Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 116

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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 116

“Fortunately, this wine is sweet like juice and low in alcohol, so Titania shouldn’t have any trouble drinking it.”
Her voice was gentle, as though indulging a small child, yet Cleo’s eyes blazed with the fervor of lightning.
“Moreover, look—this fabric today is precisely the one Titania gifted me. For Her Majesty the Empress, who is not even her biological mother, to give me such a precious present. I hardly know how to repay such kindness…….”
“For the First Consort to show me such a radiant appearance is more than enough. Her Majesty the Empress must maintain her dignity, and the Second Consort is still unwell. Isn’t the First Consort the only one who can bring joy to His Majesty without reservation? I too wish to be of service to you!”
At Titania’s cheerful words, Cleo’s eyes turned to ice.
Everyone in the Banquet Hall raised their cups. The Emperor called out a brief toast. All brought the cup to their lips. Cleo watched Titania. Titania smiled brightly and drained her cup. Cleo felt a twinge of regret.
She should have laced that cup with deadly poison!
The place was crowded with too many people, and it would have been awkward to tamper with it before safely sending her outside the Imperial Palace, so she’d held back. Of course, she hadn’t done nothing. It was merely a simple laxative. Imagining Titania’s face turning pale as she rushed to the lavatory, Cleo’s mood improved slightly.
Besides, when everyone gathered, Elaine planned to make a public request to the Emperor—her wish, as a sickly mother, to take her daughter away for convalescence. Perhaps today would be the last time she’d have to see that insufferable face.
At that moment, she heard a crash beside her—a cup shattering. A maid’s frantic apologies mingled with an angry, familiar nobleman’s voice demanding accountability. Cleo’s attention was briefly pulled toward the commotion, but she quickly realized it was nothing and relaxed.
Yet the real problem erupted elsewhere.
“The Second Consort!”
“……!”
Cleo’s eyes went wide. Elaine, who had merely pretended to sip, collapsed like a corpse.
“W-what’s happened to Elaine?!”
The Emperor gasped in horror and pulled Elaine into his arms, crying out. But that wasn’t the end of it. The Empress herself crumpled right after. Adrian, startled, rushed to the Empress’s side.
“Mother! Mother, come to your senses!”
“Y-Your Majesty! Royal Physician! Summon the Imperial Physician!”
“What in the world—”
“Someone has poisoned the wine!”
“Impossible!”
Cleo cried out involuntarily. It made no sense at all. She had prepared this banquet. Every single item, every dish had been checked by her personally. She had been especially meticulous with the cups for the toast.
She had verified everything carefully, wanting to avoid any major incident, any chance of cups being mixed up. The cup given to the frail Elaine was essentially plain water, and the Empress’s was a perfectly ordinary cup—!
Cleo’s eyes flew to Titania. Titania was pacing around Elaine, her feet shuffling, her face on the verge of tears. …So Titania hadn’t orchestrated this? Cleo’s mind reeled in confusion.
“Your Majesty, are you unharmed?!”
“I am unharmed, but the Empress and the Second Consort—!”
The Imperial Physician came rushing in. He examined both unconscious figures and diagnosed that there was no immediate danger to their lives.
A priest, arriving somewhat late, hurried to treat them both. Yet neither woke immediately. Their breathing was peaceful, their complexion good—they appeared to be in deep slumber. Yet no matter how much those around them shook their shoulders, they wouldn’t stir. The atmosphere in the Banquet Hall was dire.
Everyone began to suspect that something sinister had been mixed into the cups they’d drunk, and fear gripped the assembly. The Royal Guards took position around the Emperor, watchful.
Then Adrian cried out in an agitated voice.
“Your Majesty! Her Majesty has been attacked by a treacherous hand!”
Adrian himself rolled back the Empress’s sleeve, exposing her hand. At first glance it seemed normal, but the tips of her nails had turned black as though coated with poison.
In that instant, Titania quickly ran forward and held out Elaine’s hand for all to see. The symptoms were identical to the Empress’s. Titania trembled and spoke pitifully.
“Y-Your Majesty, the Second Consort’s hand also…. What shall we do? Why won’t she awaken?”
Cleo’s teeth clenched hard.
Now she understood the scheme….
Since Cleo was the one ultimately responsible for this banquet, all blame would fall on her! She wouldn’t be fooled by such a transparent trick.
