A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 108: Darkness in the Snow

“What will you do, Sir Whitney?”

“......”

“This is a very rare opportunity.”

The Emperor, now with her blouse fully unbuttoned, whispered in a low voice as she looked at me, frozen before her.

“To have your own bloodline become the ruler of the Empire.”

“......”

“Throughout long histories, people have dreamed of this so much that bloody schemes and conspiracies have toppled entire nations.”

Yes, whether in my previous life or this one, wherever there is a struggle for power, blood inevitably flows. But I never imagined I would get swept up in it.

“But you... you wouldn’t have to suffer through any of that.”

“Haha....”

“All you need to do is spend a light-hearted night with me, here and now.”

Even worse, I would get dragged into this mess as a breeding tool—a seed donor to fix the infertility of an Emperor born with the fate of a Demon King.

“Are you perhaps afraid of the consequences? Don’t worry. You’ll suffer no harm.”

My face had been twisting badly for a while now, but the Emperor seemed to have misread the reason entirely.

“The child will be treated as an illegitimate offspring, but since I myself would carry and give birth, no one would dare deny the bloodline’s legitimacy.”

“...Have you never considered that might be the problem?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well... the fact that the child would be treated as illegitimate.”

Honestly, I didn’t even know where to start criticizing her warped sense of values, but I decided to point out the most basic thing first.

“And what exactly is wrong with that?”

“......”

“Ah, or perhaps you wish to be properly acknowledged as the father?”

Judging by the Emperor’s tilted head and innocent tone, it was clear she didn’t even understand the fundamentals.

“If that’s what you want, I can recognize you as my official consort. How’s that?”

“That’s not what I meant....”

“Why not? After all, you’re merely engaged, aren’t you?”

Unless it affected the creation of a blood-mixed heir, she didn’t seem to care at all who provided the other half of the blood.

“Endure a bit of public criticism, and you could sit as the Empire’s second most powerful figure. Isn’t that worth breaking a mere ‘promise’ for?”

Judging by her words, it was clear: the Emperor would trample over any and all things for the sake of producing a successor bearing her blood.

“I’m sorry, but you’re not my type, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

At this point, I had to state my position firmly.

“Rather than immediate gains, I believe marrying someone I can love for life would make me much happier.”

There was no way I could abandon everything, especially my promise to Lady Meredia, just to provide the Emperor with genetic material.

“A lifetime, huh. Are you so sure?”

Upon hearing my words, a sneer briefly twisted the Emperor’s lips, and I felt an ominous premonition rise.

“To my knowledge, that ‘lifetime’ you’re betting on... is ironically quite short.”

“You seem to know an awful lot.”

“...I’m not the ruler of the largest continent for nothing, you know.”

As expected, the Emperor already knew about Meredia’s curse. She had even set a trap during the merit awards ceremony, exploiting it. How deeply was she tied to the black mages to know all this information?

“Yes, Your Majesty. Truly impressive.”

“But still, your tone has gotten rather disrespectful, hasn’t it?”

Noticing that I no longer bothered hiding my hostility, the Emperor pointed it out sharply.

“In a situation like this, worrying about tone feels laughable.”

“Fufu. Is that so? You’re truly an amusing child, Sir Whitney.”

With a soft chuckle, she crossed her legs elegantly.

“So, when will you answer my proposal?”

“As expected—my answer is no, Your Majesty.”

“May I ask why?”

Still wearing her usual relaxed expression, the Emperor posed the question, and I answered, hoping to see that expression finally crack.

“To put it simply—Your Majesty is not my type.”

“......”

“Maybe if you were an evil noble girl my age, I might have wavered. Haha....”

The good news was that the Emperor’s perpetually narrow eyes finally twisted into a slight grimace.

“...I’ve never been told I was unattractive before.”

“Let’s call it species aversion.”

“Hmph....”

The bad news was that the Emperor’s gaze—now peering at me with slightly opened eyes—had turned predatory, like a lioness eyeing her prey.

“Fine, then. It can’t be helped.”

Sensing the shift, I stayed fully alert as the Emperor narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“I had hoped to go about it consensually for your sake, but if you insist, it seems I have no choice.”

“Kihihihi....”

As the Emperor clapped her hands lightly, the bear puppet leaning against the wall flashed another creepy smile.

“Puppet Master. You know what to do.”

“Oh dear, how indecent.”

