Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 258

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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 258

But I can do this.
I hear the echoes of the past, speaking to myself.
That’s right—or rather, I have no choice. I must.
With that resolve burning in my chest, I met her eyes. Our gazes locked, and she smiled softly, as if my thoughts amused her.
“…So you’ve actually gone hungry before. How extraordinary.”
The way she laughed—so convinced I’d never experienced such a thing—was infuriating. She knew perfectly well what I’d meant to probe. Yet there she stood, draped in the mask of a refined lady, as though we’d never traded bitter words before.
“Then surely I mustn’t deny such an unfortunate Princess the courtesy of a cup of tea?”
She gestured elegantly for me to follow, and I did. The space that had remained invisible despite all the slashing, stabbing, and chaos my blade had wrought suddenly became visible. More precisely, a staircase of living plants materialized in the empty air like something from a fairy tale, materializing in an instant. Lilium descended those steps with delicate grace, and what awaited below was a space of glass, silver, and marble.
A tea table, chairs, wagons laden with food—it was all profoundly out of place. Lilium used the gleaming furnishings without a moment’s hesitation, though they looked as though they’d show fingerprints at the slightest touch. Steam rose from a white porcelain teapot. She poured the tea herself, and I sipped it slowly. Petals of some unidentifiable red flower drifted across the surface.
-…Perhaps you ought to have exercised more caution? (°δ°)
‘If I’d poisoned it, she wouldn’t fare much better.’
“So, how do you find the tea? I’m told the Imperial Consort Cleo was quite fond of this particular blend.”
“I see.”
“She requested that I obtain it so she might serve it to distinguished guests at the Imperial Palace.”
“Mm.”
“It’s elegant and slightly tart, with a bitter finish—perfect for concealing the taste of toxins or medicine.”
“…….”
At least I didn’t spit out the tea. But those green eyes continued to study me, as though trying to fathom something.
…Let me think this through.
I don’t know why Raymond discovered Previous Timeline Memories.
But it’s possible it happened because he became deeply entangled with Chernobog. I too have reclaimed all my Previous Timeline Memories.
Yet without special means like Rasper’s, most people know nothing of Previous Timeline Memories. Even Lisianthus has only shown me rare hints of it.
So this opponent before me, grinning and testing me now, doesn’t possess every memory either.
More specifically—the fact that this very tea is the one I used before when I attempted to poison Bibi.
Back then, Titania was a puppet of the Imperial Consort Cleo in every respect. The tea, the poison, all of it was certainly tinged with Cleo’s influence. Looking back now, it’s circumstantial evidence that these people and Cleo made a pact—not merely during that time, but before it ever began.
“I have been offered something similar by a Priest before.”
“Ah yes, that time. Quite the bold action, that was. Truthfully, it fascinated me. I, at that moment…….”
“…….”
Green, or perhaps jade green—the hue was similar, but the light in her eyes was entirely different. The reflection of me in those eyes was expressionless.
“I genuinely believed the Princess Titania would perish then and there.”
“……Well, Raymond helped me at that time, so.”
“Isn’t that strange?”
“…….”
“Even in the Imperial Palace, when you threw yourself entirely into protecting a girl named Bibi. Everyone said it was hopeless, yet you awoke unharmed.”
“…….”
“Is it because you’re a Contractor of Beloborg? But still. If Immortality is true, then for how long? Under what conditions? I’d wanted to run some experiments, but…….”
A chill ran through those green eyes as they swept slowly across me. I lowered my gaze.
“……Unfortunately, such experiments have become impossible for the time being.”
“Should I thank Raymond for that? He’s the one who abducted you as well.”
My indifferent tone made her brow twitch.
“You’re far more composed than I expected. You……. Tell me—do you have no ability to sense a threat to your life? You seem less cautious than a plant.”
“The tea is delicious, but the pastry is disappointing. Our palace pastry chef has far better skill.”
“…Are you truly criticizing the food before me?”
“This Cannelé is overbaked. The outside isn’t merely crisp—it’s shattered.”
The light in her eyes frosted over as she watched me fault the pastry.
“…….”
“You, on the other hand…….”
Everything this opponent had been saying to me was complete nonsense. Especially concerning Chernobog.
Perhaps that’s why, despite her alluring feminine form, she seemed to me like nothing more than a girl.
A cruel fairy, sprouting up in some twisted, deformed garden. She gazed down upon human reason and reality itself as if both were ‘pathetic’ and ‘foolish’—as though they belonged to someone else.
Yet in the eyes with which she glared at me, I found far too many fragments of a familiar emotion.
They say indifference is the opposite of love or hatred. Truly, if I genuinely didn’t care about her, I’d simply leave food scattered about and either abandon her or lock her away somewhere.
But this opponent deliberately pressed and explained things to me, reacted to my actions. Acting as though she alone knew truths the world didn’t, as though everyone and everything lay within her palm—from that attitude alone I could read what she really wanted.
“Is that it? Do you want my approval?”
“……What?”
“Or do you want to play with me? Because you’re the one kind, the perfectly-born servant of Chernobog, and the only match for someone like me—born a Princess, become a Contractor of Beloborg?”
“…….”
Her face twisted, just for a moment. It was so childish I couldn’t even bring myself to laugh.
…So that’s it. That ancient Titania, the one who believed her identity and beauty alone proved her worth, had no friends. Trapped within the Imperial Palace, she couldn’t even properly debut as a Debutante, let alone as a cherished member of the Imperial Family. But beyond that, Titania herself had adopted an attitude that she had no need for such things.
She’d shown behavior almost neurotic—suspecting every woman of chasing after Raymond. And she’d convinced herself that a noble Princess like her could never need friends, that such a thing was beneath her station.
Looking back now, it all seems ridiculous.
In a moment like this, forced to confront an enemy, to find fragments of my old self reflected in her—
“……Even if the world turns in our favor, you’re the sort who’ll survive for a long while—whether because of your Contract, or simply because you’re too difficult to dispose of. There’s no harm in understanding you…….”
“You’ve never had a genuine conversation with someone Enchantment doesn’t work on, have you?”
“Is that somehow wrong? Everyone surrenders so easily to their own desires.”
“No. That’s not it. You—just be honest. If you want to play, say you want to play.”
“……You speak of me as though I were a child…….”
“And you’ve been snarling that you can’t kill me because of the Contract, that you haven’t made your move yet. But you’ve forgotten the loopholes in that Contract, haven’t you?”
Lilium’s eyes widened. I smiled broadly and hurled the cup of tea directly into her face. The fragrant liquid spattered across her pale face and raven hair, dripping onto the floor. Unable to comprehend what was happening, she stood frozen, mouth agape—and I grinned at her.
“Because I can touch you.”
Her face flushed crimson with rage. She threw a Cannelé at me from the plate. I overturned the table.
Fragrant tea and pastries tumbled through the air in an elegant cascade.
It was the beginning of a brawl.

