Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 52

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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 52

Titania had told me many times over. “I’ve changed since I nearly died,” she said.
She’d also said that since I had something precious to protect, I shouldn’t worry about her.
‘I wish you’d find something precious too, sister.’
I’d thought myself fortunate to be alive again.
Now I could repay both kindness and enmity in full. For the first time in my life, I’d been loved within the shelter of family.
So I couldn’t pretend not to see Titania, fragile and worn, looking as though she might close those hollow eyes and be done with it—as if saving me were enough. Surely she deserved at least one chance like this too. That’s the feeling I had.
“Then let me ask you one thing.”
The woman who had been lost in thought lifted her eyes sharply.
“Who is this ‘enemy’ who’s supposedly after both us and the youngest duchess of the Castrain Ducal House—who’s famous as their family’s treasure?”
As if she’d been waiting for that question alone, the girl smiled broadly.
“The Mad Sorcerer.”
Her voice carried more than a hint of enmity, so different from the bright, radiant smile that bloomed like a sunflower in full sunlight.
“The tower master from two dynasties ago—thought to be dead. A man who’d stop at nothing for Immortality. The self-styled eternal Kosheay!”

* * *

—Great Master, I humbly report that the tower stands empty.
A skull clattered its jaw together in the empty air.
It looked like it had just been dug from a tomb. Save for one thing: a Red Orb at the chest pulsed steadily like a heart. Strange red light gleamed from the hollow eye sockets, serving in place of eyes.
Wearing a pitch-black robe, the skull drifted here and there before sitting down on the floor with a mournful voice.
The tower was empty. In truth, whether it could even be called a “tower” was uncertain. It was only ruins.
There were only shattered stone fragments, pieces of wall and pillar with no trace remaining. There were no rats, no flying insects, not even spiders—creatures that should exist anywhere.
—The traces of that malevolent force of light your lordship mentioned are nowhere to be found.
Silence stretched for a moment.
[Fool.]
A heavy voice spoke directly into the mind. A sinister presence flowed forth naturally—as if woven from cold and darkness, dust and ash.
[Are there not traces of Beloborg’s Choice left behind there?]
The skull spun its head around frantically. The bones creaked as they turned.
A white floor, as if carved from white marble, became visible. There, a few strands of hair lay scattered.
An extremely pale golden color.
A finger of bone touched the hair. A small static crackle rose up. It was a rejection.
[I have made an error.]
—Y-yes, yes, great one….
[I thought my servants would soon be freed from the Underground World, and in that assumption, I was careless.]
—S-surely not…that one confined princess of the Imperial Family actually… received Beloborg’s Choice? A mere girl, and she would know the weight of such a choice?
[Did I not say there is not a single member of the current Imperial Family who could receive Beloborg’s Choice?]
—My lord…
[You were the one who assured me there was no need to kill the Castrain Ducal House outright, who chattered reassurances about not needing to be wary with a mere rat’s life before the great work. That caution was your doing.]
—Please, please forgive me!
The skull threw itself to the floor, smashing its cranium against the ground. Bang, bang, the sound echoed.
—This wretched, wretched Kosheay has failed! My lord! When the Castrain Ducal House stormed my workshop and burned my flesh, I was overcome with fear!
[I did not foresee that another would make a choice similar to that trivial girl, Gloriana.]
—But, my lord…
The skull slowly lifted its head, watching for signs.
—Gloriana, to be frank, humans nowadays can barely even remember her anymore…. But she was still a Saint, was she not? So much so that even now, with Beloborg weakened to the point of near dissolution, the Barrier between the Underground World and the surface still stands maintained….
[Yes, that foolish princess girl alone can scarcely exert much power. Yet judging by how the contract has already been made, if she reaches the Rubedo stage safely, she will become a grave threat to me.]
The voice made its declaration.
[I must advance the war.]
An apocalypse that would consume all things.

