Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 5

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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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Episode 5

The tale of the First Emperor, the nation’s founding legend, and the four heroes who protected him—it was a story everyone knew.
The First Emperor had vanquished the Magic Beasts that infested the continent and succeeded in erecting a Barrier to contain them.
Then God Himself descended and granted power to the five heroes who had brought peace to the land.
To the four heroes, He gave Fire, Wind, Earth, and Water Power respectively. And to the Emperor, He granted Light Power—a force capable of encompassing and controlling all of them.
After the First Emperor, the Empire flourished. The Imperial Family wielded Light Power with considerable effect. But centuries passed.
Before long, all those tales were relegated to myth, and the Imperial Family could no longer use Light Power.
The houses of the heroes fell into decline, leaving barely a name behind, and the only power that remained intact was the Castrain Ducal House.
The Castrain family, bearing sole responsibility for the Northern Boundary, had reached its limits.
The Barrier was beginning to weaken.
To strengthen it, they sought out the Divine Weapons that had once been wielded by the heroes—weapons imbued with godly power.
One of them was the Gloriana’s Banner.
Most crucially, the Castrain Ducal House had been gathering ancient weapons in secret, hidden even from the Imperial Family—and Titania before me was speaking of matters related to precisely that.
Something no one in the Imperial Family was supposed to know.
Raymond didn’t hesitate for a second.
Without a sound, the blade slid from its sheath and stopped just before Titania’s throat.
“…What is your purpose, Princess?”
The Young Duke’s golden eyes flashed with a chilling gleam—like a predator who had just encountered a threat to its nest.

