Mother-in-Law Refuses to Regress! (7 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 37
Larisa often invited her friends over even after the first tea party, simply because she loved seeing Guinevere smile as if to say she had done well.
But William rarely invited any friends over, which secretly worried Guinevere. Then, one day, William brought a friend home with an awkward expression on his face.
The boy had soft brown hair and a gentle smile that left a strong impression.
“Hello, you must be Larisa.”
“Hello.”
Larisa curtsied properly as she had been taught, holding both ends of her skirt. Though her face looked somewhat nervous, her posture was flawless. Seeing her adorable demeanor, the boy pretended to faint dramatically and said,
“You’re way too cute. Will you marry me someday?”
William immediately replied,
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Why so serious? I’m just saying you’re cute.”
“……”
William pressed his lips shut tightly. He hoped no one would think he sounded jealous. Lost in such a pathetic thought that no one else would even have, William fell silent.
The boy extended his hand to Larisa and asked,
“I’m James Dylan. I’m your brother’s friend.”
“Brother?”
“Huh?”
“William isn’t my brother.”
Refusing even to shake his hand, Larisa’s firm attitude left James flustered, and without thinking, he asked,
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes. I don’t have a brother. William is just William.”
“Oh, I see.”
James covered his mouth with one hand and whispered to William,
“Dude, you two already act like real siblings. That’s insane.”
‘What the hell is he even talking about…’
Regardless of whatever expression William was making, James reached out to Larisa again, this time with a rather gentlemanly demeanor.
“Then, Miss Larisa, would you do me the honor of letting me escort you?”
Flustered by this princely line straight out of a storybook, Larisa blushed. How was she supposed to respond?
“Yes, I’d be delighted.”
Larisa, answering like a fairy-tale princess, carefully took James’s hand. Having no siblings himself, James found every single one of Larisa’s actions utterly endearing.
“Wow, you’re seriously adorable!”
James exclaimed in admiration.
“Hey, you’ve been hiding such a cute little sister this whole time and didn’t even invite me over?”
“Why would I need to invite you…?”
“That’s exactly why I barged in.”
James hadn’t actually been invited. He’d simply tagged along when William headed home for the weekend. Had he not done so, he’d never have set foot in the Rodante mansion.
‘This guy looks impenetrable, but he’s actually kind of soft inside.’
With that thought in mind, James began his campaign to charm Larisa.
“Larisa, what’s your nickname? Lisa?”
“It’s Lara.”
“Oh, even your nickname is cute. What do you want to play, Lara? What does William usually do to entertain you?”
“We have tea time together and he helps me with my homework.”
“Wow, what a boring guy. I’ll make sure you have fun today.”
With that, James suddenly scooped Larisa up. In a flash, he placed her on his shoulders and started dashing through the garden.
“Here we go! Yahaaah!”
“Kyaaaah!”
William reached out in panic to grab them, but they were already far away. He lowered his embarrassed hand—after all, Larisa was giggling happily.
After running around for quite a while, James set Larisa down at the garden table and asked,
“How was that? Awesome, right?”
Larisa, who’d genuinely enjoyed herself, nodded enthusiastically.
“Then you’ll marry me someday, right?”
“No way!”
Watching the two burst into laughter together, William briefly felt like denying reality altogether.
“Are you really close with William, Jimmy?”
Larisa, who had grown friendly enough to drop formal speech, asked casually.
“Yeah. We’re best friends. After all, William has no other friends but me.”
“Why?”
“This guy’s been single-handedly making himself the loner of the academy, so I had no choice but to stick with him.”
“I don’t need you.”
William’s retort was effortlessly ignored.
“Wow, thanks, Jimmy!”
“No one gets me like you do, Lara. Sob…”
“You’ll keep being friends with our William, right?”
“Yeah, you little rascal. You should worry about your own cute younger sister instead.”
Watching the two hit it off so perfectly, William felt like vanishing from the face of the earth—or better yet, making this guy disappear.
“William’s brought a friend?”
Here it came—the inevitable. Guinevere had arrived. William sighed as he watched her stride quickly toward them, her hair fluttering behind her as if she’d even forgotten to use magic.
“Oh! Good afternoon! I’m James Dylan.”
Guinevere gave James a suspicious once-over before forcing a smile and saying politely,
“I see. Thank you for coming. But are you really William’s friend?”
“He says they’re best friends!”
Larisa chimed in eagerly.
“Best friends?”
“Haha, I guess it turned out that way somehow.”
‘Turned out how? Nothing turned out at all.’
William sighed inwardly. Truthfully, the reason he hadn’t shaken James off when he insisted on tagging along was precisely because of Guinevere.
