Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 263

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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 263

The next instant, a flustered voice erupted from the Mirror.
“Your Highness, I conveyed that the ritual array connecting to the Imperial Palace absolutely must be completed, and I’ve spotted magicians suitable as vessels. I said I would go capture them myself……!”
“……Father is……?”
“He cannot leave his post for the final adjustments, so that is…….”
“……In any case, he is an Archmage, so it should be manageable. Report immediately if anything goes wrong.”
The Lilium who had always affected the ease of a leisured lady had vanished; only a voice worn thin with exasperation remained. Titania gazed at her steadily.
“…What is it?”
“Is the ‘final work’ your father is undertaking the preparation for the descent of Chernobog, the god?”
“…….”
Lilium looked at her with clear irritation.
“Release me. Otherwise, I won’t talk.”
“If I release you, you’ll tell me everything?”
“…….”
“Why would you think I’d sit quietly in the first place? If our precious god comes down and mocks me—your future will crumble, and the only moment you can move freely is now—what would I do? Cry and beg, saying ‘Oh, my fate is sealed, I’m done for’? No. Let’s bind ourselves by name in a Contract. If you answer truthfully to all my questions for exactly two hours—just two hours—I’ll release you.”
“This is absurd. You think hearing my story will somehow produce a way out of this situation?”
“Isn’t it better than not listening?”
Only then does Lilium realize that the smile on the face of the one standing before her, smiling with such artless confidence, is remarkably solid.
At first glance, she had thought it the sort of shallow smile anyone might wear, but it possesses the hardness and luster of ceramic fired for three days and nights in a kiln.
The kind of face that could have filth flung upon it, wipe it clean, and smile saying, “There, all forgiven?”
This one is strange.
As if she thinks she can do something she couldn’t before…….
“You’re counting on me for something, even while pretending otherwise.”
Lilium was, originally, one of the earthly anchors prepared in case Raymond did not exist—for the summoning of Chernobog. Without a complete vessel like Raymond, no true summoning is possible; she is merely one of the preparatory materials to send even a fraction of Chernobog to the earthly realm.
Therefore, Lilium must not be wounded. She must not stand out. She must win favor from all. She must not die. She must not be caught up in any incident.
Therefore, Lilium was perfect.
Therefore, Lilium was alone.
Thus, it must never come to pass that something imperfect topples something perfect in Lilium’s sight. That would be the negation of her very existence.
So she need simply refuse this laughable Contract. Yet it had dealt her humiliation. She could call someone new from outside, or rather—damn it. They’re all connected to this side; if she’s careless, it could rebound on her…….
Yet Lilium found herself unable to tear her eyes from the face of the one smiling with such strange brightness.
Even if she has fascinated others through her mere existence, she cannot become completely indifferent to another’s presence. Little girls of her kind do not deign to acknowledge anyone not their equal—and yet, remarkably, the one smiling before her was truly beautiful. Even special.
“…Fine.”
Beautiful, solitary, and proud children are usually vulnerable to temptation.
Doubly so if they do not even recognize their own emotions.
Doubly so if they believe such a thing to be trivial, burning with a desire to crush the other beneath them.

* * *

Right, I see. No, I only thought it was a rather brutal lineage. Ah, yes. Truly a distinguished house……. Deep history indeed. I’m not being sarcastic. Ah, so. Your mother is that kind of person……. Resurrection…….
And knowing all this changes what exactly? No, well. Right, right. No one comes to rescue me, and I can’t escape. And when everything ends, I look forward to the despair I’ll feel. Quite the taste you have……. Right. You’ve prepared much.
……The entire Empire is burning.
No, I didn’t know the Magic Beast occupying Prince Brian’s body was such a formidable creature. It’ll keep pouring out in waves? No, well, true. Chernobog is supposed to emerge anyway, so what’s another one……. Right, right. I listened well to your talk of that perfect, resolved world.
But listen.
It’s really you.
Do you truly think you’ll still be special in that ‘perfect’ world?
That all humans will be able to evolve perfectly? That they’ll transcend death and life entirely?
More than that—doesn’t the term ‘perfect being’ sound strange to you?
Magic Beasts have no Reproductive Capacity in the first place. Only parasitism.
Yet your mother bore you at the cost of her own life, and you were born as the ‘perfect’ child.
You, I mean.
You’re not stupid.
No, but I have one prediction. This is precisely why I’m wasting this precious time here with you, threatening self-harm and extortion, when I want nothing more than to leave. No, I don’t pity you. I’m simply trying to understand.
You, in truth…….

