The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Alliance of Revenge (1)

Creak, thud.

The door closed right behind me.

Unlike the darkness outside, Kayden’s room was still bright.

Several lamps lit the room, painting it in shades of crimson.

“It’s still too early to sleep, isn’t it?”

Kayden glanced back at me with a smile.

“How about keeping each other company for a bit?”

I stayed silent, hands folded neatly in front of me.

Kayden tilted his chin toward the sofa placed in the center of the room.

“Have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

I quietly walked over and sat at the edge of the sofa.

Kayden chuckled again as he watched me. “The more I see you, the more interesting you seem.”

Interesting? Based on what?

When I turned my expressionless face toward him, Kayden simply shrugged.

“You move like a cat. That’s the word for it.”

He met my gaze and asked casually, “Is walking without making a sound a habit?”

At his unexpected observation, my fingertips twitched involuntarily.

Walking silently was one of the habits I’d developed during my days as an assassin.

‘That’s the thing about habits, they’re terrifying.’

Even when you don’t mean to, they just show.

I lowered my head as if nothing had happened. “My apologies if it bothered you.”

“Hardly. Not at all.”

Kayden reached for the table and flipped over two glasses. Then he grabbed a large bottle of liquor beside them.

“Do you drink?”

His tone was far too casual, like he was talking to a knight or an old comrade.

“If you offer, Your Majesty, I’ll drink.”

“I’m not ordering you to drink.”

Smooth talker.

Even as he said that, Kayden filled the glass to the brim and slid it toward me.

“A simple gesture of sincerity.”

And if I refused that glass now, I’d be the insolent woman who rejected the King of Adamant’s goodwill.

“Thank you.”

I accepted the glass politely, and my eyes widened at the familiar scent that reached my nose.

The drink Kayden handed me was apple wine.

A cheap drink usually found among commoners, and one most nobles wouldn’t even touch.

He must’ve chosen it because he was a commoner before his coronation.

‘Not that I mind.’

Ironically, my favorite drink wasn’t beer, brandy, or fine wine—it was apple wine. Before I died, I used to carry it in my flask on missions instead of water.

‘It was almost impossible to find in the palace. Did he have someone bring it in specially?’

I quietly took a few sips, savoring the taste.

Kayden, leaning comfortably against the sofa, lifted his own glass to his lips. He drained it in one go and poured himself another.

“Do you drink often?” I asked, watching him raise his second glass.

“From time to time.”

Kayden swirled the liquor lazily, tracing small circles with his wrist.

“It feels nice to end the day with a drink.”

“I see.”

“And what about you, Nanny? Do you drink often?”

Drink often?

I’d have loved to drink every day, but I couldn’t. If word spread that a prince’s nanny was a drunkard, it would be over.

“As someone who serves the prince and princess, I restrain myself.”

“Ha, you restrain yourself, huh?”

Kayden burst out laughing, clearly amused.

“Then how much could you drink if you didn’t?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never drunk enough to get drunk.”

In my past life, no matter how much I drank, I’d never once been drunk. But in this frail body, I’d probably pass out after two or three bottles of wine.

“Then how about trying it tonight, until you get drunk?”

Kayden suddenly leaned closer. His eyes gleamed with mischief as he stared straight at me.

He wanted me to take the bait.

‘Not a chance.’

I took another sip of the apple wine, then placed my glass on the table.

“My apologies. I have to attend to Their Highnesses again tomorrow.”

At the mention of the prince and princess, Kayden’s eyes sharpened briefly. Then he sank back into the sofa, face unreadable.

“How old are Their Highnesses now?”

“Prince Edwin is twelve, and Princess Emilia is five.”

“I can understand the princess, but does the prince really still need a nanny? He’s already twelve.”

“In the Imperial Family, it’s customary for a member of the Imperial bloodline to keep a nanny until they reach adulthood at fifteen.”

Kayden furrowed his brows, the corner of his mouth curling faintly. “Well, if that’s how the Imperial Family does things, so be it. No wonder the princes lack discipline.”

Princes, plural.

So the undisciplined prince he referred to wasn’t just Edwin.

