Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 209

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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 209

“I’ll have to kill that girl.”
Fragrant tea. Pastries so delicate they melted the moment they touched your tongue. Flowers arranged here and there. A pristine white tablecloth and fresh fruit. A table and chairs carved from pale wood.
It resembled a scene from a fairy tale.
Had anyone witnessed it, they would have assumed a noble family was lavishing such care on their cherished daughter during her most precious years.
But reality was far different. In the center of Marquis Land’s Garden stood a glass greenhouse, and beside the tea table set within it, a girl—or rather, a woman no longer a girl—blinked and smiled, as though Cleo’s anxious presence meant nothing to her whatsoever.
Lilium paid Cleo’s nervousness no mind at all.
“My, is that truly so?”
“Yes! The Castrain Family’s protection—those pathetic hunting dogs—is gone now anyway, so there’s no reason to hold back anymore.”
The woman, who had been rolling a few grapes between her fingertips like toys, caught sight of Cleo’s expression and smiled like a painting come to life.
She was as beautiful as the old fairy-tale queen who had once wished for a beautiful princess—a wish that had come true exactly as imagined. Jet-black hair. Skin white as snow. Eyes that gleamed with a faint, luminous hue.
Had someone like her made her debut in society, she would surely have captured everyone’s attention. She was a completely different sort of beauty—one who could rival even Titania, who was counted among the empire’s finest beauties.
Yet remarkably, Lilium had not yet become a significant object of attention to others. Her family was distinguished and ancient, but had always been small in number; the capital was distant from their lands; and they weren’t particularly wealthy—a noble house that seemed rather poor. She had lost her mother young and been raised by her widowed father, becoming a passive, retiring young lady. That was the extent of society’s assessment.
Of course, it was not a “normal” reaction.
“How dare you threaten Brian! Knowing your place! A princess, of all things!”
As Cleo spewed her anger, Lilium gazed at her with a smile that was endlessly close to mockery.
Those who have been struck at their deepest wounds react this way everywhere—seized by rage and inferiority.
What truly angered Cleo was not, strictly speaking, “the audacity of a princess daring to aspire to the throne,” but rather her resentment at her own circumstances: “being a queen consort yet unable to hope for the next succession of the empire, no matter what,” and the fundamental inferiority she felt before someone who spoke casually of things she could not even imagine.
She called him “my Brian,” but honestly, Lilium didn’t think Cleo was so foolish as all that. She must know that her son no longer existed—that some impostor had stolen his body. There was no way she didn’t know.
Yet since Chorte outwardly called Cleo “Mother” and behaved quite obediently toward her, Cleo played along, treating him as her own son and pretending not to know. In a sense, it was a refusal to face reality.
If she had made a Contract with something so vast that she could not bear it on her own strength; if her son’s existence was nothing but a dog’s death; if there was no certainty that they would truly fulfill Queen Consort Cleo’s wishes…
If she had confronted that reality, asked the name of the thing that occupied her son’s body, and coldly assessed her own level and the facts at hand—deciding how best to cooperate—well, Lilium might not have been unable to show her mercy.
But that would never happen.
“I can do it! If a sword is the problem, we can steal it. That girl’s maidservant trembles at my command!”
It was easier to rage and pretend not to understand than to face reality. Lilium smiled faintly.
“Can you truly steal the sword? I believe it was only a few years ago that an unfamiliar maidservant attempting to steal that sword caused rumors, and Her Highness the Queen Consort found herself in considerable trouble.”
Cleo lifted her head, her eyes brimming with resentment and fury.
“Did you not promise to grant what I desire?”
“Indeed.”
Lilium smiled, remembering the “conditions” Chorte had relayed to her.
Cleo’s life? It was laughable. Princess Titania disliked killing the innocent. From what she’d heard, the princess prioritized the evacuation of civilians above all else. She was no fool ignorant of political circumstance. It was merely a petty provocation.
A provocation meant to show that you do not truly regard Queen Consort Cleo as one of your own, as an equal.
“I’ve made a Contract, so I have no intention of breaking it.”
A few years ago, when Princess Titania decided to perform her Dedication Ceremony early and descended to the Northern Region, Chernobog hastily summoned Magic Beasts without even properly informing his subordinates.
Because he’d forced forth a weapon he’d been saving for the absolute last moment, the power fell short of expectations, and in the end he was vanquished.
Outside, it was made known that the Castrain Ducal House had destroyed it, but well. Titania had certainly played some role.
What was suspicious was that upon returning to the capital, she immediately distanced herself from the Castrain Family, avoided contact for years, and ultimately moved to dissolve the engagement.
Well, she had good reason to display her strength. Titania had the power to do so. They could seize the Imperial Palace at a moment’s notice and reduce the Emperor to her grasp if they wished.
“But, Your Highness the Queen Consort.”
Lilium poured the tea from her cup onto the ground. A violet flower sprouted in an instant, releasing a sweet fragrance.
“Princess Titania is no fool. You have the Emperor on your side. Why would she attempt such a foolish provocation?”
Such a provocation would surely make Cleo rage and try to strike at her.
The Imperial Palace would become a true battlefield at last.
“She’s trying to frighten me!”
Her voice was sharp. Lilium smiled at Cleo’s outburst.
The seeds she and Cleo had sown throughout the years had grown and borne fruit within these palace walls. They hadn’t directly touched the Emperor simply because it was tedious.
He was the Emperor after all. The palace contained many ancient objects and mechanisms passed down since the time of the First Emperor, and once an Emperor and Empress had formally completed their coronation, it seemed they received at least some measure of blessing. This blessing was not effective for princes or princesses who had not been named Crown Prince or Crown Princess, but…
“I have faithfully carried out everything you’ve asked of me,” Cleo said, grinding her teeth.
“For years I’ve held back because you said it was still necessary to wait! But surely you’re not asking me to hold back in the face of such transparent provocations?”
“Well, it would be prudent to confirm whether the Castrain Family’s ties have truly been severed.”
Lilium did harbor a small curiosity about this Titania.
Once, she must have been endlessly foolish and stupid. So why had the God of Light chosen such a person as his Contractor and entrusted her with the fate of this continent?
The glimpse Primrose had obtained showed her as merely another foolish moth, ignorant of her own stupidity.
She had no intention of seeing that face directly. For now, Lilium still needed to keep her existence hidden. She would remain concealed until the very end, serving as the anchor to draw Chernobog into this world.
“Well, very good then.”
It would be pleasant to capture her.
Watching her destroyed and broken, having lost everything, would not be unpleasant.
In the end, would that person curse the God? Turn away from fate? Or would she still cling to foolish, impossible hope?
Lilium couldn’t say.
She drew up her plans with the same sensation as a child removing a new toy from a toy box.
Whether she lived or died, whether she met a fate worse than death—if she was a worthless existence undeserving of concern, that would suffice.

