Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 72

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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 72

It hadn’t even been a few hours since Gregory and she’d spoken alone together!
And it was just recently that Lisianthus had been reported outside the Temple. What? Fire? The sword stolen?
Wasn’t Titania said to be sitting quietly inside the Temple? How many people were guarding her, and what had they been doing all this time?
“I thought we wouldn’t die of thirst since there was water! But all the water dried up! My breath stopped! I thought I’d die right then, so I lost consciousness — and when I came to, the sword had vanished! The sword His Majesty! So greatly! praised! Goooone…!”
Titania wept as though she’d bartered away her very dignity for copper.
Under ordinary circumstances, apart from a few menials, no one came or went from the Temple. Whether Titania wept or screamed, there was little chance of word leaking beyond its walls.
But the fire had spread widely.
Crowds of onlookers drawn by the spectacle, residents rushing from all around to help extinguish the flames — the Temple District had become a press of humanity. They watched the fair and lovely Princess tear through her composure, wailing and shrieking, and they tutted among themselves.
“That sword — surely you mean that one?”
“The one that saved the Imperial Palace?”
“The one that just needed to slash once, and the Magic Beasts would whoosh away?”
“To see the noble Princess weeping so sorrowfully… it must be true that it’s gone.”
“Oh dear, and she’s still so young. How pitiful.”
There was no small amount of Cronen’s own fault in this either.
The citizens were not fools.
Cronen, who had gotten along well enough with the Empress, had treated Titania with studied neglect.
He had not announced her arrival in advance so that citizens might gather to welcome her, nor had he summoned the faithful to the Temple so they might see her face.
Yet when he considered how, just last year, Prince Brian had swept down with utmost fanfare, toured the city as though he himself were Emperor, called together the regional gentry and nobility, and held a lavish banquet in the Temple — the contrast in behavior was strikingly apparent.
The moment Titania’s carriage arrived in the city, rumors had begun to circulate.
‘That princess is here?’
‘She is?’
‘Thomas saw her on the street last time! She had barely any carriages, so it barely made an impression.’
‘Quite different from last year?’
‘A member of the Imperial Family came, yet the Temple has made no announcement… it seems…’
Of course, not all the old rumors surrounding Titania had been dispelled.
Newer tales had grafted themselves on — that she had suddenly become kind, that she wielded a sword to destroy Magic Beasts and save His Majesty. Yet the years when she had been notorious as an arrogant hooligan, an empty-headed fool, were long and deep-rooted.
And yet….
Titania forced tears from her eyes as she cried out.
“If His Majesty finds out, what’s to become of me! *Sob, sob-sob*, I haven’t the courage to face him anymore, so perhaps I should end my life here—”
“Your Highness!”
“Please, calm yourself!”
She was crying!
That proud, imperious member of the Imperial Family was weeping and wailing over a lost sword, rolling on the ground!
Titania was not yet of age. And she was beautiful. The sight of a young, pretty girl with cheeks swollen from tears thrashing about in panic — “She must have received such a shock!” — made the onlookers click their tongues in sympathetic murmurs.
“Goodness, seeing her like that, that sword must be terribly important.”
“But if the Temple caught fire like this, what of the Dedication Ceremony?”
“And how did such a famous sword end up stolen from the Temple, of all places?”
“And the Princess nearly died, didn’t she? Poor thing, frightened and weeping….”
“Ah, what a pity.”
Hearing the citizens’ gossiping murmurs, Cronen felt a spike of alarm.
‘What — the honor of the Imperial Family — acting in such an unseemly manner!’
It would have gone better if Titania had instead berated him.
He could have countered — that she was questioning his management, that he’d let precious items be stolen, that he’d nearly gotten her killed. He’d have had answers then.
That he too had nearly perished, that the Temple had caught fire in such a catastrophic way, that so many Priests were injured and suffering but had done their utmost to save Her Highness—
