Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1506: When Mother-in-law’s Past Pain and Love Bleeds: Part-1

Maelona had finally reached the end of her patience with his bullshit, and the restraint she had carried for years cracked apart in a single breath.

Worried?

Flower?

Broken?

What the fuck did he even mean by that?

According to the deal, she was married to him whether she wanted it or not. There was no romance in it, no choice, only obligation carved into law and blood. She had fulfilled her side of the duty by standing beside him, by accepting protection in name if not in spirit.

And just like that, whether he liked it or not, he had been forced to marry her against his wishes. But that did not make her the villain, and it sure as hell did not make him the victim.

They were both shackled!

Both forced.

That was all there was to it.

Yet this bastard still had the nerve to talk as if he carried the heavier burden.

This family belonged to him!

This tribe belonged to him!

None of it was her responsibility anymore, not after everything she had endured in silence.

Maelona shot him a dead, unblinking glare, her fingers tightening around the documents until the edges bent beneath her grip.

"You want to protect your new wife now?" she asked, "Oh yeah? Then tell me, what the fuck had you ever done to protect your family first?"

Kaelith blinked, caught completely off guard. For the first time in his life, he was seeing Maelona like this furious!

"M-Maelona," he said carefully, "Please, calm down first. Let’s talk about this properly."

"The fuck you calm me!" she snapped, her voice exploding through the room. "You fucking asshole!"

Her shout made Kaelith flinch as he leaned back in his chair.

Maelona stepped forward, her eyes blazing as she spoke. "First of all, you were the fucking Prince of this Empire, and yet you couldn’t even open your mouth to your family about your own situation. Instead, you married me just to escape their pressure."

Her fist clenched even more tighter that made Kaelen flinch. He glanced at Liora, who silently and sneakily took the document from her fingers.

Anyway, Maelona continued with a furious expression,

"And now you sit there acting like the victim, motherfucker, as if you were the only one who suffered."

She inhaled sharply,

"And then what did you do next?" she continued, her tone turning colder. "You went around fucking male sluts behind my back."

Kaelith stiffened, horror flooding his face as the colour drained from it.

"H-How did you..." he whispered, his voice barely audible. He had truly believed he was careful, that he had hidden it well enough for her never to know.

Aria and Kaelen both stared at him in stunned silence, disbelief written clearly across their faces.

He did that?

Liora, however, tilted her head slightly, a quiet hum leaving her lips.

"So the rumours were true...ah..." she said, sounding more intrigued than shocked, a faint trace of amusement in her voice.

Maelona did not look away from Kaelith as she continued,

"Don’t act so surprised," she said bitterly. "I fucking married you, asshole. Whether I hated it or not, I had to know my husband."

Her voice cracked, but she forced herself to keep speaking.

"I tried to support you... I tried to understand you... I tried to stand beside you and make you love me, even when every part of me... knew you never wanted me."

Her fingers trembled as she clenched them into fists, her lips quivering despite her effort to stay composed.

"I-I closed one eye to it," she admitted, her voice dropping. "I knew. I understood. I knew I wasn’t what you wanted. I knew I wasn’t good enough for you, but I still tried."

She swallowed hard, her eyes growing cloudy as the pain finally surfaced.

"I gave everything I had to make you interested in me, to make you see me. Not as a woman you were forced to marry, but... at least as a person who cared about you."

Kaelith said nothing. His eyes lowered slowly, guilt and confusion twisting silently within him.

Maelona continued, her voice quieter now but far heavier.

"I know.... I knew you hated me, Kaelith. I knew you believed I was the one who took your freedom away from you."

"You thought I was the reason your life fell apart. You thought I was responsible for everything that went wrong in your world."

"N-No, you are not—" Kaelith began.

"I KNOW!!" Maelona shouted, "I fucking know you hated me back then. I knew it."

Her chest rose sharply as she glared at him,

"Now it’s different, yes. I can see that," she continued, her voice cracking under the weight of truth. "But when we got married, Kaelith, I know you fucking hated me."

Kaelith’s lips parted, but no sound came out.

Maelona nodded slowly as she saw his wordless reaction, her expression hollowing.

"See?" she said quietly. "I know you hated me."

She swallowed, forcing the next words past her trembling lips.

"But you know what?" she continued. "I still did my best to make you love me."

Her voice faltered.

"But... but..." she stammered, the strength draining from her posture. "I failed, Kaelith.... I failed to do that."

Her eyes dropped weakly to the floor, her voice sinking into something fragile.

"Or maybe," she whispered, "I never loved you enough to make you love me back. That’s why... maybe..."

Kaelith’s fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Maelona lifted her gaze again and smiled weakly, a broken curve that held no warmth.

"But you know what hurts more than all of that?" she asked softly. "Watching my daughter face the world for her father’s mistakes."

Kaelith’s brows shot up in shock as his gaze snapped toward Aria.

Aria lowered her head, her shoulders trembling as she stared at the floor, unable to meet his eyes.

Maelona continued, her voice laced with grief and resentment.

"After you left us for that person of yours," she said, "what did you think happened to us?"

Her eyes narrowed,

"Just because I was the Queen and she was the princess, did you really think everything would be fine?"

She let out a bitter, humourless laugh.

"Huh? Tell me."

She stepped closer, her voice rising again.

"Once the words got out to the locals, do you know what kind of whispers we were buried under?"

Her hand trembled as she gestured sharply.