* * *

“You’re going?”
“Since Her Highness the Queen Consort moves so swiftly, it would be discourteous not to respond in kind.”
The Empress looked troubled. Beside her, Barbara, whom I hadn’t seen in some time, wore a similar expression.
“Princess Titania, this is far too reckless.”
“I agree with you. No matter how I consider it, the location is simply too… to be plotting something in such a place—surely that’s reckless?”
“Chirp.”

I stroked Jemina, who was fidgeting on my shoulder, and chose my words carefully.
Originally, I’d considered handling the matter within Rose Palace itself. But living there for the past few years, I haven’t neglected my defenses, and if things escalate inside the Imperial Palace, there’s a significant chance the Emperor gets drawn in. So instead, I decided it would be easier to clean up afterward and simpler for the Queen Consort to target me if I offered bait instead. Like attending that notorious Masquerade Ball, for instance.
“Why reckless? That building is mine.”
“…”
The Empress fell silent at my words.
I’d spent years saving and using money carefully. I’d even purchased several prime properties in the capital.
Real estate in the imperial capital was more expensive than one might expect, and poor nobility was remarkably common.
Many nobles came to the capital only during the social season and stayed briefly. Few could afford the maintenance costs year-round, but quite a number came only during the season to hold receptions and gatherings. So I sometimes leased out the buildings I’d purchased.
The Countess Sheringham, who had lost her husband young and now enjoyed her freedom, was particularly fond of Masquerade Balls—events where young men and women could hide their faces and enjoy midnight gatherings.
So she regularly rented out the exotic, magnificent building I owned, perfect for hosting such affairs each social season.
I hadn’t bought it for this specific purpose, but it happened to prove useful.

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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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