Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 197

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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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Episode 197

‘Now of all times, resorting to some gamble like that…? Damn it. Fine. Do as you see fit!’
‘Yes.’
A faint smile lingered at Raymond’s lips. Lisianthus rubbed the bridge of his nose and laughed as well.
From that point on, the situation visibly improved, even to my eyes. The three of them were finding their own breakthroughs. Where there had been no solid ground to stand on, forcing them to perform mad acrobatics bouncing off Magic Beasts in midair, they now cooperated with one another, securing space and advancing forward.
Lisianthus’s fire could not burn the Magic Beast’s main body, but it could burn other things. The flames he scattered purified the spaces where the three men stood, created footholds, and opened passages. Something that appeared to be Rasper’s work rained down like precipitation mixed with smoke from the empty air.
With the Magic Beast’s movements momentarily slowed, Raymond’s blade blocked its path. The instant a gap appeared, the Castrain Duke roared like a beast and charged forward. A greatsword barely the size of a small child, wielded without mercy, tore through the air and bore down upon the Magic Beast……
“…Ah.”
A sharp, cracking sound rang out.
The blade pierced through what appeared to be the Magic Beast’s carapace, tore through its flesh, and lodged deep within. Something redder than blood, lighter than ink, gushed forth like a fountain. I briefly worried whether the Castrain Duke would be alright, drenched in the creature’s bodily fluids.
“Ah…!”
A roar.
A howl that seemed to shake the very soul.
The Magic Beast’s claws piercing through the Castrain Duke’s abdomen.
My vision blurred, then cleared, then blurred again.
‘……!’
‘Dodge!’
‘…He was just slightly off the vital point…!’
‘…He didn’t find the weakness properly…!’
Perhaps I had been too optimistic.
The obedient sons who had never once defied their father were changing, precisely in order to save that very father. And with the assistance of Rasper, whose talents had bloomed earlier than mine, and Pan.
I thought they could manage better than I could. That those people could win even without me.
I had desperately hoped for that.
The Castrain Family, after all, does not indulge in recklessness.
They bear far too many responsibilities; a small mistake made here could invite unfathomable ruin upon the future. It was not that they lacked compassion or aching hearts.
‘It’s because of me.’
Something whispered to itself within me.
‘Because you whispered to that man—that you wished him to live a normal life, that you hoped things would become that way. You breathed false hope into him like some pipe dream of an impossible future.’
Into a man who should have lived only by the Castrain Family’s blade, you poured vain hope……
‘……and gave up, cough, you hopeless……. fools!’
‘……!’
I heard the Castrain Duke shouting something. It was clearly a mortal wound. The gist seemed to be something like: it’s over now, at least you three must pull back and escape. Isea was barely holding her own against the Magic Beast, and with the Duke—who had been playing the crucial role—now unable to fight, the outcome was as clear as seeing fire. And to abandon a father who was bleeding and dying, to turn and flee on her own two feet, would be more agonizing than turning away from the start.
It felt as though someone had poured ice-cold water into my mind.
If I couldn’t follow through on it, I should never have said it in the first place.
All the turbulent emotions clouding my thoughts suddenly turned cold and clear.
The decision was simple.
—Contractor.
“Let’s activate Owner Consciousness.”
—Contractor…….
“Squuuuuuawk!”

