The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Her Children (1)

‘That’s strange.’

Can people who don’t share a single similar feature still end up looking alike?

Edwin found himself staring blankly into Kayden’s eyes without realizing it.

“Then it’s time for us to depart.”

Kayden met the prince’s gaze for a moment, then turned his head away.

With a simple farewell, he mounted the horse that had been waiting nearby.

“Thank you for everything during my stay, Prince Edwin. Princess Emilia.”

The young King of Adamant offered a faint smile to the third prince and princess.

“I wish you good health.”

As he took hold of the reins, Kayden’s gaze suddenly shifted past the prince’s back.

Standing there, as if she’d been there all along, was the prince’s nanny.

“…I hope we’ll meet again soon.”

With those meaningful words, Kayden gave a light bow.

“Bye, Majesty King! Come play with Lia again!”

“Please return safely, Your Majesty.”

At the clear voices of the young prince and princess, Kayden’s eyes and lips curved briefly before relaxing again.

And so, the first guest of the Third Prince’s Palace, who left behind countless questions for everyone, returned to his kingdom.

***

“Huh?”

That very night, the day the King of Adamant departed.

Leaving Edwin, who’d quickly fallen asleep in his bed, behind, I returned to my room.

That’s when I noticed that a few items in the room were slightly out of place.

‘Someone’s been here.’

I hadn’t entered the room even once since leaving in the morning, so someone must’ve slipped in during that time.

‘And judging by the fact they didn’t even try to hide the traces, they didn’t care if they were discovered?’

Frowning, I walked over to the desk by the window.

That’s when I saw a black velvet box sitting on top of it.

“This is….”

Since nothing else was missing, it seemed the intruder had entered my room solely to leave this item behind.

‘It’s not some kind of explosive device, is it?’

You shouldn’t touch an object of unknown origin carelessly.

I stared at the box for a long moment, then noticed a note placed beside it.

[An alliance commemorative gift.]

The handwriting was unfamiliar.

It was neat and clean, yet rough around the edges, a peculiar script that somehow reminded me of someone.

I had a pretty good idea who’d sent this box.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I reached out and touched it.

Click.

When I finally opened the box, what lay inside was a crystal sphere about the size of a baby’s head.

Judging by the elaborate patterns engraved into its smooth surface, it was clearly a magical item.

‘A communication orb?’

Communication orbs were considered a groundbreaking invention because they allowed long-distance contact without carrier pigeons or letters. But they had a major drawback: only people who possessed matching orbs could contact each other.

On top of that, skilled mages had to carve magic circles into mana stones one by one, which made them obscenely expensive.

Even back when I was the leader of an assassination organization, they were rare, high-priced magical items.

‘And he just left something like this for a prince’s nanny.’

What was he thinking, leaving this behind so casually, when I might not even know what it was or how to use it?

“Well.”

I lifted the crystal orb with one hand.

Inside the transparent sphere, a round moon glowed brightly.

‘Kayden Ram.’

A young king of a country that hasn’t existed for long.

A man who shed inexplicable tears over the place where I died.

‘Yeah, he still bothers me.’

I don’t know when I’ll see his face again, but.

He left behind a means of contacting him first, so I’ll learn little by little from now on.

What kind of man he is, and what kind of relationship he had with me in my past life.

“…I’m curious.”

Just who is Kayden Ram, really?

I tightened my grip on the crystal orb in my hand.

The moon I’d been seeing through the sphere was no longer visible.

***

The founding festival of the Empire of Ventrume ended in great success.

Originally, it was meant to celebrate the Empire’s unprecedented bumper harvest, the first in years, but the news that interested the delegations of envoys the most was none other than the shape of the Empire’s line of succession.

‘The Empire’s Third Prince has found his place.’

After the fall of the Lionel Kingdom, rumors spread among the delegations that the Third Prince, who’d barely had any presence at all, had gained the Emperor’s favor and was now aiming for the position of Crown Prince.

Truly, the star of this year’s founding festival was none other than Third Prince Edwin.

***

“Oh my, what’s wrong with me? Tomorrow’s the day, and I haven’t prepared a thing.”

One morning, when the excitement of the founding festival still hadn’t faded.

Catherine sprang up from her seat mid-way through sorting documents.

“What day is tomorrow?”

I was sitting on the sofa in the head maid’s office, braiding Emilia’s hair, when I lifted my head.

