The Duke of Death and His Black Maid - Vol. 5 Ch. 64 - Main Estate (1)

[Pen3]

I don't think the mom is really what it appears. She could easily favor Walter as the heir, but is still trying to give Duke a chance despite how slim. She is either a tsundere or just really bad at communicating her emotions.

 

[Liquidxlax]

@Nightlilygirl- I think she is representative of a mother of noble blood. It may be possible that she and her husband are of high birth and are highly educated. Heck, they might not have even been the ones to decide on who they were to marry. If the Duke's father was well and in charge, chances are the mother wouldn't be domineering or voicing many thoughts unless the husband asked her for her opinion. I guess the best way to describe her simply from the short bit of text, the time period and genre, I would say she is traditionalist. Though I could be 100% wrong and this is some trope ass bullshit like tsundere. If she were some bs trope, I do hope the Duke pimp slaps her to death.

 

[Nightlilygirl-]

@Liquidxlax well, she might be a bit of both, but yeah, I also hope it gets more elaborate than her being a tsundere or something like that haha.

 

[InfiniteVerisimilitude]

@doomroar "Mr Cousin successfully fabricated a claim."
"Regent, my co-conspirator has sent word that a massive pit of manure has been prepared beneath the floorboards of an abandoned inn on the path the cousin will travel. Once they are seated at table..."
#ck2

 

[Paladin_T]

Wow mom is a bitch, I can kinda see the "tsundereish" bit that people say, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that it feels like she blames him for the curse that has ruined his life.

 

[Vincentius]

@wilddeath Chapter 16 listed out the rules of the curse as the Duke understands them and #5 is that bodily fluids are OK, so @Purplelibraryguy 's idea of artificial insemination would probably work; the setting also seems to be fairly Victorian (albeit with some fantasy overtones), so they'd likely have access to intracervical insemination, one of the simplest forms, even if it only means it has about a 30% chance or so each attempt.

That said, I'm willing to bet that artificial insemination would be almost universally scorned by the nobility, since it would cast doubt upon the child's legitimacy; after all, if the couple didn't actually do the deed, how could you be sure the child was really yours? Couldn't it just as easily belong to some jumped up servant? Or even a political rival? Blood (and lineage) is everything to nobles, so the idea that their child isn't actually theirs would be anathema.

 

[wilddeath]

@Vincentius there is every possibility that the curse could be passed on to his descendants. If they did have a child through artificial insemination and that child also had the death touch id love to see anyone cast doubts on the childs heritage.

 

[Vincentius]

@wilddeath That's a very good point, though it does bring up the rather depressing fact that, since the curse is uncontrollable, there'd be basically zero chance of Alice surviving childbirth, even with the best doctors. In such a situation, we could only hope that the curse isn't actually active until the child is actually born... Or, better yet, reaches an age where near constant physical contact isn't strictly necessary for them to survive.

 

[minato_76]

"Kind" huh. I guess in her own way, the mother still cares for our protagonist. Even though she's controlling like that, from my point of view anyway, it's her own way of keeping her family together. With the man of the house down and the rumors surrounding the Duke, she can't afford to be kind or too accepting of him or else it could lead to trouble. It's the same for the other siblings too. If something happens, they need to be ready to pick up the pieces by learning proper etiquette and making friends in high places. All of this drama can be resolved if the Duke manages to break down the curse, an option that the mother is probably hoping for. I mean, why else would she be so lenient towards the Duke and Viola? Despite all the harsh criticisms, the siblings still have a remarkable amount of freedom. With how things are, it would be easy to transition back to the status quo once the Duke gets better.