I Want to be a Bad Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 1

A solemn voice rang in the court.

“Sinner, Duchess Vanerin Luke.”

Bead-like tears trickled from the beautiful blue eyes of the emperor’s voice. Her light golden hair was scattered and wrapped around her emaciated face.

The innocent woman in the prisoner’s seat was my mother-in-law.

“I can’t believe I’m a sinner… But I won’t disturb the court with anger. The evil law is also the law.”

She looked pitiful as if she had made and locked up a crime that no one could discover.

However, I am so upset that I lost my most precious statute after being falsely accused because of her.

“I’m so done with your abominable appearance. It’s been a long time. Up until I have put you to that sit.”

Vanerinne was the empress, so the emperor was sitting at the top of the court. The emperor stared at me who is at the witness stand and asked.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“I just want her to pay fairly for her sins regardless of her status.”

I bowed my head and answered in a calm tone. And I looked up at my mother-in-law.

“If you hadn’t been caught even now, this wouldn’t have happened, is I guess you are thinking right now.”

The court was quiet. Vanerinne’s face was distorted when she heard me. It wasn’t because of anger but rather she is smiling.

Realizing that there is nowhere else to avoid, Vanerinne smiled and opened her mouth. Brutal harsh words flowed out of her beautiful lips.

“…I know. It’s funny how bugs and stuff get mad.”

It was a scene in which a demon pretending to be an angel finally revealed its identity. Her drooping round eyes drew a seductive smile.

I got goosebumps and shivers at the same time. I bit my lips hard.

“Finally, my enemy reveals his evil self to the world!”‘

It was a few months ago that I became the daughter-in-law of my archenemy.

My name is Edel Azian, a leading reporter for the <Newcastle Times>.

My main focus is gossip. I had the friendliness that would make the first person I met swirl around my darkest history, the shamelessness of accessing information naturally, and the writing skills of excitingly arranging wandering stories.

The editor-in-chief used to call me the pillar of the <Newcastle Times> in charge of gossip.

Well, my original dream was not to be the pillar of gossips.

My dream is…

The moment I am walking on my way to work, thinking about what I really wanted.

Suddenly, I heard a high pitch scream as if it was about to get torn.

“Lore!”

“What?”

It’s a scoop! I turned my head.

At one end of the street where the screams started, people were screaming and running towards the other side. One is carrying a child, one fell and his shoes flew away, and ran barefoot. Men and women of all ages, regardless of their age, were terrified and ran desperately.

At that moment, a paper pounded in my head.

‘This is real!’

It is not a follow-up coverage of the organized incident scene, but the actual situation.

The moment I realized it, my feet instinctively started running.

Lore. A terrifying monster that has an unknown lineage of where it came from and what had caused it to come.

My true dream is to reveal the reality of the mysterious monster that makes Newcastle tremble in fear.

‘When Lore appears, the site is sealed off, so there are no proper sightings. The scenes that we show reporters are always those that have been cleaned up.’

A few years ago, I lost my mother to lore. All I had in my hands was the clothes my mother wore that day.

After that, I promised that in order not to make any more unfortunate victims, I decided to dig into the lore.

‘I usually search for it like that, but it doesn’t show up, what’s the matter?’

In an instant, the people moved away, and for a moment, I was the only one left on the street.

‘Where the hell is it?’

I looked down the street, without even blinking.

‘Where is it?’

There was nothing on sight in the quiet street, not even a sound of a needle falling could be heard.

‘I have to go into it a little more……’

It was the moment. My vision in front of me was distorted and my sense of balance was disturbed. It felt like a huge hammer had hit my head. Even as I stumbled, I held the notebook firmly with both hands.

‘Perhaps, that was the lore?’

I can’t see anything.

Surprised by it, I blinked. The ground suddenly came closer with my badly distorted view.

The moment I was confused by this unknown situation, a big hand hugged my waist and pulled me back up. I looked up reflexively and faced the owner of the hand.

It was a beautiful man with soft golden hair and blue eyes like a clear sky.

I don’t know if it’s because of my closed lips or due to my expressionless face, but he was like a statue and not a living person.

Then, the statue opened his mouth. A deep voice that matched his face resounded and had a calm tone.

“Why are you running opposite to others?”

“That’s because…”

The moment when I tried to reveal my purpose, the man’s beautiful forehead twisted and suddenly staggered as if he were dizzy.

“Heuk!”

“W-What the? Are you okay?”

“Ugh.”

Why is this guy like this all of a sudden? What’s wrong? The moment I touched his forehead, he was fidgeting and sweating.

“Smell…”

His lips opened up and his voice seemed to have been squeezed out.

“… Disgusting.”

“What?”

What does he mean by smell? Disgusting?

I sniffed reflexively with my nose on my shoulder.

‘I don’t smell anything.’

I wanted to ask something more, but he didn’t give me time to talk.

“It’s a dangerous place, so evacuate.”

After speaking in a dry tone, he left in the direction that it had appeared. I muttered in astonishment.

“What the h-? That is…”

I thought I was catching a scoop on my way to work, but I was only told by a strange man that I was disgusting.