* * *

About a week had passed since the Magic Beast assault on the Imperial Palace.
Since that incident, the Empress Cleo and Prince Brian had become as useless as a dog chasing chickens.
The Emperor, his feelings deeply wounded by this affair, ignored Prince Brian as he cried and whimpered, seeking him out after waking.
Hearing the Emperor’s words—”Tell that useless boy that even if he seeks me, say nothing; let him reflect instead”—Prince Brian refused all food and drink.
The Magic Beast assault on the Imperial Palace was officially blamed on heretical servants of darkness within the realm, followers of a Secret Society Serving Darkness.
But no definitive perpetrator was concluded. The Castrain Ducal House investigated the party who had handed over the “evidence” to the Empress, but they ran into difficulties.
They discovered that the Empress had contacted her family, the Lande Marquis House, but after that, all traces went cold. The Empress herself was keeping a low profile for some time along with Brian, so it was difficult to uncover anything more.
I quietly returned Gloriana’s Curtain and declared that I had successfully settled one of my two debts, bringing my cooperation with the Castrain Ducal House to a close.
High Priest Illian gave my health a final examination. Then, laughing heartily with a good-natured face, he said “This whole affair was really quite fun,” shook my hand, and departed.
He said to contact him whenever I needed anything. He was a surprisingly easygoing gentleman.
Now that I had officially awakened, the Castrain Ducal House staff stationed in the Empress’s Palace should be leaving soon as well.
I returned every last luxurious item as it was. The Castrain Ducal House had their dignity—objections came that one doesn’t ask back gifts given to a benefactor.
My answer was simple.
“My stay in the Empress’s Palace is officially over, and the Rose Palace is demolished and under reconstruction. Where am I supposed to put all this?”
Even the mighty Castrain Ducal House had nothing to say to that, so they quietly took everything back. Well, to be honest, they didn’t take it quietly at all.
Bibi had said something ridiculous while beaming.
“Oh! Then sister! If Papa gives you a house to put all these things in, wouldn’t that work? If he’s going to give gifts, he should do it in style!”
“No! I’m royal! I have to live in the palace! I’ll just wait for the Rose Palace to be repaired!”
…In any case, after all that had happened, the Rose Palace required extensive reconstruction.
Word had spread throughout the palace that the Rose Palace looked like a haunted mansion.
This incident was significant enough that rumors leaked beyond the palace itself. The mere fact that Magic Beasts had assaulted the imperial grounds was already considerable gossip.
Since the palace of a princess, not a prince, had such poor reputation attached to it, the Emperor issued an explicit order: “Conduct the repairs properly and dispel these rumors.”
So I volunteered to leave early for the Dedication Ceremony. The Emperor consented without hesitation.
“The rumor circulating among the people that you wielded a Holy Light-Radiating Sword and appeared much like a Saint seems to concern His Majesty greatly.”
The Empress spoke with cold irony. Prince Adrian helped along while chewing a scone.
“That’s right—His Majesty’s heart is as narrow as a grain of millet, after all, isn’t it?”
“And no matter how much the Empress is supposedly in reflection, staying while she grinds her teeth would be awkward. The Rose Palace needs repairs. Staying longer in the Empress’s Palace would also be difficult.”
“Even so….”
The Empress trailed off for a moment.
“…Should I assign Constance to you? In this heat, traveling all the way to the Southern End of the Empire is no easy task.”
Constance, a countess, was a lady-in-waiting whom the Empress trusted greatly. Knowing that I have no one suitable by my side, that’s why she asked. I remained silent.
The entire staff of the Rose Palace was replaced. To be precise, only the head maid Natalie remained thanks to the Empress’s intervention, while everyone else was sent away.
More precisely, even I don’t know where they went.
The Empress Cleo, who had tried to use the maids to touch me, grew enormously angry after failing, and the probability that she’d left her connections in the Rose Palace intact was low.
So I currently had neither handmaids nor attendants.
Since I hadn’t even properly made my debutante appearance and had no age-appropriate friends from suitable noble families, having no attendants was troublesome enough, but having no handmaids at all was something of a serious problem.
Normally, the person who could assign me handmaids and attendants without arousing any rumor in a situation like this would be the Empress Elaine. It would be problematic to take the Empress’s trusted aide such a distant place and have anything happen to her.
“Very well. I’ll send you a few skilled handmaids as well.”
“Or, why don’t I just go with you?”
Adrian spoke as if quite worried.
“Prince Adrian, if you do that, I fear you’ll truly suffer attacks from assassins sent by the Empress in those distant lands, so let’s not. The Castrain Ducal House has already agreed to send suitable escort knights and maids.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Adrian’s eyes widened. The Empress spoke in a slightly softened tone.
“That’s true…. They are people quite sensitive to your safety, so they would likely do as much.”
“But….”
“But?”
I fell silent for a moment.

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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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