Considering the Temple had been without incident until now, he could have suggested that perhaps the troubles surrounding the sword had spiraled and caused all this.
Against a royal who came barely once a year, let alone a youngest child of the Imperial Family on her first visit this year, his standing in this city was more secure.
But to respond like this and win the citizens’ sympathy instead.
Cronen steeled himself and knelt before Titania.
“This is all my fault!”
“…….”
Titania’s head, which had been buried in her hands as she sobbed, gave a faint twitch. But no one noticed.
“You are of noble blood, and should have been kept safe within these Temple walls. I do not know what plot, what scheme beyond redemption could have led to this — but that someone dared set fire to this sacred place and steal this blessed sword is unforgivable!”
Titania continued to produce only sorrowful sounds.
“*Sob, sob…*”
“By any means necessary, I shall catch the culprit and ensure that Your Highness is never endangered again—”
“But right now, Your Highness has no place even to sleep.”
Tap-tap.
Crisp footsteps echoed. Cronen clenched his teeth.
‘What’s that wretch doing here?’
A smug young man, impeccably groomed, was approaching. The crowd murmured.
“Isn’t that Flux?”
“We hadn’t seen him in a while…”
“I’d heard rumors he was indisposed.”
“Hush! Look how fine he appears!”
Flux, indifferent to the crowd’s chatter, spoke with easy confidence.
“The very chambers where Your Highness was staying have caught fire. The ceremonial chamber where the Dedication Ceremony was to be held is completely burned. I’m not certain the Sacred Artifact has escaped harm. Should we really continue to keep Your Highness in a place like this?”
Hateful wretch! Cronen ground his teeth. Where was Gregory in all this? Without him, what use was anything Cronen said about protection and responsibility?
“…This matter is between the Temple and Her Highness, so for Flux to…”
“It’s also a matter for this city, so I’m entitled to take a hand in it. And since you seem unaware of who the one is who dared set fire to the Temple and target Her Highness, or what his designs are, I’d say this is hardly the time to refuse my assistance.”
Flux smiled mockingly. It was then — as though answering some silent prayer from Cronen’s heart — that a disheveled man came running toward them.
“Gregory!”
Cronen, the first to recognize him, lit up with relief.
“Where have you been, Gregory? What were you doing?”
“*Cough, cough!* Forgive my lateness.”
Gregory walked between Cronen and Flux, coughing. His entire body was blackened as though he’d been rolling in ash pits.
The Gregory of ordinary times — modest but impeccably dressed — was unimaginable compared to this wretched state.
Flux showed no shock at Gregory’s sudden appearance; if anything, he looked down on him with contempt.
But Cronen, seizing Gregory’s presence as a pretext, resolved to keep Titania bound to the Temple.
“Lord Flux. I understand the import of what you just said, but the one with ultimate responsibility for Her Highness’s protection is none other than Gregory. You have no connection to Her Highness whatsoever, and—”
“*Cough, cough.* Quite right! I hold ultimate responsibility for Her Highness’s protection! However high your rank as a minor noble—”
As Gregory spoke earnestly while coughing, Cronen felt a terrible foreboding run down his spine.
To separate Lisianthus and meet with Gregory, he’d made a flimsy excuse and sent what few guards Titania had with him away from the Temple.
If something happened to the Temple, he would naturally be held accountable.
But as the Temple’s supreme administrator, he could suppress most problems — provided no one saw the truth unfold before everyone’s eyes.
Flux threw down a cutting remark.
“Ah, is that so? When Your Highness nearly died, you and your soldiers were cheerfully enjoying a hunt far away?”
Gregory cried out indignantly.
“Don’t slander my honor! I sent my men to secure the safety of the Temple District, and I myself guarded the Temple!”
“You guarded the Temple, yet you were nowhere near Her Highness during her moment of greatest peril?”
At Flux’s sharp accusation, Gregory’s shoulders slumped.
In fact, the moment the fire broke out and the Temple fell into chaos, Gregory had hesitated.
‘Did Cronen already make his move? Could it be already?’

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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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