Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 9

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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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Episode 9

I was genuinely flustered.
No, really—how could anyone fail to see the difference between pretending to dislike something out of embarrassment and actually hating it?
When people were constantly drilling into my head from every direction that “the Young Duke Raymond secretly loves Princess Titania, but pretends not to for the sake of his house and all that,” there was no way a child wouldn’t pick up on it.
“It would be natural for the Young Duke to be startled by how the Princess—usually so impeccably beautiful—suddenly appeared disheveled. Beyond that, Your Highness….”
Cleo’s eyes narrowed slightly. Her gaze was sharp, dismissive—the way one looks at something beneath them.
My body instinctively shrank back. I could bluster at my inferiors, but this young frame had never known the love of an adult; when a grown-up reproached me, I simply froze.
Especially when it was someone I believed cared for me and loved me.
“However beautiful the Princess may be, such a state of dress will not do. As a woman of the Imperial Family, she ought to present herself as more dignified than anyone else.”
“Did… did I do something wrong?”
“The Young Duke Raymond is truly exceptional. Even before coming of age, he frequently acts as head of his house. No matter how secretly he may long for the Princess, seeing her test him in such a state—he cannot help but be hurt.”
“I… tested him?”
I widened my eyes as though struck by sudden understanding.
Yes, I genuinely hadn’t thought of that.
I’d figured Cleo would smooth it over with pretty words, but—
—to frame it as though he was wounded because I, knowing full well that he loved me, would test him so brazenly in front of others? As if my heart were so light and fickle?
“Yes. The Princess was in the wrong.”
“I… I was wrong….”
Like a scolded child, I repeated only that, clinging to her words in desperation.
“Then what can I do to make him forgive me?”
As though she’d been waiting for exactly that response, satisfaction bloomed across Cleo’s face. She paused in thought before speaking.
“How about a gift—one bearing genuine apology?”
“A gift…?”
This felt dangerous. It was like being handed an armed bomb, one with only two seconds left on the timer, and knowing that the only way to survive was to catch it and throw it somewhere fast. I could feel it.
I hid my burning panic beneath a mask of innocent curiosity, widening my eyes as if asking what she meant.
“I recently obtained a truly precious sword. Hmm… I’d thought of giving it to our dear Prince Brian, but you know, since our sweet Titania is so upset, I should show some care.”
The Empress, laden with theatrical magnanimity, finally opened her mouth. Her shoulders rose in a shrug, and her expression was tremendously smug.
“The sword’s name is Berispatchio. Doesn’t the very name feel noble?”
For a moment, I nearly lost my composure and cursed aloud.
Damn it. That’s a demon’s blade.

