Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 141

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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 141

“It’s something my brother will have to decide.”
The Lande Marquis House manor felt cool even in the bright afternoon light.
The Hair Strands that she ordinarily wore with such pride, draping freely, were now pinned up so meticulously that not a single strand fell out of place. Her entire body was wrapped tightly in garments that left not a hint of skin exposed, indifferent to the oppressive warmth of the day. When she wiped away the vivid makeup she never failed to wear around her eyes, Empress Cleo looked like a completely different person—like any ordinary, strait-laced noblewoman from an unremarkable family.
“I’m your brother?”
“Yes.”
The Lande Marquis cast a dry gaze upon Empress Cleo. He was a gaunt man, austere as a birch tree in deep winter. His slicked-back hair, his spectacles, his sharply pressed military dress—all were fastidiously neat, in contrast to her carefully composed appearance. They bore a certain resemblance to each other, a fact the two of them would flatly deny.
Cleo smiled, curling the corners of her mouth upward.
“Whether I am of the Marquis House’s ignoble bloodline or whether I killed my sister—it changes nothing. I have borne the Emperor’s first son as a woman of the Lande Marquis line. Therefore, you have no choice but to become the Empress’s brother.”
“The trouble we invite simply by harboring Imperial Prince Brian here is already considerable.”
“I’ve come today to tell my brother to steel himself.”
“Steel yourself? You, telling me? How dare you?”
“Yes. I do dare.”
Cleo had come to understand that the person she had joined hands with was no fairy-tale sprite of innocence and naivety. If anything, something closer to a demon. As that person had promised, ‘Brian’ had changed.
On the first day the transformation began, ‘Brian’ had wept and clung to Cleo when she slipped out of the Imperial Palace in secret to see him.
Mother, Your Majesty, save me, something is wrong, I don’t feel like myself anymore…. I am the son of the proud Emperor—how dare anyone do such a thing to me!
His eyes held perfect trust. He believed that if he only appealed to her, Cleo would embrace him and say, “How dare anyone touch my precious son? Don’t worry, I’m here for you.”
But in the next moment, Brian froze. For Cleo had whispered to him with a kind and tender face:
My proud son, if you just endure a little longer, you’ll become a perfect Emperor. Have I ever given our son anything inferior to what others possess?
Brian’s resistance ended there.
‘Brian’ transformed. His frame grew taller, stronger. He grew powerful as if inhabiting another’s body. Now he could hunt down weak Magic Beasts on his own. Even his temperament, once prone to sudden irritability, became composed. Of course, there were moments when the way he whispered ‘Mother’ to her felt strange, as if addressing a stranger. Yet she felt no regret.
From the start, Cleo had never expected motherly affection from Brian. What she wanted was the most glorious position and honor.
If she lost to Adrian, there was no way she would survive intact. That was the nature of conflict between Imperial Successors.
“From now on, you must stand entirely on my side.”
…….
“Brother has always acted with cunning, haven’t you? You’ve said you need an escape route, that you must have someone to shift blame onto…. And yet you always behave as though you plan to push me alone into the pit. That won’t do.”
“What have you done?”
“I’ve joined hands directly with the trading partners you absolutely refused to tell me about. Ah, ‘trading partners’ sounds too cold, doesn’t it? Perhaps I should say ‘allies.'”
“You didn’t……!”
“Our father never accepted me.”
Cleo had believed that if she bore only sons, the Marquis House would finally recognize her.
Reality proved otherwise.
Even receiving the Emperor’s favor in place of her sister who had died so pathetically by poison, even bearing a son and displacing the Empress—Father’s gaze remained ice-cold.
Don’t accept this bastard daughter, cast her out, she was the poison that festered—
When there had been a perfect legitimate daughter! A perfect daughter who could have displaced even the current Empress and claimed the seat beside the Emperor!
Parents cannot be entirely ignorant of their children’s nature. The late Marquis of the Lande House had not been wholly blind to the emptiness and arrogance his legitimate daughter harbored. Yet what of it? The nobility need not regard lesser beings as human at all—that is the privilege of the exalted. What did character matter if she would enter the Imperial Palace and claim the seat beside the Emperor? So long as she appeared flawless and noble to the world, that was all that mattered.
So if only that half-breed with hunger glinting in her eyes hadn’t stirred the flames that drove the legitimate daughter to drink poison—
If only there were no need to compete with some Empress, no shame in raising a baseborn girl to the position of Imperial Consort, accused of grasping for power—
And so Cleo’s struggles meant nothing to the Marquis House.
The previous Marquis, who had disapproved of even the Brian that Cleo bore, was dead. Cleo’s half-brother became the new Lande Marquis. He, too, maintained a rigid distance toward her.
He did provide her with financial and political support. There was no profit in the Emperor’s favor becoming a liability to the Marquis House, and having already made an enemy of the Integria Marquis House, it made sense to clinch victory.
But his fundamental attitude never changed.
All this time, though Cleo was aware of it, she had told herself: I am the Empress anyway. Brian is an Imperial Prince. Even so, they cannot ignore me entirely, and they don’t begrudge the support itself—so it’s fine.
She was not a legitimate daughter, not educated from birth. If she tried to master the perfect etiquette of the Imperial Family, she would only be mocked for her origins. So no matter how brilliantly she adorned herself like a peacock hiding her flaws, no matter how thoroughly she dominated high society armed with the Emperor’s favor, the fundamental gaze upon her never changed.
Base. Low-born.
“I know, brother, that you ultimately cannot even acknowledge this common thing as your sister….”
How exquisite it would be to pluck out the eyes of those who look down on me as base.
“But what does it matter? Whether you acknowledge me or not, in the end our fates are one.”
“What nonsense you spout all of a sudden. How long will I tolerate this shameless behavior of yours—”
“I no longer need your acknowledgment.”
The Marquis, about to rage, felt his tongue stiffen. His breath caught—guh, guh-ugh-ugh—he choked and drooled, his eyes rolled back, foam flecked his lips, his body convulsed. Through it all, Empress Cleo watched with a composure more absolute than ever before.
‘I’ll give Your Highness seeds.’
Seeds that gleamed pomegranate-red.
‘If it’s truly an important person, you should feed them one seed a week. If they’re not particularly important, once every few months is fine…. What matters is not getting caught.'”
‘I’m curious about one thing. Why did you choose me? With power like that?’
‘Aha.’
The girl had laughed in a clear voice as she explained.
‘I was curious what sort of Gardener Your Highness might become. It’s rare to find someone in the Imperial Family with desires as honest and earnest as yours….’
So that voice which whispered: Show me more, more and more, of the choices Your Highness makes. And that hazy face that gave the impression of being nothing but ‘harmless’ no matter how many times she saw it. Her reason was warning her.
This was someone with methods and power Cleo herself could not fathom. Could she really have failed to perceive their true identity?
Yes. Perhaps they were someone the Temple, the state itself, had marked as an enemy. Dangerous creatures whose connection to her, if discovered, would see her expelled from the Imperial Family.
But so what? Who cared? The powerful often rewrote the laws of the world to suit themselves.
Empress Cleo truly despised being disrespected by anyone.
So everything else was none of her concern.