“Good.”
Standing before Natalie, the Imperial Consort Cleo was more beautiful than ever.
The black dress she wore, put on deliberately today rather than her usual style, glimmered like stars with each movement. Once, she’d competed for prestige with the Empress by adorning herself with all of the sea’s stars. But what did they matter now? The Emperor had granted Cleo permission to wear jewels and adornments from the Imperial treasury—treasures the Empress herself could only don at special ceremonies. After all, she was the birth mother of the Crown Prince, and now bore a rank scarcely different from the Empress. Why should it matter?
“And that woman? Has she returned?”
“…No, Your Majesty.”
“Let the Empress run if she wishes. Or let her stay put. Let her do as she pleases!”
Cleo laughed—a deep, genuine laugh she hadn’t given in ages. No more hesitation, no more doubt. The message had come at last: everything was finally beginning. The Imperial Consort who received that news could scarcely contain her joy.
“That Titania whined about the fire in Rose Palace. She played the dutiful daughter without a drop of shared blood—well, at this opportunity, let her taste that same experience.”
“……If the fire were to spread carelessly to other locations…….”
“It won’t.”
There was no need to mind the Emperor’s gaze anymore. And so Cleo intended to burn the Empress’s Palace to ash entirely. From far away, very far away. Could she not hear the screams of vermin-like humans in the distance?
But what did it matter if the fire spread elsewhere? What problem could that possibly pose? Even if the Imperial Palace burned—it mattered not. Not anymore.

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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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