Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 7

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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 7

Besides, her Betrothal Match was already decided, so there was no pretext to seek one out.
Had the Second Imperial Consort died, the Empress and First Imperial Consort would have torn into each other fighting to exploit her formally.
But even if she lay perpetually ill and confined to her own quarters, her birth mother was alive—there was little anyone could do.
If anything serious happened to Titania, the Emperor would grow furious over the spoiling of the marriage alliance with the Castrain Ducal House.
So the powers that be simply watched each other warily on the surface, taking care not to stumble.
But if she were the original Titania—she would never have requested anything from her betrothed, having not a single retainer she could trust with her own affairs.
Titania Sol Kite Hamastion, the true Titania, had wanted to appear before Raymond as nothing but dignified and proud, an Imperial Princess second to none.
So even as neither listener nor speaker believed it, when the Emperor favored her, she would rage and tantrum—how dare the Castrain Ducal House look down on her?
Indeed, the Emperor, who had no real interest in the Imperial Princess, would occasionally show his face at her pretext, so had she sought his support as leverage against the Castrain Ducal House, he would have readily obliged.
Yet she would never have laid bare to her betrothed the truth—that she had no proper guard knights, no trustworthy ladies-in-waiting.
What struck him most was the final thing she’d said.
‘People who could kill and save lives.’
Clearly, she was signaling a request for those versed in poison, antidote, and blade.
In a sense, this was no different from a declaration of intent to make a bargain—to trust the Castrain Ducal House.
Whatever the Imperial Princess commanded those sent by the Castrain Ducal House, the knowledge would flow straight back to the Castrain Ducal House.
More still, if they conspired and pinned blame on her, she would bear it entirely.
Should the Imperial Princess order them to harm someone loyal to the Castrain Ducal House, they might disobey or even harm the Princess herself.
Yet she would shoulder all those risks.
The Princess’s gaze, fixed on the teacup she’d shattered with her own hand, was desolate beyond compare.
It was strange. The Princess appeared more wretched than in any form he’d witnessed before. Her usually well-groomed hair had lost its luster and hung limp and dull; her skin, once like white jade, had paled and withered.
And yet beneath her fine, long lashes, her eyes glowed with a cold, piercing light—like a wounded beast smiling while cradling bitter venom.
“…Perhaps everything shown until now was all performance.”
“What? That’s—that’s madness, surely?”
Cassian quite literally jumped.
“It would make far more sense to say a complete stranger has suddenly stolen the Princess’s face and is acting the part?”
“No matter how weakened… The Imperial Family received the Blessing of Light. They don’t fall prey to such witchcraft.”
Even if they could neither perceive nor draw upon it themselves, the Imperial Family were the sole inheritors of the Power of Light in this age.
Indeed, by nature it was a force that ‘ruled’ all other powers—so should they truly awaken and master it, even the mighty Castrain Ducal House would kneel.
The Imperial Family had been first to lose their power, making the prospect nearly impossible, but still, even their feeble light was light.
The Imperial Family could not be easily made prey to strange witchcraft or sorcery. They possessed some immunity to poison as well.
Of course, even that immunity proved useless if one consumed poison potent enough to overcome it, or had one’s throat cut.
And yet there was something eerie about it. It made no sense. The Imperial Family had surely already lost their sense of purpose, transforming from the Empire’s protector into its exploiter.
Much less an Imperial Princess who had only just regained consciousness after a comatose state, a wild-tempered, stupid, vicious doll notorious among everyone…
‘…Can you truly trust the Castrain Ducal House?’
‘You’d do well to keep me alive. I can be used as needed, we both hold each other’s secrets, and on top of that there’s the betrothal to explain away publicly. Besides, you could kill me whenever you wish—there’s no need to.’
That smiling face appeared immeasurably noble, a bloodline of matchless sovereignty.
‘Do you mean to use the Castrain Ducal House?’
‘Call it mutual benefit.’
Watching Titania speak with such boundless shamelessness, Raymond thought:
Perhaps this Princess means to use the Castrain Ducal House as a piece to swallow the Imperial Family whole.
Those tears that showed when Zune, the eldest daughter of the Orland Count House, danced with Raymond…
Were they not genuine? Could it be that she had already sensed the whereabouts of the Fury of Flan Berge at that very moment?
Until the very end, had she been testing whether Raymond was the sort of man who could be swayed by a single crumb of kindness?
It felt as though the air in the room had frozen over. It was information no one should have known.
The Princess, who hadn’t even entered society and had not a single person of her own within the Imperial Palace—when on earth had she begun planning?
‘Let me clarify, Young Duke, so there’s no misunderstanding.’
She had to show the servants, she’d said with a laugh, as she dragged the beautifully arranged tablecloth and flung it aside, smashing everything on the table down to the floor with a crash.
Titania spoke her final words without so much as flinching as the broken glass grazed her fingertips.
‘I have no intention of forcing you into marriage. You can set your mind at ease.’
‘…’
If her purpose was to exploit the power of the Castrain Ducal House itself, then the betrothal was merely a pretense.
For a powerless Princess with neither strength nor legitimacy to quietly orchestrate her plans without anyone’s interference—
Then had all her actions thus far been a test of Raymond? And knowing until the very last that Raymond would not fall into her hands…?
‘Ah, and I’ll continue to act like an empty-headed madwoman in front of others, so don’t be surprised.’
His mind was in turmoil. Since learning of ‘Titania,’ Raymond had never been this shaken.
“…I must speak with the House Head.”
“Sir?”
“This is not a decision I should make alone.”
At Raymond’s firm words, Cassian opened and closed his mouth soundlessly a few times before falling silent.

* * *

“How dare you lie to me!”
It was a roar, pure and simple.
My ears were ringing from it, so the poor maids standing nearby must have been in agony. And this was a roar I’d mustered with deliberate breath control and tensed abdominals, no less.
I hurled everything within reach—flowerpots, chairs, water bottles—destroying whatever my hands and feet encountered.
Crash! Clang!
“Your—Your Highness, Princess Titania!”
“Please, calm yourself!”
There’s nothing I love more than a good tantrum, especially one that torments those who’d been making my life hell. It was exhilarating!
And naturally, the little mice who’d been trying to pry into what Raymond and I had discussed weren’t quick enough to flee before I caught them with my fury.
Though I didn’t throw things directly at them—just let the shards scatter. The Imperial Family breaking things is hardly a rarity.
The First Imperial Consort and First Imperial Prince break both servants and objects regularly.
And besides, Titania was stupid enough that even if she fled now, the servants would later come creeping back with apologies and praise, and though she’d glare, she’d eventually forgive them with magnanimous grace.
In other words, if she were truly frightened and unwilling, she’d have run from this room at once.
Her beauty was the most important thing in the world to her; she couldn’t easily dismiss the servants who adorned her, no matter how much she disliked them.
Which was precisely why the First Imperial Consort Cleo had stationed her directly beside Titania.
She despised incompetent fools above all else.
An Imperial Princess only just recovered would surely have information about what she’d discussed with the Young Duke—and whether she stayed or went, money or favors would follow.
I opened my eyes with a malicious glint and cried out:
“They said I’m the most beautiful in the world even when I’m sick!”
At that very moment, the eyes of the maids—anxious as they surveyed the ruined table and the state of the chamber—shifted.

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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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