I Became the Youngest Sister-in-law of the Ruined Reverse Harem’s Male Leads - Chapter 66

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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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#.66

 

“Lilliana and I made this!”

 

The children had made a cake bigger than themselves and moved the adults to tears.

 

Actually, it looked terrible.

 

All kinds of cream were slathered on messily, and almonds, candy, syrup, and all sorts of strange things were sprinkled on top, making it burdensome to eat.

 

But that didn’t matter.

 

‘He’s smiling.’

 

She had never seen Edgar smile so brightly before.

 

With his cheeks flushed red, it was a smile without a trace of shadow.

 

His eyes sparkled like glittering seawater on a summer day as he waited for the adults’ reaction with anticipation.

 

“You two made this?”

 

It was such an unexpected situation that Marius seemed genuinely surprised.

 

Not knowing how to process his moved heart, he even covered his mouth slightly with his hand.

 

“Edgar. Can I eat some with you later too?”

 

“What kind of question is that? From now on, don’t ask such things and just eat together.”

 

When Edgar looked at Chris and giggled, the Duchess suddenly recalled their meeting from a year ago.

 

“I don’t want to play with idiots.”

 

The six-year-old child had spoken curtly as if he didn’t need friends.

 

Yet he had looked so lonely and desolate that she had worried greatly in the carriage on the way home.

 

But now Edgar wasn’t alone.

 

Far from being lonely, he was no longer neglected.

 

“Edgar. Can I read the letter here?”

 

“That won’t do. Please read it when you’re alone.”

 

“Hmm. Alright. If Edgar asks, I should listen.”

 

Edgar naturally leaned into the Empress’s touch, as if he was used to being petted.

 

Leopold, who had received the letter, couldn’t overcome his emotion and rubbed his chest with his hand.

 

“I wondered where the cake layers I had prepared for our youngest’s birthday cake had gone, but you two had used them.”

 

“It, it was Lady Regina’s? The maids said they made it themselves…”

 

“I was so busy I couldn’t go to the kitchen yesterday, so the message that I gave it to Edgar must not have been passed along.”

 

“Little sister. I’m sorry.”

 

“No. The one Lilliana and Edgar made looks more delicious.”

 

Regina hugged the two children tightly.

 

Lilliana snuggled into her embrace as if being loved by her was natural, grinning broadly, while Edgar blushed shyly.

 

Even so, the hug didn’t look unfamiliar to him.

 

At that moment, the Duchess had to acknowledge it.

 

‘He’s being loved. Edgar.’

 

Everyone—the Emperor and Empress, Leopold, and even Regina whom Leopold was seeing—they were all giving Edgar love.

 

Edgar had changed by receiving that love.

 

In just a few months since the new Empress arrived. And…

 

“We, we won’t give our Edgar away! He’s my friend, so he’ll stay here and play with me every day!”

 

He had made a good friend.

 

One who knew how to be brave for a friend even when afraid.

 

The sight of her trembling yet trying to hide Edgar was admirable.

 

She wanted to tease them a little and be mischievous, but that feeling was brief.

 

“You’ll stay and keep having fun with your friends.”

 

What a seven-year-old child should do is grow strong by being fed love and play happily with friends every single day.

 

The Duchess realized that her reason for coming to the Empire wasn’t to take Edgar away, but to confirm that he had become a beloved child.

 

* * *

 

While Lilliana played with her friends with a cake-covered face, Edith had private time with the Duchess Ecroyd.

 

“I was a little surprised that you suddenly changed your mind.”

 

“Because I confirmed that Edgar has become an ordinary seven-year-old.”

 

The sound of children playing could be heard through the window.

 

The Duchess sipped her tea while picking out Edgar’s voice.

 

“That doesn’t mean the matter of Your Majesty the Empress’s youngest sister is resolved.”

 

“Since Lilliana was born on the ship where I was working, there could be misunderstandings.”

 

“Is it really a misunderstanding?”

 

“One thing was missing from the materials you provided. Mother’s death certificate.”

 

The Duchess’s fingers, which had been fidgeting with her teacup, stopped.

 

Edith began to explain slowly.

 

“That day, I had to choose. Between my dying mother and my unborn sibling.”

 

It was a day when the sky was particularly high.

 

The weather was unusually hot, and a languid atmosphere had settled over all of Trobancha.

 

Mother and Father had boarded a cruise ship that circled the waters near Trobancha.

 

Edith, who had just joined the guard, came from a good family but her rank was just slightly above the lowest level, so she had to clean the deck without exception.

 

‘It would be better to go on a mission.’

 

Just as she was grumbling while covered in sweat, a deployment order came down.

 

A report had come in that a cruise ship was sinking due to a dark mage’s terror attack.

