Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 200

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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 200

“…What…is this…?”
The Duke’s eyes opened, and his voice came out like scraping metal. His face showed disbelief at the current situation. And above all else, his eyes widened the moment he saw me.
“It’s not the Afterlife. You’re still alive. Though I’ll admit, I probably look like I crawled out of hell itself.”
……
I’d burrowed deep into the Magic Beast’s body to wrench out the Mana Stone, so my appearance was decidedly spectral. Or demonic, perhaps—either way, it was obvious. Not a single inch of skin or hair went untouched by filth.
Even before Castrain’s Duke lost consciousness and collapsed, this entire area already had a hellish quality to it. As the Magic Beast fell, it scattered its flesh and blood in all directions, and the ground was melting in real time. Still a different kind of hell now, but a hell nonetheless.
“For someone of Castrain’s Duke’s standing, a damaged heart is nearly irreplaceable. That Magic Beast was an enemy, but it was quite high-ranked, and the Mana Stone was top-grade. Since I happened to be here, I decided to try something. It seems to have worked.”
“What in blazes is happening?”
“You now owe me a life debt?”
“…Father.”
Raymond bowed his head before Castrain’s Duke.
“Her Highness Titania saved us.”
“What?”
“Yes, well…somehow she suddenly stopped the Magic Beast, defeated it. Then while saying something like ‘replacing the heart with this,’ she put a Mana Stone in Father’s chest, and she bled herself…”
Lisianthus stammered through his explanation. He clearly didn’t know how to describe what had just transpired.
After all, the Princess, who should have been confined within the Northern Barrier, had suddenly burst out and handled everything.
Raymond extended his hand toward me. When I tilted my head in confusion, he spoke in a low voice.
“Please show me your wounds, Your Highness.”
“Ah.”
I looked down at my hands, where dried blood had crusted over, and shrugged.
I let out a small, bitter laugh.
‘In my memory’…
I had rarely worried about injuries so trivial. The reason was obvious. The situation had been far too grave. Fretting over minor wounds would have been a luxury.
What remained of the lingering regrets I’d already absorbed left behind a grating laugh.
“I’m fine.”
Raymond, who had stopped despising Titania until the very end of her life, reacted to this to the extent he naturally would.
His family was still intact, and nothing had broken—not yet.
So I dismissed Raymond’s gaze as though nothing were wrong and spoke to Castrain’s Duke, whose expression remained one of shock. I couldn’t see the face of Raymond, whose offered hand had been refused.
“I’ll help with the Purification Work. You won’t necessarily need to abandon all the land in this region.”
“…You’re saying that Her Highness Titania defeated that Magic Beast?”
“Yes.”
The Duke groaned softly as he raised himself from lying down, then flexed his fingertips in surprise.
“…My body is remarkably light.”
“Think of it as being reborn.”
The effect seems to be good. I felt a quiet satisfaction.
Right, once I’m back, I’ll need to treat Pandora too. And just to be safe, I should check Flux’s condition…
That’s right. While I’m delivering good news anyway, I should mention this too.
“And from now on, you won’t need to hold Dedication Ceremonies.”
The three men sprawled before me in ragged states all froze in place.
Without meaning to, I’d been dropping nothing but shocking revelations. Raymond furrowed his brow and asked.
“Might I ask what you mean by that?”
“It means the Northern Barrier will be fine without the annual hardship. It won’t weaken further or break. And most importantly, even if the Castrain Family’s people try to enter the core of the Barrier, it won’t let them in.”
I’d blocked it completely.
The power the Barrier needed—I could supply it all myself. I understood well enough why Chernobog had urgently awakened the Magic Beast and made such a fuss at this particular moment.
Going forward, it would actually cause me trouble if Castrain’s Duke’s family interfered carelessly.
If they learned anything, they would certainly try to get involved.
This family simply needed to continue living comfortably going forward—moderately pressing the Imperial Family on the Empire’s behalf, doing their own work well.
Castrain’s Duke remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.
“…Your Highness Titania.”
The keen gaze of an aged and experienced man pierced through me.
“What price have you paid for what you’ve done?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Had my answer come too quickly?
“From what I remember, Your Highness was never strong enough to single-handedly defeat a Magic Beast that even the Castrain Family couldn’t immediately answer—one that I myself would need to risk my life to fight and prepare to kill.”
“That’s true.”
“And not only that, to restore me—who was on the very brink of death—to perfect health? …That’s something even High Priest Illian wouldn’t have dreamed of.”
“I was fortunate. Without a Mana Stone of that caliber, I wouldn’t have been able to save you no matter what.”
And that wasn’t mere courtesy—a Mana Stone of that quality could build an entire new Southern Barrier. Without it, I couldn’t have sustained Castrain’s Duke’s body.
“At my age, I’ve learned that no result comes without reason. …You’ve saved my life and the very existence of the Castrain Family. There’s nothing we could demand in return.”
“Aren’t you tired? This hardly seems like the place for such declarations.”
“Your Highness speaks as though what just happened is of no consequence.”
I took a moment to consider my response.
Ultimately, I needed to sever my ties with Castrain’s Duke’s house. Until now, ignorant of things, I’d simply drifted along with dissolution plans and thought that we should combine our strength until we’d dealt with the enemy. Now the situation had changed.
—Why I had viewed you with such contempt until now.
No matter how much I’d decided as policy to stop clinging foolishly to lingering attachments and maintain proper distance as mere allies, ironically, by absorbing memories both past and yet-not-past in great quantities, those very memories kept welling up uselessly.
Before, they’d appeared like dreams or illusions, glimpsed only occasionally. But now, whenever I wished, I could recall them vividly.
Raymond’s form, always despising Titania wherever and whenever…. Ha, it seems somewhat ironic to overlay that image against the Raymond now standing before me, worried about my current wounds.
—It seems you’ve only just come to understand. I am merely glad.
And yet it cannot be helped.
The final ‘Titania’ I faced had been worn down to such ash that even her own love burned away. But the ‘Titanias’ before that were drowning in their own feelings because of their lingering regrets.
“No. Look at the state I’m in. If what happened really were ‘of no consequence,’ would I look like this?”
Truth is, I don’t remember my mother’s name.
I don’t remember my own name either.
I don’t remember my father’s name.
That was the pride that drove me to live as an honorable person.
“But well, the outcome was good, wasn’t it?”
Become a better person.
No matter how cruel and petty the world can sometimes seem, become someone who protects what must be protected.
Don’t commit the pettiness of resenting others for choices I made myself.
Just because I’ve forgotten names doesn’t mean all my memories are gone.
“No, it wasn’t just good—it was excellent, wasn’t it? After all, I saved Castrain’s Duke himself, the mightiest of lords.”
Even Castrain’s Duke wasn’t so crude as to corner someone who had saved him from the brink of death and helped his entire family with “Are you hiding something? That seems strange,” simply out of baseless suspicion.
His ghostly intuition seemed to have sensed something was amiss. But still.
No one had forced him.
My future choices were my own. So I had no reason to whine to anyone about it.
“So from now on, you’ll do whatever I ask of you. Whatever it may be. Don’t worry—I won’t ask you to do anything insane like kill His Majesty the Emperor. I swear it on the Duke’s name.”
Castrain’s Duke remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.
And so I felt reassured.

