Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 172

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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 172

Few attendants could bring themselves to turn away a noblewoman who appeared with a radiant smile, especially when she brought along the pouting Maribel.
“My lady, might I ask what brings you to this place? Shouldn’t you be resting in the pavilion?”
“I noticed everyone working so hard. Particularly since both princes are here today. I wondered if there was anything I might help with.”
“Please, my lady, you mustn’t trouble yourself.”
When the attendants had prepared the food, it was the nobles’ role to retire to the pavilion or an outdoor table and enjoy it with grace and refinement. The sight of a young lady bustling about of her own accord was naturally unsettling. Yet Mary spoke with a smile, fully aware of this.
“These tea leaves—when burned, they repel insects, and… well, I’ve heard they’re quite beneficial for men’s vitality. With the hunt underway, I worried everyone might be overtaxed. It’s one of our family cook’s secret methods, and I’d very much like the two princes to sample it. Would it be possible to use these?”
“Of course, my lady.”
Requests from those of high station were, in truth, demands dressed in polite language. It required no particular effort, and adding some tea leaves to an already burning fire would cause no harm. Should any problem arise, a simple remark that “this is wonderfully restorative” would likely silence all objections.
So the attendants’ consent came easily. Mary thanked them. And then, at that very moment….
Flick.
With remarkable swiftness, Mary flicked a single Garnet into the campfire as if scattering dust.
The flames of the fire flared noticeably brighter, yet no one found this strange. They simply assumed a sudden gust of wind had passed through.
Maribel, who had caught Mary’s action, gasped involuntarily. As Mary’s closest friend, Maribel knew the identity and price of that small, brilliant red jewel better than anyone. Maribel’s reason screamed.
There! The cost of a decent silk gown! Burning in the flames right before your eyes! Turning to powder and scattering away!
“You—what on earth—!”
“Yes?”
To the onlookers, it merely appeared that she had suddenly raised her voice at her friend.
Maribel’s eyes widened as she observed Mary’s composed expression, as though nothing had happened. She quickly altered her tone.
“…I mean, you won’t even give me those tea leaves when I ask, and here you’re just scattering them about! What a waste!”
“It’s not often we get a chance to spend time with both princes.”
Hahahaha. Tee-hee-hee. Mary gripped Maribel’s forearm and squeezed meaningfully. The attendants, watching what they took for two affectionate young ladies, smiled warmly—but once they were out of earshot, Maribel’s whisper turned sharp.
“What madness is this?! Even if you are the young lady of the Orland Count Family—!”
“Don’t panic yet. I’m going to use all of them today.”
“…All of them?! On every single campfire?! Have you lost your mind?!”
Across the sprawling forest, large and small campfires burned without exception. If even one Garnet per fire….
Maribel stared in horror at Mary’s declaration that she would expend the equivalent of a modest mansion’s price in a single afternoon. A Garnet’s rarity was such that no amount of gold could guarantee its acquisition.
“Those are precious jewels your parents gave you for protection! To use them like—like disposable tinder—!”
“It’s crude and extravagantly wasteful, I admit. Even I won’t be able to do this twice.”
“But why are you doing this at all?”
“…To drive away dangerous insects and beasts.”
“Why not find another way? Though I suppose you wouldn’t act without reason….”
Mary smiled at Maribel with an aching expression, as if to soothe her.
The Garnet, which naturally held the power of fire—an excellent material in itself, and supremely efficient when crafting Magical Formulas that relied on flame.
The Count and Countess of Orland had therefore spared no expense, employing a mage and merchants to commission accessories for Mary. The Ring was for offense, but the Necklace was for defense. More precisely, it also held faint traces of Purification and Protection.
It could not compare to the power of fire emanating from Lisianthus, a true Divine Power Awakener, but among the treasures available to ordinary people, it was extraordinarily precious.
No fool would squander such a treasure as a one-time resource.
“Even with the Ring and Necklace, I’m no mage. If enemies come, I can neither defend nor attack properly.”
