Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 112

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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 112

“Moreover, Her Majesty Cleo has always said that a woman’s fortune in life depends entirely on marrying a good man. By her logic, I must be the luckiest person in the world. After all, the incomparable Young Duke of Castrain is to be my husband, isn’t he? And His Imperial Majesty is pleased about it as well.”
“No matter how distinguished the Castrain Ducal House may be, do not forget that you live within these palace walls.”
“…….”
“And though His Imperial Majesty may dote on you, his true affection is reserved for me, and the only one he regards as his own son is Brian—do you understand?”
Cleo savored the coldness that had crept into Titania’s gaze, delighting in this moment of triumph.
If only the girl had remained obedient when she herself played the devoted mother, even if it was false. Then she wouldn’t have ended up abandoned even by her own flesh and blood…….
Originally, Cleo had intended for Elaine to remove herself from the palace of her own accord, so that she herself could remain uninvolved. It would have been easier to deceive Titania that way.
But Elaine’s seclusion had lasted far too long.
Moreover, the Emperor had always been excessively fond of beautiful women.
So Cleo had decided it was better to present it as though Elaine had left the palace because of her—her own intervention. No matter how exalted the Empress might be, she could not prevent a sickly mother from leaving the palace after years of confinement to recuperate with her daughter, even if Titania herself protested endlessly. The Emperor was completely bewitched by Elaine, and would take her side even if Titania resisted his wishes. The Castrain Family, merely a betrothed house, could not interfere in such matters.
Once Elaine and Titania disappeared beyond the palace walls, it would be simple to pin the blame on the Empress, accusing her of attempting to eliminate a rival. If all went well, the Empress could be confined.
Though the family’s status prevented her from being executed or removed from the throne entirely, keeping her locked away like a vegetable would be easy enough. The mere thought of it made her want to laugh. With her new and capable accomplice, Cleo feared nothing.
“Look now, Titania. You truly are a blessed child.”
“……I too am curious whether Your Majesty will remain blessed to the very end.”
And so she simply laughed—delighted laughter, mocking the defiant gaze of her opponent who struggled to maintain her composure.

