Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 54

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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 54

From the moment her reason awakened, she had lived as a tool of the Castrain Family—a tool she had chosen for herself, shaped by her own hands to become.
It was no lie that she loved beautiful things, pretty things. Debi treasured the radiance of gleaming objects above all else. And yet, should an order come down, she would not hesitate to shatter the most beautiful thing in this world.
But among all the people Debi had ever laid eyes upon, the most beautiful girl was—
“If I commanded you to assassinate Cleo and Brian tonight, could you do it?”
“My abilities are insufficient.”
“What if I ordered you to kill the Emperor?”
…….
“So that’s forbidden. I see. I cannot directly harm the direct bloodline of the Castrain Family either.”
With cold, measured eyes, she merely assessed how far and what the borrowed tool in her hands could accomplish.
Debi found herself curious.
Titania seemed to understand precisely how ruthless the Castrain Family could be toward its enemies. Where the limits of the weapon she held in borrowed hands lay, as well.
But how?
How could a princess raised in such privilege, a girl who had never killed a soul with her own hands—
—possess the capacity to grasp a family’s way of thinking, a worldview accustomed to the reek of Magic Beast blood and the death rattles of men?
“You don’t need to protect me absolutely.”
The princess spoke matter-of-factly.
“Unless the threat will kill me outright—unless I’m likely to suffer permanent, irreversible disability or injury—don’t respond to every threat or crisis I face with excessive measures. I dislike how that might alert an opponent that you’re prepared to defend me.”
“……Are you telling me to leave threats unattended?”
“Of course you must inform me of the situation in a timely manner. Simply refrain from acting first without telling me.”
Debi blinked.
She meant: unless it’s a truly grave threat, don’t respond immediately. Inform her only afterward.
Why?
Hadn’t she requested a bodyguard and a lady’s maid to prepare for threats and go about her wishes comfortably?
“The Castrain Ducal House won’t protect me for life, will they?”
The princess, perhaps reading Debi’s unspoken question, laughed lightly—a smile like a candle flame kindled inside an empty glass lamp.
“Act only in truly dangerous situations. Besides, I’ll be asking small favors of you often enough.”
This attitude—wasn’t it like a stratagem of giving flesh to gain bone?
What reason was there to be so desperate?
“So let’s not lie to each other, shall we?”
Debi understood then.
Perhaps the princess had wanted to say this from the beginning.
“What matters most to you is the Castrain Family, and I am merely something you have borrowed for just payment. So don’t lie to me ‘for the sake of the Castrain Family.’ Specifically, yes—like ‘You are my only master, Princess, so I will never betray you. I will protect you no matter what!’ That sort of thing.”
Gazing into the princess’s glass-like green eyes, Debi came to understand once more.
She did not trust the emotions of those who belonged to the Castrain Family.
She knew you would never choose her.
So don’t deceive me.
It was a cold, resolute wall. Somehow, desperately so.
“If you keep to that, the work will become far easier going forward. Won’t it?”
Debi wordlessly nodded her assent.

