Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 149

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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 149

Raymond remained unmoved no matter how many times Lisianthus struck him—solid as steel. I couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh at the sight.
What on earth are these people doing…….
As if to shatter the awkward tension, a cheerful voice broke through the silence and sprang forth.
“Yes, Lady Armerin! Your Majesty! You’re worried about your sister, aren’t you? Bibi will do her best! I’ll make sure Sister doesn’t have to worry!”
“…….”
The sharp glint in Valentina’s eyes softened. Both Lisianthus and Raymond seemed to relax a little as well.
That was right. This time, Bibi was coming along.
She had finally succeeded in persuading the Duke of Castrain—who had prevented her from joining us all this time with excuses about safety concerns—that she would go no matter what. This time, the final destination was the Castrain estate itself, so he couldn’t object too strongly.
It seemed he had been the one holding her back all along with the constant excuse of danger, but seeing that our destination was Castrain’s main territory, he hadn’t the heart to forbid it.
“I’ve chosen the finest carriage, made all the lodging reservations, cleaned up the entire road! Yes, what else is there to do?”
Bibi counted on her fingers, lost in thought. I fought back a smile creeping across my face despite myself.
“This isn’t a pleasure trip, you know? Bibi, and Sister doesn’t need such extravagant arrangements……. Just having you come with me is enough!”
“But we’re going to our home with Sister, and Bibi doesn’t like to see Sister having to work hard…….”
The Empress and Adrian beside her, who knew what turmoil the Castrain Family had caused when I rescued Bibi and fell unconscious, wore remarkably composed expressions. But Valentina looked at me with renewed curiosity. I simply laughed it off. Our little one does have a habit of trying to repay kindness like a magpie…….
There was no farewell from the Emperor. I hadn’t expected one either. As for Cleo’s farewell—she hadn’t shown her face since the banquet at the Imperial Palace—well, things would have felt awkward on my end anyway.
So the one remaining was.

