Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 163

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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 163

After the ball ended, Jun was sternly reprimanded by her mother. Marybell received an equally harsh lecture from her parents. They warned her to forget that Brian had asked her to dance, to stop meddling in Imperial affairs lest it become a grave problem, and to guard against recklessness.
House of Count Orland was a vassal of the Castrain Family—their most steadfast ally.
Yet parents, as they are, will always fret over their children.
“…Jun. Do you really think it was right to come?”
So when all eyes turned to Brian, Jun heeded her parents’ counsel and withdrew. The prince was far too consequential. No matter how loyal a vassal House of Count Orland might be to the Castrain Family, they were mere dust in comparison to a prince.
Jun spoke quietly as she watched Marybell trembling.
“You can still leave now if you want.”
“What? How could I leave you here alone? You said there could be danger today!”
Watching Marybell’s dismayed reaction, Jun surveyed their surroundings. It was a day of truly excellent weather for the Hunt Tournament.
The nobility were no fools. Lady Armelin and former Crown Princess Valentina were serving as Chaperone to Titania, who had made her Debut not long ago with their support. The Castrain Family had vacated the Capital.
Yet suddenly, they gathered young men of the season and announced a Hunt Tournament? And on top of that, both Brian and the Lande Marquis House were ostentatiously participating?
It was plainly an occasion orchestrated by the Emperor to officially restore Brian to court.
If anyone foolish enough pushed Brian aside and won, well—the future would look very bleak indeed.
Yet in the midst of all this, even Adrian made an appearance. Though the Empress, Emperor, and Imperial Consort did not attend, most of the noble houses whose voices carried weight in the Capital had received invitations.
‘Jun, you absolutely must not entertain reckless thoughts.’
The ladies of noble houses were, at a Hunt Tournament, essentially decorations. Pretty flowers. They offered handkerchiefs and encouragement, hoping that the gentlemen who returned would lay their magnificent catches at their feet and bestow upon them the honor.
When the men hurried away and scattered into the forest, no one expected the ladies to do anything more than sit gathered beneath tents, sipping cool punch.
Though there were rare examples of ladies who took up sword or bow themselves, most were dismissed as eccentrics.
‘Do you understand?’
Jun could not bring herself to answer her worried mother.
“……There could be danger, and perhaps there’s something I can do.”
“I understand that you feel sorry toward the Crown Princess. But what does that have to do with you being here today!”
“I heard that the Crown Princess stands with Adrian.”
Jun steeled her resolve, looking at Marybell’s ashen face.
“…Throughout history, rivals have used Hunt Tournaments as cover to harm their enemies or send assassins. Relative to male victims, women are rarely injured or killed. There have been scandals involving caught rendezvous, yes. But men can claim an accident happened while hunting. If a woman were harmed, though… well, it wouldn’t be an ‘honorable’ Hunt Tournament, would it?”
“That… what does that mean?”
“So if something happens, I could at least serve as a witness.”
The excuse sounded reasonable enough, but truthfully, Jun simply wanted to repay the debt she felt she owed Titania.
When she felt ashamed of herself, silence became unbearable. Her parents insisted there was nothing an individual could do in such a grand affair tangled up in Imperial matters, that she might be injured or sacrificed, that she should simply stay quiet and uninvolved.
She understood her mother’s tearful pleas were right.
But it was Brian who had asked her to dance, making a fool of Titania.
Was this truly none of her concern? Her parents had spoken of considering her as a Succession Candidate, yet the moment trouble arose, they scrambled to hide her away.
Beyond Marybell, several young ladies with whom she had cultivated friendships sent letters daily, expressing their worry. Hearing their sincere words of affection, Jun found herself thinking.
‘I have no friends my own age.’
And so Titania—of Jun’s own generation, in the social sphere—would have no one to properly turn to if something went wrong. Her Debut had been ruined, and now, during the very season for debuts, she had been forced to flee the Capital entirely.
Jun felt, in her own way, responsible for that fact. Even if the other party acted as though nothing were amiss, that did not make all that had happened truly fine.
Jun’s fingertips traced the scarlet Garnet Necklace wound about her neck.
Toot, toot-toot, toot-toot-toot.
The horn announcing the start of the Hunt Tournament sounded long and clear. Jun watched the silhouettes of the two princes, visible even from a distance.
The prince with hair and eyes of a color similar to Titania’s was smiling good-naturedly, setting off at a run with several other men.
And the figure of Brian, moving slowly in the wake of his younger brother, as if following him—a retainer carrying a cage of hawks trailed behind him. Marybell pouted her lips, watching Jun from a shadowed corner where she observed the proceedings unseen.
“Wow. I’ve hardly ever been to a Hunt Tournament. Is that a hawk? Are they hunting with hawks today?”
Marybell gazed at the cage the retainer behind Brian was carrying and spoke her genuine wonder aloud. Jun, whose eyes were far too sharp, could not smile.
“……No. Hawks aren’t supposed to be used.”
“Huh? Then is the prince breaking the rules?”
“Breaking the rules would be a mercy.”
A hawk at a Hunt Tournament can accomplish far more than one might think.
Jun thought of the bright red gems like pomegranate seeds adorning her body in place of a handkerchief.
The ring and Bracelet tucked unseen within her gloves, the necklace hidden beneath her collar, the Pendant hung inside her bonnet.
House of Count Orland controlled a mountain region where fire-aspected Garnet was mined.
So naturally, the precious daughter of that house could possess any number of Garnet ornaments she desired.

