Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 206

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 206

It would be a lie to say I didn’t care.
Because I did care, I acted with the single-minded hope that things would somehow work out.
Looking back on it now, I shouldn’t have made that deal offer. I wish I could return just one more time—back to the moment when I fell from the balcony and only just opened my eyes after being in a coma. Then I would’ve just acted the fool as I always did.
Fawning over Queen Cleo. Being difficult with Raymond.
If Queen Cleo gave me a sword as a gift, I would’ve kept it quietly, attended the Dedication Ceremony, waited until winter for the Master Ceremony at the Northern Barrier, and that would’ve been all.
…But no. That wasn’t right either.
Because then I wouldn’t have saved Bibi, couldn’t have learned the Divine Power in proper order, and an incomplete Master Ceremony—I wouldn’t even know if I could perform it correctly. I might not have met Jemina either.
I worried about it countless times, but the conclusion was always the same.
Even if my past memories and actions were filled with regret, if I returned without knowing anything, I would make the exact same choices as before.
So I simply smiled at the Duke.
‘I hadn’t wanted to bring up old stories, but when you were arranging the betrothal between the young princess and the Castrain heir… what were you thinking?’
‘…….’
‘A child doesn’t know anything. Usually they just follow what adults think. But were all those adults’ judgments wrong?’
Saying it this way made me feel as though I were treating Raymond like a clueless child, which left a bitter taste in my mouth. But then again…
‘You may regret the choice you made that day, but I won’t regret mine.’
That was how the conversation ended that day.
The look on Ban’s face as he watches me is strangely like the Duke’s that day. That face that says his heart is burning away as he watches me just smile—he wants to pry open my insides and look, but as long as I firmly refuse, he can’t bring himself to act on his own.
“…You said you needed me, didn’t you, Your Highness? You said it plainly before.”
“I did.”
“What’s different now? Honestly, I can only think of bad things, so….”
“That’s exactly why—”
Someone vaulted over the railing from outside and leaped into the terrace. Not a knight—he moved like a hired mercenary or assassin. Familiar crimson hair swayed with the motion. I deliberately avoided looking at the silhouette flickering beside the curtain and clicked my tongue at Lisianthus.
“Since you won’t meet with people, you sneak in like this instead, huh? You’re looking well, I see?”
“What, are you seriously upset that I’ve been eating and sleeping well all this time?”
Lisianthus grumbled as he loosened the necktie that had been sitting properly around his neck, looking at me.
“You look so perfectly fine that I’ve been beside myself worrying about how you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. It’s ridiculous, really. …You’ve become even more beautiful. Well, you were beautiful before, but who were you trying to impress, looking so stunning on the day of the engagement dissolution announcement?”
Lisianthus deliberately avoided my eyes while speaking in a still-disgruntled tone. I answered in a light voice.
“Oh? To show my new betrothal candidates who might be somewhere in this party?”
Crash! Something tumbled down outside the terrace.
Chirp, chirp-a-roo! The sound of a bird startled and fluttering away accompanied it.
Lisianthus’s pupils trembled, and he glanced briefly at the outdoors before looking back at me. Ban openly avoided my eyes.
“…There was talk that the Emperor secretly received foreign envoys.”
Lisianthus spoke to me. I nodded.
“You’re really going to find a new betrothal… candidate domestically?”
“I don’t want to be sold off overseas.”
More precisely, I needed to establish a narrative that Queen Cleo had tried to harm me out of concern that I would collude with a powerful new domestic noble family, increase my power, and strengthen Adrian. That was the real reason.
“So you need a Shield Marriage Candidate?”
“…Something like that?”
Lisianthus held his breath for a moment before speaking.
“What about me?”
“…What?”
This time, Ban also held his breath.
The air itself seemed to freeze. The chirping of the birds outside on the terrace, which had been calling moments before, also ceased. The red light in Lisianthus’s eyes burned peculiarly.
“…I understand why you’ve deliberately distanced yourself from our family and dissolved the engagement with Raymond. It’s a burden, right? Look, I’m not completely ignorant of domestic politics either. If you absolutely cannot be with the next heir of the Castrain Family, wouldn’t I be adequate?”
“That’s not—”
My mind went completely white and I forgot what to say.
“…Are you telling me to stage some kind of massive scandal? Breaking off an engagement with one brother and betrothing yourself to the other? To me?”
“Well, the dissolution itself already has people talking about you anyway… You’re saying you wouldn’t mind that, right? So, I was just thinking… wouldn’t I be an option…?”
Even as Lisianthus spoke, his voice trailed off slowly, as if embarrassed. Ban just stood with his mouth hanging open, simply watching the situation unfold.
