Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 276

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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 276

“And you see, with chaos erupting in the Imperial Palace and subordinates dying or worse than dying, it’s utter mayhem. If you keep something like this inside the palace, of course it would be terribly easy to steal, wouldn’t it?”
In short, it came down to a failure of personnel management.
Had he simply thrown it somewhere outside the palace, it would have been harder to retrieve. But Brian handled the matter with the casual indifference of one who cared only that it not fall into Adrian’s hands.
More precisely, Cleo had coveted those items. Finding it tedious to quarrel over such things, Brian simply gave them to her.
So when Debbie, who knew exactly when, where, and which items the Imperial Consort Cleo had hidden and through whom, came to retrieve them, it was absurdly easy.
Had she been served by even one loyal subordinate who would not yield even in such circumstances, it might have been difficult. But for the Consort, that was a distant dream.
Brian’s eyes widened for a moment.
An emperor bound head to toe in rope with his mouth gagged and his face a sickly blue—whether he was meant to be kept alive or killed here was questionable—being handled like some mere object while Titania sat beside him, grinning broadly.
And next to her, the Empress maintaining an equally serene demeanor, not stepping back, with Adrian seemingly in accord with them both.
It was like a sitcom utterly divorced from the gravity of the moment. He’d expected the Emperor to grit his teeth, charge at them with murderous intent etched across his face, ready to kill them all this time. But this…what was this.
‘…I can’t reach them.’
Brian ground his teeth. The traces of Demonic Energy and Magic Beasts that had been roiling inside and outside the Imperial Palace had grown faint. Because of that, he couldn’t even assess the situation immediately. What method had they used to accomplish everything in such a short span of time?
Until now, Chernobog had been close to a spiritual entity, making communication with a high-tier Magic Beast like Brian easy.
But once the Incarnation Ceremony had begun, it was different. He had to pour everything completely into the body called Raymond, and for perfect unity, it was better not to interfere with the consciousness of other Magic Beasts. Ironically, for that reason, Brian now felt isolated.
Was Kosheay truly captured. Was the area near Marquis Habilios truly reduced to ruins. Was their claim true—was Chernobog’s consciousness truly in danger of being disrupted.
He had no way to judge without knowing.
What was certain was that the situation within the Imperial Palace had been reversed. The quality of the air inside had changed, and the Demonic Energy being transmitted had dropped dramatically.
Raymond, the subject of the ceremony, was not in the Imperial Palace. Marquis Habilios was overseeing the ceremony. Those two must not be disturbed.
Ah, Brian realized it as he looked at these two infuriating figures grinning at him. Adrian’s deliberate fighting with him at the Main Gate, his provocation, his use of words to expose weaknesses and escape—all of it was to buy time. So that whatever they were doing inside the palace wouldn’t be interrupted by a counterattack!
‘…I should have placed more useful people with Cleo.’
With things having reached this point, he had no choice but to rely on her side. Brian, having made his judgment in the span of a breath, spoke with a fierce expression.
“…Contractor of Light, swear by your name that you won’t interfere in my battle with Adrian. If I win, neither the Emperor shall be brought near the Throne nor shall blood be spilled upon it.”
“Then in exchange, you’ll stay here and fight Adrian instead of running away, right?”
Brian nodded.
…Of course, he had no intention of honoring the promise faithfully. Yes, he would stay and fight Adrian. But only after killing the Emperor and Empress first. Even if he fought Adrian fairly afterward, dealing with a human who could only resort to such tricks would be child’s play.
It was the human who had used cunning first. He had no intention of playing along further. Even if Titania positioned herself between them, she was ultimately slower than Brian. So when Titania spoke the words ‘I promise’ in quite an unusual tone, Brian immediately mocked her and hurled himself toward the Emperor and Empress, and then…
“Screech!”
“…!”
He was attacked mid-air by enormous wings that came diving down. A blade rang out, singing its metallic song. A massive Divine Beast, Jemina, with her sharp beak and talons on full display, flapped her wings threateningly inches from Brian’s face. Upon the sudden appearance of the Divine Beast hidden near the ceiling, Brian gnashed his teeth, but Titania merely shrugged her shoulders—as though she found it unjust.
“I didn’t interfere. Really.”
“You…!”
Seeing Titania laugh casually infuriated Brian, but when Jemina refrained from attacking further, he stopped.
It was amateurish to persist with a method that had already proven ineffective. Swallowing his rage, he wielded his blade toward Adrian, who grinned wickedly at him. He had no intention of prolonging this. He would kill him in one blow and end this matter.
Brian was a powerful Magic Beast. Even more so now that he had resigned himself to shedding some of his human shell. Yet he should have felt a sense of wrongness.
Despite being so strong.
Why did openings keep appearing today.
