Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 284

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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 284

The light that Raymond and I cast together succeeded in purifying the entire Empire.
All the Magic Beasts that had remained on the surface vanished. Every war that had ever raged between Magic Beasts and humans was finally over.
We couldn’t bring back the dead, but the casualties were far fewer than we’d originally feared. Rasper offered me comfort, saying we’d done our best and shouldn’t blame ourselves. I simply stroked the exhausted young man’s hair with all the gentleness I could muster.
After that, time flew past like a whirlwind.
Raymond, who had once been treated as a traitor, wore an expression of genuine bewilderment as the Castrain Ducal House treated him as if nothing had happened—until Lisianthus and Rasper, both grinning broadly, grabbed him by either arm and dragged him away.
Rather than staging a tearful reunion with the eldest son who’d sacrificed himself to die alongside a god and save everything, it was more like: “Ah, I knew you’d pull something like this. Get back here right now and handle your duties, and we’ll sort out what happened later.”
What truly unnerved me was seeing Bibi in the distance, smiling that smile. Even Orto, who’d been trying to slip away unnoticed through it all, was being apprehended and dragged off.
The Castrain Ducal House certainly had plenty of work ahead.
To put it simply, it was clear.
The war ended, and then a work nightmare descended upon us! Mages were literally dying trying to clean up collapsed buildings and ruined roads.
High Priest Illian and Teresia took the lead commanding the Priests, treating the wounded. Flux kept whining that he wanted to see me and go up to the Capital, but one word from Orto about the regional logistics being a disaster and whether he really wanted to abandon relief supply distribution shut him right up.
Valentina moved swiftly, consolidated control of her villa and its surroundings to set up a massive evacuation shelter, issued orders to the nobility—and the moment everything was wrapped up, she made her way back to the Capital as efficiently as a blade, despite the fact that the Warp Tunnel was unusable since we’d recovered and spent all of its massive Mana Stones suppressing Chernobog and reviving Raymond.
The Emperor was, quite literally, merely alive. No one harbored any intention of forgiving him. It was simply that one couldn’t kill a figure of his station so easily, so he was kept living out of necessity.
I decided to leave the question of the Emperor’s treatment to the Empress and Adrian.
The bodies of Imperial Consort Cleo and Prince Brian were found before long. As for Natalie’s whereabouts, they remained a mystery, though Nabira said the odds of her being alive were slim.
“Cloe, the youngest daughter of the Lande Marquis House, was honestly such an enigmatic figure that it’s hard to call her merely a noble daughter. I confess, I’d initially thought that young lady Lilium possessed similar abilities… but she turned out to be just an ordinary human. Well, Imperial Consort Cleo—she died chasing a phantom she could never catch in all her life. Debbie did catch on to some of it near the end, though.”
“Is that so?”
“I sensed that Natalie wasn’t simply clinging to her out of pure loyalty. I never expected things would end this way, but… I suppose it’s all karma.”
I simply nodded as I listened to this account.
Just as she’d tormented the younger me in my childhood, I’d heard she’d harassed the Empress in various ways. When I asked if she was all right, the Empress opened her eyes wide and looked at me.
“That’s for me to say, not you.”
“Ah, I see.”
“To be honest, the recent Cleo was like a sparkler burning itself away as it blazed. There were ways it seemed she might explode everything and vanish.”
The Empress said smoothly that there was no reason to be angry at a person—anger required an opponent who was actually a person, not merely a lump of gunpowder compacted from sheer obstinacy. Faced with such elegant reasoning, I could only nod and murmur agreement.
“And what of you?”
“I… I’m not certain.”
There was a time, long ago, when I too had been obsessed with Cleo.
Starved for affection, knowing deep down in my heart that it was all a lie, yet wanting to live in the delusion of being loved anyway.
That’s no longer the case.
There are people who truly cherish me.
I made the decision not to be ashamed of my past. Not to deny the Titania who was starved for love and foolish.
You’ve grown well.
You’ve matured well.
That’s all I choose to believe now.
And thinking that way, it was truly astonishing how little I felt.
The Empress, noticing my realization, smiled brightly and said, “Yes, that will do,” in a way that reminded me strangely of my mother back in Korea.
