Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 70

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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 70

The ones who had targeted this city and tried to sabotage the Dedication Ceremony had supplied materials to Brian and Cleo. They were skilled enough to hide their tracks completely. And unsurprisingly, they couldn’t possibly be on good terms with the Castrain Family.
How many enemies like this were there?
Hecate’s Tavern’s intelligence network was by no means weak. It even maintained friendly relations with the great Castrain Ducal House.
But if someone was bold enough to reduce the heir of the Cortez Family to that state and, moreover, intended to seize this entire city, then wouldn’t Hecate’s Tavern itself be at risk?
It was reasoning mixed with no small amount of conjecture.
But by my estimation, it was the best I could manage.
Rather than fail to persuade Hecate’s Tavern here, leaving them neutral and allowing them to fall completely into the hands of mysterious enemies like in the original, it was better to push forward with even flawed reasoning and convince them.
“…….”
The woman who had been watching me silently drew slowly to my side. Debi, who had been quietly observing the situation until now, tried to move her arms in caution, so I raised my right hand and waved it back and forth to stop her.
A veil and garments of black fabric, woven with delicate lines while remaining slightly translucent, suited her magnificently.
Cleo was renowned as a woman whose seductive beauty had no equal, but it seemed the woman before me could stand as her rival. The veil slid away. She revealed her bare face to me.
“What on earth is going on? Young ladies suddenly making such a commotion.”
“Ha ha.”
‘Young ladies,’ she said. So Bibi had done something too, it seemed. As I shifted my gaze uncomfortably, my mouth suddenly fell open.
She was strikingly beautiful. Brilliant red hair cascaded like roses, and eyes the color of wine glowed with an intoxicating light.
I had a feeling.
She had to be an important character in the original work.
Someone with looks like that couldn’t possibly be an extra.
But had such a person appeared properly in the original? I couldn’t remember seeing her.
“I am Nabira, the current director of Hecate’s Tavern.”
“Yes, Nabira.”
“Why should we take on your unreasonable request?”
“Because I heard you refused a request from the Cortez Family.”
I smiled brightly.
“The heir of a noble house suffered an injury that left him virtually permanently incapacitated and nearly died. The Cortez Family has the wealth to pay whatever price Hecate’s Tavern demands. Yet you refused the request, saying you couldn’t determine who his enemy was.”
Nabira cast a meaningful look at me.
“It’s a wise judgment, but can a parent who’s about to lose their child make a sound decision? Of course, they provided information to help with treatment. But it was incomplete. The Temple is so corrupt, and they didn’t properly convey information about the Castrain Family, so this is the mess we have now.”
Of course, it was a judgment made considering the client’s circumstances.
When someone who had no prior contact with the Castrain Family and was distant from them ended up in that state, people naturally worried they might be treated like “It’s a Magic Beast! Kill it!” rather than receive sincere treatment.
The Cortez minor count dying by the Castrain Family’s hand?
That would truly spark war between the families. No one wanted such an ending.
But my opinion was different.
The Castrain Family, having lost the most soldiers, treated those corrupted by Magical Corruption harshly. It was because they had found no way to cure them. No matter what method they tried, it only increased the number of victims without any result.
But if they were to find a certain way to save someone, they would never turn away.
“If you were going to provide incomplete information anyway, you should have simply said you had no solution and stepped back. The Cortez minor count nearly got killed trying to get treated, and the Dedication Ceremony nearly went up in flames because of it.”
“We only gave information that the Temple could help the minor count. It was the Count’s choice to desperately try to save his son and even steal sacred relics! That was something without a solution to begin with…!”
Nabira’s mouth closed.
She looked between the sword and me alternately.
Ha ha.
Right there was that very ‘solution,’ wasn’t it?
I deliberately tapped the sword’s hilt and grinned widely.
-Ha ha! That’s right! I’m the solution! Me! This capable! Magnificent! Multitalented sword! (＾▽＾)!
‘Sure, sure.’
I watched the silent Nabira and gathered my thoughts.
My suspicion that Hecate’s Tavern had known the whole situation but kept quiet turned out to be correct.
Of course, at that time, Hecate’s Tavern naturally couldn’t have obtained that information.
But they are an intelligence organization. If the request they accepted payment for was incomplete or false, they must take responsibility.
“What do you want?”
Nabira asked calmly. I smiled openly.
“I want to catch a liar through lies. More precisely… I want to draw in all the bad people at once. Could you cooperate with me?”

