Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 220

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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 220

The weather was too perfect to be true.
I hummed as I spread a generous cloth over the rock and set down the basket I’d brought, arranging it carefully on the flat surface.
On one side, I’d submerged sealed juice bottles from yesterday in an ice-filled container; on the other, I’d laid out hastily made sandwiches, fruit, grilled sausage, and other provisions. It really did look like I’d come on a proper picnic.
A breeze blew from the distance, rustling the white hem of my skirt as it passed.
The sky was clear. Fireworks, apparently for testing, streaked across it several times before vanishing. Though we were at some distance from where the crowds gathered, even here a faint hum of voices carried through.
Jemina lay half-reclined, intermittently pecking at an Apple Mango as tall as herself, watching the fireworks display.
There were certainly people who’d tried sneaking into this place, but they’d sensed my complete lack of hesitation in settling here and quietly withdrawn. I chuckled as I twisted the brown ends of my hair between my fingers.
Today would be my last day of playing like this.
A ship was coming at dawn tomorrow. I planned to hide in the cargo hold and disappear after disembarking in another city. I felt sorry for Flux, but after leaving the ship, I wouldn’t contact him either.
Trying to keep my mind empty, I gazed up at the sky endlessly until my eyelids grew heavy.
When I came to, the air had already grown cool. I put the food—now cold and dry—back into the basket without wasting it, drank some juice that was still refreshing, and looked at the sky.
Nearly in full night, though it was a shame, a fingernail’s worth of sunset glow still flickered faintly at the ocean’s edge. The lanterns people had begun releasing rose like stars, piercing the sky with light.
“…Maybe I should send one up too.”
I’d thought watching the sky would be enough fun, but it seemed there was a limit to simply appreciating the scenery from a quiet place alone.
Since there was nothing particularly important, I left the hastily packed basket near the rocks to retrieve later, and walked barefoot across the sand.
I retraced yesterday’s path, squeezed through the lively crowds of people, and bought cotton candy and a lantern.
The vendor who’d sold me juice yesterday—looking distinctly rough—sold me the cotton candy. I laughed and told him to keep the change, then walked back toward the villa.
Finding an appropriate spot, I crouched down, lit a candle no longer than a fingernail joint, secured it properly inside the lantern, and released it toward the sky.
“…This is so maudlin. Normally you make a wish at times like this, right? A wish, hmm…. Well…….”
Watching the light drift upward slowly, I deliberated.
The surroundings were quiet. I fumbled with my lips somewhat awkwardly before slowly finding my voice.
“Please let my mom, dad, and friends from Korea—everyone—live happily and well even without me. It’s okay if you forget about me. You can pretend I never existed from the beginning. And… the Empress of the Imperial Palace too, and Prince Adrian. Even Elaine the Imperial Concubine. The Castrain Family members too. Please, even if war comes, I hope as many people as possible survive, and that everyone lives peacefully and happily.”
After wishing for everything I could think of, my throat suddenly tightened.
Is that enough?
It’s enough.
It doesn’t have to be enough either, not for this moment.
After all, there’s no one here.
No matter what you say, no one will reproach you.
Only this world, only this quiet silence, will hear your wish and forget it.
“……The truth is.”
The faint sound of waves. The sound of lanterns bumping against each other in the sky.
The sound of light, of fire crackling, snapping. The sound of lanterns released across the water dancing as they’re pushed by the currents…….
“I wish someone, anyone, would remember me.”
I crouched down and buried my face in my knees.
I didn’t want to see anything.
“I’m so lonely…….”
There’s nothing more pathetic than choosing something yourself and then regretting it. I tried not to resent anyone.
“Mom, I… I’m struggling……. I don’t want to do this anymore, this kind of thing…….”
Someone please save me.
I bit my lip to stop myself from uttering that final plea. I tasted blood.
Whenever I saw people laughing and playing with such vitality and joy, I was seized by a strange feeling.
They looked so wonderful. I felt relief, hoping such sights would continue forever.
A hollow sensation that the world would go on like that even without me, that ultimately no one would remember or miss someone like me.
It’s said that everyone, once they pass adolescence, eventually shakes off the illusion that they’re special to the world.
But I chose to sever all ties with my own hands, to hide as if dead—it felt wrong to console myself with those words.
Still, that’s how it is.
I could never become Bibi.