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Q. I feel like I need to look after not just my own life but also the fate of the world. My body is one and my worries are many. It’s exhausting.
A. What can you do? You can’t delegate it to others. You have to do everything you can.
Q. So in other words, I can exploit as I please a debt-ridden person who rolled right into my life uninvited? That’s just legitimate exploitation for the sake of the world, yes? If you’re unhappy with it, you should’ve lived your life more boldly and righteously on your own terms.
A. You can do this.
In this crude manner, Titania had rationalized her position.
Titania was living diligently. She was doing her best to scrape the source material down to the bone and use every scrap of it.
But her movements remained constrained because of that wretched status as a Crown Princess who had to tread carefully everywhere.
And if a capable subordinate materialized—someone who knew many things, who for financial and status reasons and because of her past could never betray Titania—one from whom she had been holding back tasks out of mere doubt?
She could task them with everything she had postponed. A versatile shuttle who could be put to use for everything—just imagining it brought such happiness. If they found it unfair, well…
They should not have taken on debt in the first place. In the twenty-first century, the joke runs that those who incur large debts are dragged off on a trawler. In a fantasy world where Magic breathes and lives, they’re dragged onto a kraken vessel. Jun had narrowly escaped being captured alive by the Castrain Family as Magic Beast bait.
In that sense, Titania was genuinely delighted to have acquired Pan as a subordinate.
Even as Pan wore an expression of the dead, Titania smiled brightly. They were inside a Carriage.
Through some cunning, Titania had managed to send Bibi—who had been reluctant to leave the Carriage—back to her own, and now Titania rode alone with Pan. Titania’s eyes sparkled as she beheld the fruits of Pan’s slavery and toil.
“…Are you pleased?”
“Wow! This and this, and this—jackpot! Pure jackpot!”
“How did you even discover these places? And more importantly, a Magic Beast appeared there?! I nearly died!”
“Oh, just assume I read it in a Prophecy Book.”
Titania gestured dismissively with her hand. Pan’s expression was one of exhaustion. The sword at Titania’s side glimmered like a firefly had been hung from it.
Pan had by now come to understand that this sword and Titania were genuinely communicating with one another.
The Carriage pressed onward without pause. In great cities with installed Warp Tunnels, the local nobility and Lords naturally swarmed, insisting on a look, asking guests to stay a while—tiresome enough. But the Castrain Family household staff concluded ‘we don’t know what might happen, so let’s just push through in one go,’ ignored the pestering flies, and pressed ahead.
The result was that they were soon at the Northern End.
“Rather, take a good look at this.”
Pan accepted the Raw Stone Titania handed over and tilted her head in confusion.
“…Hmm. This is a very strange object. There are traces of various energies clinging to it, but… the interior is completely hollow? Or is it just disguised as hollow?”
“Is it?”
“To properly examine it, I’d need to set up a workshop and cast an Analysis Spell. Where did this come from? I find myself quite curious. Even when I was digging around everywhere on the Crown Princess’s orders, I rarely encountered an object like this.”
Titania’s expression was difficult to read.
“Mother gave it to me.”
“Yes?”
“If my life had gone completely wrong, it might have become a keepsake. That’s what I’m thinking, anyway.”
“…What? Why do you speak in such a strange way? You sound like someone living their second or third life.”
The Carriage slowed gradually. A signal that they were properly entering the Castrain Family’s domain. Instead of answering Pan’s complaint, Titania simply smiled.

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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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