Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 176

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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 176

Lisianthus had wandered the Underground World for a very long time. He organized his thoughts by tapping the numb tips of his fingers.
To summarize: Titania was God’s Contractor. In this world that had already reached the End of Destruction, she was the one who would save Bibi and “reverse” everything. Disappearing from their sight was also to fulfill the conditions of that contract…….
Well. That was the story.
Which meant this world was already finished. Unless one employed some method of reversal or upheaval, all that awaited was the end. There was nothing left to protect, nothing precious left to cherish.
The fire that once saved people and burned for Magic Beasts slowly became Calamity Fire. Whether fire, water, or earth—those who had awakened to the power of God tried, by and large, to restrain themselves until the very final end.
Power completely uncontrolled would consume even the Contractor’s own body and soul. As for Lisianthus…….
Lisianthus spoke as though to himself.
‘They say you can die at Rasper’s grave.’
Flowers of ash bloomed wherever he walked.
Even after the surface became hell, the Underground World remained dangerous. Yet Lisianthus was not in danger. More precisely, Magic Beasts that wanted to live did not approach him.
From the grave of his younger brother, who had died before reaching adulthood, water gushed forth. Water as salty and dark as seawater.
Because it was not fresh water, he could not drink it to quench his thirst. But it could at least extinguish his fire. Yet Lisianthus only looked in that direction.
That place where blue-sea and foam-white flowers grew. That place where the dead rested with closed eyes.
The Underground World was like an endless cavern. When he spoke to himself, his words echoed back like memories.
Like regret.
‘You know, why didn’t you say anything to us until the very end?’
‘…….’
‘Because you thought I’d be unbearable if I later acted kindly?’
‘…….’
‘Because even you might hold onto him if you weren’t careful? You didn’t want your resolve to weaken? Or was it simply meaningless?’
‘…….’
‘Hmm. I don’t know……. I would have preferred it if you’d gotten angry.’
Lisianthus had felt rage every time Titania did something foolish.
In childhood, he thought it was merely hatred.
He thought he was a leech, clinging to the ankles of the elder brother he admired and loved. So he grew angry. He mocked the other, provoked them into vicious retaliation toward him.
When that pristine face twisted in distress, he felt a peculiar satisfaction.
See? If you can be shaken by something this trivial, and you covet him this much? It’s ludicrous. Impossible.
Only much later did he come to understand, bit by bit.
It is common to love things that are beautiful, perfect, and radiant. Yet it is not unheard of to love something that others see as utterly worthless.
One seldom recognizes love from its inception. So childishly. Thinking there was no way he could like such a person. That stubborn fool, blinded by his brother, repeating nothing but foolish attachment—surely he wouldn’t spare a moment’s affection for someone not worth pity…….
Not worth it?
Why?
It is far easier to pity a stranger, someone unrelated. Far easier to sympathize. Because there was something that could not be permitted, he was so merciless.
It was also difficult to admit that he himself was worse than a child of three or four.
Once the truth was recognized, the time buried away grew, swollen unbearably—the events, the regrets…….
‘Why did you think to save the world?’
That, at least, he could not understand.
‘Why, when you gave up on him…did you refuse to give up on this world? You hated Bibi so.’
There were countless questions, but no one to answer them. Lisianthus grumbled about when he had started acting so kindly, and then suddenly asked:
‘Do you not hate me anymore?’
Instead of answering, Lisianthus laughed bitterly.
He pictured the figure of the other before him, glaring. Yes, he would despise him. That irritating man, he would scorn him. Why come now like this, why not die then rather than seize his ankles now—all manner of cruel words, as if he’d never spoken them at all.
Now he endured each moment, his body and soul burning alive. Had he offered the other any comfort at all?
Standing before the door, Lisianthus whispered:
‘I’m sorry.’
Titania surely thought it thus.
Even should his body and spirit reach such a state, even pushed to the absolute end. The members of the Castrain Family, those tiresome people. Would remain dignified and steadfast to the very last, guarding this world.
So if there were only certainty that the world would be properly restored, no method or means would give him pause. A burden briefly appearing and vanishing from a lifetime—what did it matter if he became ash or disappeared, so long as the outcome was good?
‘I’m sorry. I, like this, will forget all memories and experiences……. It seems I don’t want to become ash. Well, forgive me a little. There is no younger brother like me. Compared to how you’ve lost your mind, don’t you think I can manage this much?’
Titania seemed to have regarded herself as an impurity born into this world. Such had been the nature of her life.
Yet Lisianthus painted again and again a perfect, beautiful world without Titania. A world where the connection with her, which he had long found tedious, became insignificant…….
A world where such ruin never came.
‘You know too. I was always that stubborn dog who wouldn’t obey what others told him to do. Ha, damn it. They say even a dog that dies can’t forget its original master…….’
Such a world, he hated.
So Lisianthus laughed, a breathless sound, and placed his hand on the door. His body felt as if it were melting.
No, it was not mere sensation but fact. This “door” he had barely found possessed the property of absorbing all divine power. Titania probably thought that no one could possibly find something buried so deep in the Deep Underground World, but well.
His body was already dying slowly, but to be absorbed by this door—the pain exceeded imagination. Lisianthus was amazed that he did not scream. Even as his very existence was erasing.
Lisianthus did not have his elder brother’s capability to perform truly such madness. But at least, if he could leave some memory or trace in the world that would “reverse,” anything would be fine. He would burn up entirely into flame, so surely if he used fire, something would be remembered.
Titania probably intended to pass it all by like a midsummer night’s dream…….
But even a dream that fades upon waking does exist for an instant.
Thus Lisianthus, as a being, became a handful of firelight and vanished.
It was a story the person himself would not properly remember.

