Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 179

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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 179

Adrian understood the Emperor’s favoritism better than anyone.
If an unexpected contender appeared at a position created to elevate a favored child, received an award, and then claimed victory—well, displeasure was inevitable. And on top of that, if someone had set traps throughout the forest during this opportunity, then managed to survive and seize the prey in style to win the tournament?
It was pointless.
Let the opponent bask in acclaim. Gaining real profit was far more worthwhile.
Besides, the opponent already believed the championship prize was theirs for the taking, and was too preoccupied scheming how to dispose of Adrian and secure victory to think beyond that. The tail’s reaction had confirmed one thing: the opponent was not a “proper human being.”
“I never imagined Your Highness was that renowned mercenary.”
Count Palsus.
Though his son, the heir, handled the practical affairs, the old man still clung to his position as head of house without formally surrendering his title.
Anyone would think of Hecate’s Tavern as the Empire’s foremost Secret Intelligence Organization, but truthfully, there was more than one or two clandestine group. The fewer that broadcast their names, the better they served their purpose.
Adrian reclined at ease, reaching for an apple on the table and taking a bite. The man’s brow furrowed at this display of composure, but rather than voice a complaint, he continued.
“Former Princess Valentina may joke that she’s acquired two nieces and nephews in her twilight years, yet I harbor no intention of throwing myself into succession disputes. As a loyal servant to the Former Emperor…”
“The current Prince Brian is not human. He’s been artificially infused with magical essence to become—hmm, a Magic Beast? A Demonic Being? Yes, ‘Demonic Being’ has a nicer ring to it. Something along those lines. He’s entirely different from the ‘Prince Brian’ he once was. The Empress Consort certainly is something, swapping out her son the moment he became inconvenient. I thought for certain she’d protect Brian above all else, no matter what. Turns out I was wrong?”
It was Titania who summoned the Former Princess Valentina to the Imperial Palace.
Now that Titania had left the palace, partly by choice and partly by circumstance, Adrian had to fill that void and more. He smiled faintly.
“Honestly, it reads like fiction. A prince dwelling deep within the palace, sharing quarters with his mother, somehow finding the means to slip away and work as a mercenary in secret. Staking his life on it, engaging in real combat multiple times. How could he possibly conceal it? Well, when you figure people will execute you if you’re caught, I suppose it does become feasible.”
“I’m not particularly curious about Your Highness’s frivolous past.”
“So, while I haven’t seen as much as the Castrain Family has, I’ve witnessed plenty of unsavory things in my own way. Magic Beasts and such. Most of all, well… I can’t exactly claim we’re close, but he’s still my brother, isn’t he?”
By nature, he was indolent and fond of idleness, desiring that others would elevate him. In Adrian’s memory, when he was very young—so very young he could hardly distinguish anything—he was nothing like this worst version of himself. He’d simply been raised in circumstances beyond redemption, caught between Cleo and the Emperor.
His vessel was small. When slighted, he grew angry and cruel, but he lacked the temperament to orchestrate truly grand catastrophes. Yet suddenly, as if he’d become a dragon, his essence had transformed.
The jealousy and inferiority Adrian had held toward him seemed to have shed away completely. And the tail had even reacted to Adrian’s half-joking probe… It was laughable, really.
“The Former Princess conveyed the claim that my brother has become someone entirely different, and I brought evidence. Or rather, I ‘fabricated’ it. Good grief. Even though I was convinced I’d win the tournament, I should have been more cautious when all manner of chaos erupted in the palace.”
Adrian continued, muttering.
“I’m here fretting over every bite, every drink, every piece of clothing. But after all, you sent everyone out during the Hunting Tournament, didn’t you?”
“…You noticed?”
“I’m not foolish enough to overlook what matters because of petty pride or lingering attachment or concern for appearances.”
A sneer crossed Adrian’s face and vanished. Complex emotions lay heavy across his pale, finely-polished features.
The Former Emperor was a multifaceted man. Not a sage ruler, but not a tyrant either.