I couldn’t overcome an unfortunate past and stride so cleanly into the future with no bitterness, loving without leaving even the smallest catch in my heart.
So I chose to bear all my regrets myself, and now here I am, crying and complaining about how hard it is.
I wiped away tears that had started to fall.
They’re all good people.
I recalled the scene of the Contract with Deity again.
—The moment the Imperial Blood is severed, the Northern Barrier cannot be sustained. So there’s a need to make it ‘not be severed.’
At first, regarding the First Emperor’s time, the deity thought it would be fine, but after seeing the cases that followed, they resolved to reinforce the Northern Barrier so such incidents wouldn’t occur in the future…….
—…You will have to protect the Barrier eternally.
Within the Barrier, forever. Neither dying nor living.
An ordinary human cannot live eternally. To call it protection is, in truth, to be absorbed into the Barrier while still alive and become a system. Just like Poda, who transferred me a fragment of power before dissolving as a distinct entity.
That’s why until now I couldn’t die. The deity did everything in their power to keep me from dying. If I died before being absorbed into the Northern Barrier, everything would truly be over.
And so, continuing to live and live again until the name and personality of “Titania” fade away—well, I’d truly become some bland system then.
So the deity giving me a sword was their own form of kindness. They knew all sorts of trivial information, they knew my past. A chatty sword. They left me the only companion who would stand by my side eternally within the Barrier.
—Are you truly certain?
There had been options.
But even if I went back, the result would be the same.
All sacrifice must be voluntary to have meaning. A contract without mutual consent is void.
Who else could replace me…. Well, perhaps Adrian? But the Empress is there. It should be me rather than Adrian.
“……Let’s go.”
—Won’t you watch more?
“I’ve seen plenty. It’s fine.”
I wiped away my tears vigorously. There was no need to mope about any longer. I’d dragged out the time unnecessarily out of regret that I’d soon lose the chance to witness such sights.
I bit into the damp cotton candy. A thick sweetness filled my mouth, with just a hint of salt. I laughed softly.
What was I even hoping for anyway? What would change if I cried now? I should act more mature.
Becoming a system of the Barrier while still alive was something like this—the people around me would definitely have stopped me from running away if they’d noticed. If they learned the truth, they’d grieve.
So I deliberately didn’t tell them. I pretended to be dead, even if I had to force it. Once I disappeared inside the Barrier, no one could enter it—how would they know what I’m doing there or why?
I walked while chewing the lumps of sugar that hadn’t fully dissolved on my tongue.
I’d spend the night at the villa. I’d pack my things and wake up at dawn. Before heading to the Barrier, I’d leave Jemina somewhere…….
“Oh.”
The cotton candy slipped from my hand.
My eyes widened.
Beneath a sky woven with the fragmented darkness of cloth, a man who seemed to be made of that very landscape stopped still, looking at me.
It’s a lie.
It has to be a lie.
How could you possibly be here now.
The lights that had been circling the night sea and sky circled right before my face. Before me, frozen stiff like a corpse, incapable of speech.
“……You.”
My voice was broken.
That Lord of the Castrain Family who could remain fine for a week without eating or sleeping. The man who’d endured alone among monsters for over two weeks without issue.
With footsteps as fragile as a completely rusted and broken weapon, he took one step toward me.
I reflexively stepped back.
At that, the man stopped abruptly. He looked incredibly cautious.
As if one wrong glance, one pause in his steps, would cause me to melt away like a phantom right then and there…….
He looked like a terrified animal.
Terrified? Who was? I blinked in surprise at myself.
The one standing before my eyes right now—was this Raymond? The embodiment of responsibility and restraint? That man now called the Black Nightmare of the Castrain Family?
And yet, even closing and opening my eyes, the man’s appearance remained unchanged.
The man’s eyes, always steady as a well-tempered blade, trembled with a slight quiver. Hollow cheeks, dark circles under sunken eyes, unkempt hair.
His golden eyes, holding me within them, swirled with an emotion I couldn’t read. Simply looking at him felt like drowning.
“I really thought you were dead.”
One of the man’s knees gave way helplessly.
Like a bowstring drawn taut for so long that it finally snapped, like he was crumbling under his own weight, I watched him stumble and without thinking, I stepped forward to steady him.
“…It’s been like living an endless nightmare, Titania.”
And then, I was caught.

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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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