Then there was the incident when Bibi, dark circles under her eyes, showed up at the Barracks in the middle of the night. A temporary residence had been established in what little remained intact of the ruined Imperial Palace—the great hall where the Jade Throne stood—that mages had reinforced. It was less a building than a Barracks, really. Anyway.
“Sister, I’m gonna die.”
“Bibi, your tongue’s finally come loose.”
“AAARRGGGHHH, why won’t the Warp Tunnel repair go smoothly, this blasted mage bastards. On top of everything, they want to build some comprehensive complex, a Magic Center or something. They say with all the buildings destroyed, now’s the only chance. They’re fighting over more budget! One says this Magic Circle is better, another says that one is! Rasper came by and said they’re both garbage, so now we’re basically having a war in the middle of the night! That damned old Pan tells them my student’s right and pours fuel on the fire! Everyone drop dead! Everyone just die!”
“Bibi, how many hours have you slept?”
“Four hours, sniff. Sniffle.”
“You’ll never grow if you keep doing all-nighters! Is it because I used up all the Mana Stones? What can I do to help?”
“I’ve been using Raymond as a living power source instead of you. The one who caused the accident must fulfill their duty… round and round, spinning spinning, the mill-wheel of power spins and spins…”
“What? No wonder his heart was pounding like crazy—he seemed overworked.”
“Lisianthus is burning things next to him.”
“Burning what?”
“Rasper’s extinguishing it…”
“No, but what exactly is he extinguishing?”
“Papa’s cleaning up the spillage…”
“Would it kill you to give me an object for your verbs?”
“AAAAAGH. But if you just grind up the family like this, the buildings go pop, the Magic Circles go bang-pop, the mana generators go pop… Wow! This is magic! Well, I mean, magic does kind of work like that.”
“…Let’s just get some sleep.”
I got the delirious Bibi to bed inside the Barracks. The moment daylight broke, she woke with a start, muttering about when I’d gotten here and whether I’d developed sleepwalking. When I offered to help, Bibi instead looked at me with alert eyes and said:
“Sister, your resting is what helps.”
“Why is that?”
“Our family has… trauma now. Trauma about hearing you say you’ll handle it, it’s fine, you’ll do your best—that kind of thing…”
“…”
“So it’s fine because we’re working our brothers like oxen trying to look good to you!”
Which really meant it wasn’t fine at all, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. It had absolutely nothing to do with how scary Bibi’s eyes were when she looked at me.
Though the war had ended, reconstruction work stretched on as buildings across the Empire lay in ruins, so the citizens had to continue sheltering in evacuation centers.
Naturally, all sorts of rumors began to circulate.
The Imperial Palace was already ruins. The authority of the Imperial Family had collapsed. The Jade Throne stood empty. Well then, what comes next is simple.
The elderly woman, dressed not in flowing skirts but simple riding clothes, had keen eyes.
“Will you wear the crown, Titania?”
I spoke to Valentina.
“I don’t want to.”
Valentina smiled bitterly at my answer.
“Yes, I thought you might say that.”
“I… I don’t want to live for others anymore. Duty, things I should do, all that—I want to forget it and just live.”
“I’ve heard of what you’ve accomplished.”
Her wrinkled hand slowly stroked my hair.
“I’m truly proud of you, Titania.”
“…Yes, hehe.”
“Then do what you wish.”
“Yes. Adrian would probably say, if you want to be Emperor, then of course you should be, and grin and even roll out a flower path to the Jade Throne. But I know myself well. If I became Emperor, I’d think, well, as Emperor I should do this, I should do that, and I’d end up grinding myself away again under all that pressure.”
“Hmm… so you’ve finally developed eyes to see yourself clearly?”
“And besides, Adrian will do it well.”
Both the Empress and Adrian—I knew perfectly well they’d push me forward saying “do as you wish” if I wanted the throne. Which was precisely why I had to refuse. Even now, whenever they see me, both of them wear that satisfied look. At first it was a little embarrassing and I felt sorry, but lately it’s been getting on my nerves.
“And honestly, look at the Imperial Palace. When are we going to rebuild that? When are we going to recruit officials and restructure the nobility? Ugh, just thinking about it makes my head hurt. I want to rest now.”
“Yes.”
She’d probably anticipated my answer anyway, but she came to ask precisely because she felt I deserved the question.
I fell into contemplation as I watched her nod. When Valentina learned that her ex-husband’s corpse had been found, she hadn’t even scoffed. “Did you expect it?” she said, or something like that.

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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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