Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 28

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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 28

I reached up and pulled back the curtain beside the window with my own hands, peeking out at the commotion below.
In front of the main gate of Lilac Palace, people were kneeling and wailing in anguish.
I recognized them—servants from Rose Palace. All except Natalie, the head maid.
“Your Majesty the Empress!”
“Please, just tell us whether the Princess Titania lives or dies!”
“We lowborn creatures failed to protect our mistress—how dare we wish to live? We only beg to know that Princess Titania is safe before we perish……!”
Their acting was absolutely extraordinary.
It was like something out of a historical drama, where all the subjects would kneel before the throne and cry out, “Grant us your mercy, Your Majesty!” in perfect unison.
I’d worked in Rose Palace, certainly, but even among the maids I’d seen fewer than three times, they’d all come filing in somehow.
They were all displaying their dust-smudged, wrinkled aprons and frayed sleeves as if they were badges of honor.
With ash smeared about their eyes and hair disheveled, their wails made them look exactly like refugees who’d fled a disaster zone.
Well, they had fled the disaster that was Empress Cleo, so the comparison wasn’t entirely off.
Adrian, who clearly grasped both the architect and the purpose of all this, offered a wry smile. I shrugged.
“This puts the Empress in quite a difficult position.”
“…….”
“If she dismisses them saying I’m ill and my fate unknown, even though they’re technically of a lower station, she’ll be called cruel for ignoring servants worried about their mistress. But the moment she carelessly declares that keeping them out is my own wish, it becomes impossible to seal the palace and hold the line.”
How much these people had looked down on me in ordinary times, how dismissively they’d treated me and shirked their duties—that hardly matters here.
My life was in jeopardy and they came concerned, those “loyal” servants. To find fault with them now would seem petty and small-minded.
In the end, all of this was Empress Cleo’s move. No matter what, their purpose was simply to “test the waters.”
Whatever I do, she gains something from the outcome.
At least for now, the Empress is taking responsibility for me.
Of course I knew. I’d known perfectly well what the Imperial Palace is like.
I traced my thoughts anew with fresh eyes. Adrian asked quietly.
“What would you have me do?”
This was the price the Empress would have to pay for letting me shelter in the Empress’s Palace.
The price for permitting the Castrain Family to treat me “safely.” Damage to her dignity and honor either way.
Either way, it’s a debt I have to repay. So I need to find a way to solve this.
“Have you found all of Empress Cleo’s spies hiding in the Empress’s Palace?”
“Yes. At minimum, they can’t set foot near your rooms.”
“But you can’t hide every coming and going of the Castrain Ducal House servants, can you? They know there’s no one with the authority to stop them right now.”
The Castrain Family, having become my “benefactors,” acts without restraint. The patient needs rest! Be quiet! Get out! They can drag anyone away.
They’re even prepared for friction with the Imperial Family.
So they target the times when they’re absent.
If the Empress’s Palace removed them on its own, tongues would wag: “Why are those who attended the Princess forbidden from even seeing her? What are they doing with her?”
Direct action is impossible.
We can’t throw them out without justification. But bringing them inside would be even more troublesome….
“Let’s say I’m still struggling to breathe, that my condition remains critical.”
“Will they believe it?”
“It doesn’t matter if they do or not. What can they do about it? The High Priest will testify for me.”
Adrian’s eyes widened with a flicker of realization, thinking of the High Priest in the next room, likely collapsed and unconscious from exhaustion.
Exactly. The alpha and omega of this operation is the High Priest himself.
The High Priest brought directly by the Castrain Family. He won’t bend to Imperial pressure, and a side task like this should be manageable for him.
“…….”
“If their concern for my wellbeing becomes so great they can neither eat nor sleep….”
I smiled with genuine delight.
I’ll make their words become flesh.
I’ll drill the meaning of “words become seeds” deep into them this time!
Ah, even if they’d stayed quiet, they’d have suffered. I’m sure of it.
If they were going to come rushing in thoughtlessly claiming my life hung in the balance, without a shred of remorse, searching for their own way out—then they should be prepared for this much.
Absolutely.
Take your medicine!
Take plenty of it! Choke on it!
“Then they’ll all willingly undergo the Ascetic Prayer that only adults normally endure, praying for my recovery with utmost sincerity, won’t they? Right here beside the Empress’s Palace?”
“……!”
“Have the High Priest establish a prayer vigil for my swift recovery beside the Empress’s Palace. Twenty-four hours a day, people coming and going, so we can see the depth of their true love for their real mistress. Of course, it must continue without pause until I regain consciousness?”
In Adrian’s eyes, I looked like an angel smiling.

