Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 12

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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 12

The card was a VIP Access Card for Hecate’s Tavern, the capital’s foremost information guild.
The badge was a symbol of a knight of the order that the Castrain Ducal House cultivated as its main force—one that could command at least second-rank standing within their ranks.
The silver ring was… nominally silver, but in truth a rare metal favored by alchemists. It proved indispensable for discerning poisons and antidotes.
The Access Card itself looked new—its paper gleamed, its gold leaf glinted—but the badge and ring bore the unmistakable patina of long years in their owner’s possession.
The meaning was crystal clear. These items were being sent to announce that their owner would soon be coming to me. When I flipped the card, a thin slip of paper affixed beneath it fluttered loose.
“I shall be watching.”
“…….”
The moment I read those words, goosebumps erupted across my skin like a frog pinned before a serpent, and I froze.
I knew Raymond’s hand well enough. This was different. The script was grave, steeped in authority and years.
It was Orto’s own handwriting!
Lisianthus grumbled from beside me as I stood staring down at the items.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what Father is thinking.”
“…Better not to know.”
“What?”
“Is this all? No word of exactly when they’ll arrive, no signal I might recognize them by, no confirmation that the VIP card’s commission fee is included?”
I discarded the playfulness I’d been harboring and asked coldly.
Lisianthus faltered—clearly unprepared for such a question. But it seemed he’d been briefed beforehand; not long after, he spoke.
“…Well. Didn’t expect you to ask, but… they said they’d settle it within a week. They’ll make contact first, so never mind about recognizing them. The card does include one commission fee, that much is true.”
The compensation was more generous than I’d anticipated. Especially the Hecate’s Tavern access—that was excessive even by the standard of a service.
Of course, since I’d handed over the Banner of Gloriana, it was fair enough to demand even more.
Yet truthfully, the Banner of Gloriana had never been something I could make use of anyway.
Everyone knew my relationship with my biological mother was poor. Even the iron mines the Imperial Family granted me as compensation for selling her back to her birth house—
I couldn’t do anything with them, nor did I have any use for them.
Especially for the Imperial Family, a Relic bearing the Power of Light was a thankless burden.
The Imperial Family had long since relegated all Divine Power itself to the realm of ancient legacy and legend, burying it deliberately.
But if a member of the Imperial Bloodline were to suddenly emerge now, manifesting strongly the power the First Emperor once held?
That would be war by another name.
In a sense, such a person would possess greater legitimacy than the current Emperor.
My reason for handing the Banner to the Castrain Ducal House was for them to use it later as an offering to reinforce the Northern Barrier.
Theoretically, if one gained awareness, members of the Imperial Bloodline could wield all Divine Powers.
But how in the world would Titania ever use something like the Banner of Gloriana and manifest the Power of Light now?
It made no sense.
Yet from the Castrain Ducal House’s perspective, my current actions must seem suspicious.
It was natural for them to wonder what I intended to do with the Hecate’s Tavern access, what my purpose was.
I hid my feelings and spoke with lowered eyes.
“Thank him for me.”
At my measured response, Lisianthus’s expression became peculiar.
The look of someone witnessing something impossible? The kind of confused unease where you can’t quite explain what bothers you?
Even if a monster suddenly burst from a toy rabbit left at the head of my bed, I wouldn’t wear such a strange expression.
He stared at me in incomprehension for a long time, then abruptly a question tumbled out. His voice had grown heavy.
“…Are you really Titania?”