* * *

Are actually anxious and lonely to death, can’t afford any major deviation in this situation, have no intention of running, and so when I tempt you, you fall right into it. You don’t want to imagine the terrifying thought that everything you’ve believed and judged until now will be overturned.
If you were truly a ‘perfect’ being, you wouldn’t be anxious facing such a future. You wouldn’t engage in some absurd gamble.
Your god couldn’t fail to notice such a Contract. If Primrose, whom you say you cherish, is ‘complete,’ that is.
If all of humanity becomes ‘complete’ later, then all the incomplete versions that existed before will be disposed of—have you not considered that there will be another you, discarded and erased, breathing before me now with your pride, chosen by your glorious god?
So then.
If the future truly comes where Chernobog wins, you will be safe—not me?
Won’t everyone under Chernobog’s god merely become insignificant worms?

* * *

The fire spread ferociously.
What had begun in the grand hall near the banquet chamber had now grown beyond containment, spreading to other palace structures. The situation within the palace was utter chaos. It was as though even a battle unfolding there would go unnoticed.
“Your Highness! K-Cleo, the Imperial Consort, has sent me. She is looking for Gregory. The situation……what should we do……?”
“Tell the Consort to remain as she is.”
“Yes, yes, y-yes? B-but the situation…….”
“Tell her to stay as she wishes. Whatever she does, the situation will not change.”
Brian observed the unfolding chaos with cold eyes.
The prerequisite for the Ritual was an abundance of blood. The Magic Beasts that had begun appearing in the Capital and elsewhere would need to spill as much blood as possible. The ritual arrays themselves had already been installed in their respective locations; all that remained was to provide sufficient victims.
Gregory and his subordinates? They had become excellent vessels for Magic Beasts thanks to Lilium’s hand. Time had passed; they were now fully mature. Such resources could not be squandered on Cleo’s whims.
Raymond and the overall coordinator, Marquis Habilios, were already standing by next to the ritual space. Brian had taken control of the Imperial Palace to prepare for any contingencies. The only problem was that the requisite victims were arriving more slowly than anticipated.
“T-the Magic Beasts and forces in the Capital are in direct combat. A-but would it truly be fine to merely observe……? Everyone seems anxious.”
Right. Those incompetent fools were making a fuss about killing Magic Beasts and evacuating civilians. He had brainwashed and medicated vast numbers to serve as vessels, but there were temporal limits.
Cursed humans. Kill as many as you like, they’re endless. Pathetically abundant. Brian clicked his tongue at the subordinate eyeing him nervously.
“N-no, no, no! I will carry out your previous orders, Your Highness!”
Brian glanced briefly at the trembling guard.
“The guards I stationed near the Emperor—where are they?”
“A-ah, that is……”
“What is it?”
“H-he said he wished to be alone, so we withdrew the attendants……. Is that a problem?”
Brian deliberated briefly. Then he clicked his tongue. What foolishness might he attempt now? Yet even if the Emperor were to slip from the palace, there was little he could accomplish.
At the Imperial Palace, one could never be certain what problem might emerge or when. Even now, there remained elements within the palace—built in the First Emperor’s time—that had not been fully catalogued. The Emperor’s throne itself could not be occupied by anyone but the Emperor.
That was precisely why he had left the Emperor as a figurehead…….
But now. What could that possibly accomplish? Brian dismissed his brief hesitation.
“Never mind. What of the troop situation before the palace?”
“More forces have gathered than expected, Your Highness. B-but urgent messages are also arriving from other cities…….”
“That is not your concern.”
“Y-yes, sire…….”
“Tell them not to be taken in by the nonsense those fools are spouting.”
Right, they mustn’t be deceived. The reason Brian did not send all his allied forces as mere fodder before the Magic Beasts was solely to eliminate whatever trivial interference the enemy could muster. He could send only those stripped of sense, but if he did, others not fully brainwashed might notice something amiss. That apart, the pace was simply too slow. Should he venture beyond the palace walls?
Before he could consider further, another soldier rushed in. He delivered urgent news directly to Brian.
“Y-Your Highness! Adrian, the Prince, has appeared before the palace gates!”
“……What?”
“H-he’s shouting mad proclamations about slaying you and the Imperial Consort and delivering the Emperor, calling you wicked for feeding citizens to the maws of Magic Beasts……!”

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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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