Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 107

The return to the Imperial Palace was swift and seamless.
Unlike the descent, Gregory and the other soldiers posed no obstacle or annoyance. With the Castrain Family itself providing escort on the way up, any trouble would have been frankly absurd.
Flux saw me off with tears streaming down his face, but as a high-ranking noble, he could visit the Capital on occasion, so our reunion wasn’t far off. The same held true for Nabira. She’d laughed smugly about how, as a senior member of Hecate’s Tavern, she could transfer to the Capital headquarters whenever she pleased.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Palace, I saw the newly renovated Rose Palace for the first time and marveled at it.
“Wow.”
“His Imperial Majesty has instructed that we attend carefully to Your Highness.”
“Wow, it’s truly incredible!”
Yes. It really is incredible.
That Natalie is still here….
And she’s introducing my palace as if nothing’s amiss….
I offered a greeting with a face that was oddly composed and expressionless, then struggled not to openly scowl as I watched Natalie describe the newly reconstructed Rose Palace.
-Hmm, I thought she was hiding something sinister in her body since she kept reeking of misfortune like Chernobog’s minion. But her body’s clean? ⊙﹏⊙) I don’t see any traces of a curse either!
‘…Well, no matter how capable the Empress is, if she cuts off all her failed servants, she won’t have anyone left to work with.’
Even if the Empress had taken my side, it seemed she didn’t think I was in a position to openly dismiss my lady’s maid. When testifying about the Rose Palace’s curse, Natalie had become the Empress’s witness.
I’d thought of it as a blunder then—or perhaps something the Empress had overlooked because she underestimated Titania. Even if all the Rose Palace servants technically served someone else in secret, a head lady’s maid was ultimately responsible for everything. She was the palace’s face.
And she had openly served another’s hands and feet.
Before regaining her past-life memories, Titania had admired her lady’s maid in her own way. There was the impression of a respectable elder—from her consistently upright posture and solemn tone. So whenever Natalie said something, she had a strong inclination to obey immediately.
But then was then, and now is now. Knowing that I’d revealed this even to the Empress, and that Natalie had revealed herself as the Empress’s person, there was no way I’d follow her as before, was there?
So I’d wondered if the Empress would assign me someone new. But she’d just left things as they were?
While I was mulling this over, maids I’d never seen before stood in a neat line behind Natalie and bowed respectfully to me.
I gazed at the garden in full seasonal bloom and the Rose Palace, cleanly constructed in a pale beige tone throughout, and smiled with half genuine warmth and half hollow laughter.
The newly assigned maids managed their expressions as cleanly as Natalie did. There was nothing to fault. Though not everyone was perfect.
No—there were two in the very back row, their heads thrust down as if they didn’t want to be noticed.
I smiled with my eyes crinkling.
“Oh my, Sara! Mary! You were here!”
The shoulders of the two girls who’d been singled out trembled. Like they’d been dragged to a place they wanted to escape, their rigid heads came into view. The Empress had completely replaced all the Rose Palace staff. But there had to be intention behind keeping Natalie, Sara, and Mary.
“You two, really—where have you been without telling me? I’ve been complaining about my hair the entire journey!”
I could feel the glint in Debbie’s eyes as she pretended to be a simple, quiet maid without so much as a breath, following my instructions to the letter. There was a meaning there: *How joyfully and with all my might did I tend to Your Highness’s hair during all this time…?* But I ignored it and smiled brightly.
“It’s not just my hair? I’ve complained about my makeup too. It’s hot, so sweat pours down like rain, my hair keeps sticking to my skin… I have to keep fixing my makeup! Hmph. Couldn’t be bothered to go far, so you just made yourselves scarce from my sight on purpose, didn’t you? Hmm?”
Sara and Mary exchanged looks from the side giving them a nudge to move forward, and reluctantly shuffled to stand before me.
Sara was the first to speak. Her face, gaunt from hardship, opened tentatively as she searched my expression.