* * *

If someone asks what my purpose is, it’s only natural to answer them.
What I want is simply this:
An immediate annulment of the engagement.
A building on the third floor or above in the heart of the Capital’s prosperity.
Fifty million Gold in cash.
A safe means of escape from the Imperial Family.
An identity as a sufficiently minor noble house that no one would recognize my name!
…….
I can’t say that. Damn it.
Looking at the cold blue blade stopped right before my throat, I had to fight with all my strength not to beg and cry.
Wow, so this is what bloodlust truly feels like.
My skin prickled. It was strange how, during all this time, my fiancé—a woman who had done nothing but act outrageously and utterly absurdly, dancing tap-dance on the very edge of my patience—had remained unfazed.
‘So he saw me as a hamster-level wimp who would collapse the moment I got angry,’ I realized, letting it all pass through one ear and out the other.
The tips of my fingers and toes rapidly grew cold, and my ears rang. Yet I desperately forced my lips upward into a smile.
For the person gazing at me with eyes so vivid they seemed ready to swallow my every movement.
“You might say it’s an ‘engagement gift’ I’m presenting to you without my parents’ knowledge?”
Grateful that my lips didn’t tremble, I narrowed my eyes and smiled like a flighty, capricious princess.
“After all, Raymond, I’ve never actually given you a proper gift before, have I?”
…….
I had worried he might just ignore my words and move to confirm what color blood flowed through my veins, but truly, the Young Duke was cold and analytical as ever.
During the story itself, whenever only Bibi was involved, it was he who kept his cool—not her younger brother or the head of house, who easily lost their reason. So it made sense.
“Since I’ve had the chance to observe everything the Young Duke does,…”
I picked up the teacup, still steaming, and poured it.
The pristine white tablecloth beneath spread with orange stains.
“I noticed something strange.”
…….
I felt the other person flinch slightly, their fingers trembling. If I had truly been an ignorant princess raised within the palace walls, I would have whined and cried and panicked, asking ‘Are you really going to kill me?’ or ‘What is this?’—and fled immediately. But…
My opponent was a sword specialist. Even holding a blade in one hand, they could carve a delicate statue.
Because I was standing fearlessly before the blade without flinching, casually pouring tea from a cup, they seemed somewhat taken aback, but they would never “accidentally” leave me wounded.
Besides, I was wrapped in bandages almost everywhere—there was barely any unmarred skin left.
Well, here comes the real problem.
‘I woke up dead and suddenly remembered the contents of a book I’d read in my past life—more like a prophecy book, really—and apparently it says I’ll become obsessed with you, cling to you, poison my sister-in-law, and ruin my life. Now I’m not particularly interested in the Empire or my parents or the engagement or anything, and I want to live my own life—will you help me?’
How could I possibly say that?
I babbled on earnestly.
“Long ago—well, several years back. Was it three years ago? Prince Lisianthus, who absolutely despised me, acquired a new sword. I heard it was a masterwork with fiery decorations flowing across it and an impressive red jewel.”
…….
“It’s such a remarkable coincidence that, after you performed the first dance at the birthday gala of the Orland Countdom’s eldest daughter, the Orland Countdom’s specialty turned out to be Garnets—ones specifically capable of holding fire-attributed magical power?”
The other person’s eyes wavered slightly.
It was obvious agitation. And understandably so.
The “Princess” he knew would have been too preoccupied to care about swords or anything else, throwing a fit as if the world had collapsed simply because her fiancé danced with some other woman.
“Since people have to mine them by hand, with fewer than twenty actually produced each year, and the finest specimens are supposed to be presented to the Imperial Family—the Orland Countdom’s whispers about putting such precious things in the care of the Ducal House showed they had gone to great lengths for their daughter’s High Society debut.”
Yes, the foolish Titania.
As if Raymond, who genuinely found High Society tiresome, would ignore the very existence of his clear fiancée—even if only in name—just to elevate the status of a vassal’s daughter. There had to be another reason.
What Lisianthus, Raymond’s younger brother, had obtained was the Wrath of Flambeurge.
A Divine Weapon—one infused with the power of flame in particular.
Not a sword forged from the Orland Countdom’s scrounged-together Garnets.
The Castrain Ducal House could not openly gather weapons imbued with Divine Power.
If they were to do so even once, they would face scrutiny from the Imperial Family.
The weapons wielded by the three brothers of the Ducal House were the focus of everyone’s attention.
So the Ducal House, having finally discovered a Divine Weapon, staged an elaborate performance to pass the sword to their second son in a relatively natural way, fooling everyone’s eyes.
The Young Duke danced with the Orland Countdom’s eldest daughter, making it the season’s greatest gossip, and then afterward, everyone saw their second son wielding the new blade.
They cast a misdirection so that others would assume the bribe the Countdom offered in exchange for the dance was the sword itself.
If Titania, who had been shocked, devastated, and hysterical at the sight of her fiancé ignoring her and playing the perfect partner at some other woman’s party, had known the truth, she would have found it utterly soul-crushing.
The Titania of that time would have marched straight to the Emperor with tears, pleading.
That the Ducal House and her fiancé dared to disrespect her and the Imperial Family, deceiving her and using her as a means to that deception.
Well…
Strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be wrong to say so…
“So I thought to myself: Ah, the Young Duke is someone who requires compensation to act.”
I smiled with artless innocence.
…….
Raymond’s icy gaze fixed on me. Even though I hadn’t mentioned the Wrath of Flambeurge by name, I had openly referenced the Gloriana’s Banner, so he’d certainly piece together the rest.
“So I prepared a gift, and yet you suddenly drew your sword. I am, truly, heartbroken.”
…….
As I made a show of squeezing out tears that wouldn’t come, Raymond slowly bit his lower lip and lowered the blade.
Right—cutting off my neck wasn’t a problem he could solve immediately.
In truth, he’d drawn the sword only to threaten me, never genuinely intending to wound me.
He couldn’t have imagined that a princess raised in softness her entire life would have the mettle to endure the killing intent of a veteran warrior.
“I have been rude to Your Highness.”
Raymond slowly sheathed his killing intent, and a smile appeared on his face. It was a beautiful smile, like a well-drawn mask.
“I could not have imagined that Your Highness would take an interest in my family’s affairs.”
“I wasn’t interested.”
At my immediate answer, the Young Duke’s eyes widened slightly. He seemed somewhat startled. Regardless, I let my gaze turn distant and wistful for a moment.
I wish… I had cared a little. Even just a little…

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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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