* * *

Lisianthus’s eyes grew murky, like black water with red dye swirled into it. I found myself at a loss for words. The atmosphere was strange. Rather than Lisianthus as he was now, it felt as though some unidentifiable shadow was speaking through his mouth. No, no, no…….
‘What do you think you can do now, of all things?!’
Lisianthus’s form, trembling with rage, appeared as a phantom. The veins at his neck stood vivid.
When might this have been? If I had to estimate, perhaps it was a state I would have seen in the original work when he had failed to poison Bibi. Even amid confusion, doubt crept in. I had never really considered it much until now.
Now that I think about it, why didn’t he kill her?
No matter how much Bibi begged for her life, no matter if she was royalty and a former betrothed, and he was concerned with people’s eyes. They were not the sort to mind such things. Especially not Lisianthus. If he had simply killed her then…….
‘Killed her? So everything ends conveniently? You, do you truly understand nothing?’
Reason whispered. The voice mocking me.
‘Foolish, stupid girl. Stop deceiving yourself. You have something you need to do.’
Something I need to do.
The moment those words reached me, I felt as though cold water had been dumped over my head, and my senses cleared.
Wherever I am, whenever, whatever I hear. Yes, one must do what one must do.
“Where could I possibly go?”
My face wore a familiar smile. Suddenly such a thought occurred to me.
Perhaps the original Titania, too, eventually wore a face like this? A smile carefully crafted so no one could find fault, moving lips and eye corners so as to appear as unremarkable as possible. Become so accustomed that now, even if asked to laugh without thinking, to smile without all that effort, I can scarcely manage it anymore…….
Ah, though it seemed I laughed without any thought when sledding just now. I smiled brightly and urged the other with words.
“Isn’t it your job to look after the dogs? You brought all of them this far, and now when a problem arises, how will you take responsibility?”
“…….”
“Go on.”
Lisianthus stared at me for a long moment, and only after I urged him again did he turn away with heavy steps. As I watched his receding figure treading through the snow, my sword spoke.
-……Contractor?
‘Yes? What is it?’
-Are you…all right? You seemed a bit dazed just now.
‘I must have been out in the cold too long. I’m feeling a bit dizzy.’
Just as I was about to reassure the concerned sword that it was nothing, an enthusiastic voice rang out.
“Sister, look over here!”
It was Bibi, covered head to toe in snow, waving her hands about excitedly. Rasper was with her as well.

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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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