When I Quit Being A Wicked Mother-in-law, Everyone Became Obsessed With Me

“Yeah, I brought a cup for Liliana, so I brought one for you too.”

With that response, Anriche held out a cup of cocoa to Elliott.

Elliott, who was hesitating whether to take the cup, glanced at Meg.

Meg nodded slightly, as if to say it was okay to take it.

Only then did Elliott quickly grasp the cocoa cup with both hands and crawl under the blanket.

“…”

Anriche couldn’t hide her mixed feelings.

Wait, what did I just see?

It was as if…

‘Elliott seems to think of Meg as a real mother rather than me.’

It was true that before her possession, Anriche had treated Elliott coldly.

But even so, it didn’t seem normal for him to ask for permission from the nanny in front of his own mother.

Until now, she had vaguely thought, ‘He must have been hurt by his mother’s indifferent attitude towards him,’ but…

As Anriche contemplated this, she shook her head inwardly.

‘No, I might be overthinking it.’

After all, Meg had been the one taking care of Elliott diligently in Anriche’s stead.

There was no need for unnecessary suspicion.

It seemed she had become overly sensitive due to the earlier incident with the maids.

With a smiling face, Anriche spoke to Elliott.

“Um, Elliott.”

“Yes?”

“Mom is going to sleep with Liliana tonight, so I don’t think Elliott should sleep with her…”

“I don’t want to.”

At the abrupt response, Anriche couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

Well, she hadn’t completely failed to anticipate such a reaction.

“Okay, if you don’t want to, then there’s nothing I can do.”

…Huh?

For a moment, Elliott’s eyes widened.

His mother was stepping back so easily?

However, Anriche simply walked briskly toward the door.

She didn’t get angry or act irritated.

“Well then, I’ll be going. Sweet dreams, Elliott.”

“Ah, yes…”

Elliott nodded with a bewildered expression. After giving him a last warm smile, Anriche stepped out the door.

Click, the door closed.

Elliott sat there blankly, reflecting on what had just happened.

‘…Mother didn’t get angry with me.’

Anriche usually wished for her words to hold absolute power over everyone in the ducal family.

She had a temperament that wouldn’t tolerate rejection.

But now, even though Elliott had rejected his mother’s suggestion, she maintained a gentle expression.

‘Come to think of it, she’s been like that all day. She didn’t raise her voice or glare at me.’

After pondering for a while, Elliott turned to Meg, who was tidying up the bedding.

“Hey, Meg.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think Mother was really kind today?”

As soon as she heard the question, Meg’s busy hands suddenly froze.

Elliott continued speaking softly.

“When I saw her earlier today, she didn’t get angry. Plus, she even brought cocoa for me…”

“Young Master.”

“Yeah?”

Elliott blinked.

Meg sat down right next to Elliott and gently patted his shoulder.

“Of course, it’s true that the lady was very kind today. I was surprised too.”

“Right? You felt that way too, didn’t you?”

Elliott asked with an excited voice.

At the same time, Meg let out a long sigh.

“However, Young Master, think about how the lady has treated you in the past.”

“…How she treated me?”

“Yes. She has always seemed annoyed by you, hasn’t she?”

Elliott’s face darkened like a cloudy sky.

To that, Meg shook her head with a sorrowful expression.

“Right now, she’s being kind to you for some reason, but we don’t know how long that kindness will last.”

“Is that so?”

“At least, that’s what I think.”

Meg held Elliott’s hand tightly.

Her eyes, looking at him, radiated pure kindness.

“I’m just worried you might get hurt…”

“…Meg.”

“Still, don’t worry too much. I’ll always be by your side, Young Master.”

“Uh-huh, thank you.”

Elliott nodded slightly.

Yes, that’s how it should be.

A satisfied smile appeared on Meg’s lips.

“By the way, Meg, that girl from earlier…”

“That girl?”

“Yeah, um… was it Liliana Everitt?”

