Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 129

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

Chapter 129

After disposing of First Consort Cleo’s interference through a brief conversation with the Emperor, Valentina smirked and spoke with brazen confidence.
‘What power do men wield in society? Well, they might have some, but true reputation and influence flow from the sleeves of noblewomen. Your rumors have been dreadful, yes, but since you haven’t formally debuted yet, people can dismiss them as youthful indiscretions. I’ve heard that First Consort Cleo carries considerable weight in society, but even that has limits. The Lucen Family, forced to lick the boots of a consort whose heir is baseborn—such desperation isn’t universal among the great houses. And they can hardly openly support Prince Adrian. Even a child knows the Emperor isn’t being just. Still, in that final moment, they’ll all harbor doubts: Brian, really?’
Valentina explained with the fluidity of water finding its course.
‘Unlike the Princess, who struggles to venture outside formal social activities, the princes enjoy comparatively easier freedom of movement and companionship.’
Prince Brian, for instance, was forever gallivanting with his hunting companions, and hadn’t he tasted bitterness during that recent Magic Beast attack on the Imperial Palace?
Prince Adrian, too, had moved quietly these past months, rarely flaunting connections with anyone openly, though he attended modest social gatherings.
‘Once it becomes known that your relations with Adrian aren’t poor, we can make use of that. Rather than approaching Adrian directly, some will wish to approach you instead. Your worth isn’t negligible. There may be those who’ve noticed how subtly you’ve been neglected in the Palace, but if you fill your head with proper substance, you are the future mistress of the Castrain household—a young lady I myself shall groom through the debut season. No one of wit would dare belittle or mock you. If they did? They’d be fools beneath your anger.’
In short, my very existence had become a hot topic rising in society.
‘In other words, if those truly aligned with First Consort Cleo possess such capability and information networks, they certainly have influence among the noble houses. The probability of dangerous people approaching you only increases.’
‘I’ve received help from many people each time. If I then shirk from any danger and retreat, wouldn’t that be laughable? Besides, it’s an opportunity to build connections with other nobles. This is the bare minimum. If I remain trapped in the Palace, nothing will be accomplished.’
‘…Well, if that’s what you believe, I won’t stop you.’
With that, Valentina compiled and recited to me a list of precautions and people I absolutely must cultivate friendships with or approach.
She said there was no need for me to arrange an ostentatiously grand ball—not during the New Year ball when new faces make their formal entrance, not at the beginning of the social season, but rather now, during this awkward interim, with my sudden debut.
My mere existence would already draw everyone’s attention, so there was no benefit in adorning myself from head to toe in diamonds or hosting a lavish Imperial Palace ball at ruinous expense. In fact, it would backfire.
Therefore, the ball hosted by the Castrain Family had actually fallen rather low on the priority list…

Bibi’s blue eyes gleamed with desperate earnestness as she gazed at me. It was my first glimpse of her face in some time, and I understood her plea well enough that ordinarily I would simply have answered with a smile: “Yeah, yeah, whatever Bibi wants, I’ll do it. Should we wear similar dresses?” But today, I had no choice but to speak while averting her gaze.
“Great-aunt Valentina mentioned—well, she doesn’t have quite as much as the Castrain Family, but she’s hardly wanting for money. And Flux told me to use whatever I needed. So dresses and jewelry and such can be managed easily enough if you have the funds. As for the ball itself… well, as long as it’s not hosted by some obscure house, and as long I secure permission from the family head beforehand, it should be acceptable. But she said there was something absolutely necessary.”

“…The kind of story that makes people insist: ‘This is something you simply must see!'”
Bibi tilted her head in confusion.

-Or perhaps my own beautiful, elegant, and capable bearing? (•̀∀•́)✧
“How broad and expansive your vision is, dear Bibi. Ha. Well… not quite that sort of thing, rather, it’s just…”
My lips trembled slightly as I struggled past her absurdity to form an answer. Right—it wasn’t about material things. It was about what you might call aggro.
“…Great-aunt Valentina simply suggested the possibility of a reception hosted by the Orland Count Family!”

“……..”
I sensed the world freeze with a sharp snap. Bibi’s face on the screen had gone rigid.
I understood her shock—when I’d first heard this from Valentina, I’d wondered if my great-aunt had lost her mind.
The Princess’s misconduct was widely known in society, and among the various rumors, a few stood out distinctly.
Chief among them was the incident where, upon hearing that Raymond had danced with the eldest daughter of the Orland Count Family at her debutante ball, Princess Titania had created a scene openly…
In truth, it wasn’t merely rumor.
Titania had been genuinely devastated then, clinging to Raymond and weeping. Now my heart had settled on the matter, and I’d come to understand that the dance itself had been entangled with various adult circumstances, so I no longer harbored the childish, blazing jealousy I once might have felt toward the Orland girl in question.
Still, Debbie, standing beside me, asked in a voice unusually awkward for her.
“Pardon me, Your Highness? If my ears don’t deceive me, the Orland Count Family… would that be the count house that serves Duke Castrain?”
“Yes, that one.”
“At the debutante ball… the eldest daughter danced with Young Duke Raymond?”
“Yes, that family.”
“……”

Bibi on the screen looked utterly dumbfounded. Debbie was no different.
A family where some sort of… rival? Had once made her so anxious she’d created a scene—and now I would make my debutante appearance at their ball.
What manner of madness was this?
Typically, one became the principal guest at a ball one’s own house hosted, or appeared en masse at the first gathering of the social season, or at the New Year ball. Usually, a house of considerable standing would hold grand receptions themselves.
A house with weaker standing, or one with no particular reason for a grand debutante—usually those betrothed from a young age—might conduct it modestly. Sometimes several girls debuted together on the coattails of a grand ball held by relatives.
But here I was, declaring I would make my debut at a reception hosted by people with whom I’d had no real acquaintance, indeed, with whom I’d been on poor terms. That was…
“Great-aunt Valentina has a personal connection with the Orland countess, it seems… She says no talking point would be so effective at erasing my accumulated rumors in a single stroke…”

Bibi asked in an anxious voice, and in the next moment, she opened her mouth as if her heart would burst.

“Huh? No, well, the Castrain Family has helped me considerably, but… this time I don’t need their help? Raymond and Lisianthus don’t really…?”

“No, I already told Lisianthus about this too… He said it was fine…? I mean, he wasn’t doing that to fool people about his sword—was he?”

Bibi on the screen clutched at her hair like an active volcano venting its rage. The expressionless guard beside her calmly rescued the strands. Bibi turned instead to wrenching her skirt hem, and the maidservant beside her, murmuring that it was lace Miss Bibi was particularly fond of and would be difficult to replace if torn, gently smoothed it out and placed a plush lamb doll in Bibi’s arms. Bibi squeezed the creature tightly and cried out:

I made a reluctant sound as I watched the fluffy lamb doll being crushed in her embrace.
“It really is fine…? And, Bibi, actually.”

“It’s already been decided. The date is set…”

Bibi’s lips moved, mumbling something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. It sounded like cursing.

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