Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 230

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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 230

“Whiiine?”
“Aha, look at this one. Says we’re leaving him out.”
Before I could find words, Lisianthus deftly slipped a large sled dog between Bibi and me.
As I lost myself to the warm snout nuzzling my face and licking my cheeks, Lisianthus took one of my hands and guided it across the dog’s head, ears, and nape with practiced strokes.
A low rumble from the dog’s throat, the plush give of its fur, the firm warmth of Lisianthus’s hand, the creature’s body heat—something about it all settled my nerves.
I could have sat here like this for hours, mind gone blank.
—Snap out of it, Contractor! (/・・)ノ
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’
And just like that, I came back to myself.
Though coming back to myself changed nothing—I was still half-cradling the dog, Bibi was still beside me, and Lisianthus was still watching the whole scene with unmistakable warmth in his eyes.
Full and warm, sleep began to creep in.
No, this won’t do. I can’t fall asleep here.
“…What about Jemina?”
“Oh, the Divine Beast. The servants are all crowded around fawning over her right now. When I mentioned giving a bonus to whoever makes her favorite nest, they got so competitive—they’ve built the loveliest, fluffiest nests you ever saw.”
“…….”
I had no response to Bibi’s cheerful explanation. The moment my eyes drifted to the sword still at my waist, Lisianthus spoke up.
“As for the sword—I didn’t prepare anything else since you seemed reluctant to part with it. But I know its length, hilt, width, and shape well enough, so I had several scabbards made.”
—Scabbards! ヽ( °◇°)ノ
“And plenty of decoration stands too. Hah, is our house just any ordinary family? We have those in abundance.”
—Decoration stands! ヽ( °◇°)ノ
‘I just told you to focus, and now it’s you who’s lost your mind!’
—Oh, my bad. ヽ(;^o^ヽ)
‘You actually liked those things?’
—No, that was just reflex…. But, well, I’m not the sort to be swayed by mere bribes like that into betraying you! ( °࿁° )
I quieted the blade as it began to tremble despite itself. Lisianthus’s ruby eyes gleamed as he gave the dog one final stroke before sliding it neatly aside and moving toward me.
“So, what were we talking about before?”
“…Nothing much. Just that I’ve received too much today.”
“Really?”
His head tilted with that radiant smile. Just then the dog let out a long whine, and Bibi called out brightly.
“This one’s hungry, I think!”
“Oh? Then should we get something to—”
“I’ll go feed him!”
“…….”
Before I could even agree, Bibi leapt up from between us and bolted away with the sled dog in tow.
The dog, somehow catching the word “food” with preternatural accuracy, trotted after her without a backward glance.
I realized in a heartbeat that I was alone with Lisianthus, and my mouth fell open.
She was being far too obvious about it. Really, Bibi?
“Our Bibi’s quite perceptive.”
“……Perceptive about what?”
I asked, watching where Bibi had vanished, but Lisianthus only gazed at me with admiration.
“You really do love dogs.”
Dog hair drifted across his shoulders as he spoke.
Wow, a dog this large sure sheds. I found myself instinctively plucking a long, snowy strand from where it clung to Lisianthus’s neck and cheek.
He made a soft noise as if tickled, his eyes crinkling with something like playfulness. Ignoring that look, I withdrew my hand, and Lisianthus murmured.
“There’s more.”
“Hm? Where?”
“Just a moment.”
With a beaming smile, Lisianthus gathered up the dog hairs matted to my nape, jawline, and the space behind my ears, removing them one by one.
I wasn’t some fragile paper doll—he could have just brushed them off—but his hands moved with such deliberate care, so gently across my skin and clothes as if touching spun sugar, that I felt a chill run through me.
My face, he was getting close to my face.
A low chuckle escaped him, and his position shifted. He nudged me backward onto the broad sofa and settled beside me.
Then his head came to rest on my shoulder.
“You really do love dogs, don’t you?”
“Um, well. I suppose so.”
His red hair rustled against mine. My hand, searching for purpose in the air, was suddenly caught by his and placed atop his head.
Wait—wasn’t he nearly my age? He was hardly a child anymore. Was it really all right to pet a grown man’s head like this, like some animal?
Well, in any case, I set aside my awkwardness and stroked his head in a kind of thoughtless reverie.