Jemina shrieked and hurled her body at me repeatedly. I let out a bitter laugh and cradled her carefully so she wouldn’t be hurt, my palms closing around her form. Her beak chattered and twisted against my hand. A mechanical voice posed a question to me.
[[Contractor ‘Titania’—under the prerequisite of maximally utilizing the traces of soul and flesh from prior records, will you permit me to halt ‘current’ time and arbitrarily substitute Owner Consciousness within virtual reality?]]
“Yes.”
[[This Owner Consciousness always ‘arbitrarily substitutes,’ and therefore is imperfect compared to a complete Rubedo Stage. Furthermore, I warn you again—should you proceed with this action, Contractor ‘Titania’ will be permanently unable to recover ■■■. This means damage to the soul itself. Do you consent?]]
“……Yes.”
[[Confirmed. Replaying traces from prior records.]]
The moment the voice finished, the world suddenly stopped.
Or rather, it appeared to. I blinked. Was this what it felt like to dream while alive? My body seemed to sleep while only my soul remained, wandering through empty space.
A child appeared before my eyes.
“How could you do that?”
A young Titania.
The room was dark and ornate.
Furnishings long since out of fashion—chairs and curtains—dust-laden tables. The child sat hunched on a bed, lips pressed tight.
Meticulously groomed golden hair, ribbons, lace and frills applied generously—an adorable outfit. And yet……
Hair pulled so tightly it ached, lace and frills that stung where they touched skin.
Gilded mediocrity. A child who appeared cute only on the surface, loved by no one. I understood instinctively.
This was perhaps Titania as she had been long before the original story began.
The young Titania grasped the hands of two ghostlike women, one in each small hand, holding them tight.
One was Empress Elaine, the other Empress Cleo. Pale forms like wax figures. Though I knew they were mere shells, she clung to them with desperate fervor.
“How could you give up on Mother?”
I blinked and considered my response.
Ah, yes. This seemed to be about that conclusion I’d reached with Empress Elaine—that we shouldn’t pretend to be mother and daughter, that we should simply live comfortably apart.
“You have a real mother, don’t you? We do.”
“That’s you!”
The young Titania vented her resentment.
“I can’t! I won’t!”
“……”
That’s right—this Titania would never do such a thing. I simply laughed. The anxious child’s eyes wavered uncertainly.
“I, I know that Empress Cleo is a liar. But it doesn’t matter, does it? I could just get rid of Brian. If only I existed, then she’d only love me! I, she didn’t hate me!”
Her voice trembled at the end.
“A, and Empress Elaine too…! Why, why did you give up like that, you fool! I wouldn’t do that. Maybe, maybe this time……”
“This time?”
“Maybe Mother would love me. This time.”
I met the young Titania’s eyes.
“You know that won’t happen.”
“……”
“You know that love received that way isn’t ‘real.'”
“……”
The child glared at me. Tears dripped from her eyes.
“It’s your fault.”
“……”
“If only you hadn’t existed. I… I didn’t need to know such things. I could have just lived like this……”
“Yes.”
“I miss Mother……”
“So do I.”
“I want to be with Mother. With Mother… It’s unfair. I, I’ve never even seen her.”
“I’m sorry for that.”
I pulled the young Titania into my arms. The child wept and wept in my embrace, then gradually crumbled like a salt pillar melting into seawater and dissolved away. A small sea formed deep within my chest.
What came next was easy to recognize.
A room more refined than before. A Terrace with a Balcony attached—the interior of that place from which I had fallen just moments ago. A familiar figure stood before me, glaring.
The early stages of the original story? The opening? Perhaps that was fair to say. No, more precisely—just before Bibi appeared and administered poison. The moment when she clung to Raymond.
A refined Dress tailored to fit the body, adorned from head to toe with jewelry.
Batting long-painted lashes, she grasped the hand of a ghostlike figure half a head taller than herself. I didn’t need to ask who it was—I knew perfectly well.
A sharp voice was hurled at me.
“Raymond is mine.”
“……”
A bitter smile rose unbidden as I merely remained still, yet the figure before me thrashed as though I had stepped on her weak point.
“That man—at least him—is mine. He’s mine! We were betrothed! We’re betrothed!”
“……”
“Why do you make that face?! You should understand me. Whether Bibi or Bai or whatever, that little child—you look at her with such eyes. But why not me, why not me, when I’m far prettier! I’m royalty! Why won’t you love me? I……”
The figure who had been thrashing wildly enough to stab the silent me to death gradually quieted.
Her voice rolled like a pearl sinking to the depths of the sea, rounding and rolling. Further and further away, like an echo that would never return.
“……”
“…When I loved you so much……”
Like a deflated balloon, Titania’s voice faded away.
“I know.”
“……”
“But the Empress Cleo and Empress Elaine we loved so much didn’t look back at us either.”
“……”
“If we believe we can possess something simply by loving it, then we become just like the Emperor—like Father, who made Empress Elaine miserable.”
After a long silence, the figure finally spoke.
“…I don’t want that.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
As though swallowing bitter medicine against terrible reluctance, crying all the while, like a small child.
“…I don’t want to be that kind of person, even if it means dying……”
“That’s enough.”
Titania wept for a long while, then vanished beyond the Balcony.
A sound—something falling.
A Cliff appeared beside the seashore. Each time the seawater struck the cliff face, it made a sound like the last words of the Little Mermaid dissolved into sea foam.
The last one was……
The last one was……
“You made it this far, did you.”
Sparks of fire scattered in all directions.

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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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