* * *

In truth, it was nothing short of a miracle.
Especially since everyone had braced for the worst.
After returning to the Main Residence, Her Highness Titania merely laughed off the torrent of questions that came her way.
Everyone learned that Her Highness had accomplished something extraordinary. That she had grown remarkably strong.
The sword Her Highness carried had also changed in appearance.
The hilt had become more ornate, and the blade glowed with a white radiance overall. More precisely, white with a faint red undertone.
How she had escaped the sealed Northern Barrier. What method she’d used to kill the Magic Beast so easily. And above all, how she’d completely revived Castrain’s Duke, who seemed by all accounts destined to die. The Duke’s health condition had been a secret known to only the rarest few even within his own house.
For something that had been known but left unattended for lack of remedy, to have been remade into a completely new body—naturally everyone was astounded.
High Priest Illian had refused to believe the news and demanded through the Communication Crystal Ball that Castrain’s Duke expose his chest, then hurriedly apologized when he nearly faced a budget cut.
Titania announced that she had become the supreme authority and administrator of the Northern Barrier, and that since it would not weaken in the future, the Castrain Family would have no need to hold Dedication Ceremonies.
The few who doubted Titania’s words and tried to enter the center of the Northern Barrier were stopped by a transparent barrier and bounced back, after which everyone had to acknowledge the truth.
These were inexplicable events, and though Titania answered questions with nothing but a faint smile without elaborating, the results were so favorable that the Ducal House fell into a festival atmosphere.
Rasper officially became the owner of the Waves of Oceanus. Raymond and Lisianthus had not suffered grave injuries. There was no longer need to labor ceaselessly day and night to save the Northern Barrier, which weakened with each passing day. It was a blessing for the family.
Her Highness Titania and all the Priests of the North together purified the remnants of the Magic Beast and restored the land. It didn’t take long.
And the moment all that recovery work was finished, Titania announced she would depart for the Capital.
“Sister, sister, do you really need to leave so soon?”
Titania wore an awkward smile as Bibi clung to her.

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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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