Every weekend, she’d ask him with a gloomy face whether any friends were visiting that week.
Now, at least, she wouldn’t ask anymore whether he’d lost all his friends or demand he bring someone over. Sure enough, Guinevere finally looked relieved.
“James is the first friend William’s ever brought home. Please treat him well.”
James, seeing the great witch’s rare smile for the first time, stared at her blankly for a moment before saying,
“Oh! Yes, of course. By the way, you’re stunning, Mother!”
Guinevere chuckled softly and brushed her hair back. She was secretly quite susceptible to praise—no one dared compliment her easily, as they were all too afraid of her.
“By any chance… are you interested in younger men?”
“You seemed interesting—when I heard you were William’s friend, I wondered what kind of person you’d be.”
Guinevere laughed heartily. She was in an excellent mood—until she heard what Larisa said next.
“Oh! But just now you asked me to marry you, Jimmy!”
“What? Not you, Lara. You already have someone…” “Mmmph!”
William clamped a hand over Guinevere’s mouth. He’d already grown tall enough to easily reach her.
Smiling gently, William said,
“Haha, Mother just adores Larisa so much.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you smile like that, William.”
“Anyway…”
William quickly leaned in and whispered into Guinevere’s ear,
“Please don’t say anything weird and just go now. Okay?”
“Fine.”
Guinevere turned away with a disappointed look, but stopped mid-step and turned back once more to emphasize firmly,
“Not Lara.”
Her expression was so terrifyingly serious that James involuntarily broke into a cold sweat—was this the true face of a witch?
“Whoa, your mom’s secretly scary.”
“She really is. Don’t push your luck.”
“Was I being too cheeky?”
“Yes.”
“I guess flirting with a younger girl was a bit much, huh?”
The real sore point was James hitting on Lara—but William kept his mouth shut, afraid he’d seem jealous. Even if he did, he’d just get labeled an overly doting brother, and somehow, he really didn’t want to hear that.
“Anyway, will you come to the academy festival this time, Lara?”
“The academy festival?”
Larisa’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I knew it. William didn’t tell you, did he? If I hadn’t come, no one would’ve known. There’s a festival every spring. The Knight Department students wear their academy knight uniforms during the festival.”
“Really? Wow!”
“Yeah. And we patrol around to maintain order and help the ladies.”
“How do you help them?”
“Well, if a lady says, ‘Sir Knight, please help me!’ we go and help with whatever she needs.”
“Wow, that’s so cool!”
Larisa imagined herself as a gallant knight.
“If Lara shows up and says, ‘Sir Knight, please help me!’ everyone’s gonna swarm over because you’re so cute.”
“Don’t come. It’s nothing special.”
William cut in grumpily. Larisa pouted at him and replied,
“How do you even know about the festival if it’s your first time too?”
“I just know. It’ll be boring. Predictable.”
“I’ll go! I want to go!”
When Larisa started throwing a tantrum, James joined in with a laugh.
“Yeah, come and make William run endless errands for you. If not now, when else?”
Larisa thought to herself,
‘I’m always making him run errands anyway.’
But she was a mature enough girl not to say that out loud. In any case, she happily resolved to attend the festival.
‘Since William keeps saying not to come, I should get Mother’s permission first!’
She imagined bringing Guinevere to the festival—William would probably pretend not to care but secretly be happy. Just thinking about it filled Larisa with excitement.
*
On Monday, after William left for the academy, Larisa headed toward Guinevere’s laboratory with cheerful steps.
“She’s probably having tea right about now.”
Larisa deliberately knocked on the lab door during afternoon tea time, not wanting to disturb Guinevere’s research. She well knew just how incredibly busy Guinevere usually was.
‘But Mother is still Mother—she’ll surely want to see William’s wonderful side!’
How fun would the festival be with both of them there? Brimming with anticipation, Larisa knocked again on the silent lab door.
‘They’ll both act shy but secretly enjoy it, right?’
But something felt off. She’d already knocked twice, yet there was no response from Guinevere. Tilting her head in confusion, Larisa knocked once more.
“Mother? It’s me, Lara!”
By now, Guinevere should have opened the door. Instead, a strange unease crept over Larisa.
“Mother?”
Should she open the door herself? Heart pounding, Larisa grasped the doorknob. She’d heard rumors that anyone who entered without permission got thrown out the window—but still…
‘It’ll be fine. Mother would never be angry with me.’
Recalling Guinevere’s consistently warm and gentle behavior toward her—so unlike her fearsome reputation—Larisa squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
And when she opened the door—
“Mother!”
Guinevere had collapsed.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
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