I Became the Youngest Sister-in-law of the Ruined Reverse Harem’s Male Leads - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#.16

Regina knew exactly what kind of person her sister was.

While Edith was endlessly gentle to Lilliana like a mother, to Regina who had grown up with her, Edith had been rational and quick-witted since childhood—an existence she could never hope to defeat.

This remained true even after entering society.

Edith had always been valedictorian at school, and in the workplace, she climbed the ladder of success through ability alone, not family connections.

That’s why when Regina learned of Edith’s marriage through the newspaper, she felt her heart drop.

“Sister. Tell me honestly. This is an arranged marriage, isn’t it? What did you agree to give and take?”

When Regina and Emilia shouted and bombarded her with questions, Edith had said in a calm tone:

“This is also the best choice for my career.”

Regina and Emilia, who knew well how ambitious their sister was about work, immediately realized Edith’s claim was false.

Edith was in the Coast Guard. In the Coast Guard, becoming the Empire’s empress couldn’t be considered career advancement.

“Work aside, will you be able to adapt in the Empire?”

Regina had hit the core issue.

Trobancha was a small island nation with no class system. The Empire, on the other hand, was a country with royalty, nobility, and commoners.

The two countries were fundamentally different, so the cultural differences were extremely severe. Everything was different, from social systems and norms to ways of thinking.

Moreover, the man Edith wanted to marry was the emperor.

When a woman without status from a small island nation with little contact with the Empire became empress, no matter how much absolute power the emperor wielded, there would inevitably be talk both inside and outside.

“I’ll manage.”

Edith turned her head slightly to check on Lilliana’s room at the end of the corridor.

Regina’s gaze sharpened.

“I will manage. So don’t worry too much.”

The conversation ended there, but Regina’s worries began from that moment.

Whether her sister could live well alone in the Empire, whether she could take care of Lilliana by herself, whether she herself could live well in Trobancha after sending those two away…

“There’s definitely some kind of deal with the emperor. But she seems determined not to tell us what it is, even if it kills her…”

She was already anxious about sending her sister to the Empire alone, but thinking about her struggling alone in a distant foreign country while caring for their sick youngest sister made her even more restless.

‘I can’t send just the two of them. I can’t bear to watch sister struggle alone in the Empire, and I can’t stand living apart from Lilliana.’

So Regina decided to follow Edith to live in the Empire.

She wanted to know how to adapt in the Empire, but the only person from the Empire she knew was Leopold.

Since he had come to visit wanting to date her, it seemed good to ask him seriously while they had the chance to meet.

“I’ve also decided to follow my sister and live in the Empire. Is there any job I could have while staying in the Empire?”

Leopold’s green eyes shook mercilessly. Regina found his reaction somewhat puzzling.

“I know you’re flustered by what I said. I understand. I’d be very surprised too. The idea of me going to live in the Empire as well. But.”

“Wait, wait a moment. Miss Regina. This is, well, I think it would be better if we moved somewhere else first.”

Leopold could tell from the sounds alone that Lilliana was eavesdropping on their conversation, but Regina was unaware of this fact.

Seeing how she had caused this commotion by going to see Marius, she must be in a very confused state right now. If she heard his conversation with Regina at a time like this, she would surely suffer more.

“Alright. Shall we go to my room?”

Regina led him to her room.

Her room was unified in white and very neat.

Leopold didn’t know where to look in the room filled with Regina’s taste, so he kept his gaze on the floor.

Regina’s request was so sudden that he was dumbfounded.

Why is Miss Regina suddenly like this?

Of course, if she came to the Empire, he would welcome it wholeheartedly.

He had been struggling a lot these past few days with the problem of not being able to see her once he returned to the Empire.

“If it’s not rude to ask, is this perhaps because of Miss Edith?”

“Yes. I can’t leave my sister to live in the Empire alone. I may not be as capable as my sister or Emilia, but there must be something only I can do.”

“You could stay in the Empire anytime without necessarily working. Since you’re the sister of the woman who will become empress.”

“If I accompany her as family and stay long-term, it will obviously be a burden to my sister who has no foundation in the Empire. And I should be able to support myself.”

“…”

Leopold didn’t know what to talk about first and chose his words in his head.

The noble women he had seen so far didn’t work.

Their virtue lay in doing charity work with income earned from their territories and looking after the people, not in labor.

But she was from Trobancha. Trobancha was a country that valued labor, so it was natural for everyone to have jobs even if they had a lot of wealth.

As a result, all the Berchio sisters, who had inherited enormous wealth as a prominent political family, had jobs.

When Leopold couldn’t answer hastily, Regina thought she had made a mistake and quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. I must have said something burdensome to you, Leo. I think I should look into this matter more myself. Please forget what I said today.”

“No. I think it would be good for you to go to the Empire, have about a year of adjustment period, and then gradually think about it. As you know, since our countries are so different in many ways, you don’t have to decide right now, don’t you think? What do you think, Miss Regina?”