Why did this eel-like creature continue to slip away so effortlessly each time they clashed. Why was his opponent forcing him to fight under conditions that even seemed favorable to Brian.
The answer was simple: everything had been a trap.
Humans were cunning, and Titania was the type not to lose in Contracts with Chernobog’s kindred.
All the Mana Stones hidden in various places like the Underground of Rose Palace and the Underground of Empress’s Palace over time. The Magical Tools. And Debbie and her fellow servants had admirably completed the “simple DIY magical circle installation seminar—you can do it too.”
With simple warp markers installed, Bibi could move one or two people at a time. The wolf-hounds that had played their part in killing Brian’s subordinates and Magic Beasts, along with Adrian’s companions.
And regarding the situation outside the palace, Lisianthus had burned various places, and Rasper followed in his wake extinguishing with water and other methods, ultimately succeeding in neutralizing the magical circles in several spots, slowing the progression, and finally, the speed at which Magic Beasts reappeared had decreased considerably.
In such circumstances…
The Empress, watching her own son’s battle with Brian as though it were another’s affair, very slowly and elegantly took a seat upon the Throne.
Then she placed the crown that had been sitting beside it upon her own head with her own hands. Her movements flowed like water. She took the Emperor’s hand with her left hand, and with her blood-stained right hand, grasped the Royal Scepter. As he witnessed this sight, Brian was seized by a most peculiar sensation.
It should have been the Emperor that mattered, not the Empress. Yet why did this stir such unease.
The Emperor, as promised, had not taken the Throne. Yet somehow the Empress’s face as she held the Royal Scepter was so elegant and refined that a sense of danger gripped him—as though he should not be witnessing this scene.
To him in that state, the Empress smiled precisely as she had throughout that Coronation Ceremony, displaying it from her seat beside the Emperor to all those watching.
And then she cast the Royal Scepter down, shattering it to pieces. Brian’s head snapped instinctively toward it.
“…?”
“Come now, brother. Don’t be distracted. Look at me. At me.”
Adrian seized Brian’s attention with a smirk, intercepting his puzzlement. Titania simply stood there smiling like a painting.
Originally, yes, that was how it was. Grasping the Royal Scepter was not permitted to the Empress. No matter that the Coronation Ceremony could only be held with both Emperor and Empress together, no matter that imperial law stipulated that husband and wife held equal rights. Throughout all of history, only the Emperor had grasped the Scepter, worn the crown, and sat upon the Throne.
The reason was simple. The Emperor had to be a great being unto himself. He had to command majesty. Establishing the Empress’s authority was of no use whatsoever.
Unlike its brilliant, lustrous appearance, the Royal Scepter shattered like glass, its fragments scattering across the floor in pieces. And with it came the now-familiar sound of explosion.
Throughout the Imperial Palace, the Mana Stones that had been embedded in the pillars of the venerable palace dating back to the First Emperor’s era became fragments and rolled across the ground. An old, ancient magical circle, requiring the destruction of the entire palace building to confirm its existence, was now being brought to life through cunning.
Come, let us consider a tale from long ago.
Why did the ancient Magic Beast in the Underground Labyrinth attack Bibi first instead of Titania.
And why did the Magic Beast that the Empress had summoned by ringing the bell in the Hall of Glory attack Brian first.
Which meant that in those days, the Imperial Palace had been capable of using Magic Beasts in such a manner.
In the first place, the First Emperor had fought to the death against Magic Beasts before becoming Emperor. He had given some thought to the possibility that the final Battlefield might be the Imperial Palace itself. Not an easy method, and one fraught with risks to be borne, the knowledge had simply been forgotten by everyone over time.
The Emperor and Empress shed blood and took refuge in the Hall of Glory, the Royal Scepter had to be shattered, and subordinates stationed throughout the Imperial Palace had to strike several pillars of each remaining palace at precisely the right moment. Speaking of pillar bases, it amounted to risking the entire Imperial Palace being blown to smithereens.
Well, the Emperor had been coerced into it by force. But what did that matter.
‘The difference from before,’ if one were to speak of it, was this: this time, rather than being coerced, the Imperial Palace had been destroyed of one’s own free will.
Imperial pride. The greatness of the bloodline passed down from the First Emperor. Treasures of the Imperial Palace that must be protected. Where could such things be found.
What she and Rasper had always presumed.
The Imperial Palace must not be lost. It is one of the critical strongholds.
That much was true.
But losing a great thing while sparing a small one would serve no purpose. Kidnapping the Emperor, detonating the pillars of the Imperial Palace, destroying its relics—whatever it took to raise the probability of success was what mattered.
As though announcing the beginning of something. A sound rang out—ting, the bell tolled.
“…!”
And Brian screamed. It was a piercing, anguished cry as though his very soul was being torn away.

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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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