“…….”
Elaine wore a semi-transparent Lace Veil despite the sweltering heat. Her expression wasn’t entirely clear because of it, but I could guess well enough.
“I didn’t expect you to come.”
“……You might not see my face again.”
She seemed somewhat improved from the last time I’d seen her.
The Emperor hadn’t fully abandoned his attachment to Elaine, but once Valentina had put her foot down with “Her health isn’t fit for attending the Emperor; I’ll take her with me,” he didn’t persist. Whether it was embarrassment or whether he’d decided to discard bitter fruit entirely, he’d taken no further action since then. Then again, all his attention was fixed on Brian anyway.
I wanted to ask her something.
Have you found the will to live now?
Do you still wish to die?
“I will go beyond the palace walls. I won’t return to the Imperial Palace to see you.”
“Yes, I understand.”
A withered face, drained of all vitality, bore eyes that gleamed with the faintest light as she looked at me. She extended her hand. Was this a handshake? Without much thought, I extended mine. Our hands met, and something cold as stone was placed in my palm. The veil brushed near, then withdrew. A voice as fleeting as the scent of rain on a wet day reached my ears.
“Go.”
“…….”
By instinct, I quickly closed my hand and hid it where no one could see. My heart began to race for reasons I couldn’t explain.
“I am a heartless mother, and you are a well-raised daughter who doesn’t resent such a heartless mother.”
“…….”
“So it would be best for us both if we left things here.”
Her voice remained thin, her breath shallow, but at the very least, I could tell this woman had changed from before.
She was no longer living because she couldn’t die.
She wouldn’t rot away while alive—cursing herself, her fate, and even her own daughter for her powerlessness and despair.
“Yes.”
And so I smiled.
“That’s good.”
Elaine left with only those words. Her attendant, who had never strayed from her side, supported her closely as always.
I tucked what Elaine had given me safely away, watched her receding figure for just a moment longer, then turned away.
Debbie stood beside me with a bright, cheerful smile.
“Debbie, I’m counting on you?”
“Being left alone in the Rose Palace is terribly lonely! But, well, what can we do!”
Debbie laughed like a cat. I shrugged.
“You can handle most matters as you see fit. I’ve set fires in the Rose Palace—if push comes to shove, you can even burn the whole building down. As long as no one finds out.”
“Ha, Your Highness. Normally, if you burn down a palace building, you’re hunted for imperial assassination.”
“It won’t matter if no one catches me!”
I needed to leave at least one trusted person in the Rose Palace. Someone of Debbie’s skill was necessary to handle any situation that might arise. I also had to look after Sara….
I’d meant it as an instruction not to hesitate, to do whatever was necessary, but as I avoided Debbie’s gaze—which made me look like some sort of walking disaster—Adrian came up beside me and draped an arm over my shoulders.
“Oh, my sister. When you leave, life in the already dull Imperial Palace will become even more tedious. This older brother is getting quite melancholy about it….”
“Wet your lips before you speak such flattery, Adrian.”
Adrian’s eyes sparkled mischievously as he laughed, then ruffled my hair. The affectionate gesture—the kind only true siblings would share—made me furrow my brow slightly.
“…You did that on purpose knowing my hair would get messed up, didn’t you?”
“Your handmaid did such good work braiding it—it doesn’t tangle at all. What hair! Very pretty.”
The shameless expression on his face was breathtaking. If he hadn’t deliberately avoided women, he’d have been the kind of prince who could make any woman fall with barely a gesture.
“Don’t worry about me. Even if I can’t sever the ankles of those who trip me, I can certainly cripple them enough to knock them flat.”
“Worry? Are we really on such terms?”
“Aren’t we?”
“……I suppose we are.”
I found myself at a loss for words.
There was that con we pulled at the Imperial banquet, holding Adrian’s hand. And thinking about it all, we had genuinely grown closer.
Adrian, too, wasn’t in a position to casually flaunt his connections with just anyone, so whenever there was nothing else to do, he’d come find me and cling to me in that familiar way of his….
Really, the fact that someone with the looks of a golden-haired prince that everyone envies would whine about trivial things genuinely irritated me sometimes, and I’d find myself thinking “oh, this man” more than once.
“Still, you’re a son who’s fallen out of the Emperor’s favor—that won’t change. So don’t recklessly dig at Brian’s side, because if you get the back of your head smashed in, nothing could be more foolish. So please, be careful in your own way.”
“Are you worried about me? This older brother is so pleased!”
“If anything happens to Adrian, the future of the Imperial Family might as well not exist!”
“Ha, in that case, let’s just become unfilial and overturn the entire Imperial Family. You be Emperor, and I’ll marry you as your consort. With Raymond as Prime Minister.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? A princess’s Succession Right to the Throne doesn’t mean much anyway. Are you heat-stroked?”
“Why not? With the Castrain Family’s power, it’s not impossible.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes as he smiled—a fox-like grin.
“The reason successive Emperors have been so eager to check the Castrain Family is precisely that. In fact, if the Castrain Family were to declare independence and establish their own Duchy right now, there’s no one who could stop them. Our peaceful father seems to harbor the fleeting hope that by marrying you, the Imperial Family could ‘legitimately’ interfere with the Castrain Family. Perhaps even swallow them whole….”
These were words too dangerous for even the most noble-blooded prince to speak, yet he said them as if it were nothing.
“In fact, shouldn’t you worry about the opposite? If the Castrain Family decided to exclude an Imperial Family that only obstructs their path at every turn and swallow the entire empire whole, they’d only need to marry you and eliminate me and Brian.”
“……You know the Castrain Family won’t do that.”
It seemed too far-fetched an assumption to make against a family that has borne the weight of the empire with saint-like patience even as the Imperial Family behaved like ruffians.
When I asked somewhat wearily, Adrian chuckled.
“Do you know why hunters don’t hunt beasts that have young?”
“Pardon?”
I found myself echoing the question at his sudden remark.
“Well, I happened to learn this from a hunter once. Of course, there are conventions and superstitions—fewer prey if you kill those with young, that sort of thing. But the real reason is that if you don’t sever the throat in one blow, a beast with a grudge will come after you relentlessly. Even a creature without words has will, and sometimes that will is more powerful than anything else. Everyone has something they shouldn’t lightly touch. That’s what it means.”
“…….”
Adrian whispered near my ear.
“Honestly, if Brian were just a little more human, and if Cleo had enough dignity to ignore my mother with grace, I probably wouldn’t have decided to become Emperor at all. But if I don’t become Emperor, Cleo will burn my mother down to her very bones. That’s why I’m acting. So if I die, the Castrain Family will kill Brian no matter what it takes. Regardless of your wishes. Because that’s the only ‘certain’ way to protect you.”
“…….”
“So you take care of yourself too.”
Adrian patted my shoulder lightly as if it were merely a casual farewell and walked away.
I watched Valentina and the Empress chattering away with Bibi, Lisianthus having a serious conversation with Debbie.
And then I swept my gaze across to Raymond, who had been watching me intently, before I stopped short without meaning to.
Despite the chaos around us, he watched me without missing anything, like some immovable stone. And in those golden eyes, I forced myself to smile with genuine effort.
Something felt strange.

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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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