Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 120

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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 120

“I am truly sorry for showing you such an embarrassing sight, Aunt.”
“No, no. A child cannot always bend to a parent’s will.”
“You are indeed an elder of the Imperial Family and family to us. I understand you once used the Saffron Palace during your stay at the Imperial Palace. I shall have the attendants prepare it for you—please make yourself comfortable there.”
“I am grateful for His Majesty’s kindness. However, my purpose in visiting the palace was not merely to pay my respects.”
“Then what is it?”
“I received a letter from my great-niece, one whose heart runs deep with filial piety toward her mother. Yes—Elaine, the Empress?”
Valentina’s gaze turned toward Elaine, the Empress. Elaine kept her eyes fixed on the floor and answered in a small voice.
“…You called for me?”
“Yes. I heard your health had suffered greatly—so much so that you could not leave your palace?”
“Yes, it is because I am lacking in….”
“I see. And yet today, even after such an ordeal, you have recovered enough to endure it. How fortunate. I too once had a body that would not obey me, and I know well the heart of one who suffers from illness.”
“…….”
Valentina’s gaze swept subtly across Elaine.
“Now that your health has recovered, you should think of attending to the Emperor. Should you not?”
“…I shall exert myself further to maintain my health so that I may serve His Majesty with ease.”
“No, no. Come, child—let me see your hand.”
Valentina withdrew her hand from where it had rested upon the Emperor’s and placed it before Elaine. Carefully, Elaine set her own hand upon it. As Valentina observed the thin wrist and fingernails barely cleared of the black marks, she clicked her tongue.
“You will collapse from overexertion in serving His Majesty!”
“…….”
Elaine remained silent. Her green eyes held the weight of deep contemplation.
“You have only just grown well enough to leave your palace, and now you exhaust yourself attending banquets…. Yes, I understand your reason for pushing yourself. But if you overextend yourself in serving His Majesty and fall ill again, who could then guarantee your recovery?”
“…All of this stems from my own insufficiency.”
“The Imperial Palace is so treacherous. You have scarcely left your own rooms, and yet today you nearly met your end. Even this old woman’s heart was wrung with worry—can a body like yours, one that requires such convalescence, truly endure all of this?”
The fine brows of Elaine trembled faintly. Valentina spoke to the Emperor as a kind grandmother might.
“Seeing what transpired today has convinced me. If you truly regard me as family, Your Majesty, then permit me to take Elaine, the Empress, to Armerin for proper recuperation.”
“Pardon?”
The Emperor blinked in surprise.
“You would…take Elaine, the Empress, with you?”
“I am old enough that such arrangements would occasion no scandal. I would bring her to my private estate, a place of convalescence. As for myself—well, that I have lived to this age in such vigor is thanks to the climate there. Should I take this child, her health will surely improve.”
Elaine’s eyes widened.
“That would be…too much trouble on my account….”
“To fail in recovering your health and cause His Majesty such worry—that would be the true burden.”
Valentina cut off the objection with a gentle but decisive tone.
“I was never blessed with children of my own, but if His Majesty permits, I should like to regard my niece-in-law as my own daughter. A healthy niece-in-law, one capable of managing her own affairs—there is no need for me to worry over such a woman.”
The Emperor seemed to hesitate. Then Elaine, the Empress, spoke.
“I am truly grateful for your concern. But I…my body has always been weak. Only recently could I finally see my daughter’s face….”
A delicate beauty, fragile as though she might shatter at any moment, spoke these words while gazing endlessly at the image of her young daughter—and her words possessed the power to melt the hearts of all who beheld her. The nobles murmured among themselves. Sensing the Emperor’s hesitation as he watched this scene, I made my move first.
Which is to say: I wept.
“Oh, oh dear, Mother, Mother…! Wretched daughter that I am, from the moment of my birth I have damaged your health. And now I have become such an unfilial child, grasping at your very heels…!”
There was precisely one thing for which I felt gratitude toward Elaine, the Empress.
That she had borne Titania with such beauty.
I could never match the refined elegance of Elaine combined with her sickly grace, but what of it? I had weapons of my own!
Tears streamed down my cheeks in perfect drops.
-Wow! The light and wind are emphasizing the contractor’s face, tears, and hair so naturally!
‘I stayed up all night practicing—it had better not look forced.’
I had mastered Wind Power with complete freedom. Following the Noise Canceling I had employed before, I could now use the air itself as a medium to project my voice with greater clarity and reach. Thus my trembling voice spread diligently to every corner of the banquet hall.
…It hardly seems like this meager use is what such power was meant for, but what does it matter? As they say, any road leads to the destination.
“Please do not worry! I have worked so hard all this time not to become a burden to Mother! I was…so sickly. I suffered so much as a child…. You worried, did you not? But I am healthy now, so I hope you will care for your own health, Mother….”
Now that the banquet guests could breathe and speak again, I saw them murmur things like “How pitiful,” and “How admirable….”
Elaine, the Empress, and I both wore expressions of tender concern on the surface, as though neither of us could bear the other’s distress. But the truth was otherwise. Sparks flew in the glances we exchanged.
Perhaps the remnants of that young Titania—whom I had thought long dead—still lingered, leaving me shattered by Elaine’s words and actions. But one day of suffering was enough.
I had been somewhat surprised when Adrian voluntarily investigated Cleo, the Empress, and provided me information. But the next moment, I understood.
‘…Well. In this matter at least, it seemed I could not keep silent.’
‘No—thank you for telling me. I can guess what the plan is, more or less.’
Multiple carriages. Lodging secured near a city with access to the Warp Tunnel closest to the Capital. Low-grade mercenaries…. From just this much, I could piece together Cleo’s scheme.
She would not attempt to poison me using Sara, Mary, or Natalie—the servants I had deliberately placed as bait in the Rose Palace. Though Elaine was my birth mother, I had occupied a separate palace from infancy, so the likelihood of her trying to unify our households now to discipline me was low. It would be far too reckless to harm me within the Imperial Palace itself.
So the best approach would be to target me when I ventured outside—like during the Dedication Ceremony. But I had already passed through the ceremony safely and returned. There was little reason for me to leave the Imperial Palace again.
Which meant Cleo would try to lure me outside using Elaine. Any excuse would suffice. A visit to see her birth family, whom she had never met…. A pilgrimage to the grave of her late mother, with the added purpose of showing her granddaughter’s face….
‘So I had to move first.’
“Look at this touching filial piety, shown in her tears for her mother. Why, it gave her the courage to write a letter to one she had never met.”
Valentina clicked her tongue. The Emperor could not hide his interest and asked:
“Truly…. If I send her to Armerin, will the Empress’s health recover?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. Of course it will take time…. But you may trust this old woman’s word.”
“Hmm. Then I shall entrust her to your care.”
Elaine fell silent for a moment, then answered quietly. In truth, once the Emperor had agreed, the outcome was already determined.
“…I am merely grateful beyond words that you would think of me in this way.”

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“…I never imagined you would use that fabric in such a manner.”
I simply laughed at Raymond, whose expression had grown serious.
The gifts I had given to Cleo, the Empress, and Brian were subtle traps.
It was deliberate—gifting her fabric that closely resembled Demonic Beast Byproduct Fabric.
Cleo, the Empress, would recognize at once that the color and texture matched what she had seen many times before. Naturally, she would suspect what trick might have been worked into the fabric, and even after inspection, her suspicion would linger.
Did she notice something? Is that why she specifically chose ‘this’ fabric? Or—could it be that the merchant house I dealt with had been secretly diverting it elsewhere without my knowledge?

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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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