“Ah, well….”

Catherine trailed off and glanced at Emilia.

The young princess, as if she had no interest in the adults’ conversation, was absorbed in reading the storybook in her hands.

“Nanny, come here for a moment.”

Catherine led me to the window and whispered in my ear.

“Nanny, would you take His Highness Edwin to the temple tomorrow?”

“The temple?”

I don’t like temples.

I asked again, frowning, “Why?”

“Ah, well….”

Catherine hesitated for a moment, then whispered softly, “It’s Madam Emma Conrad’s death anniversary. The previous nanny’s.”

Emma’s death anniversary.

I stared at Catherine with my eyes wide.

“…The Imperial family observes her death anniversary?”

“More precisely, His Highness the Third Prince observes it on his own.”

Catherine continued, looking sympathetic, “The previous head maid even tried to stop him, too. I heard that whenever Madam Conrad’s death anniversary came around, His Highness Edwin would go to the room she used and shut himself in there all day, every year.”

She must’ve realized something, because she waved her hands at me in a fluster.

“Of course, the room she used is a different room! The room you use was originally a room no one ever used. So you don’t need to feel uneasy….”

“Then.” I asked in a flat voice, “So tomorrow, I just need to escort Their Highnesses to the temple? What about permission?”

“I heard that even if you haven’t had your coming-of-age ceremony, you don’t need separate permission if you’re visiting the temple.”

“All right. Then tomorrow, I’ll escort Their Highnesses.”

Catherine exclaimed, “Ah!” after hearing my answer.

“Only His Highness Edwin is going to the temple.”

When I frowned instead of answering, Catherine added an explanation, “As you’ve probably noticed, Her Highness Emilia doesn’t know Madam Conrad passed away.”

Emilia was only three years old when Emma died.

Far too young to understand death.

“His Highness Edwin only told Her Highness Emilia that Madam Conrad went on a very long trip. So Her Highness Emilia doesn’t even know what happened to Madam Conrad.”

I watched Emilia, sitting on the sofa and diligently reading her picture book.

Her innocent face, like she didn’t know a thing, stuck with me.

“So tomorrow, I’ll stay with Her Highness the Princess. Nanny, you should go to the temple with His Highness Edwin.”

“…No.”

Catherine looked bewildered.

“Ah, then should I escort His Highness Edwin….”

“No. I’ll escort both of them.”

“Huh? But….”

Catherine looked at me with worried eyes.

“It’s fine.”

I looked at Emilia, swinging her legs on the sofa, and said, “…Even if she doesn’t understand death, she can still say goodbye to someone who’s gone, can’t she?”

***

The Rion Temple, located in the Imperial Capital.

It wasn’t very far from the Imperial Palace.

“Welcome.”

An elderly cleric with a kindly face looked a little surprised when he saw us.

“We received word from the Third Prince’s Palace. You are His Highness the Third Prince, His Highness the First Princess, and their attendant, Lady Brown, is that correct?”

“That’s correct.”

After hearing my answer, the old cleric offered a proper greeting to Edwin and Emilia.

“I pay my respects to His Highness the Empire’s Third Prince and Her Highness the First Princess.”

Edwin, looking especially subdued today, gave a small nod.

“Then please come this way.”

We followed the cleric, walking slowly.

“Achel, is this the temple?”

Meanwhile, Emilia, held in my arms, kept turning her head this way and that.

It seemed she found the temple fascinating, since it was her first time here.

“It’s so big and cool!”

Her cute little voice, completely out of place in the sacred atmosphere, echoed along the stone corridor.

How long did we walk like that?

As we left the stone corridor, sunlight suddenly stabbed at my eyelids.

I reflexively frowned, then slowly opened my eyes.

‘This is….’

The place the cleric led us to was the cemetery behind the temple.

On the green lawn, countless headstones were arranged at even intervals.

“Here it is.”

The old cleric squeezed between the headstones and stopped.

In front of him stood a headstone engraved with the name “Emma Conrad.”

“Then please take your time.”

Once the cleric disappeared, only three of us remained before the grave.

In the awkward, heavy silence, Edwin slowly bent one knee.

He carefully set down a bouquet of white carnations he’d held close all the way from the palace in front of the headstone.

“…It’s been a while, Emma.”

In a voice far more subdued than usual, Edwin muttered, “I’m really late, aren’t I?”