‘So there really was a reason he deflected Lloyd’s blade back then.’

“Twelve years old….”

I gathered my thoughts for a moment, then steadied my voice and spoke slowly.

“He’s still too young to be expected to mature.”

Kayden’s expression twisted in displeasure, as if he couldn’t agree less with what I’d just said.

“I believe children should remain children for as long as possible.”

Naive, innocent, untouched by the filth of the world for as long as they can.

Meeting Kayden’s gaze, I said clearly, “Knowing the world early doesn’t make you any happier.”

Edwin, as a prince, would inevitably come to understand the world sooner than others.

But even when he was scorned as the ‘Shabby Prince,’ he still shone with that unique purity only children possess.

That was something I wanted to protect for as long as possible.

“That’s why I….”

Time was never on the side of children.

Soon enough, Edwin would learn just how vile wealth and power could be, and how low people could sink in their pursuit of it.

“I hope His Highness matures as late as possible.”

The golden apple wine in my silver glass gleamed faintly.

As I stared into it for a moment, I felt a prickling gaze and slowly lifted my head.

“…Your Majesty Kayden?”

I was caught off guard.

Kayden was staring at me with eyes wide in shock, as if he’d just seen a ghost. He was frozen in place, still half-reclined on the sofa, like someone turned to stone.

“Your Majesty?”

“…I didn’t expect another resemblance.”

Kayden muttered something I couldn’t quite catch. His beast-like golden eyes were fixed solely on me.

“You really are….”

Was someone strangling him? His voice came out low, almost hoarse.

“…fascinating.”

What on earth was so fascinating?

I’d never been told I had a good sense of humor, not even once before I died.

I tilted my head slightly, unbothered.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Kayden stared blankly at me again, then cleared his throat. He downed the rest of his drink in one gulp before changing the subject.

“It’s fortunate His Highness Edwin has such an excellent nanny. The late Third Consort can rest peacefully now.”

“Is that so?”

Clack.

I refilled Kayden’s empty glass, then set the bottle back on the table with a sharp sound. Then I gave him a faint smile.

“It’s fascinating to hear that from the one who erased Prince Edwin’s maternal family from the map.”

The air in the room instantly chilled.

Kayden’s expression went completely blank.

“I never thought I’d hear Your Majesty speak of the late Third Consort.”

“…Lady Rachel Brown.”

It was the first time my name left the King’s lips.

His eyes had gone cold.

“I’d advise you not to cross the line.”

“You’re the one who crossed it first, Your Majesty.”

After the death of the Third Consort, Edwin and Emilia’s positions had fallen sharply.

When Emma, who had cared for them, passed away, and the Kingdom of Lionel was destroyed, things only worsened.

“I know well that you don’t welcome Their Highnesses, Your Majesty.”

And right now, the man who led Lionel’s destruction was sitting right before me.

“But this palace belongs to His Highness Edwin. He’s the rightful master of the Third Prince’s Palace, and he carries the Emperor of Ventrume’s blood.”

I recalled Edwin’s downcast face during breakfast, when Kayden had openly ignored him.

And the way Kayden had demanded what he wanted, never once acknowledging Edwin’s effort to converse.

“So, even if you dislike him, please treat His Highness as a prince of the Empire.”

I knew.

I knew very well how insane I must’ve sounded.

A common-born nanny lecturing a reigning king.

It was a miracle my head was still attached to my shoulders.

‘But.’

Just sitting there in silence was unbearable.

Those two children had suffered enough because of him.

‘If I can’t hit him, I can at least cut him with words.’

I met his gaze squarely, wearing a perfectly calm expression.

“Ha, hahaha!”

Kayden stared at me for a long time, then suddenly laughed. He covered his eyes with one hand, laughing uncontrollably.

Through the gap between his fingers, I could feel his gaze on me.

“…You really are something. Truly fascinating.”

Under the crimson glow of the lamps, his golden eyes shone like molten metal.

“Lady Rachel Brown.”

After laughing for quite some time, Kayden finally spoke my name again, voice low and deliberate.

“Did you calculate the consequences of what you just said?”