Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 237

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Chapter 237

Raymond’s gaze fixed upon me.
For just a moment, his eyes had flinched at the sight of Pan pressed so tightly against my side, but now they melted away into a natural warmth as though that moment had never been. When I offered no answer to his unspoken question about what troubled me, his voice took on a defeated edge.
“Have I disappointed you in some way?”
No, no, it wasn’t that. I pressed my reflexively trembling lips shut. Pan, sensing my hesitation, erupted into commotion.
—It’s pretense, you understand? Pretense, Contractor!(´ཫ`)‬
“Squawk.”

Pan clung to my arm like a lifeline. Because Pan was taller, I looked pitiful as an old tree clinging to a cicada.
Seeing Pan like this, Raymond’s lips curved into a thin smile, and when he spoke again, his voice was measured once more.
“And Pan. I’ve heard that Rasper has caused you considerable trouble. Had you simply not visited at such a place, at such an hour, in such a manner, I would have welcomed you gladly.”
“You certainly do seem in good spirits, Young Duke.”
Despite the artificial cheer, Pan’s answer came with surprising composure—or so I thought, until his voice betrayed him with a tremor.
Pan’s pupils darted frantically between the Warp Device positioned right before us, me, and Raymond. Watching him, Raymond took another step forward and laughed.
“That wasn’t an answer to my question.”
Now that I thought about it, what had Pan said just before?
‘That’s why those madcap brothers in this family were mad!’
Mad?
Who?
The brothers—plural?
Pan whispered urgently in my ear.
“Just go, just leave! I’ve already made the Princess aware of your existence, so if you just go—”
“That sounds so simple and easy, at least in words.”
—I don’t think it will be as simple as just running away, forgive me.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but as Raymond’s eyes lingered on Pan clinging to my arm, they seemed to grow steadily colder. Slowly, I pushed Pan toward the device. On the surface, there seemed to be no difference. Was I just seeing things?
“How disappointing.”
“Eek!”
As Raymond drew closer, Pan made a sound like a strangled frog.
“Is there something I’ve failed to do for you, Pan? I’ve slain enemies, but I’ve never threatened you.”
As his head tilted slightly, Hair Strands like black thread trembled in the empty air. Eyes like molten gold slowly drew me into his field of vision.
Seeing Raymond like that, Pan turned back to me and insisted once more that I should just leave, then slowly drew away from me.
From somewhere came a damp, cold breeze carrying the scent of moisture. Rain seemed imminent.
“Titania.”
He extended his hand. As I stared at it, his words changed.
“Titania.”
When our eyes met, I felt the illusion of a gaze thick as spider’s silk ensnaring me.
“Wasn’t one day far too brief?”
His voice held a note of entreaty.
“Was Bibi too troublesome? Was Lisianthus too burdensome? Or perhaps the Duke said something disagreeable?”
“No—they were all kind to me.”
“Then, is it me you find unpleasant to see?”
“That’s not—”
As if to make me come to my senses, Jemina pressed her beak against me silently. I bit my own lip until it bled.
Then, as though he meant to wipe away the blood, his fingers approached before hesitating and withdrawing. Instead, he only whispered again.
“You promised, didn’t you?”
It was like the serpent’s temptation. Or perhaps like a demon. Not the kind of temptation that comes as honey or sugar, but the kind that is deadly—like a bright red forbidden fruit.
Moving at a pace slower than walking, almost crawling, Raymond drew nearer. His fingers and palm extended earnestly into empty air, as if begging to be taken.
“If you could think of me—even a little—with pity, then please, stay just one more night before you go—”
Light glimmered at the corner of his eyes. I doubted my own sight.
They were tears.
Not the kind that flowed ceaselessly, as before, but thin, long teardrops that spilled over as though unconsciously drawn. If one were to hold a glass-rimmed vessel filled with golden sand in the sunlight, would it scatter with such a light?
And yet, why—
if I took this hand,
did it feel as though that would be the end?
Why had Pan come to fetch me at Rasper’s request, using such a device?
The Raymond who had clung to me at the Resort seemed truly, undeniably broken. Looking at him made me instinctively afraid.
Even now, his appearance was more pitiable than anyone’s, but—there was something. A sudden revulsion welled up within me.