“Y-yes… That is, there’s no way that could be… While the Rose Palace was being reconstructed, we couldn’t impose, so we were working within the Imperial Palace proper….”
As I offered no rebuttal and simply smiled brightly, Mary seemed to sense an opening and hurried to chime in.
“Yes, yes, that’s right! Your Highness was ill, and we were so incompetent we couldn’t help with anything. And the palace burned down, so… we didn’t want to be a burden, we were just doing odd jobs. We weren’t deliberately avoiding Your Highness!”
Mary and Sara hadn’t seen me wielding a sword and rampaging. Though rumors had spread wildly through the Imperial Palace, whenever it was said that a Magic Beast had attacked, of course everyone scattered in panic and fled. They hadn’t directly witnessed my clash with the Empress either.
So even if it were said that “the Princess has changed,” it wouldn’t feel real to them.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it then. Come to think of it, I’ve been incredibly unlucky lately! Nearly died, there was a fire… Ugh.”
The Empress had handed me such blatant bait in the form of those two.
“Oh, are those new maids? Among you, is there anyone who’s good at makeup, hairstyling, adjusting outfits? Anyone like that?”
I swept my gaze across the lined-up maids with a face of obvious disinterest and spoke half-heartedly.
Then a maid carefully raised her hand. In her ordinary brown hair and brown eyes lay a docile impression—an image that would be absolutely impossible to spot if mixed in anywhere.
“Though my skills are humble, before entering the palace I had occasion to exclusively assist with the grooming of a noblewoman in a great house.”
A maid skilled and deft enough to exclusively handle a noblewoman’s grooming would rarely be assigned to the palace of a princess who’d been abandoned. Either she was terribly unlucky, or… someone from above had deliberately assigned her with intent. I lowered my eyelids and smiled.
“Ah, is that so? Then you can help me along with Sara and Mary. I hate having to do anything myself. Perfect timing. I was getting tired of wearing the same outfit every time. Go change clothes right now, so follow me to the Dressing Room!”
Natalie addressed me quietly.
“Is there nothing else you’d like assigned to the other girls? The Rose Palace structure has changed considerably, and personnel allocation will need restructuring. Do you have any preferences?”
“Hmm….”
I laughed as if considering for a moment.
When the Empress had toyed with the original Titania, Natalie had performed her duties remarkably well. Her outward work was fair.
No matter how the maids, attendants, and officials embezzled and played with the Rose Palace budget—so that rumors spread of “Princess Titania’s extravagance”—beneath it all, the palace had become nothing but a shabby façade. Yet Natalie didn’t carry a single piece of gold jewelry on her person. That’s how Titania was deceived.
If she’d thought of the Empress as a mother, she’d thought of Natalie as a nursemaid.
Without a single warm word. This person alone wouldn’t look down on me like others did. Wouldn’t scold me. Wouldn’t disappoint me even if she didn’t praise me. A pillar of support in her heart.
Yes. It was true that she felt nothing. When the original Titania wept and struggled, begging anyone to take her side, Natalie looked at her with eyes as vacant as those gazing at a corpse.
What feeling would anyone have for their work? That woman was the Empress’s dog, and she was bowing her head to me to cut the strings of the toy that had stopped dancing at her fingertips.
“I don’t know much about those things. Let Natalie do as she always did. Understood?”
Yes. So Natalie had to stay “the same.” Because an opponent I’d thought was a puppet needed the chance to have the blade that flew at me turned back against them.

* * *

The Toilet Room adjoining the newly arranged Dressing Room was truly immaculate. It made me suspect the Emperor had given more budget than expected.
I laughed brightly and melodiously, assigning each of them their tasks—clothes, makeup, jewelry, and ornaments—making sure nothing was lacking, and summoned Sara alone first. Then I was shocked.
“Please, save me!”
Sara glanced around, confirmed that only I and Debbie behind me were in the room, and without hesitation dropped to her knees without looking back. I, who had been trying to play the addled princess and cajole some information out of her, was taken aback. Even Debbie’s eyes widened slightly.

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