“That makes sense too. Thank you for taking the time, Leo.”

Only then did Leopold lift his head for the first time since entering Regina’s room and look directly at her.

He realized from seeing Regina that one could fall in love at first sight.

He still didn’t quite understand why his heart fluttered when he saw Regina knitting, but one clear fact was that he remembered every detail of that moment vividly.

The warm spring breeze and the swaying honey blonde hair, the long eyelashes and the face completely focused on knitting. And the emotion of that moment deepened more and more as he conversed with her.

Since it was a feeling with a set time limit, he had been confused about whether it was okay to leave this feeling as it was.

But hearing Regina’s story made him think he didn’t have to.

Selfishly, his heart was painfully happy at the possibility that Regina might leave her hometown and go to the Empire.

A hot, tingling sensation spread throughout his body, making it tingle.

He smiled hazily as he watched Regina, who was lost in thought.

* * *

“Hic! Hic!”

I was so startled that the hiccups continued.

Even pressing Cookie’s cheeks and burying my face in his plump cotton belly couldn’t calm my shocked heart.

‘Liliana is going to the Empire together? Then could she date Leopold in the Empire and even get married?’

Leopold and Liliana getting together would be a good thing, but since Edith was engaged to Marius, it wasn’t entirely a welcome situation.

If Liliana got married in the Empire, she might never be able to return to Trobancha.

Once you establish a foundation there, it becomes difficult to move.

‘Huh? What about Liliana? Then Liliana would be left alone?’

My six-year-old mind couldn’t fully understand the situation, but I clearly grasped at least the possibility that I might be separated from Liliana.

“No… I don’t want to be separated…”

I just wish my sisters wouldn’t do things like get married and we could continue living together peacefully like now.

I didn’t want to live apart from family anymore. Andrea oppa being far away was enough.

If we went to the Empire, I wouldn’t be able to climb olive trees or lemon trees, and I’d have to part with my friends. Besides that…

“If we go to the Empire, we’ll be separated from oppa forever. I don’t want that.”

Just as tears were welling up and my nose was about to start running:

“Hey, youngest! You should have said something before leaving!”

When I heard a loud crash from outside along with Liliana’s angry voice, my tears immediately dried up.

“Eep!”

I trembled and held Cookie tightly.

“Cookie, please save me. I’m definitely going to get spanked by Liliana.”

For a moment, I thought that rather than getting scolded by Liliana, going to the Empire with Edith might not be so bad after all.

* * *

Marius glanced at his old friend.

In the Empire, Leopold was a blunt and dry man. But that same Leopold had been smiling like an idiot for several days now.

And not just smiling. He was so obviously showing that something good had happened, even humming, that Max, Marius’s chief aide, was horrified and avoided Leopold.

“Are you that happy that Miss Regina is coming with us?”

How could he be so smitten when he hadn’t even had a proper date yet?

Marius clicked his tongue as he watched Leopold become a fool in front of love.

He didn’t believe in the emotion called love. His reason for marrying Alicia wasn’t because he loved her either.

Of course, Alicia Berchio was a beautiful and wonderful woman, but she was the eldest daughter of the Berchio family.

For Marius, the benefits that came from a political marriage with her were what mattered.

“Get along well with Regina Berchio. If you two get married, you’ll become the only noble who can influence Trobancha. You and I will be connected by blood once again.”

And the blood of ability users that exist only in Trobancha would be mixed into House of Waldrafen. If we’re lucky, the children might be born as ability users.

Marius didn’t voice that part out loud.

It would be an unpleasant remark for a man blinded by love to hear.

“That kind of thing doesn’t matter. It would be fine even if Regina had nothing.”

“Right. You’ve always been the type who can’t see anything else when you fall in love.”

Leopold glanced at him strangely at Marius’s muttering.

“Leopold. You and I made a soul oath. If war breaks out between the Empire and Trobancha, the Empire would lose both its emperor and supreme commander at the same time.”

They wouldn’t publicly announce to the Empire that they had made a soul oath. It could become a weakness for political enemies eyeing the throne.

So officially, they planned to announce that they had signed a peace treaty with Trobancha.

“If we both die like that and war breaks out, the Empire would suffer fatal wounds. As you know, Trobancha is a small but strong nation.”

Trobancha was a country where one in three people was an ability user. Thanks to that, even though the Empire had overwhelming power in magic and divine force usage, they couldn’t act recklessly.

Bitterness spread across Marius’s eyes.

It wasn’t because of his own situation of having to enter a political marriage. The reason he felt a bitter taste in his mouth lay in the distant past.

“So I hope things work out well between you and Regina.”

I’m rooting for your love, after all.

Marius muttered the last words quietly enough for only himself to hear, then patted Leopold’s shoulder a couple times and prepared to leave.

It was time to stop by Edith’s house and present the engagement ring.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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