Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 259

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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 259

The Capital would become a hell, and now Imperial Consort Cleo no longer needed to grovel or feel wretched before anyone.
She had sent a clumsy assassin because if the Empress sensed danger and fled, she could pursue her. Cleo would watch her carefully—if she didn’t even attempt escape? Well, that was fine too.
Let them die.
Let them all die.
The head of the Lande Marquis House, her own brother, had become nothing more than a puppet hanging on her every word. When Brian said he needed something, she’d handed it over without hesitation. The servants in the palace were whispering? Rumors were spreading? She didn’t care. The palace was already in her grasp.
Ah, how delightful. Soon all the wretches who had mocked Cleo would be dead and gone. They would meet miserable ends. She would laugh and savor every moment—but wait, just a moment…. Was it her imagination? Her mind felt clouded, and sometimes went blank. Her chest felt strangely hollow, as if a cold wind blew through an empty room. But it was all before the end, so surely this was just anxiety.
“Ah, how I long for it. I can hardly wait…. Is the fire burning bright? Is it? I should have added more kindling if I’d known. Ah, look, look! There—the fire—!”
Imperial Consort Cleo stood in the palace grounds that had been given to her, clutching her brilliant skirts, when her mouth fell open.
The fire should have appeared in the Empress’s Palace.
In the sprawling palace, she had herded nobles who could serve as various cards into a single banquet hall. She had also gathered all the servants she’d classified for various purposes. The trembling little creatures, the insignificant ones, would naturally be terrified and unable to do anything at all—
“Why is the fire in the banquet hall—! Gregory! Where is Gregory!”
Imperial Consort Cleo’s hopeful future burned before her eyes.
Crackling flames.
Very crackling indeed.
Even a worm writhes when stepped on, and even a sparrow chirps when it dies.
Perhaps she had thought that as she was about to become a phoenix, these insignificant worms and sparrows beneath her could do nothing at all.
But millions of worms and sparrows could push a phoenix that never quite became one into a small campfire.