* * *

“Ah, growing old, and my joints ache all over. Oof. Getting out of bed in the morning is torture these days.”
High Priest Illian made an exaggerated show of tapping his shoulders with his fists.
“You’ve always been hardworking.”
“Come now, with our history, surely you needn’t say such things? The donations—we’re always grateful. Thanks to the Castrain Family’s generosity, our novice priests at least have enough rice to go around….”
“…I’ve received reports that the condition of the Northern Boundary is worse than in previous years for some reason. If this continues, it seems winter this year will come earlier than before.”
“I see.”
High Priest Illian’s mouth, which had been smiling amiably, twisted slightly.
The current head of the Castrain Family—very few knew Orto’s whereabouts. No one could force his movements, and with most pressing matters delegated to Raymond in his stead, he habitually vanished and returned at will without explanation.
“By the way, this time Imperial Princess Titania has demonstrated remarkable accomplishments, hasn’t she? Hehehehe. Thanks to that, our friend Marjid has been in quite low spirits. Normally he would have boasted about taking over eighty percent of the Priest candidates. This time, though, he’s been meek about it, leaving it to individual choice. Still, I doubt many will voluntarily join our ranks.”
…….
“One can buy much with money, but it is difficult to purchase a life.”
High Priest Illian had spent his youth with Duke Orto. As a result, he knew many things.

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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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