“Do you have some plan? Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t know, so I’m preparing blindly, that’s all.”
Because Magic Beasts won’t do us any favors…. Mary swallowed the words rising in her throat. She laughed and moved swiftly between the campfires, yet the task was difficult. The costly, precious Garnets became fuel for the flames, maximizing the potency of the medicinal herbs she’d scattered about under the pretense of tea leaves.
Had she merely burned the herbs alone, the effect would have been negligible. But thanks to the abundance of rare materials scattered everywhere, even to ordinary eyes, a convincing haze of smoke began to spread.
Mary considered herself fortunate to be able to use the medicinal herbs she’d brought along out of caution regarding Magic Beast signs in this manner. It was only because this was a hunting competition, with fires lit everywhere and meat being roasted, that the deception worked.
Should anyone protest the acrid smoke, whispers followed.
“It’s said to be excellent for restoring vigor… Ah, really? Well, if it’s good for health…”
Mary thought anxiously.
She hoped this was all needless worry. She hoped that she had simply wasted precious gems out of baseless concern. Maribel would scold her, crying out, “Even if your family is well-off, what madness is this!” and strike her back. Then she could laugh it off, saying this was the first time she’d done anything so reckless. That’s what she wanted to say….
But reality proved otherwise.
“Extinguish the fires!”
“Prince Brian orders all fires extinguished!”
“What? Why?”
“Is the smell displeasing to him…?”
With an agitated voice, Brian commanded all fires be put out immediately and rushed into the forest in great excitement. Everyone, bewildered, obeyed his orders.
“Why won’t these flames die? We’ve been throwing water on them this whole time….”
“Fetch more water.”
Whether by fortune or misfortune, the fires kindled with costly Garnets proved stubborn, and people ran about with buckets, seeking nearby water sources to douse them. Mary observed the chaos and bit the inside of her cheek until it ached.
Just as she’d feared—there was indeed a conspiracy involving Magic Beasts. Aimed at Prince Adrian.
“What—why are they putting out the fires?”
Maribel looked distressed watching the fires she’d seen kindled at the cost of a mansion’s worth of jewels extinguish at the prince’s command so quickly and pointlessly. Mary took a deep breath.
What more could she do now?
She could not countermand the prince’s orders. She’d come without her parents’ knowledge, so she couldn’t mobilize her family’s forces—and even if she could, she shouldn’t. If Brian were indeed the culprit, any wrong move would see her accused of conspiring to assassinate a member of the royal family.
So something had to….
“H-help! Mary, look there! He’s mad!”
Unlike the other young ladies who had remained demurely in the pavilion or kept themselves occupied, Mary and Maribel—the only two lingering near the forest hunting grounds to watch the campfires—were the first to spot the figure that came screaming and stumbling from the woods.
Whatever he had been doing and wherever he had rolled, his entire body was a sludge-brown color, as if caked with crushed moss, and the stench that hung about him was so foul that one didn’t wish to draw near. He looked like a monster that had crawled from a swamp.
As Maribel watched the figure approaching her on nearly all fours, she leaped like a frog spotting a winged serpent.
“Ugh—ahhh! Mary, look there!”
“Help—help! Someone, help!”
“…!”
“A bear attacked! I barely managed to escape, but please, I beg you—save Prince Adrian!”
And Mary knew exactly what she had to do in this moment.
“Is anyone here? This man says Prince Adrian is in danger!”
To spread the news faster than anyone else and send people to Adrian’s side.

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Once upon a time, there lived a dishonest shepherd boy. He would cry out at the drop of a hat: A wolf has appeared!
Tired of his constant lies, when a real wolf finally did appear, the people ignored his cries….
Every time Adrian heard that fable, he thought:
The shepherd boy lacked creativity and desperation.
A good lie requires a measure of audacity and desperation—much like his current situation. Adrian reflected on what bitter memory had brought tears to his eyes just thinking about it.

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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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