Eventually, when I entered the publication office empty-handed, the bald editor jumped up and down.

“Edel! You’re late! Late! Did you forget that the weekly magazine is due today? This time, we decided to write a special episode about the bad daughter-in-law in social society!”

“I’m done writing it. Don’t worry, editor-in-chief. That’s not what’s important right now.”

“Our sales are so smooth. What’s important if that’s not important?”

“Lore. A Lore appeared.”

The editor-in-chief kept following me and whining, repressing my excitement.

“Again, again. Lore specials! Please don’t do that. No one among our readers watches such specials, and we can’t even draw money for reporting. God, Phew. I haven’t written anything.”

There is only one way for the editor to shut up when he talks like that.

I put the envelope in the editor’s arms.

“Now, this is the special article you were looking for.”

“Wow!”

The editor-in-chief, who took out the manuscript, jumped with a big smile as if when he had been angry.

“Good. Very good. Everyone, do as much as Edel!”

“My my.”

It’s also a trick to change what he said right away. Talents.

Sitting down, I fell on my desk. After sending the editor-in-chief out, I felt a deep sense of despondency.

‘In the end, the lore section is empty again this time.’

I am wondering if I could finally see him in person. I think I’m the only one who’s interested.

“Is it really meaningless to cover Lore?”

As I was sighing out, my junior called me.

“Sunbae, can you read my article?”

“What is it? Give it to me.”

The headline of the junior’s article was stimulating.

< Cerulean Luke, will he end up as the Young Master forever like this!>

It was not surprising because it was stimulating and a characteristic of our newspaper. It wasn’t the headline that caught my eye, but the face attached to the article.

I snatched the portrait and asked.

“Who is this?”

When asked by me, the junior laughed without knowing it.

“Who are you saying ‘Who is it?’. Young Lord Cerulean Luke.”

“Cerulean Luke.”

In the slightly faded portrait, as if painted for a long time, stood a blonde boy with an expressionless visage.

Speechless, I burst into laughter and muttered.

“…Why didn’t I recognize his at first glance?”

He has such a noticeable face.

He was just the man whom I have met earlier and said he was disgusted with me.

“The youngest lore hunter.”

When I got home, I took off my boots and sat on the sofa. And

I looked at the portrait of Cerulean Luke that I had brought from the archives.

Cerulean Luke is going to go out of this country, positively or negatively.

He was the most famous bachelor.

The only foster son of Duke Luke, who had been single for a long time.

One time, newspapers from all over the country poured out articles about this lucky and pretty commoner child who inherited the Duchy.

But it was only once.

Even now, at the age of 24, he was still Young Lord Luke, not Duke Luke.

‘His situation is so great that there is no one in this country who doesn’t know. It’s been in the newspaper several times.’

When the commoner first stepped on the duchy, people did not doubt that he would be the next Duke Luke.

So until Duke Luke married his 10-year-old wife six years ago and gave birth to a son.

And the wife was a person I knew very well.

“…Royal Princess Vanerin.”

Her name spit through the lips is very ripe. It was a name that came to mind clearly as if it were burned even though I had never tried to think of her for years.

“Don’t be so upset. That’s what life is like.”

Even though she had met her several years ago, her heart was pounding as she thought of her. Then, I bit my lips and stood up.

It was because she and her old grudges had come to mind.

‘She must be living happily even now. Even if she makes me suffer like this much.’

My gaze turned back to the portrait of Cerulean Luke. Because of the moonlight coming through the window, his golden hair now looked cold blue.

The youngest lower hunter.

‘Raising knights is considered a low-level act, so I just don’t talk about it, but if I were to pick the best knight in this country, everyone would pick him up in a single heartbeat. He must have had a lot of information about the lore that much.’

In addition, he is the most likely person to quench Princess Vanerin.

‘If it is certain that he will succeed the Duchy, Princess Vanerin will be upset too.’

Finding out the true identity of Lore and taking revenge on Vanerin.

Both of my wishes would be achieved through this man.

After realizing that fact, a sigh came out spontaneously.

“I should have held on to him and talked to him more when I met him today. Or I should at least get his phone number!”

I rolled my legs out of regret, but the struggle did not last long.

“… Disgusting.”

Obviously, he said disgusting. What would you say towards a man who says such a thing?

“Anyways, I hope to see him again”.

I will definitely ask him then. What the lore is.

It was when I was thinking of his face. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

“Should I ask him to have a contractual marriage with me?”

It was a secret fact that reporters knew that he needed a wife to inherit the title. This is because Vanerin’s condition to hand over the duchy to her son was to be married.

‘Wouldn’t it be an ideal deal?’

He won the duke’s throne by marrying me, and I got information about lore, and then I quenched Vanerin,

“Well, that’s all up to me.”

Will we be able to see each other again? I thought so and put the portrait in a drawer.

The next day.

Yeah. That’s what I said.

That’s what happened.

“I read all the articles you have written impressively.”

Early in the morning, Cerulean Luke crossed his legs and sat in an unrealistic figure like a statue at the newspaper table with his hands clasped with his white gloves.

He’s been waiting for me!