* * *

“You’re to deliver this for me.”
When he received that order from his esteemed father, Lisianthus Agni El Castrain frowned. His silence was due solely to the fact that his father was the one who had spoken.
“And what of my brother?”
“Your brother has been assigned separate work.”
Lisianthus regarded the items before him with suspicion.
They weren’t even sealed—just laid out for him to verify and deliver. A card, a silver ring, a badge, and a letter still damp with fresh ink.
As a member of the Castrain House, where the powers of sword, medicine, and pen were all essential, he could not fail to understand what these things signified.
‘Handing such precious things to that accursed woman? Surely not.’
Lisianthus’s scarlet eyes swam with confusion.
Privately, he despised Titania. He had no choice but to.
He hated the Imperial Family and the Imperial Bloodline. Everything that obstructed the Castrain House’s path he despised even more.
Except for his dignified older brother, his revered father, and his dear youngest sibling, along with the domain’s common folk who needed protecting—everyone else was merely a nuisance to him.
Nobles? Either fools who spread gossip about the Castrain House on hearsay alone, or parasites scrabbling to gain whatever they could through flattery.
It pained him that his House had been left with the thankless role of hunting Magic Beasts and safeguarding the Empire.
“Nominally your brother’s betrothed, yet you think I need appear in person? She was surely just feigning illness….”
“Your brother showed considerable agitation upon meeting the Imperial Princess who rose from the dead.”
At those measured words, Lisianthus’s eyes hardened.
Lisianthus knew his own limitations well.
He disliked complexity. He disliked the intrigues and deals that passed between people. His far more excellent brother would inherit this House. So he simply needed to trust and follow him.
He wielded his sword quite well, and he loved swordplay, but still—he had always believed himself inferior to his brother.
In many ways, he was the lesser sibling. Yet he harbored no resentment.
Rather, he admired and loved him all the more.
Which is why he hated that such a woman of no breeding was his brother’s betrothed.
‘Shall I stand in for him instead?’
Yes, what was a single dance? When Raymond had danced with another woman to successfully deceive the world into obtaining the Wrath of Flambeur—
Titania had caused such a scene upon fainting that rumors spread. Lisianthus had genuinely bristled at the news, and had made Raymond an offer.
‘Honestly, the scheming Emperor has no real intention of binding you to that foolish Imperial Princess anyway. The youngest sister is absolutely out of the question. So let me be the sacrifice.’
‘Lisianthus.’
‘Tch. I never thought about marriage anyway. My reputation can be ruined all you like. But you….’
You sacrifice far too much. Lisianthus had swallowed those words down hard.
At the sight of his younger brother’s expression—so sincere in his concern, yet so reckless in his manner—something complex flickered through Raymond’s eyes.
‘…Still, until the betrothal is broken, she is my responsibility.’
Was it merely his imagination, or did the light in Raymond’s eyes seem to carry a weight far too heavy to be mere guilt?
‘Even if one doesn’t love the other, one mustn’t seek a betrothal under false pretenses….’
Though his brother didn’t love that woman either.
The reason Lisianthus didn’t voice this was simply that he understood the complexity of his brother’s heart.
Yes, that arrogant woman had no idea—but Raymond carried a slender guilt merely because she genuinely loved him. Titania herself would never know.
Yet he trusted his brother.
He was the heir to this great and mighty House. He would scatter away even motes of guilt and pity like dandelion seeds. He would make the right choice.
But that he—that excellent brother—should worry even over such a worthless woman!
Lisianthus burned with anger. So he had gone to find Titania and hurled abuse at her. Using the excuse that something had come up for Raymond, he stepped forward before the waiting Titania and mocked and reviled her in his stead.
No matter how much she raged and cursed and nearly struck him, Lisianthus never let her land a blow.
He took a step back with a flourish as she came at him, and watching her tumble ungracefully to the floor, grinding her teeth in frustration, had brought him genuine pleasure.
How satisfying it was to watch that “dignified” Imperial Princess, so adamant about maintaining her composure, gnash her teeth and explode in fury.
A woman like that becoming his brother’s consort? No one had taught her her place—if she wouldn’t learn, he would have to teach her himself.
If she gave up on her own, his brother would be spared so much suffering.
Or so he had believed.
“So you too shall go and see for yourself, and judge what you find.”
Yet such a woman had come back from the dead—and changed? His brother had been shaken?
“…Very well, Father. I understand.”
It must be an act. One slight poke and the charade would crumble, obvious as day.
“Don’t worry, Father. I’ll go and see through her completely and thoroughly!”
And so, with utter confidence, Lisianthus declared as much, took the items, and set off toward the Imperial Palace.
Carrying only the absolute certainty that Titania could not have changed.

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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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