Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 67

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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 67

Cleo, the Imperial Consort, had quietly allied herself with various factions to ensure her son’s ascension to the throne.
At the last Dedication Ceremony, at someone’s behest among them, she had anointed the Sacred Object with a special blood they provided.
To the others, she had claimed—somewhat forcefully—that rather than continually spilling imperial blood, she had used beast’s blood instead.
Yet in truth, no one truly knew what sort of beast that blood came from.
Whether by fortune or misfortune, the Dedication Ceremony itself proceeded as scheduled, but afterward, all manner of ominous calamities unfolded.
The south was prosperous land, renowned even throughout the empire.
The Northern Temple, close to the Castrain Family, was difficult to influence meaningfully, so the Consort had focused her efforts on the Southern Temple, embedding her own people there.
When she sent Prince Brian himself, she had sent gifts so rare that even Kronan, accustomed to fine luxuries, could not help but marvel—crate after crate of treasures.
That was why they turned a blind eye to such dangerous undertakings, but due to untimely natural disasters and poor harvests, the rumors had spread in the worst possible light.
People whispered darkly that a mere prince—not even the emperor—had arbitrarily changed the traditions of ceremonies conducted for generations, inviting defilement upon the land, and that the temple had permitted it. Everyone spoke ill of it.
No matter how brazen Kronan’s face or silver his tongue—no matter how he had weathered all previous storms without a scratch—this was impossible to ignore.
After all, it concerned his own position. He had no wish to lose his title as the chief authority of the Southern Temple.
And now they wanted him to stir up trouble again? Kronan could hardly welcome such a proposition.
“Tch. No matter how noble the Imperial Consort may be, the temple answers only to the divine. The rumors from the last Dedication Ceremony were already unfavorable—are you asking me to sully the temple’s name with my own hands?”
“And yet you would ignore the Imperial Consort’s command? Can you forget all the grace she has bestowed upon this temple?”
“Ugh, tch….”
Kronan clicked his tongue. Then, as if mocking an agitated Gregory, he turned his head and inhaled deeply of the fragrance wafting from the incense burner.
Kronan did not dress himself in the sort of ostensibly modest luxury garments that Marjid favored.
The south was a wealthy city. Merchants trading in all manner of precious goods moved through it daily.
There, if one claimed to live humbly while wearing fine clothes, one became an object of ridicule more often than not.
Of course, he outwardly feigned frugality while accepting bribes and the like from various quarters behind closed doors, but there was a significant difference between turning a blind eye and actually doing it.
Why need one boast openly before others?
In that spirit, Kronan’s indulgence was rare incense—the sort that required ten times its weight in gold to procure—savored in sealed solitude. That was his pleasure.
As long as one enjoyed incense in a quiet private space and ventilated promptly afterward, no one would ever notice.
That was his creed.
Above all: to ensure he could slip away from whatever scheme he undertook with ease.
In that vein….
Kronan’s eyes narrowed as he gauged his companion.
“Why not simply humiliate that girl by methods that don’t sully the temple’s name? You, sir—if you don’t mind my saying so—lack flexibility altogether.”
Gregory’s eyes widened at Kronan’s words.
“So you’re suggesting….”
“Where are we? Arturla, are we not? A city with many rich men, many merchants, many vagabonds…. And many brigands.”
Gregory, grasping the implication in Kronan’s words, went pale and cried out.
“But—but then, I am the chief guard! If such a matter occurred, I would be held responsible…!”
“Then did the Imperial Consort command me to take the blame? If I am stripped of this position, what use is any amount of gold?”
Gregory glared at Kronan.
All of this traced back to a butterfly effect stemming from the breach that had opened between Marjid, the High Priest with whom he had been on good terms, and Cleo the Consort, after some matter at the Imperial Palace.
Kronan was representative of the Noble Faction, and naturally stood with High Priest Marjid, who was effectively the faction’s leader within the temple. Indeed, Kronan had been paying him regular bribes over the years, beseeching him to watch his back.
