The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 101
Chapter 101: Guest of the Prince’s Palace (4)
“…Where was it again?”
At Kayden’s question, Oliver lowered his head and continued, “It’s a lakeside not far from the Imperial Palace.”
“A lakeside?”
“Yes, the same place Your Majesty visited once before.”
Oliver hesitated for a moment, then added an explanation, “It’s near the reed field where Your Majesty once went to retrieve that woman’s remains.”
A shadow passed over Kayden’s face, his expression turning cold and sharp.
For a moment, he seemed deep in thought, his face dark and dangerous, before finally speaking again.
“Prepare to leave once the sun sets.”
Thud. Kayden set the water bottle he’d been holding down on the table beside him.
“This time, we’ll definitely find the Angel’s trail.”
“Your Majesty….”
“What is it?”
“If that woman you’re looking for really came back to life and is living somewhere, then isn’t finding her all you need to do?”
Oliver’s expression was uncertain as he went on.
“Why are you trying to capture the Angel as well?”
‘The Angel’ was a codename used to refer to the leader of the assassin group that had spread fear across the continent, ‘Breath of the Angel.’
“Do you truly believe the one who killed that woman was the Angel?”
“I do.”
“But wasn’t the woman you’re searching for once an Angel herself? From what I’ve heard, she was strong enough to be called the greatest assassin in the organization’s history.”
Oliver frowned, as if he couldn’t understand.
“Would someone like that even have a reason to be killed? Maybe she did it herself to take the Angel’s place?”
“The reason doesn’t matter.”
Kayden’s gaze hardened as he looked out the window.
“What matters is that the bastard killed my Angel.”
‘My Angel,’ he said.
Oliver inwardly cringed at the chillingly sentimental choice of words that came out of his master’s mouth.
‘What’s so special about that woman, anyway?’
How his lord had ever crossed paths with the female assassin leader was a mystery in itself.
‘But what’s even stranger….’
…was that his lord was still in love with a woman he’d only met once, twelve years ago.
‘At first, he refused to believe she was dead and wandered the continent looking for her.’
Oliver recalled the sight of his lord, a year ago, wandering like a madman.
‘And then he even turned to black magic.’
Instead of focusing on rebuilding Adamant after conquering the Kingdom of Lionel, Kayden had spent his days searching for the woman’s bones and her belongings.
A black mage had told him that, to bring someone back from the dead, one needed their remains and personal items.
“Your Majesty. Who exactly is that woman to you?” Oliver asked, unable to understand.
If she were merely someone he loved, such obsession made little sense.
“What is she to you that you’d go this far…?”
“She’s the one who gave me everything I have.”
Oliver’s eyes widened at the answer.
“…And the one I wanted to share everything I have with.”
Through the open window, the scent of summer drifted in.
Kayden was still staring outside.
“Without her, my life means nothing.”
***
Step, step.
Early morning at the Third Prince’s Palace.
The sound of footsteps echoed along the corridor.
“Hm.”
The King of Adamant, Kayden, was strolling through the palace with his hands clasped behind his back.
He was quietly observing the Third Prince’s Palace, seemingly impressed by its larger-than-expected size. But he soon stopped in front of a painting hanging in one of the drawing rooms.
“So it was here.”
It was a huge portrait, large enough to cover an entire wall.
The woman in the painting had golden hair and golden eyes, pure and beautiful. Her fair skin and pink dress complemented each other perfectly.
Just then, Kayden sensed someone’s presence beside him.
“Hmm?”
Through the crack of the door, something small and golden peeked out.
Kayden frowned instinctively, then relaxed when he realized what it was.
It wasn’t a ball of gold fur, but the First Princess, Emilia, whom he’d seen yesterday.
“Hmm….”
The young princess hid behind the door, her tiny face half visible as she peeked out. Her curious eyes studied Kayden quietly.
‘Indeed.’
Kayden observed her just as closely.
‘She looks just like her.’
Perhaps it was because she, too, was wearing a pink dress today, but the resemblance between the princess and Empress Edith was striking.
If Edith had been a child, she might have looked exactly like this.
“Good morning, Princess.”
Kayden greeted her kindly. But the young princess didn’t return the greeting; she just stood behind the door, staring at him.
“……”
“……”
An awkward standoff.
Kayden felt genuinely perplexed.
‘What does she want?’
He’d experienced countless battles, but dealing with children was uncharted territory for him.
Just as he was trying to think of how to end this silent standoff—
Thud, thud, thud.
Without a word, the princess suddenly dashed out from behind the door and held something out toward him with both hands.
“This!”
Kayden, who had instinctively been ready to defend himself, blinked when he saw what the princess was holding in her hands.