* * *

Mary thought she might die.
‘How, how did things end up like this?’
Empress Cleo had said clearly, clearly that this was nothing!
The Empress’s Palace had nothing to gain by making a fuss, so even if it took a bit longer, a couple of hours at most should see the matter resolved.
They’d likely be chased away for causing such a disturbance in front of the Empress’s Palace.
The chance of being let inside to see Titania was slim, but if it happened, they should cling to her tearfully, claiming to be worried about her.
If they were turned away, they should weep sorrowfully and spread rumors throughout the Imperial Palace of their concern.
By building up this image, when the Emperor later wanted to punish the “incompetent servants who failed to report changes within the palace,” they might survive.
Besides, it would be beneficial for them too.
And if Titania woke up, well, she was just an emotionally starved girl—if they performed such worry and concern, she’d probably soften and forgive them….
No matter how she thought about it, there was nothing wrong with the logic.
So they’d all come together to find some way to survive, wailing at the gates of the Empress’s Palace.
Princess Titania, Your Highness, are you safe? Looking so pitiful with tears and cries, anyone who saw would sympathize.
But then?
“Your Highness Princess Titania requires your sincere devotion.”
Why? On this sweltering summer day, dressed head to toe in thick, stiff cloth….
Starving the whole time….
Must they pray under a priest’s guidance?
“Look here! Your eyelids are already drooping!”
“……!”
Ascetic Prayer? She’d heard that devout people with sick family members sometimes undertook such things at the Temple. But this was the stern Imperial Palace! Not even a temple—why on earth…!
“You said your very lives were not too precious to sacrifice for the Princess’s recovery! Are your hearts so fragile that mere physical hardship makes them crumble?”
Roland, standing beside Mary, trembled helplessly without daring to protest, correcting his posture.
If someone’s eyes began to close with sleep, water was splashed on them. If a spine bent unbearably and posture collapsed, a thin rod struck the soles of their feet.
It was torture, pure and simple.
They said it must continue until the Princess woke—but how were they supposed to know when that would be?
Already more than two days with nothing but water and salt. The world spun before her eyes.
Mary ground her teeth together, forcing out a weak voice.
This couldn’t go on!
“P-Priest….”
At first the High Priest had directed them personally, and since the next day, a stern-looking priest sent from the Temple had supervised them.
His expression was rigid as a needle—wouldn’t draw a drop of blood if you pricked it—but still, he was a priest! If a priest said someone couldn’t do something….
“I, actually, I….”
“No hardship surpasses death.”
The priest smiled kindly.
“You come before the divine to voice your prayers for your mistress’s life and death—if you lose heart over something so trivial, that shallow, base prayer might instead become a burden on the Princess.”
“…….”
Mary swallowed hard, her throat dry.
Only then did she truly grasp the danger she was in.
Ah, yes. It would have been better never to set foot in this at all.
If she hadn’t started, it would be one thing, but having already blundered into this prayer….
To end it arbitrarily, saying it was “too hard,” would be nothing less than an insult to the Princess whose life hung by a thread!
Unless she truly wasn’t going to die!
‘No, no, surely not so many people… surely… the Princess must wake before they let her truly starve….’
But how much longer would she have to endure this?
What if they kept feeding her only scraps of bread and water, repeating this endlessly…?
“Now, shall we resume the prayer?”
The priest’s voice was kind as he delivered his sentence.
“For the swift recovery of the Princess.”
Mary sensed true hell.
And that by her own strength, she would never escape it….

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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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