* * *

If there exist ancient weapons wielding Divine Power, then by necessity there also exist weapons channeling the opposite force—the Darkness. Just as there are Divine Beasts and Magic Beasts.
Berispatchio, to be precise, was once Beris-Patchio—a single blade.
It had been forged in an attempt to merge the powers of the Magic Beast Beris and the Divine Beast Patchio, but ultimately the experiment failed. The longer one wielded it, the more it consumed the wielder’s sanity and drew them toward ruin.
If my memory was correct, Prince Brian in the original story had used that very sword and ended up destroying himself. And when Empress Cleo witnessed it, she’d gone half-mad.
“If she gave the Young Duke that blade, he surely couldn’t help but forgive her.”
“…….”
So she was handing a demon’s blade to the one noble house in this entire empire capable of recognizing and wielding Divine Power?
I was so dumbfounded that I thought if Cleo had actually known the truth, she might as well have told me to turn it on myself and die.
No… more likely, she was trying to plant a bribe through me. But still….
“Still, it would be shameless of me to hold out my hand to the Empress without offering something in return.”
I affected a small, apologetic tone, and Cleo let out a scoff.
No—I meant it sincerely. Why would you do something you haven’t done before? Just give him the sword! Your precious son! Why would you hand an exquisite blade to the Castrain Ducal House and invite their mockery (and murderous intent)?
As if she’d been waiting for precisely that reaction, Cleo asked again.
“Do you truly think that, Your Highness?”
“Yes… yes?”
“Then for the summer Dedication Ceremony this year, would you not go in Prince Brian’s stead?”
“Ah….”
Ah. Now I understood the Empress’s true gambit.
Every summer and winter, the Imperial Family sent members of the direct lineage to two Divine Temples located at opposite ends of the empire to oversee the rites.
Legend said that centuries ago, the Emperor himself had traveled there, hunting nearby Magic Beasts and purifying the land in elaborate ceremonies.
But now it was merely pro forma—the Imperial Family sent representatives as a show.
The round trip from the Imperial Palace in the capital to the temples took more than two weeks alone.
The ceremony itself took nearly a week, so all told one had to sacrifice nearly a month.
Which was precisely why the Empress, preoccupied with securing her son’s future, did not want to send Brian on such a journey.
But if Brian didn’t go? Prince Adrian would.
She’d sooner die than allow that. So she’d fixed her sights on me—still young, and having nearly died not long ago—to go in his place.
If I returned safely this time, surely she’d send me for every summer and winter thereafter.
Well, if she did send me, I’d be grateful—it was a goldmine of opportunity.
I’d been so suffocated, unable to leave the palace even once through my own power.
But on the surface, I widened my eyes with apprehension.
“But… Your Majesty. That place is at the empire’s edge, and it’s frightening, and there are Magic Beasts on the way….”
“Goodness! Titania is the empire’s only princess and a member of the direct lineage. Your betrothed, the Young Duke Raymond, is the very one slaying those Magic Beasts in service to the empire. Surely you won’t whimper over such trifles? The Young Duke would be most disappointed.”
“Yes…….”
It was absurd to immediately assent to a perilous journey I’d never taken, I who’d never even left the palace. When I deliberately shrunk back with feigned fear, Empress Cleo’s expression grew stern.
Everything comes back to the Young Duke—he’s like a cure-all, really. Though Titania has certainly fallen silent at the mention of his name often enough.
But the real problem was something else.
In truth, the Dedication Ceremony was an annual rite to reinforce the Barrier sealing Darkness and to subdue it.
The Imperial Family had once been one of the Five Heroic Houses—but as the sole possessors of the Light and able to command it absolutely, they had brought together the descendants of the other heroic houses and wielded their power directly.
There were some who said that though they were called heroes, their power so resembled that of Magic Beasts that even the fallen hero of Darkness was included, making it in reality Six Heroic Houses alongside the Imperial Family.
But as the Imperial Family lost the Light, they deliberately buried the truth and reduced it to a ceremonial formality.
And one by one, the other heroic houses, once the object of universal reverence, had fallen into obscurity, their very names forgotten.
Only the Castrain Family had succeeded in preserving its power. They protected the descendants of the declining houses and worked to preserve their bloodlines through marriage, because the Divine Power passed through lineage.
As a result, the Castrain Family now had the potential to awaken nearly every form of Divine Power—save only the Light. Though of course, not everyone could actually wield it; it was merely a potential they carried.
And so, Demon Beast Subjugation against the ever-increasing threats from the weakening Barrier?
The Castrain Ducal House carried it out.
The cleanup after ceremonies that had been meant for five to perform together but now limped along incomplete?
The Castrain Ducal House handled it.
It was like being the group project leader when all your teammates had vanished.
There was no escaping. Should the Barrier fail, Magic Beasts would pour forth and the empire would become a hellscape.
Especially the winter ceremony—it took place entirely within Castrain lands. And small wonder, for the heart of all seals lay in the Northern Barrier. The summer ceremony in the far south was merely a Band-Aid solution.
“…….”
…Which meant that if things continued as planned, I would have to visit Castrain Territory—at least for summer, but certainly for winter as well.
Wasn’t that a form of suicide? A member of the Imperial Family couldn’t stay in just any noble’s house.
There was no way around it—I’d have to enter the Castrain Ducal House itself.
While I sat stunned, Empress Cleo pressed forward, eager to seal the matter.
“I am relying entirely on the Princess. I’ll send priests to heal you, and have you dress beautifully and await the ceremony. That is a woman’s virtue, after all.”
“Yes… Your Majesty.”
A woman’s virtue—what nonsense! When all she wanted was to treat Titania like a doll!
My vision blurred with unshed tears, a darkness creeping in as the Empress’s figure receded. I hummed softly to myself.
Alone or sad, I won’t cry. Hold it in, hold it in, and hold it in again—why would I cry….
Let me smile and run toward the azure fields…. Gaze at the blue sky and sing—my name is….
My name is Ken… no, Titania… damn it.
“I want to go home.”
Are you listening, Teacher? To whatever mysterious force or god or whatever brought me to this place?
If you’re listening, would you send me back to my old home? Where my fox-like mother made miso soup and my deer-like father was waiting for me…….

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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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