"Because of your damn fucking actions, me and our daughter suffered."

Her voice shook as she continued, memories tearing through her composure.

"The Elders talked behind my back," she said. "They said if I were a better wife, you would never have looked elsewhere!"

Her jaw clenched.

"They said if I were a better woman, my husband would never have fled... to find a warmth in another man’s embrace!"

Her eyes darkened, tears beginning to pool.

"They doubted whether I was even a woman at all, Kaelith. They said filthier things, too."

She let out a shaky breath.

"Just because I am their Queen, they smiled to my face and frowned behind my back, like I was filth that never deserved to rule them."

"If not for the law and the authority I hold, they would have said it straight to my face. And who knows what else they would have called me."

Tears slid down her cheeks as she stared at Kaelith without blinking, refusing to look away.

Her lips trembled as she placed her hand gently on Aria’s shoulder, her touch protective despite her shaking fingers.

"And our daughter," she said brokenly. "They doubted her, too."

"They questioned if she was really our child. If she even carried your bloodline."

Aria’s shoulders shook violently.

"Do you know what that means? They called me a slut, Kaelith."

Maelona choked on the word, tears spilling freely now.

"A slut who couldn’t keep her husband, yet spread her legs for another man."

Her sobs grew heavier as she continued.

"S-Some Elders even asked me directly whether they should t-teach... gulp... sniff... me how to pleasure you, s-so that I could keep my husband."

Her voice broke completely.

"What did I ever do to deserve all of that?"

Aria’s eyes trembled violently as she raised her hand to cover her face, tears slipping through her fingers.

Liora turned silent, her gaze shifting away, her expression hardened as if she refused to witness more.

Kaelen sat frozen, shock etched into his face as if he was hearing the cruelty of the world for the first time.

For a brief moment, his thoughts drifted dangerously. If she endured this much... what would happen if he married Vesperine?

He shook the thought away quickly and glanced at his mother, silently pleading for them to leave.

But Liora did not move. She remained still and subtly motioned for him to stay quiet.

Kaelith looked back and forth between Maelona and Aria, his face pale beyond disbelief.

"N-No," he said hoarsely. "That’s impossible. I never heard anything—"

Before he could continue, Maelona cut him off,

"Have you ever truly been in our home to begin with?" she asked. "The only time you came was to play with and teach our daughter."

Her voice softened painfully.

"I couldn’t bring myself to ruin the only moments of happiness she had with you."

She clenched her fists again, anger returning.

"And whenever I tried to talk to you," she continued, "you always said you were busy. You always said you couldn’t talk."

Her eyes burned into his.

"It was like you were avoiding me, Kaelith. Indirectly, constantly, even when all I needed was a single moment."

Kaelith fell completely silent, as if the air itself had turned heavy around him, pressing against his chest and choking every possible reply.

The small blue butterfly resting on Maelona’s shoulder fluttered its wings gently, its fragile glow brushing against her cheek as though it understood her pain, softly wiping away the tears she refused to acknowledge.

Maelona’s lips trembled as she spoke again, her voice quieter now, but carrying a sorrow far deeper than anger.

"I am not going to say you were the worst father," she said slowly, "You were not the best, but you were a good father to Aria."

Her fingers tightened slightly on her daughter’s shoulder.

"But you were never a husband," she continued, "You were never the head of our family. Kaelith, you were like a stranger living inside your own house."

Her voice cracked under the weight of the words she had buried for years.

"I-It hurts... It hurts more than you know. More than anyone could ever understand."

She swallowed, her chest rising unevenly as memories clawed their way to the surface.

"Seeing our daughter waiting for her father’s love every single day," she said softly, her voice trembling. "While I kept hoping that you would eventually come home for us."

Her eyes shimmered with tears.

"For us only."

She paused, the silence stretching painfully between them.

"I waited," she whispered, her voice almost breaking. "I... waited, and I kept trying."

Her voice grew weaker, like a thread about to snap.

"And at last, I became tired.... Very tired, Kaelith. So tired that I wanted to leave everything behind."

Her grip on Aria’s shoulder tightened unconsciously.

"I wanted to disappear into the forest, to live beneath the night sky, to feel the cold air and the quiet love the stars offer without judgment."

She exhaled shakily, her breath trembling.

"I wanted that more than anything in my life."

Her voice steadied again, though her eyes still trembled.

"But I couldn’t do it."

She looked down at Aria, her gaze softening despite the storm inside her.

"I couldn’t leave our only daughter in the hands of others," she said slowly. "She was born from me. I could not afford to abandon her... like her father did."

Her eyes filled again as she studied her daughter’s face with aching tenderness.

"Even when she was young and reckless," Maelona continued, "she was always an understanding child."

Her lips curved faintly into a fragile smile that barely existed.

"Sometimes, I wonder if I ever deserved such a child. When children her age teased her for your actions," she said, her voice shaking, "when their parents looked down on her with contempt, she... she never once hated you."

She shook her head slowly, "Not a single moment, Kaelith... Not a single word."

Her tears fell freely now, tracing silent paths down her cheeks.

"Even when she was bullied, she never spoke against you. She never said anything, not even to me."

Her shoulders shook as she struggled to continue.

"For what?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "Because she was afraid I would blame you, and that you would never visit her again."

Kaelith’s face trembled violently as he stared at his daughter, horror and disbelief twisting his heart into something unbearable.

"A-Aria," he whispered, his voice shaking beyond control. "My child."