He’d exerted effort in his own way, and there were retainers loyal to him for it. Yet he could not be called perfect, nor had he completely purged his inferiority complex toward the Castrain Family.
One need only observe how he hastily created a direct organization, found his heir insufficient, and then disbanded it without accomplishing either goal.
Had he truly loved his son, he would have entrusted it to his hands or used that blade to eliminate his son’s political rivals. He would have sacrificed the Empire’s stability altogether.
Had he truly prioritized the Empire’s welfare, he would have used that sword to preemptively sever his son’s limbs to weaken the Emperor’s authority. “I’ll pass the throne to you because there’s no alternative, but I’ll ensure you never have the chance to make mistakes.”
Had he been a truly sincere emperor devoted to the Empire, he would have taken that blade and killed his own son, adopting a proper heir in his stead.
Yet the irresolute emperor, unable to tear down the imperial authority he’d spent his whole life building with his own hands, unable to strike down or kill his own healthy son, ultimately shut his eyes tight and deferred everything.
This was the result.
When the Former Princess Valentina returned to the Capital after decades away and summoned Count Palsus, the Count deliberated in his own fashion.
If her words were true, he had to step forward despite the lateness. There was nothing more to hesitate about.
Yet if decades had passed because of the Former Emperor’s judgment, and now this worst outcome had arrived, he needed to test whether the alternative choice was truly sound stock.
So the Hunting Tournament was his form of testing. It was a trap laid plain to see, but he wanted to observe how the subject would behave under such unfavorable conditions.
Adrian possessed luck, and the skill to seize it. He had quick judgment and wit.
“If there truly were a woman he loved more, set apart from our mother, I might have accepted it as a love for the ages. Whether or not he genuinely loves Empress Cleo—perhaps he simply mistakes his own feelings for love. But what Father loves most in the world is Father himself. One can love a person at first sight, but devoting a lifetime to them is reckless. And anyone base enough to make choices that would destroy everyone out of mere emotion ought never to be made anyone’s sovereign in the first place.”
“Your Highness speaks with disrespect toward the Emperor.”
“Well, as for me—my mother dislikes me, naturally. She despises the fact that I’m the only son who measures up to her in bloodline and station. I can accept that. What I can’t accept is how Titania was treated. The Emperor never truly grasped the danger the Castrain Family posed, yet he imposed a Marriage Betrothal as if pulling reins tight. Then he left her to languish as the Empress Consort’s plaything in the palace. It’s indefensible even on political grounds, isn’t it?”
It would have been better if everyone had simply neglected her.
Had she been a forsaken princess whom all ignored, she never would have harbored such illusions from the start.
She would have had no reason to thrash about thinking she could possess the impossible, no reason to suffer everyone’s contempt.
Half-tamed wild birds think humans will favor them and come close, only to be injured. They suffer from misfortune.
Deception was the cruelest thing. To love only the most adorable, pretty parts was itself a deception.
“From where I stand, Count Palsus. Honestly, I should be in a position where I have nothing, the opponent is too strong, so I ought to do whatever it takes to stay by his side and bark, woof. But I honestly don’t want that. Or rather—if the Former Emperor had said about my son, ‘I don’t know anymore; it’s after I’m dead anyway,’ and let it go, would a loyal servant simply follow suit?”
“Mind your tongue, Your Highness! How dare you speak the Former Emperor’s name with such disrespect!”
“And what of the match arranged for the Former Princess Valentina? Why was the bridegroom such a wretched cur? Back then, people whispered that the Former Princess’s bearing matched Prince Adrian’s own—had she been born a man, she’d have been a strong claimant to the throne. Was that why? Did he arrange an inferior husband to check her?”
“How dare you demean the Former Emperor further! I won’t—!”
“Won’t what?”
The apple that had been rolling across Adrian’s palm with each bite crumbled to pieces.
Adrian smiled, lifting only the corners of his mouth. It was a devastatingly bleak smile.

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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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