“A book?”
“Yeah! It’s Lia’s!”
With her thin little arms, the princess lifted the large book above her head. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly, almost blindingly so.
“Lia read this really hard! It’s a hero story!”
Kayden’s face stiffened as he looked at the ornate cover engraved on the book. It was a children’s storybook from the Kingdom of Adamant, one that had been banned.
‘I’m sure I prohibited its publication and distribution.’
To put it nicely, it was called a fairy tale, but in truth, it was nothing more than a delusional piece of writing glorifying him like some divine being.
‘But shouldn’t it be called a tale of heroics instead?’
Maybe the princess was still too young to remember the word properly.
Kayden looked down at Emilia, who was so small that she barely reached his knees.
“The knight in the story beats monsters and wins every day! And he’s super handsome, so all the princesses like him!”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! But the knight doesn’t like anyone! So he goes back home, builds a kingdom, and becomes a king!”
“I see.”
Listening to his own exaggerated story from the mouth of a child made his face feel hot for no reason.
“Hey, uncle, you’re the King of Adamant, right?”
Uncle.
He wasn’t even married yet, and now he was being called ‘uncle’ already?
Kayden found it hard to accept at first, then gave up soon after. For a child as young as the princess, someone his age probably did look like an uncle.
“Your Majesty, you look like the knight-king in here!”
“…Do I?”
“Yeah!”
Emilia opened the book with her tiny hands and pointed to one of the illustrations.
“Black hair and golden eyes! Just like you, Your Majesty!”
“Haha, I see.”
“And Your Majesty’s really handsome too, like the knight-king!”
There wasn’t a man alive who disliked being called handsome. Even if the one saying it was a little girl whose pronunciation still stumbled.
“What a great honor.”
Kayden knelt on one knee so his eyes were level with hers.
“That’s the kindest and most flattering compliment I’ve heard lately.”
The child, seeing his face now close to hers, hugged the storybook tightly to her chest.
“Really?”
“Yes, truly.”
“Then if Lia asks to be your friend, will you be Lia’s friend?”
Kayden couldn’t help but laugh softly at the princess’s innocent request.
“Of course, Princess.”
“Reallyyy? Thank you! Lia doesn’t have any friends, so I wanted one!”
No friends? Why? For such a sweet and adorable little princess to have no friends, it was hard to believe.
‘So the rumors about her being neglected after Lionel’s fall were true, huh.’
Kayden’s face darkened for a moment. But when his eyes met the princess’s again, he smiled warmly.
“Princess Emilia.”
“Yeah?”
“When you make your first friend, is there something you’d like to do together?”
“Something to do?”
“Yes. Have you ever thought of a game or activity you’d want to try with your first friend? Or perhaps a toy you’d like to get as a gift?”
Friend, play, toy.
All her favorite words had come up in a row.
“Then, then!”
Emilia’s cheeks turned rosy as she shouted brightly.
“Let’s play horsey!”
“Horsey?”
That didn’t sound promising.
As Kayden narrowed his eyes slightly, Emilia grabbed his fingers with both her little hands and shook them eagerly.
“Yeah! It’s when Your Majesty carries Lia like a horse and crawls on all fours!”
“…Princess.”
“Yeah?”
“I just thought of an even more fun game. How about we try that one first?”
“A more fun game?”
Emilia tilted her head curiously.
She clearly didn’t believe there could be a game more exciting than riding a horse.
“What’s—”
Before the princess could finish her sentence, Kayden scooped her up in one arm and stood. Then he lifted her and set her on his shoulders.
“Kyaaa!”
Emilia screamed and grabbed onto his hair tightly.
“It’s high! It’s so high!”
The little girl bounced in excitement, her feet kicking in the air. She was clearly thrilled by the new height she’d never experienced before.
“This is fun! This is fun!”
Kayden let out a quiet breath of relief at her enthusiastic reaction.
‘Sometimes Oliver’s useless chatter actually comes in handy.’
He recalled his aide telling him that children went wild with joy when given shoulder rides.
If he hadn’t known that, he might have ended up crawling through the Imperial Palace on all fours.
“Kyaaa!”
Kayden gently held onto the princess’s legs to keep her steady as he moved around.
“Ahahaha!”
Pure, bubbling laughter filled the air.
Without realizing it, Kayden found himself smiling too as he listened.
“…E-Emilia?”
Just then, Third Prince Edwin appeared at the drawing room door.
The prince froze when he saw his little sister riding on the King of Adamant’s shoulders.
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milano
the translation so far has been consistent in keeping it english. So Lia calls Edwin Brother. Can we keep that up instead of bringing in Korean terms like Ahjussi. I assume it means uncle.