“No, no, no—I’m truly grateful for your concern, and I was hoping we could exchange greetings since it’s been so long, but what are you suddenly saying? You treat betrothals too lightly!”
I grabbed the back of my neck lightly.
“You understand perfectly well over these past few years that I don’t want to show off my connection to the Castrain Family publicly and I want to keep my distance. But if I make you a Shield Marriage Candidate and then dissolve the engagement again years later—I mean, beyond my own purposes, your marriage prospects would be completely ruined! And how would I even face your future sister-in-law?!”
“Is that the only thing bothering you?”
“….”
Lisianthus asked this as if it were the most natural thing in the world. My words caught in my throat.
The Lisianthus I was seeing after a long time had grown noticeably taller and had become unmistakably a man. His shirt, unbuttoned at several places because he disliked feeling confined, his necktie barely hanging at his neck. His crimson hair, slightly bristling….
Is it just my imagination, or does he give off the feeling of such groundless stubbornness that if I said, ‘It won’t work because your name is Castrain,’ he would answer, ‘That’s the problem? I’ll change my surname’? Ha, my imagination is running wild.
Just as everything had frozen over, footsteps sounded near the door leading to the Banquet Hall.
It was June’s voice, soft and knocking on the door.
“…Your Highness, Prince Brian is arriving!”
Erk. I simultaneously jabbed Lisianthus’s side and Ban’s side.
“Both of you, get out, get out now, hurry!”
Lisianthus clicked his tongue, and Ban let out a sigh that wasn’t quite a sigh. Both of them immediately vanished out onto the terrace.
At the same moment, the door I’d just shut burst open. It was Brian, his face cold as he surveyed the room.
Like Lisianthus had grown, Brian too had become quite refined in appearance. The real Brian’s essence had long since perished, but the fake Brian’s shell had somehow become even more elegant and princely than before, and was quite popular. It was absurd.
“It’s been a while, little sister.”
“…I was told that Your Highness was experiencing dizziness and resting alone, yet seeing that your rest has grown longer, Your Highness was concerned that perhaps your condition is quite serious. That is why he insisted on coming to check on your state.”
June’s ability to smooth over situations was truly first-rate. He seemed to want to point out the rudeness of Prince Brian bursting through the door of a sickly sister’s rest chamber, but… well. Neither Brian nor I had any pretense left to maintain before each other anymore, so it seemed to have no impact.
“Since today is an important day, I came to check on your condition, little sister. I was concerned that you might be so heartbroken as to harbor dark thoughts while alone.”
“It seems I discovered far too late that you are such an affectionate and caring older brother.”
“It appears that is what happens when one has a beautiful younger sister.”
Brian’s eyes were like a serpent’s.
“There is no need to be so distressed over the news of the dissolution. If it is your wish, could you not obtain any fine suitor you desire?”
“It appears as though you, elder brother, might exert some great power on my behalf?”
“I came to confirm your intentions.”
Clearly, Queen Cleo must have informed him of my actions in the meantime. I narrowed my eyes, gauging Brian’s movements.
“Now that your official connection to the Castrain Family has been severed, you are a free woman, are you not?”
“You thought I would be deeply heartbroken, did you not?”
This Brian was no ordinary human, so he could not have failed to notice that there had been other people in this room just moments ago.
“Do you have a desire to live at ease?”
“…Pardon?”
“A young lady of marriageable age wielding a sword and carrying it about is not a pleasant sight for others.”
“….”
“Like Empress Elaine, you too could obtain a pleasant territory with fair weather and scenic beauty, living out your days in leisure. The Imperial Palace is bustling and troublesome, full of incidents and accidents without end.”
“Wow.”
I’m hearing plenty of things I hadn’t even thought about today.
Is this, right now, a recruitment offer? From the enemy?
When I think about it, Queen Cleo’s ultimate goal is the imperial throne. But the enemy who has borrowed Queen Cleo’s use and unleashed Magic Beasts while taking over Brian’s shell—their objective is not something as trivial as the imperial throne. It is the question of whether the God of Light is destroyed and the entire land becomes theirs.
They know I achieved the Master Ceremony with the sword and made the Northern Barrier my own, so are they now asking me to discard the sword and stand with them?
-What is this wicked opponent saying right now?!
へ[ ᴼ ▃ ᴼ ]_/¯
‘Calm down.’
I soothed the sword as it bucked wildly, and spoke as if testing the waters.
“Queen Cleo seems as though she would be unsatisfied unless I cease to live and breathe, yet it seems you think differently, elder brother?”
Prince Brian raised one finger and placed it beneath my chin. It was bitterly cold. A similar temperature of a smile hung at the corner of Brian’s mouth. He looked just like a cold-blooded animal.
“It depends on you. Whether Mother’s thoughts and mine are the same or different.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————