Liliana Everitt.

The name rolled off his tongue like candy, sweet and delightful.

She had fluffy, cloud-like blonde hair and eyes the fresh green of new sprouts.

Elliott’s cheeks flushed like ripe apples.

“I think I’ve never seen such a pretty girl before.”

“Ah, yes…”

A faint hint of wariness crossed Meg’s eyes.

That was understandable since Elliott had never shown interest in anyone other than “Dad” and “Meg” before.

After hesitating for a while, Elliott cautiously opened his mouth.

“She said she’s my fiancée.”

“Well, that’s true.”

After all, she was just a lowly viscount’s daughter from a fallen family.

Meg barely managed to swallow the mischievous reply that rose to her throat.

Elliott looked up at Meg with starry eyes.

“So, am I going to marry her later?”

“Well, I guess…”

As Meg trailed off, she subtly gauged Elliott’s reaction.

“More importantly, do you really like Miss Liliana that much?”

“Yeah, I like her.”

At Elliott’s unwavering response, Meg’s face hardened.

This was a bit dangerous.

The more “people Elliott liked” increased, the less influence “the kind nanny” could exert over him.

‘This is why I’ve been trying to make sure that girl doesn’t step into the ducal house.’

Meg bit her lip to suppress the rising irritation.

If Liliana, claiming to be a fiancée, unnecessarily caught Elliott’s interest, it wouldn’t lead to anything good.

‘What on earth were Baron and Baroness Londini doing?’

They should have made sure that the lady didn’t come here!

Suppressing her rising annoyance, Meg put on a bright smile for Elliott.

“But you haven’t even talked to her yet, right?”

“True, but she seemed really nice. And, and…”

Elliott trailed off, bowing his head to hide his bashful expression.

“I’ve… never seen such a pretty girl before.”

“…”

Meg was grateful that Elliott had his head down.

If not, her own terribly twisted expression would have been exposed.

After a moment, Meg forced her voice to sound as gentle as possible.

“To be honest, I was worried you might be very upset.”

“Upset? Why?”

“Well, it’s a bit awkward to say, but your mother has neglected you until now.”

Meg glanced at Elliott with sidelong eyes.

“In contrast, your mother’s been rather cold towards that young lady, hasn’t she?”

“Really?”

“Of course! So, I was worried that you might feel hurt seeing that…”

But Elliott only looked back at Meg with a bewildered expression.

“Uh? Why would I be hurt?”

“Well, um, it’s like having your mother’s affection taken away…”

“Hmm, no. I don’t think that’s it.”

Elliott furrowed his brow and shook his head.

“Just because she was harsh to me doesn’t mean she has to treat others the same way.”

“Still, don’t you feel a little sad?”

“Of course I feel sad. It would be better if my mother treated me kindly, but…”

After a moment of contemplation, Elliott broke into a smile.

“However, I don’t want my mother to be mean to Liliana.”

“…I see.”

Meg managed to produce something resembling a smile.

Elliott nodded enthusiastically and continued in a bright tone.

“Yeah! So, about Liliana earlier…”

After chatting for a long while, Meg finally stood up.

“It’s getting late, so you should go to bed now. And give me that cocoa.”

“Why the cocoa?”

“It should be thrown away. It’s cold now, so it wouldn’t taste good anyway.”

While saying that, Meg subtly tried to take the cocoa cup from Elliott’s hands.

“Instead, I’ll make you some fresh cocoa tomorrow.”

But Elliott made a serious face.

“No, I’m going to drink it.”

“…What?”

“Still… it’s the cocoa my mother brought me for the first time.”

“Young Master.”

Meg called Elliott once more, but he remained stubborn.

“This cocoa is still warm.”

“But…”

Meg couldn’t hide her discontented expression.

Regardless of her feelings, Elliott couldn’t take his eyes off the cocoa cup in his hands.

After hesitating for a while, he finally took a sip.

It was warm and sweet.