I opened my mouth on pure instinct.
“I have a question for you.”
“……”
Raymond fell silent.
“You promised me when I said I would leave. That you wouldn’t interfere. That you would simply let me go.”
“Yes, I did.”
His voice was ugly, like metal being dragged across stone.
“If I said I would stay just for tonight and leave tomorrow, would you honor that?”
“……”
His lips hardened like iron. Rumble, rumble. A harsh sound came as though rain would soon pour down fiercely.
“Sweet dog. Bibi pleading toward me. Lisianthus teasing playfully. The Duke bestowing gifts like a kindly grandfather—if none of that can hold me, what will you do?”
“Am I not pitiable enough even in the slightest?”
“As you said just now, that isn’t an answer to my question.”
I looked at Raymond’s hand. Then I reached into my garments and withdrew a Handkerchief. Instead of placing my hand over his, I laid the cloth there instead.
It was an ordinary, slightly rough Handkerchief that could be used anywhere. Yet Raymond stared at it with a rigidly hardened face.
Had he truly expected me to give him my hand?
I confirmed that Pan could depart at any moment through the portable Warp Device, then spoke to Raymond.
“What is it you truly want?”
“……”
Raymond’s expression was beyond words.
He seemed as though his throat was so full of words desperate to spill out that he could not open his mouth, yet at the same time, as though he was forcibly holding his lips shut because he must not say anything at all.
But I knew, instinctively.
In ordinary circumstances, no matter who she was, I knew what kind of answer would come from a man pleading like this.
Love me? Care for me? Perhaps—
As though recognizing that even this much he could not voice, Raymond spoke.
“If I tell you—”
From somewhere came the scent of blood. More precisely, the scent of blood and iron. A fishy reek that pricked my nostrils like a stain darkening white cloth.
“Will you listen?”
The bloodshot eyes of my opposite.
Pleading to be cherished still. From eyes that had worn pity and sorrow, something very deep and viscous now seemed to seep forth. The Handkerchief Raymond held crumpled terribly as he clenched his fist.
“If I say there is something I truly want from you, Titania—will you grant it?”
“……”
“Don’t go.”
It sounded almost like a scream.
“Stay here, see only beautiful and good things if possible, and spend your days with people you care for, even if you don’t love them. Eat delicious things, keep only what you like near you. Can’t you simply—stay as you are?”
“……”
“If I grow repulsive, I will leave. If Lisianthus’s antics please you, enjoy them to your heart’s content. I will—”
Please, please, please.
Though he did not speak it aloud, such a plea seemed to resonate from him. It felt like déjà vu.
Please, couldn’t he treasure himself, couldn’t his concern for the Princess at least hold some meaning? That voice, so full of despair.
The man slowly collapsed onto one knee before me. Then he pressed his forehead against my feet.
“Please don’t go.”
“……”
“Don’t go—”
Through the thin leather of my shoe, I felt the man’s body heat. And his hands gripping at my ankle.
With only slightly more pressure, he could crush this ankle, trap me here, render me unable to walk ever again. It seemed possible—both outcomes seemed possible from this man in this moment.
I lifted my head and gazed once more at the space from which I meant to depart.
The Castrain Family I had experienced today seemed truly like a charming model garden. A space crafted from children’s dreams. Even if one were to lay marshmallow blankets over a frame of chocolate bones and surround it with spun-sugar cotton, it could not be sweeter than this.
Even if I were truly trapped here for life, idle and fed, the people of this house would never blame me.
That was truly strange.
I felt Jemina nuzzling against my head. I drew my sword and cast it aside.
Clang!
The blade tumbled slightly across the floor and struck something with a sound. The sword, which would normally have cried out, remained silent.
Raymond did not move a finger even as the sword flew beside him. He looked so stubborn that even if I cut him down with that blade, he would not retreat.
“Raymond.”
“……”
“Raymond Oberon El Castrain.”
Pitter-patter.
Rain began to fall, one drop, then another. The man’s hair, eyes, and ears slowly grew wet. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
“You.”
“……”
“You remember?”
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
Thunder struck right before us.
Eyes of dried gold looked toward me. They were like chains and like blades, like thorns woven into a fence.