A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 79: The Meeting (2)

“I said, go.”

Leaning her cheek on her hand and smiling sweetly, Lady Meredia repeated herself.

“W-why are you acting like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t you just... be your usual self?”

Whitney’s voice, hesitant and shrinking in fear of that uncanny expression, received no change in her smile.

“Go.”

“...Yes, ma’am.”

With her final, honeyed word lowered in tone, Whitney had no choice but to follow the maid out of the meeting room.

“......”

Left alone with the elders, a thick silence descended.

—ssshhhh...

And as Meredia’s eyes turned a deep red, a suffocating air of tension filled the chamber.

“So... I thought you were just a bunch of eccentrics. But you had something up your sleeve all along, huh?”

“......”

“A duckling no one cared about turns into a swan, and suddenly everyone wants to claim ownership. That’s not exactly the behavior of so-called noble followers of the Light.”

The same Meredia who had just moments ago smiled so brightly in front of Whitney now radiated unfiltered killing intent as she revealed her true face.

“What’s this? You trying to start a fight? Hm?”

“Heh. Seems the rumors about your cruelty were true. I’m looking forward to seeing it firsthand.”

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“Hmph. Though if we’re doing this, I’d prefer we take it outside.”

To an average person, this kind of standoff would be bone-chilling, but the Elder Council’s reaction was different.

In a world that followed the law of power, Lumen Ordo’s stance of neutrality in defiance of both the Empire and the Holy Kingdom wasn’t baseless.

They might seem like a bunch of pathetic shut-ins, but every member of Lumen Ordo was, at their core, a powerful force.

Even their "non-combat" rank-and-file could serve in elite positions during wartime. And the Elder Council? They were in a league of their own.

It was clear—they wouldn’t fall behind even against Meredia as she was now.

“Still, my partner... my husband is far too naive for his own good.”

But Meredia, fully aware of their strength, had no intention of backing down. The tension only worsened—until...

“...It would be wise not to use that power so carelessly.”

The silent regional overseer of the North, Alastor, finally spoke in a gravelly voice.

“Especially in our presence.”

“......”

“Just by letting those eyes shine, you insult and challenge us, Lady.”

At that, Meredia’s expression visibly twisted.

“...How much do you know?”

“We’re aware you’re the most likely candidate for one who bears the power of the Demon King.”

Looking around at the Elder Council’s faces—silent, calm, unwavering—it was clear. They all knew.

“Hah. It’s not like I wanted to be born like this.”

“......”

“So, what now? You going to try and eliminate me here?”

She asked with a sardonic curve to her lips, voice tinged with resignation.

“Just so you know, I won’t go down quietly. I have too many reasons to keep moving forward—”

“That’s nonsense.”

“Ha! You’re all just barely holding back right now, aren’t you?”

But before she could finish, the elders around her shook their heads in unison, calmly dismissing her words.

“Lady Meredia, we do not consider you our enemy.”

The one who finally broke the silence was Salem, Elder Council Chairman, who had until then kept his eyes closed. His expression was now grave.

“If the warrior chosen by fate has chosen you, then it would be ridiculous for us to oppose that. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“...Then why...”

“You’re wondering why we’re trying to bind Sir Whitney to the Guardian of Glorious Light?”

Even as she kept her guard up, Meredia nodded.

“In that case, I suppose it’s time to speak as Chairman rather than one of the Guardian’s vassals.”

“If we seemed rude before, I apologize.”

Salem even dispelled his illusion, revealing his true elderly form to show his sincerity.

“In any case... to clarify, there are three reasons we summoned Sir Whitney.”

As the atmosphere softened slightly, Salem’s voice carried clearly through the meeting room.

“First: we wanted to offer him a seat on the Elder Council of Lumen Ordo.

Second: we wanted to discuss the unique nature of his powers.”

He paused, noting the slight narrowing of Meredia’s eyes at the phrase “unique powers,” and added quickly:

“The reason we rejected his previous application to join Lumen Ordo was because we had yet to complete our research into his abilities.”

“......”

“But recently, Aurora and Celeste have proposed a very interesting hypothesis. To test it, we need Sir Whitney’s cooperation.”

At that, the two siblings—who had been quietly trembling this entire time—lifted their heads, only to freeze again under Meredia’s glance and quickly duck back down.

“And the third reason... was a personal request from the Guardian of Glorious Light.”

“...You mean, to steal someone else’s man?”

“Please, hear me out first.”

Unfazed by Meredia’s icy remark, Salem continued calmly.

“As you know, we are a rather closed-off group. Our awareness of outside news tends to lag behind.”

“So...?”

“Our Council only learned of Sir Whitney and your engagement minutes before the meeting began. When a carrier bird dropped off the morning paper.”

