Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 148

“Well, the reason I chose this vessel is precisely because it’s pitiful.”

“Isn’t it rather rich for someone who insisted so stubbornly on using the bloodline of the Castrain Family as vessels for experimentation?”

“Humans are desperately bound by superficial things—meaningless social rank, bloodline. There are few imperial citizens who would dare to suspect the Emperor’s firstborn son. And even if some did…… well, how shall I put it. Even if they claim he’s cursed, there’s hardly a surface-level tactic they’ve heard of thus far that could accomplish anything.”
Like a small child tenderly stroking a beloved doll, Lilium traced Brian’s cheek with slender fingers.
Humans were far too easily seduced by appearance.
They would kill a Magic Beast wearing a monstrous form without hesitation, yet if they found a blood-soaked child weeping in the ruins left by the Beasts’ attack, they would think of that child as merely a victim.
They would never show mercy to a Magic Beast simply because it wore the form of a child.
Simply because that form was young, docile, something weak that needed protection—they thought suspicion itself was sin.
And so Lilium was born beautiful, obedient, and lovely. The ‘Chor Te’ awakened by using Brian as a vessel would grow more beautiful with each passing day. Like a carnivorous plant luring insects with sweet fragrance. Like a deep-sea fish waving luminous fins like bait in the deepest ocean, seducing its prey.
If you offered sweet words with a beautiful face and hid yourself as the weak, then even should someone suspect you, they would hesitate to press the matter for fear of burdening others with that suspicion.
Perhaps that was why, until now, only the Castrain Ducal House had managed to escape their ‘touch’.
Those who had lived in the harsh cold of the North, soaked in the blood of Magic Beasts, suspected even trivialities. Even scenes that might earn sympathy, they offered no warmth.
As strict with themselves as they were, they were fair to others. It was difficult to sow seeds on frozen ground and expect them to sprout. But in the fertile South, where shoots sprouted easily everywhere, it was simpler.
“I love watching them struggle.”
Lilium’s god and master of them all regarded humans as mere insects…… but Lilium pitied them.
In this tiny sliver of a world of light, those sheep deluded into thinking themselves masters, seizing the continent. Safe within their flimsy fences, convinced of their own security.
Wolves tearing slowly through the fence and digging at their foundations, sniffing at their feet even as the sheep remained oblivious. A few sheep sensed the signs and bleated restlessly; the shepherds bred only the finest bloodlines from generation to generation, catching the scent of wolves…… but.
Lilium dipped a butter cookie into the warm teacup. The flour dough dissolved like a phantom.
“They’re such weak and gentle sheep that they can’t even kill outright a black sheep living among them…… ”
Empress Cleo was the treacherous black sheep who sold her own flock to the wolves.
So before plucking that fleece and flaying that flesh, it was only right to cherish her somewhat. That was the duty of a flock’s keeper.
So then, lending one wolf wearing sheep’s clothing seemed fitting enough. Until the Plain caught fire.

* * *

This was a tale from when the world’s fence had shattered and the entire Plain burned.
[My, what a mess.]
Lilium—or rather, the woman now called a witch by humanity—clicked her tongue at the sight before her.
Did humans still possess the energy to resist? The Empire was nearly destroyed. The farmland had burned and even the basic framework of society had crumbled. Humans who fled into mountains and islands to escape the Magic Beasts ultimately became their prey. Yes, she’d heard that some groups still managed to survive and fought on, but that was only a matter of time.
So Lilium did not understand this platinum-haired woman in such a deplorable state that appeared in the distance.
[That thing calls itself a Contractor? What could it possibly accomplish at this point?]
Did it lack arithmetic?
‘The Master’ had said, yes—never underestimate an opponent; destroy them the moment you see them. Either steal the darkness or destroy it, he’d given absolute orders. But what could something like that accomplish? One could tell just by looking.
Her limbs were skeletal as if she hadn’t eaten in days, her clothes in tatters. Grasping a sword like a walking staff, barely managing to take one step after another…… Lilium’s eyes widened. Their gazes collided.
Eyes blazing a vivid, bright green.
Until now, Lilium had believed her own green eyes to be the most beautiful in existence.
It was not a baseless vanity. When she smiled like an obedient little lamb, any man could be seduced, and any woman would struggle to befriend her.
Lilium loved beauty and pitied weakness. So some bloodline fool of royalty who had crawled through a miserable life before suddenly taking a different path? Honestly, it was not her concern.
Yet those eyes. Those strange green eyes that burned with purpose alone, heeding not whether her footsteps set fire or not—a color she’d never seen in all her life, and it was……
[…Impossible.]
And so she denied it instinctively.
She had never imagined that such a thing could reverse the wheel of Fate itself.
She had denied it while she was, for the first time in her life, captivated by a light she’d never seen before.

* * *

They say that married couples come to resemble each other over time, and the Emperor and Empress Cleo did share at least one unfortunate trait in common.
That is—action comes far too easily to them in the strangest places. I found myself departing for the distant North the very week after my conversation with the Emperor.
While I was away, would the Rose Palace truly be safe? Was it really all right to leave everyone else behind like this? What might happen during this long journey to the northernmost reaches and back? I wasn’t entirely free from such worries.
But then again, I supposed the people remaining would manage well enough on their own……
“A debutante-presented unmarried lady embarking on an extended excursion abroad for such a long period, even with her fiancé as escort. Tsk. You have no intention of managing your reputation at all, do you?”
Valentina’s voice cut across briskly, stern to the end.
“Thank you for your concern!”
Though we hadn’t known each other long, our thoughts aligned well. Having faced similar enemies, I felt quite close to Valentina.
I couldn’t say I had no affection for Adrian and the Empress, but rather than family, it felt more like our team within the Imperial Palace. Valentina had both depth of years and an easygoing temperament, and she’d had no influence on my childhood—so being near her felt like being with a grandmother. Well, technically she’s my great-aunt……
“Would the Young Duke of the Castrain House possibly allow anything that might damage the lady’s reputation? You’ll be fine.”
The Empress added in a measured tone as she came to see me off. I simply laughed it away. They knew full well this was an excuse to “get to know your fiancé better,” and that I was going partly to handle various matters. Yet unlike me, who just smiled, Raymond spoke in a rather formal tone.
“Should anything concerning the Princess arise, I shall ensure that no others dare voice an improper word. You need not worry.”
Wait, was that formal? There was a subtle undertone as if he were confronting someone, and while I nervously glanced around trying to read the room, Lisianthus rushed in to interject.
“…Ha ha! That’s right, exactly! Should our house show even the slightest negligence in attending to the Princess, I shall break my own sword!”
There came the sound of Lisianthus striking Raymond in the ribs.

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