 

She still doesn’t remember with what state of mind she deployed.

 

When she came to her senses, she had laid her mother, who was dying from injuries, on the deck she had been cleaning all morning.

 

“Edith. You must save the child.”

 

“No. Then Mother will… I can’t do that.”

 

“Protect your youngest sibling’s future. Please, I’m begging you.”

 

“What about us? Regina and Emilia are only fifteen now. This child doesn’t even have a name anyway.”

 

Blood spread through the tears Edith shed.

 

She couldn’t tell if it was hers or her mother’s.

 

“This child’s name is Lilliana.”

 

At that moment, Edith realized.

 

Mother had been preparing for this moment for a long time.

 

“Giving the definitive name ‘Lilliana’ to a child whose gender wasn’t even known meant she knew the future.”

 

“Is such a thing possible?”

 

“My brother’s ability is ‘foresight.'”

 

“…”

 

“My brother saw countless futures. Both futures where our parents avoided the terror attack and where they didn’t.”

 

Preventing the terror attack was impossible.

 

Since Andrea couldn’t see the past, he couldn’t know where the dark mage was hiding before the attack.

 

Even in futures where investigations were conducted after the incident, they couldn’t properly uncover information about the dark mage, so avoiding the terror attack was the best they could do.

 

“If they stopped the cruise ship operations, bigger terror attacks happened elsewhere. Father was always among the terror victims.”

 

When Andrea couldn’t prevent the tragedy, he despaired.

 

Learning this fact from their son, the parents quickly finished their calculations.

 

“Father concluded that the terror attack was targeting him and decided to face the terrorist directly. He probably thought that would minimize the damage.”

 

Father died in an explosion on the spot while trying to stop the dark mage.

 

Mother was severely injured when she got caught in a secondary explosion while guiding young children and women to lifeboats.

 

That’s when Edith arrived.

 

“I wanted to give up on Lilliana and actually tried to do so.”

 

She had told the doctor on the ship to save her mother.

 

Then her mother, who barely had any consciousness left, grabbed her hand with unbelievable strength.

 

“She said the child would be very lovely. Aren’t you curious about this child’s smile?”

 

Upon confirming the immense love directed toward a daughter whose face she didn’t even know, Edith could no longer go against her mother.

 

Holding the child born in an emergency situation, Edith cried and cried again.

 

So, so much.

 

“After holding the funeral, I packed my bags and left home. I lived in the dormitory and only worked. I couldn’t bear both my mother’s death and Lilliana’s existence.”

 

“Her Majesty the Empress was only eighteen years old at that time.”

 

“That’s right. Then one day I encountered Lilliana.”

 

Lilliana was raised by her older brother Andrea.

 

They had hired a nanny, but that day the employees weren’t available, so Andrea brought Lilliana to the government office and worked.

 

Edith was passing by the area to report something to her superiors when she happened to see the two of them.

 

“She had just started walking. She wanted to put a fountain pen in her mouth but couldn’t, so she was crying. The funny thing was that appearance of her shedding tears and snot…”

 

Was lovely.

 

It was for this appearance of shedding tears, snot, and even drool that her mother had given her life.

 

Whether laughing or crying, everything seemed like this small being was shouting that she was alive.

 

She resembled the departed parents and also resembled the childhood of the siblings who had grown up together.

 

“I realized then that she wasn’t someone who had taken my mother away, but someone my mother had protected. I had actually been resenting my mother.”

 

Having finished her story, Edith moistened her lips with tea.

 

Since it was already a past that had gone by, just recalling it didn’t shake her.

 

However, her heart did feel a little heavy.

 

Her mother’s love and father’s loss, the wounds that remained in her young heart. And Lilliana.

 

The small, warm child who had announced her existence with her whole body.

 

“I could show you my mother’s death certificate as well.”

 

“No. That’s not necessary. Anyone who looks at Her Majesty the Empress’s face would know that there was no lie in the story you just told.”

 

“I’m relieved that you believe me.”

 

“Since Her Majesty the Empress knows how to love, I can entrust Edgar to you with peace of mind.”

 

A faint ripple appeared in Edith’s eyes.

 

“When Her Majesty the Empress strokes his head, he rubs his face against it. He wasn’t that kind of child before…”

 

“Is that so.”

 

“I’ll speak separately to His Majesty the Emperor and Leopold as well.”

 

The Duchess bowed her head very politely in greeting.

 

“Though he’s my nephew’s grandson, he’s no different from my own grandson. Please take good care of Edgar.”

 

“I will do my best to love him.”

 

Somehow it seemed like young Lilliana’s crying could be heard in her ears, so Edith had to put strength in her eyes.

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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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