* * *

With the Emperor’s permission secured, preparations for the Dedication Ceremony were concluded swiftly.
Besides, as an underage member of the Imperial Family, no one would presume to order me about the arrangements.
No matter how ceremonial it had become of late, the Dedication Ceremony was nonetheless conducted every year.
Since the Imperial Family traveled from the southern edge to the northern edge, a set route had naturally been determined in advance.
Absent any significant complications, the procession followed that established path.
A princess hardly traveled the long journey on horseback; we merely had to follow a well-maintained road suitable for carriages.
Of course, minor complications did arise.
The carriage driver I rode with continuously had been appointed by the Castrain side.
Yet the knight placed in overall command of our party to the Temple was of Cleo’s faction.
Gregory Temper.
Ostensibly a serious and well-favored middle-aged knight, he subtly obstructed the itinerary.
Warp Tunnels connecting major cities existed only in the most limited locations. Consequently, the routes utilizing those tunnels were necessarily monotonous.
Yet even this simple route, Gregory wound into circuitous detours that had us camping in the forest. Cleo’s malice was remarkably petty.
When I cried out with apparent delight—”Wow, camping outside for the first time! I can hear the insects singing!”—Gregory’s smile grew a shade rigid. Was he hoping I would rage about being made to camp in the woods like some common girl? Of course, that had been the intention all along.
I endured it all with relentless cheer.
There were, of course, other complications.
For instance, Lisianthus was nominally my bodyguard, yet he could not ride in my carriage.
That alone might have been bearable.
Gregory stationed Lisianthus at the rear. The reason: his abilities were too formidable; he needed to be where enemies might approach, or some such nonsense.
Lisianthus bristled visibly. “What rubbish—Titania’s carriage is in the middle. Why am I being sent to the back?”
Gregory, smiling, rubbed him the wrong way.
“Ah, but your exceptional skill is matched only by your refined character—both are legendary, are they not? Your abilities could certainly overcome some lack of experience, yet the protection of one of such standing rarely proceeds as smoothly as one might hope, wouldn’t you agree?”
That day, Lisianthus ultimately burned off the end of Gregory’s beard.
After what was hardly less than a dog’s quarrel, I—standing amid the soldiers’ disapproving stares—heaved a long sigh and sent Lisianthus to the rear after all.
After such trials and tribulations, we barely managed to enter the major city where the Warp Tunnel was stationed, and after waving cheerfully at the throng of common folk gathered for the rare passage of the Imperial Family, we were able to board the Warp Tunnel and depart.
Warp Tunnels were extraordinarily rare.
First, the Mana Stone at the heart of a Warp Tunnel was itself a marvel. A stone the size of an adult man’s skull was required.
Moreover, the resonance between that stone and the surrounding land had to align perfectly. Beyond that, the design, the inscriptions, and the construction required unimaginable sums of wealth and manpower.
Most existing Warp Tunnels had been established during the reign of the first Emperor; nothing new had been attempted since.
A single activation of a Warp Tunnel demanded immense resources, yet that was trifling. Wherever a Warp Tunnel existed, that place was unquestionably a major city.
The moment I stepped through the tunnel and passed beyond a peculiar gate, I caught my breath.
“Wasn’t this near the southern edge? It rivals the Capital itself…….”
Titania rarely ventured beyond the Imperial Palace, though not never. Every year on the Emperor’s birthday, all members of the Imperial Family rode forth in carriages, circling the Capital once while scattering coins and flowers to the common folk.
Though limited in scope, I had retained at least a memory of the Capital’s appearance.
Yet even against my recollection, this place was scarcely inferior. The vigor of the crowds, the wares piled high in carriages, the orderly streets.
However, my destination was the Empire’s southernmost reach.
I glanced sidelong at Gregory as he spoke with what appeared to be welcoming delegations from the Temple, taking in the surrounding sights with diligent attention.
Barbara, who had been tidying the creased travel clothes I’d worn during the carriage ride, remarked:
“Well, this place has a Warp Tunnel, so it’s practically the hub of the southern region. There’s even a saying—you can’t find anything in the south you can’t get in the Capital or at Artula’s auction house. What I’ve heard, anyway. There’s the Habilios territory nearby, I’m told, but it’s rather countrified despite being pleasant enough.”
“Would you like to look around if it interests you?”
Debi asked me. I shook my head.
“No, that’s all right.”
“Still, Your Highness. I heard you’ve scarcely ventured outside the Palace.”
Debi studied my reaction. Barbara too watched me with eyes tinged by faint sympathy.
“After more than a week rattling about in a carriage, who feels like sightseeing? Let’s just get to the Temple.”
“Your Highness is quite unlike a child, aren’t you…….”
Something odd colored Debi’s voice. I shrugged.
The truth was—
In the novel, the Empire’s southernmost region is devastated catastrophically in the latter half.
The Barrier maintained by the Castrain Family held its frame until the very end, but the south could not endure.

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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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