He looked like the sort who’d wash his entire body with a single bar of soap and wonder what moisturizer was for, yet his hair carried an unexpectedly pleasant scent.
“Do you ever think about raising another dog?”
Lisianthus rolled slightly to face me, his ruby eyes luminous with interest.
“…I think a Companion Animal should only come into your care when you’re able to take complete responsibility for it.”
Jemina was different—she was a Divine Beast, so in a sense she was my superior anyway…. There were no choices in that matter…. But the question itself caught me off guard.
“Why? What’s lacking? You have money, you have strength. You’ve no shortage of responsibility—”
Perhaps it was my imagination, but the way he smiled when he said “responsibility” seemed almost fox-like. His eyes held something knowing, something heavy with meaning, yet I could only stare.
“Because if I’m to raise a Companion Animal, it should live in the environment where it’s happiest—”
The image flashed through my mind: the vagrant hurling stones at his beloved dog.
A bitter smile rose to my lips. No matter how vast or happy a Barrier might be, I couldn’t give a creature a life spent only watching me, trapped forever inside. I was preparing to sidestep the conversation when I saw Lisianthus smile.
“Then what about raising a dog-like human instead?”
“…What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I’ve raised wolves and dogs before, so I know—it’s annoying. It’s hard. But they’re equally adorable, rewarding, and lovable…. It’s difficult to handle all that, that’s true. So why not adopt a life form that walks on two legs, feeds itself, uses the toilet, dresses, and sleeps on its own? What do you think? Perfect logic.”
“That’s genuinely dog-like reasoning. If a real dog heard that, it’d be offended. It’s even more absurd than what the adults say about how if you’re fond of children, you must be old enough to have some of your own.”
“Hm. Does all that meddling from adults about marriage and such bore you?”
My body tipped over.
I tumbled back onto the plush sofa without pain, only a shift in perspective.
A man was hovering over me. Right now.
Before I could process it, Lisianthus’s eyes blazed above me. Should I feel alarmed? Should I scream? But there was something strange about his expression, something off about how the conversation had shifted.
“Then choose me instead of your brother. Don’t bother becoming a Duchess.”
“…….”
I no longer had the strength to call him out for talking nonsense. It was like a cow had escaped the barn, burned it down, and now declared, “Well, there’s no barn anymore, so we don’t need to find the cow back!”
My mind emptied, my mouth shut, and Lisianthus laughed softly before rubbing his face against my neck.
“What? Complaining that I’m talking nonsense? Woof, woof, arooo, arf arf!”
“……When did you learn to read minds?”
“Arf arf, yip, grrrr arf arf!”
“I’m fond of quadrupeds—cute, fluffy creatures—not biped fools who make animal sounds.”
“But you’re similar to them.”
“……In what way? Intelligence?”
“Don’t underestimate dogs. They’re smart.”
He giggled softly and pressed his lips lightly to my neck before withdrawing.
“They instinctively know what’s safe to eat and what isn’t.”
Slowly. As if mapping where blood flowed, where pressure would cut off breath, he continued breathing without sound, etching the scent of flesh into his mind.
My breath caught strangely. Those eyes I’d thought merely ruby-like now seemed studded with countless pomegranate seeds—fragments of something countless and shattered, tumbling within.
Perhaps I had been mistaken all along.
In “memory,” Lisianthus was quite—very—often broken.
This scene was not unfamiliar. I had been looked at like this before.
With eyes less like rubies than raw blood itself, Lisianthus had looked down at me before.
‘You care that much for your brother?’
‘That gaping thing is your mouth, and can you only speak nonsense?’
‘Then why do you act that way?’
Ah yes. Like someone broken inside. A throat so parched, so desperate to tear into my neck and taste blood.
Those were desperately dry eyes. In a place where fresh water and food were scarce, it was no wonder—I’d thought it unremarkable then.
‘No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand you.’
That smile-stripped, desiccated face bore a faint resemblance to Raymond.

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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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