* * *

After the awkward dinner and the meeting with the Empress ended, I fled the Imperial Palace.
I had sworn never to use the passage unless it was truly an emergency, but the vow proved meaningless now. Just being in the Rose Palace made it hard to breathe. I simply had no choice.
A major matter had unfolded, and the Empress would certainly watch my movements. I knew I should be more careful. But despite these thoughts, I rushed out without proper planning, leaving Sara with instructions to make excuses however she could.
Debbie guided me without a word. We passed through the Secret Back Gate and emerged onto a quiet, sparsely populated alley. I simply stood there, dazed. No one would recognize me, hidden as I was beneath a Hooded Robe that concealed my entire body, and yet…….
A warm summer breeze blew. Stars glittered in the sky. It was similar to the night I watched the fireworks before, and yet none of it felt real. I wanted to scream. I wanted to rage. I wanted to abandon everything and sink into endless sleep.
I heard footsteps—careful, measured footsteps approaching slowly.
“……Might I be permitted to stay by your side?”
It was Raymond, dressed in light, casual clothing rather than his uniform. His voice was cautious.
“As you doubtless know, the Imperial Palace’s ‘back gate’ is not a proper entrance. Even in disguise, it is dangerous to linger in one place. If you would allow me…….”
“Did Titania become so hateful that she would take Cleo’s hand?”
“…….”
The words tumbled out incoherently, yet Raymond did not ask what I meant. My mind was in chaos.
I was not a fool. I understood what the horrified expressions in the eyes of the Empress and Adrian meant. I understood the significance of what Cleo said with such pride. I understood it better than anyone.
Elaine took the hand that Cleo extended. Whatever that might signify.
“I thought that protection—keeping me alive until I came of age—was at least a form of compassion. That by preventing me from falling completely into Cleo’s hands, she was fulfilling her responsibility as a mother. I thought…….”
I couldn’t breathe.
The words I had spoken while trying to save Bibi were not lies. I did pity Elaine. I understood her circumstances. I did not deceive or abandon her by reaching out a hand only to withdraw it. I simply turned away from her utterly, without even making eye contact…….
I died, and I gave up on everything, didn’t I?
But was Elaine’s compassion, her mercy, given only because Titania lived a life worse than death? Without her mother’s love. Without her betrothed’s affection. If she could live by casting aside the Empress’s false flattery…….
“Was I so hateful that I deserved to be trampled underfoot? So contemptible, so transparently foolish in my desperation, that no one could bear to look at me? An unwanted child?”
‘Changed’ Titania—was she so detestable?
Was it so unbearable to watch me try to actually live?
Each time I had such thoughts, my breath caught. It was like watching the coffin of someone already dead set ablaze, everything turning to ash before my eyes.
“…….”
“Why?”
“…….”
“Was it because you never wanted to give birth to me in the first place? Because I’m the child of the Emperor you despise? Because people I loved died after I was born?”
“Titania.”
“I didn’t even ask to be born!”
A scream tore from my throat. Gasping, suffocating breaths. I felt as though I would collapse from lack of air. I felt Raymond’s arms close around me as he rushed forward, and I lacked even the strength to resist. A storm raged through my heart.
It was unreasonable.
To demand affection from an individual when the circumstances cannot support it—it was truly unreasonable.
I knew this.
I knew that parental love was not necessary. Even though I would never see them again, I had parents who loved me. So it would be fine, I would simply live harder. I would walk my own path…….
And yet, and yet.
“If you hated me so much, why not kill me with your own hands when I was still an infant? Why didn’t you at least tell me you hated me, that I should die?”
What if you had?
Would ‘Titania’ have died?
Was it mercy that you did not?
The thought struck me as so absurd that I began to laugh—a hollow, broken laugh.
I was so full of myself, and now I’m getting what I deserve.
“I’ll live differently,” I boasted, thanks to parents who exist only in memory. How pathetic I am. The moment my neglectful mother took Cleo’s hand and the situation arose where she could turn against me, I wavered. Wasn’t this just me desperately trying to convince myself that “I’m fine” to avoid being hurt? Wasn’t it exactly the same thing?
“Why did I come to hate her now? Just because I visited the grounds of Licorice Palace and troubled her with my neediness? Because I craved her attention? Because Cleo made me the reason she acted differently?”
Did I hate the living, breathing Titania so much that it made her lose even her peaceful death?
After awakening to my past life, I believed I had done well.
At minimum, I thought there was nothing I regretted so deeply that I would say “I shouldn’t have done that.” I had acted righteously. I had dealt with bad people as they deserved, taken my revenge, atoned for living as a nuisance. I had let go of attachments…….
But Elaine’s change was something worse—something I had caused by ‘changing.’
Perhaps, just perhaps, it would have been better if Titania had gone to her grave never knowing how much her own mother hated her.
Whenever I thought such things, my breath would suddenly catch. I felt like a fish thrown from the water, gasping and choking.
“This is not your fault. Please, Titania. Please…. Do not speak of yourself that way.”
Raymond held me with a sickly pale face. I hung limp in his grip like a puppet with cut strings.
“You are not guilty. You are not, absolutely not guilty. Even if you were wrong…. The fault lies with all those who neglected you. I was wrong.”
I stared at him blankly, unable to process his words. Raymond’s face was desperate, as though someone had their hands around his throat.
“I am the greatest sinner of all—I, who pretended not to see you abandoned within the palace walls. While your heart festered with such thoughts…. I told myself that the people I must protect and be responsible for were within the Ducal House, that I did not have the capacity to be responsible for you as well. That it was better to turn a blind eye entirely. That was my reasoning…. But it was all an excuse. I realized this far too late.”
Raymond’s lips trembled. His golden eyes, twisted in anguish, reflected my image.
A pitiful form—like a paper doll dissolving in water. And yet I didn’t care whether those paper fragments scattered and dispersed. But Raymond was struggling as though determined to gather each broken piece and fit them back together.
He kept his own feelings carefully hidden deep within his chest until the very end. But he couldn’t stop them from seeping through the cracks, couldn’t prevent them from spilling out in a torrent. As though he couldn’t bear it otherwise. As though witnessing my festering, rotting heart was a punishment unto itself.
“…….”
“Whatever Her Majesty Elaine has done, it is not your sin. No one…. chooses to be born. If there is sin, it belongs to His Imperial Majesty, not to you. That the Imperial Family used marriage as a tool to check our House—that is our House’s responsibility……. However grave ignorance may be as a transgression, it cannot be right to hold a child responsible when even those who should have taught her what is wrong have abandoned her.”
“…….”
“Rather, it was easier on my heart when you would complain unreasonably to me, when you were angry with me. Then I could be certain that you would eventually understand that I could never be the ‘perfect betrothed’ you desired. That you would see through me, and we would reach an ending where everyone could finally be at peace. I am not someone capable of saving anyone. Saving only those within my own sphere has exhausted me already……. So that’s why…….”
For some reason, in that moment, Raymond looked like a frightened child. He shut his eyes tightly.
“…….”
“I apologize. I released your hand long ago, and now I come to you wearing the guise of betrothed, asking you not to abandon yourself. I know this is a deception. But…….”
“………….”
“Please do not resent yourself. ……It is my plea.”
Feeling like a salt figurine swept up in ocean waves, I simply listened. I lacked even the strength to say: you have nothing to apologize for. Instead of tears, the scent of salt seemed to rise from my entire body.

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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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