“Then your actions are even harder to understand...”

Meredia tilted her head in disbelief.

“Also, the Guardian of Glorious Light herself still doesn’t know.”

“...Excuse me?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“She was raised in an extremely sheltered environment. Because of that... she tends to interpret the world based on her own standards.”

Salem’s tone, until now smooth, began to falter slightly.

“My guess is... the Guardian has suffered a serious misunderstanding.”

And when Meredia fixed him with a cold glare that said go on, try me, Salem sighed, stroking his beard and finally concluded:

“She... seems to have grown up believing that Sir Whitney was always her boyfriend.”

And thus began another long, uncomfortable silence—of a very different kind.

“...No way. Come on. That’s too much, even for her...”

Meredia blinked slowly, a look of complete disbelief settling across her face.

“...That’s just too far-fetched.”

“Hoho...”

***

“Uh, excuse me.”

Following the maid to the room where Tiffany was waiting, I stepped inside and took a seat. She was curled up silently on the sofa, stealing glances at me. When she held out a letter, I accepted it—and immediately fell into stunned silence after reading it.

“Beloved, the hourglass of time forged by our bond has flipped 4,444 times.

Our connection is the eternal blossom born of 1,111 seasonal cycles,

A pearl deepened in the abyss as stars have blinked 4,444 times in the night sky.

This is the blessing of the moon waxing and waning 4,444 times upon us,

And the immortal promise tempered by the sun rising and setting 4,444 times.”

What... the hell does this mean? Is this some sort of cipher with highly classified information?

“What is this?”

“Huh?”

Since I clearly couldn’t decipher it even if it was a code, I asked directly. She blinked in surprise and began to stammer.

“D-don’t you remember? It was... around the twelfth turning of fate’s wheel...”

“...Huh?”

“Twelve... years ago, I mean.”

As I ran her words through my brain, trying to decipher their meaning, one memory slowly resurfaced.

“Ah... When we first met?”

“......!”

“Yes, my father brought Cecil and me to Lumen Ordo for the first time. I do remember that.”

At that, Tiffany Astellade suddenly sat up straighter, her expression oddly tense.

“D-do you not remember the oath we made that day?”

“...I only remember us all playing house, really.”

The moment she heard that, her face contorted as if she’d just lost a kingdom.

“D-do you mean to reduce it to some childish game!?”

“...?”

“O-or could it be... you’ve forgotten that unbreakable vow?”

This feels less like a conversation and more like some kind of quiz game.

“Well, maybe if you told me exactly what it was, I’d remember...”

“Uugh...”

Of course, I had no memory of making any such vow with her. As I nervously gave her my non-answer, Tiffany’s eyes began to well up with tears.

“H-hey, let’s calm down. It’s not like I’ve forgotten everything, right? We can go over it together, one step at a time.”

“...Sniff.”

Knowing full well that upsetting her now would only make things worse, I quickly tried to pacify her. With her nose reddened, Tiffany mumbled in a voice so soft it barely registered.

“That day... You clearly said it yourself...”

“......”

“That you would devote yourself to me. That we would share our fate.”

And then it hit me. I hesitated, then asked, not quite believing it:

“That was... roleplaying, wasn’t it?”

To which she answered without a blink, her expression dead serious.

“...It was a ceremony, not a game.”

“...Haha.”

So that’s what this was. Apparently, for someone like her—raised her whole life to become the future leader of Lumen Ordo—that memory had left a powerful impression.

“I distinctly remember I was playing the dad... Cecil was playing the daughter...”

“Ah!”

As I carefully tried to piece things together, Tiffany suddenly lit up, her face brightening with joy.

“See? I knew you remembered!”

“...I guess I did.”

Oddly enough, this was... kind of touching. I’d always thought I was a loner, but it turns out I’d had a friend who actually held me # Nоvеlight # dear, all this time.

“T-today is the 4,444th day anniversary of that moment, by the way.”

“......”

“A-also, my favorite number is 4. Hehe.”

Now that I thought about it, she had sent letters to the mansion every year. I never really understood half of what they said, but most of them seemed to be asking how I was doing.

“Well, today’s... quite a meaningful day, then.”

“...Hmph. It’s fine. As long as you realize it now.”

Lucky for Lady Meredia, it seemed our Guardian of Glorious Light was, in truth, just a secret old friend who valued our bond purely for what it was.

***

See? I knew I was right.

But just as Whitney sat there feeling touched and sentimental, Tiffany Astellade—still beaming from across the room—was having quite a different train of thought.

...So we really have been dating since that day.

After all, it was now finally confirmed—her suspicions about their 12-year long-distance relationship were not a delusion after all.