This Time, I Am A Mob's Potions Teacher Who Has Become Engaged To The Mastermind Of The Otome Game - 9

I had talked big in front of Noël, but honestly, I was anxious.

I couldn’t forget the cold expression on his mother’s face as she looked down at Noël suffering from poison.

Trying to go head-to-head with her—without making her an enemy, without being overwhelmed—was way too difficult a task.

As I was mulling things over, the butler leading me suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Madam has dismissed every maid who tried to get close to the young master, and has had noble ladies banished from high society. Please, be careful.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Noël was right—she really is a difficult person.

She scorns him, goes as far as poisoning him without blinking an eye, and yet keeps a hawk’s eye on his relationships with women? That’s some unbelievable selfishness.

What could this mother-in-law possibly want to talk to me about?

Just thinking about it made my stomach start to ache.

◇

We were shown into the drawing room, where the sunlight poured in generously.

I stepped onto the blue carpet and walked up to Noël’s mother. Once I reached her, she gestured for me to sit.

“Noël’s condition has improved quite a bit.”

“I see.”

Her reply was curt, and her gaze remained fixed outside the window, as if her mind was elsewhere entirely.

“Are you really Leticia?”

“Yes, I am.”

“You seem quite different from when we last met. I almost mistook you for someone else.”

It’s just the hairstyle.

Apparently, if I’m not in my default look, people don’t recognize me.
Not that it’s a problem for Noël—he notices right away.

“Why did he choose such a plain girl, I wonder?”

Whoa, okay. Straight into attack mode, I see.

Sorry for being plain! It’s not like I asked to be born this way—please understand that.

“I had intended for him to marry someone more suitable. But that lecherous old man had to interfere, and now look where we are.”

She spat out that last part as if it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

But whoever she’s talking about… I have no idea.
No one comes to mind at all.

Who exactly is this “lecherous old man” she’s referring to?

“Um, are you saying that person is interfering in Noël’s life?”

“Exactly. I assumed you had been ordered by His Majesty the King to approach Noël.”

“…Huh?”

What should I do? I’m completely lost.
And to make matters worse, while I have no clue what’s going on, she thinks I’m some kind of ally to that lecherous old man, the King. What an insult.

Sure, it’s true that the King is a lecherous old man, but even if there’s no one else around—should you really be saying things like that?

“That child is perfect. The first time I saw him, I thought he was an angel. A gift from heaven to us, a couple who had been unable to have children. He’s beautiful, intelligent, and has powerful magic. He should’ve been granted a far nobler status. So when he brought home some plain girl and announced he was getting engaged, I was convinced it was all part of a scheme by that envious King.”

“…Excuse me?”

I’m pretty sure she’s singing Noël’s praises right now.

And wasn’t this the same woman who, knowing the truth about Noël’s birth mother, looked down on him as a child of “tainted bl00d”?

“If that’s how you felt, then why didn’t you help Noël when he was suffering from poison? Why did you make him drink it as a child?”

“To protect him from His Majesty. When we took him in, we were ordered never to show him love. If we disobeyed, not just us but even that child… something terrible might have happened. We had no choice but to obey.”

What the hell.

So she thinks following an order gives her permission to abuse a child?

If they hadn’t taken such a twisted approach, Noël wouldn’t have fallen to darkness in the game’s story.

He wouldn’t have met such a tragic end, consumed by despair and hatred.

“That’s such a ridiculous excuse, I don’t even know what to say. So in the end, it was all about protecting yourself, wasn’t it?”

Yes, I understand—dealing with someone as powerful as the King must be unimaginably difficult.

Even so, I can’t accept the way she went about it.

“What about Noël’s feelings? Yes, he’s perfect—but he’s still human. He gets lonely. He gets hurt.”

She could’ve at least explained the situation to him.

If she had listened to him—truly seen him—maybe things could have been different.

Time that’s passed won’t come back, and the wounds he’s suffered can’t just be undone.

To think she believes she protected him just by obeying orders—it makes me sick.

“Frankly, I’ve been more of a mother to Noël than you ever were! Don’t go playing the part of a mother when you never had the heart to be one!”

“Still playing mommy, are we?”

The words dropped from above my head.

When I looked up, I found Noël right there, smiling with a heavy intensity that made me catch my breath.

“Mother, I’d like my fiancée back now. I can’t relax when she’s not by my side.”

Without waiting for her reply, Noël took my hand and led me out of the room.

When I looked back, his mother was simply staring at us in wide-eyed silence.

◇

On the way back in the carriage, Noël didn’t sit across from me like he usually does — for some reason, he chose to sit right next to me.

I thought he was going to scold me, but instead, he just kept smiling at me. That was… honestly terrifying.

“Leticia, don’t you have something to say to me?”

“I’m very sorry for yelling at your mother.”

“That’s not it.”

“Huh?”

I had assumed he’d be upset about all the fuss I made, but apparently that wasn’t it.

Then what did I do wrong?

“I told you to just let my mother’s words go in one ear and out the other, but instead, you got angry for my sake. You didn’t need to take her badmouthing me so seriously.”

“No, she didn’t say anything bad about you. In fact, your mother was actually praising you.”

“Leticia… were you dozing off while talking with her?”

Noël laughed as he said that.

It wasn’t true, but no matter how much I tried to explain, he just kept laughing like it was the funniest thing and wouldn’t believe me.

To make it worse, he even said, “Make sure you go to bed early tonight.”

They say the child is the father of the man, and considering Noël’s childhood full of neglect, maybe it really was hard for him to accept.

If they had talked more, if they had shared their feelings honestly, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so twisted.

That’s something I need to keep in mind going forward too.

I shouldn’t get so caught up in the version of him I saw in the game. I need to get to know the Noël who’s right in front of me.

“Hey, Noël—what do you like?”

“Hmm, what I like… Well, I really liked the tea you made for me.”

The one smiling at me with such innocent joy—so unlike the scheming final boss—is my fiancé, Noël Fabius.