“Your Majesty! That such an inauspicious incident should occur at a gathering meant for celebration. We cannot let this pass. Secure the cups and search this area at once—”
“Your Majesty!”
Titania dropped to her knees before the Emperor. Cleo cried out instinctively. Whatever that girl was about to do, she couldn’t be allowed to do it!
“Princess! What is the meaning of this behavior before His Majesty in such an urgent situation!”
“Your Majesty, save my mother!”
Tears welled in Titania’s eyes. The Emperor, his wits scattered by the sudden turn of events, came to his senses at the sight of her.
“W-what do you mean, save her?”
“Though they have been examined by both physician and priest, they cannot awaken. This must surely be a curse. If the cause is not discovered at once…. Her Highness the Second Consort, being so frail, might—”
Titania’s tears flowed freely, her bearing so sorrowful that all who beheld her felt their hearts wrung with pity.
Cleo’s teeth ground together of their own accord.
A curse, curse, curse! As if a curse were a cure-all for everything. Simply concoct a scheme and wave the word “curse” around and everything is forgiven?!
Yet hanging at Titania’s waist today, as always, was a sword that glimmered with brilliant gold. The Emperor, having witnessed with his own eyes how that very sword reduced magic beasts to ash, gleamed with interest at Titania’s words.
“Titania, do you have some notion of what transpired here?”
“Do you recall the gift I presented to Your Majesty?”
“Ah yes, of course.”
“If Your Majesty administered the World Tree Leaf kept within that Holy Vessel, both of them should awaken. Whatever afflicts them, the concentrated sacred power contained within would repel anything. However, it was such a precious gift, offered in hopes of Your Majesty’s eternal prosperity—”
Titania measured the Emperor’s expression. He seemed, for just a moment, to hesitate over using such a precious object, but then his voice rang out loudly.
“What manner of question is that! Should a husband hesitate to save his wife? Attendants! Bring that Holy Vessel! Rescue my Empress and Consort!”
“I obey your command, Your Majesty!”
The Holy Vessel arrived shortly. A priest still in attendance personally extracted the World Tree Leaf from the holy water and crushed it finely. A fragrant aroma spread in all directions. As he pushed the crushed leaf into each woman’s mouth, a response appeared not long after. The Empress’s eyelids fluttered.
“Mother!”
Adrian called to the Empress in an earnest voice. Nobles murmured that the sight of a son’s devotion to his mother was deeply moving. Titania matched him without falling short. She gazed endlessly at the Second Consort’s garment, her voice breaking as she wept, and her pitiful appearance could not have been more heartrending.
At last both women regained consciousness safely.
By then, the dark marks that had appeared on their nails vanished in an instant. After the priest and physician examined the Empress and Second Consort thoroughly and declared there were no lingering complications, everyone sighed in relief.
“That both Her Majesty the Empress and my sister Elaine are safe—truly, truly, what a blessing. My heart was in such turmoil…. Sister Elaine, are you quite well?”
Cleo pretended to wipe away tears and approached Elaine, taking her hand. The patient’s palm was cold and dry. Cleo leaned close and whispered.
“Can we proceed with the plan?”
Elaine answered with a nod. Cleo, reading the emotion reflected in those eyes, felt certain.
Yes, Elaine would never betray her. Everything today had been the opponent’s machinations. However the girl had managed to selectively render just these two unconscious and then allow them to awaken, without clear evidence, there was no way to identify the culprit based on suspicion alone in this setting.
The greatest plan for today had been Elaine’s request for convalescence in any case.
Whatever the ultimate objective, now that Elaine had endured such an ordeal, her request to leave the Imperial Palace and rest, and her desire to take her daughter with her for support, would almost certainly be granted.
I’ve brought this upon myself! Cleo thought with renewed confidence, slowly opening her mouth.
“Your Majesty, if I might speak—”
At that very moment, the Chief Attendant rushed forward.
He whispered something urgent into the Emperor’s ear, and the Emperor’s eyes widened. As he asked the Chief Attendant what should be done, the Emperor nodded with a bewildered expression.
Cleo was seized by an ominous foreboding. After what had just transpired, was everything truly finished?

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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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