* * *

“We’ve pinpointed Princess Titania’s location.”
Nabira shared the information she had compiled. Under normal circumstances, she would never have revealed herself so openly before so many people.
But she had made her own decision. The Underground Tavern Network had completely changed its nature. Concealment would no longer help. She had publicly committed herself to being the leader of her clan and the network, and to joining Prince Adrian’s rebellion.
As always, she was a dangerously beautiful woman whom no one could look away from—but beneath her eyes hung dark shadows, as if drawn with kohl.
She produced detailed documents, displaying the fruits of her labor. Those who saw them paled.
“More precisely, it’s a location that even if we could pinpoint it, we cannot enter.”
“…. So the entire area has been concealed.”
“It’s far beyond ordinary magic. At first glance, it looks like a forest of no particular value, but….”
The suspected location was near the Habilios Family—or more precisely, in their forest lands.
The Marquis Habilios Estate, set some distance from the bustling heart of the Capital.
A modest family that took pride in its gardens, that loved plants.
One of the few great noble houses that had endured continuously since the time of the First Emperor.
Other families had either flourished or fallen into obscurity, their very names forgotten. Even the Integria Family, from which the Empress herself came, owed its standing entirely to that name. Even the Lesen Family, which operated more in the provinces than the Capital, eventually became entangled with the former princess consort and brought ruin upon themselves.
The Castrain Family had long held military power under the pretext of eliminating Magic Beasts, and successive emperors had hesitated to grant them both absolute command and imperial bloodlines—but before Titania, there was no precedent. Under normal circumstances, they would have been more than worthy of marriage ties with the Imperial Family.
Yet the Habilios House had remarkably maintained no connection to the Imperial Family. All perceived them as a “family without ambition, beneath notice.” They always took appropriately ranked spouses and bore appropriate children, passing down their line. For generations, neither tragedy nor fortune touched them.
If such a carefully drawn, ordinary life had persisted for centuries or more, that itself was strange.
Human lives are not controlled. Someone should have run away from their family, or eloped for love, or reached toward pursuits other than plants. Yet they had the appearance of carefully pruned bonsai—so perfect, so orderly, that no one could suspect anything amiss.
“A forest full of centuries-old trees is not a common place. Rather, anywhere with decent scenery near the bustling heart becomes a hunting ground. And that area doesn’t even have beasts worth hunting….”
“…Those trees aren’t ordinary. All the bats we sent for reconnaissance died. You’ll see it in the documents.”
“Yes, but we have no forces to send in that direction.”
People had suddenly died in the heart of the Capital. Magic Beasts had appeared. It would be a lie to say they hadn’t anticipated it at all. Reports came that similar incidents were occurring sequentially in the provinces. They had hastily evacuated people and fought the Beasts. The problem was they lacked sufficient numbers.
They used people as fuel without a shred of guilt. Prey and fuel and sacrifice. Using drugs to shatter minds and parasitizing them with weak Beasts, or simply killing them outright to use as sustenance. The more victims, the more strength they recovered.
For ordinary citizens, it was a bolt from the blue on a clear night. They didn’t know whom to trust or distrust. In the midst of this, the Castrain Family Estate and Prince Adrian had committed treason, so rumors spread that anyone who aided them would be punished for treason as well. And yet, as Magic Beasts poured in in real time, the Imperial Palace allowed it to happen.
It was pandemonium.
“Will you look at this information?”
Rasper raised his hand.
“We’ve discovered their ultimate purpose. We found formations inscribed all over the Capital. They summon Magic Beasts and multiply their numbers. But it doesn’t seem to be simple summoning. Using our intelligence and the Temple’s help, we concluded that these formations are for the complete summoning of Chernobog.”
“…. Can it be stopped?”
“It seems to be their last gambit. Because not only are people dying—the Beasts are dying too. We’re doing our best to resist and eliminate them, but it feels like the sacrifice itself is the goal. We can’t exactly drag the Beasts far away to kill them.”
“The Capital is hell, but so is everywhere else.”
“We’re receiving requests for aid from every region…….”
“There’s simply no way to spare additional forces. And we’re short on mages as well.”
“At present, Prince Adrian has decided to advance on the Imperial Palace. A diversionary operation within the palace is also planned, but its execution remains uncertain.”
Each had their own battle to fight.
It would have been easier if they’d abandoned protecting civilians and simply focused on confronting their enemies.
But that was impossible.
Fortunately, they had allied with the Integria Family and former Princess Consort Valentina and other prestigious families, preparing in advance. And fortunately, their enemies continued to underestimate them. Otherwise, the future would have looked even darker.
Well, Lisianthus, treated as the Castrain Family’s next-generation ultimate weapon, had gone over to the enemy. That fact alone had been enough to make things seem hopeless, but darkness doesn’t mean the night must fall. The major issues had been largely settled, and all plans had been shared. So the problem now was….
Lisianthus shrugged as he spoke.
“I’m thinking I’ll go to Titania’s location.”
Seeing Rasper’s expression darken, Lisianthus roughly ruffled his hair.
“You said the place is nothing but trees? Then I have to go. You can’t see an entrance? Ah, burn it until it shows.”
“…. Brother.”
“Father’s going to the Imperial Palace anyway. That’s better. I’d like to try burning the Chernobog summoning formation too, but I get the feeling that won’t be easy….”
“Brother, just in case…….”
“Honestly, she’s probably stronger than me right now. I might be going for protection instead. …And look, honestly, suppressing the Imperial Palace and taking the Emperor’s head is less urgent than dealing with Chernobog’s pawns and the Magic Beasts. To solve that, I need to bring Titania back anyway.”
Rasper remained at this position to relay information and restructure the magical formations overall, issuing orders.
As matters had grown to this scale, they had finally contacted the Mage Tower, and its mages, alarmed, had rushed out to aid them. Now, those scattered throughout the Capital fighting the Beasts were among them. Pan was commanding them. Yet by sheer intensity of labor, Rasper was no less burdened. Even knowing this, Rasper’s eyes grew peculiarly dark each time he sent family members to a dangerous battlefield where they might die.
“I’ll make the protection spells and any other preparations as fast as I can. Don’t get hurt. We’ve prepared so much…….”
“Come now, you don’t get hurt either. If you do, Bibi will be furious.”
“…. Speaking of which, Bibi….”
Rasper’s eyes widened. Absorbed in his work, he had only just noticed the absence of a certain young girl from this place. Seeing this, Lisianthus laughed softly.
Was it always Lisianthus who ended up helping with Bibi’s “mischief”? Or should he even call it that…. Lisianthus chuckled as he spoke.
“She went to pester a bad adult.”

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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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