That might have been another matter if this were last year, when relations were still good—when Brian had come down in person. But now that matters had soured, to ask him to take additional risks? It was madness. Gregory spoke with a darkened face.
“The Imperial Consort said that if I should bring this matter to a successful conclusion, she would endeavor to see me elevated to High Priest in place of Marjid.”
“Tch! Nonsense.”
Kronan gave a derisive snort.
That Marjid and the Consort had come to blows. Judging from such news alone—well. That youngest princess, who suddenly joined hands with the Castrain Family and has been making waves, does seem rather capable of scheming….
“Besides, unlike last year, Lisianthus—the second son of the Castrain Family—has come here as the princess’s personal guard. Last year you said he was troublesome and you quarreled with him constantly, but this time you yourself just told me that he takes considerable care with the princess.”
“…….”
Gregory’s face twisted.
“You’re asking me to accomplish what even you cannot fathom how to do? I am no fool.”
“I had intended not to say this.”
“What?”
“The Imperial Consort said that if you truly cannot grasp your own position, she would remind you of it once more.”
“Suddenly, such rudeness—!”
“She knows of the concubine and child you have hidden away in the Capital.”
“……!”
Kronan’s face went rigid.
Those devoted to the divine are forbidden to marry.
Of course, if one abandoned the cloth, it mattered not. There were not few examples of men who had once been priests but found the path unsuited to them and returned to secular life.
It was not impossible to become a priest even as one with children, having severed ties with family.
But Kronan had no intention of casting off the priesthood.
High-ranking priests did in fact keep concubines secretly. Yet they never bore children. A liaison could be denied, but a child…. Without eliminating it, he would have no choice but to forfeit his priestly station.
But Kronan did not wish to eliminate his child.
Rather, he harbored grand ambitions.
If he continued to advance as things stood, becoming High Priest after Marjid and then the High Priest of High Priests, how wonderful it would be to place his child in the priesthood and gradually see him advance, taking the succession after him.
He was born of humble nobility. Was this not a far more noble life than any power, honor, or wealth gained through mere birth?
He knew well what a liability meant. He had even kept it secret from Marjid. It had been years since he last saw the child’s face. Yet—how could she…?
“Fool! When the Imperial Consort entrusted you with something as significant as the Dedication Ceremony, would she not have thought of the future?”
The Consort was shrewd.
Of course, there were times when she necessarily found herself a subordinate. But she could not have failed to understand how to handle men like Kronan, what manner of thinking drove him.
The desires and logic of those who hunger for power tend to resemble one another.
Gregory drove his point home to the stricken Kronan like a wedge.
“Mark this well! The Imperial Consort is thoroughly displeased. So—if you find it so difficult to use the Dedication Ceremony as bait, employ another method! By any means necessary, lay your hand upon the princess!”
“……Very well.”
Kronan spat out the words.
Like a beast that had spent its entire life choking others, now finally knowing the weight of chains upon its own neck, his eyes were turbid and viscous.

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“You said you would not task me with anything dangerous?”
Barbara wore an expression like that of a child forced to swallow bitter medicine. Not without reason. Barbara was a maid of remarkable competence for her years. Had she not come with me, the Empress would surely have tried to force some other attendant upon me.
It was inevitable, really. For the sake of maintaining imperial dignity before others—never receiving even a letter with my own hands—I needed a maid capable of acting in my stead when my judgment faltered or problems arose.
But for this task, there was no need to deal with any high-ranking noble, and given my youth, forcing an older attendant upon me would have served no purpose. Thus I had settled for Barbara.
Now that I was sending away my only recourse and departing alone, such an expression was entirely justified. And yet….
Debi had been sent by the Castrain Family, and strictly speaking, was tasked with duties beyond mere handmaiden work. Furthermore, if I were to take Barbara to where I was going, it would be dangerous….
For these overlapping reasons, Barbara now stood in my place. I toyed with the wig she had fashioned and smiled broadly on purpose.

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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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