’d just found rain. The Academy did have an alchemy professor, but he’d never given such clear answers—only endless complaints about how alchemy, being a marginalized discipline, received no research funding at all. So for someone who truly understood alchemy to appear so suddenly…
William asked excitedly,
“How on earth did you study this? Even the Academy’s alchemy professor didn’t know this part.”
“…Ah, well. I’m self-taught too?”
He’d learned it out of hostility rather than interest—after all, preventing alchemy from advancing beyond a certain point was part of the dragons’ duty to protect their kind.
“Can I come see you often, then? I mean, when you’re not busy.”
Who would’ve thought that the very subject he despised would become the bridge to bond with his son? Siod beamed and nodded.
“Of course. I’ll be staying at the Rodante estate on weekends too. Feel free to visit anytime.”
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
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