* * *

Lisianthus felt an ominous premonition rising instinctively and furrowed his brows.
“It’s perfect hunting weather, isn’t it?”
The companion beside him speaking in that affable manner, the location, the weather—nothing pleased him. The soldiers lingering around him, merely wasting time.
‘I came along to protect Titania.’
Titania was fearless. Where she once constantly complained about “ignoring this noble body” and got angry, now she acted as though she’d completely forgotten she was royalty.
She once claimed never to have held anything heavier than a spoon, yet now she flailed about like a fish, drawing a sword and swinging it around carelessly. Even when injured, she never complained of pain.
Lisianthus himself also acted recklessly without restraint, but that was thanks to the image of being “the second prince the Castrain Family couldn’t even handle.”
Even if people openly looked down on him, they couldn’t ignore the Castrain Family, so he was rarely directly threatened. It was simple enough to cleanly brush aside rough street thugs who didn’t know better. But the disgrace and danger Titania might face would be of a different nature entirely from what he endured.
As the days passed, Lisianthus found Titania weighing on his mind more and more.
Looking back now, he even came to understand that irritating personality of the old Titania he’d bickered with every day.
Who could have known she was disrespected even in her own palace? She had constantly said things like “I’ll tell His Majesty and have you punished!” so naturally he’d assumed she was a daughter the emperor cherished like a jewel. If only he’d known it was all glitter on nothing….
‘I should have treated her better.’
In any case, regret was regret and the past was the past. Lisianthus glanced around and snorted.
“Lord Gregory has much to attend to?”
A sharp tone slipped out, but the other man simply smiled good-naturedly.
“Ah yes, quite right. What with the Dedication Ceremony and all. As the director, there are many matters requiring confirmation and decision. I hear Priest Cronen has been working day and night without rest.”
“Does that mean I had to come out?”
“Ah, with the Dedication Ceremony coming soon, the Magic Beasts and wild animals running about is quite troublesome! If the dependable Lord Lisianthus would handle it all today, there should be no problems going forward.”
A priest whose name I didn’t know, grinning like that—it set my teeth on edge.
Gregory busy? That hardly seemed likely.
The guard contingent assigned to Titania seemed to have no sincere intention of helping her. It was something I’d anticipated beforehand, which is why I’d insisted on coming along.
Even with just Debi, whom the Castrain Family attached to Titania, she was far superior to four or five average knights. Still, how could I know what schemes someone might be plotting?
‘She looked so pale this morning.’
The image of her whimpering about dying while receiving a massage stayed with me.
From morning, they’d made such a fuss saying Magic Beasts and wild animals were gathering near the Temple, so I’d come rushing out. But it was taking far longer than expected. And the distance to the Temple was considerable. Even though the Temple sits in an open area where you can see everyone coming and going clearly…. Lisianthus’s eyes widened as he unconsciously glanced toward the Temple.
“…What?”
“Ha ha, Lord Lisianthus. Are you bored? Perhaps you could do some sightseeing….”
“No, that—what is that?”
“Ha ha, I know of the finest tavern in this district…. Gasp!”
The man who’d been coaxing Lisianthus gasped in horror.
“F-fire! The Temple is on fire!”
“Damn it, Titania!”
“L-Lord Lisianthus, you can’t go alone! You must survey the area…!”
Even from a distance, the Temple and its surroundings blazed so intensely as to be unmistakable.

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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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