“No need for modesty. Just do it properly.”

Listening to their conversation, I asked the Emperor a question with a sinking heart.

“Are you seriously going to force it?”

“Sorry, but for the peace of the Empire, I must.”

Of course, my worst prediction had come true once again.

“Don’t worry. I have no experience with men, but I’ll be as gentle as I can.”

“......”

“Or do you prefer it a bit rougher? Feel free to tell me. I’ll do my best to match your tastes....”

As she said it with a chilling smile, my body began to move forward against my will.

“Don’t make that face. If I wanted, I could have simply harvested your seed. I’m giving you at least a little respect by doing this personally.”

“......”

“And besides, it would be odd to get pregnant while still technically a virgin, don’t you think? Better to cover all bases.”

Still spouting her twisted values without shame, the Emperor watched as my legs carried me forward unstoppably.

‘Lady Meredia... still too far.’

I could faintly sense her presence now, but the distance was still far, far away. I briefly wondered if I should have brought Parsha, but in truth, it would’ve been wrong to expose a child to a den of vice like this.

If Alfred—now missing—had found out, he might have grabbed me by the collar on the spot.

‘Looks like... no choice.’

This was truly a desperate, dead-end situation. But I hadn’t come here completely unprepared.

‘...Though I really wanted to avoid using it.’

The real problem was that I despised the method I was about to resort to.

“Phew....”

Fine. Time to admit it.

From all the testimonies and my own experiences, I understood now—

My face... might be a little scary.

Normally, it was just mildly frightening. But there was a way to push it beyond just “scary” into outright terror.

Both my gentle father and my sweet mother had once warned me of it:

“...Never open your eyes.”

“Hm?”

“Your Majesty, have you ever been told something like that before?”

Reminiscing on those faces from long ago, I smiled and asked the Emperor.

“What’s this nonsense all of a sudden?”

Naturally, the Emperor tilted her head at the strange question. But that was enough of an answer for me.

“So you haven’t.”

Just that alone was enough to confirm the gap between our abilities.

‘Never open your eyes... huh.’

Hearing Whitney’s words as he stood before her, the Emperor—Lilith Winter Clouds—found herself quietly reflecting on her past.

‘No, of course not.’

No one had ever dared to say such a thing to her. Few even knew the true secret behind her eyes. And her mind control ability required her to open her eyes to unleash its true power.

The reason she always kept her eyes narrowed was simple:

As the Emperor of Light, she had to hide that terrifying ability.

Had she not been Emperor—or on the side of light— the "Emperor with Narrowed Eyes" would never have existed.

‘How absurd.’

Even her childhood portraits had been burned, lest anyone glimpse her full gaze.

After awakening her abilities, Lilith had overcome every crisis and threat by climbing higher and higher. She knew full well that if not for her abilities, she could never have overcome the fatal flaws in her birth.

Thus, she °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° had never considered her eyes a weakness. If anything, she embraced them — even if it meant aligning herself, to some extent, with the darkness and the black mages.

The power they granted her was simply too great.

“Sir Whitney, are you nervous?”

“......”

“Why say such silly things....”

And therein lay her fatal mistake.

“Listen carefully, Your Majesty.”

“......?”

There are some things in this world so cursed, that they must be hidden away, whether one wants to or not.

“Not everything goes according to plan.”

By the time the Emperor realized that truth, it was already too late.

“Ah...?”

For the first time since her youth, when her elder brother—the previous Emperor—revealed her true birth, Lilith’s face crumpled with genuine fear.

“K-khik...?”

At the same moment, the bear puppet controlling Whitney’s body stumbled back, flailing its arms.

“......Huh?”

And the chaos didn’t end there. Lady Meredia, who had been tearing through the building with a furious glare, suddenly broke into a cold sweat.

— Goooooo...

Worse still, the entire pleasure district where the shop was located was swallowed by a massive current of darkness, dimming all light.

“......”

At the center of that darkness, a man—no longer smiling—looked down at the Emperor with a stony gaze.

Cracks formed along his mask.

— Crack crack crack...

Finally, as the shattered mask fell to the floor, his face was revealed.

Only one thing had changed.

“Why so silent, Your Majesty?”

But that one change was enough to overturn the entire situation.

“You’re making a much cuter face now than before.”

“......!”

Because for the first time— Whitney’s eyes were wide open.