The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 122

Chapter 122: First Prince Adrian (3)

“What, marriage?”

It wasn’t a word a kid who hadn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony should toss around lightly.

Adrian blinked blankly for a moment, then asked with his usual expressionless face, “It sounds like you already have someone you want to marry.”

“Ah, yes. I, I do.”

At Edwin’s answer, Adrian’s eyes lit up as if he found it interesting.

“Yeah? Who is it?”

“…Th, that’s….”

Edwin opened his mouth, sweating bullets.

“It’s, it’s Young Lady Crowner.”

He stumbled over the words because he was nervous, but his voice was firm.

At that, Adrian’s mouth fell slightly open.

Like someone who’d just heard the most absurd thing in the world.

“….”

At the same time, a frighteningly long silence fell.

While Edwin glanced around, wondering if he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

“Brigitte? That kid who’s like a wild horse?”

Adrian suddenly burst into cheerful, booming laughter.

“Ahahahaha….”

He laughed like he might keel over at any moment.

To think the First Prince, famous for always being quiet and mature, would laugh this hard.

Edwin stared at his half-brother with a dazed expression.

“Haa, you really are an interesting guy, Edwin.”

First, that ridiculous dream of wanting to protect everyone, and now this grand ambition to marry his cousin.

After laughing for a while, Adrian wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.

“Fine, fine. All of that’s fine, but.”

He smiled at Edwin, who still looked dazed.

“I think giving up on Brigitte now would be good for your mental health.”

“Yes?”

Edwin jumped like he’d been struck by lightning, and Adrian waved a hand lightly.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying you’re not good enough for Brigitte. If anything, you’re better than a guy like Lloyd.”

“Uh….”

“But you might end up living your whole life getting dragged around, not even by her whole hand, but by one pinky finger.”

With his chin propped up, Adrian smiled crookedly.

“And you still want to marry her?”

“Yes! I’m fine with it!”

Fine with it.

At that young age, he must be completely smitten.

Adrian looked at the Third Prince, innocent to the extreme, and said, “Edwin, do you even know what marriage means?”

What marriage means?

Edwin thought for a moment, then answered simply, “It means living together happily.”

They say being naively innocent without a plan is no different from being ignorant.

Adrian swallowed a sigh and continued, “…I don’t mean ordinary marriage. I mean an imperial marriage.”

Imperial and noble marriages were, regardless of romantic feelings, a kind of business between families. Marriage was practically a contract formed solely for a family’s interests.

“And Brigitte, that kid is the best card House Crowner has. She’s the Duke’s daughter, the Empress’s niece, and someone who’ll become the next empress. Wanting to marry her means….”

If Edwin were just a boy from an ordinary family, you could brush it off as the careless words of a first love.

The problem was that he was the Empire’s Third Prince, and Brigitte was the young lady of House Crowner.

“You’re saying you want to be tied to the girl who’ll become the next empress. Do you understand what that means?”

He’d heard something like that before.

From Brigitte herself, no less.

“And that’s not all. If I become emperor, that girl will cross to the Eastern Continent and become the Empress of the Khan Empire.”

If the Empire of Ventrume stood on the Western Continent, the Eastern Continent had the Khan Empire.

If it weren’t for the Gabi Desert that split the continent into east and west, it would’ve been the one great power the Empire of Ventrume would be most wary of in every way.

“With the desert between us, unless there’s an unexpected variable, there won’t be any armed clashes with Khan. Still, maintaining friendly relations with them, since they control all the trade routes on the Eastern Continent, is one of the most important diplomatic duties.”

If the First Prince became Emperor, Brigitte was fated to cross to the Eastern Continent, if only for the peace and security of the Empire of Ventrume.

“Brigitte’s a smart kid. She acts childish sometimes, but she understands her own value better than anyone.”

It wasn’t for nothing that she acted as if she had such a deep interest in Eastern Continent culture.

She knew what her family expected of her.

The Duke’s daughter, Brigitte Crowner.

“That kid is especially favored by the duke, in more ways than one.”

Edwin listened to the First Prince in silence.

On the surface, he looked dispirited, but he wasn’t.

‘So he really is serious.’

Adrian smiled softly as he looked into Edwin’s eyes, which still hadn’t lost their light.

“Well, it’s not like there’s no way.”

He smiled as he watched Edwin prick up his ears at his words.

“Edwin, you said earlier, your dream is to become strong enough to protect your people. Right?”

“Yes.”

“But to protect your people here, it’s not enough to just become strong. You have to become overwhelmingly strong.”

Even shining talent was useless if it was half-baked.

In that sense, it was no different from a sword with no hilt, or a jewel hung in a display case with no cover.

In the end, it would only injure its owner or catch someone else’s eye and be stolen.

“You know better than anyone that in the Imperial Palace, the weak aren’t even treated as human, regardless of rank.”

At the thought of his old nickname, the Shabby Prince, Edwin’s face darkened.

“But a mediocre fighter gets dragged around and meets a miserable end. To the point you might envy the fate of a weak person who doesn’t stand out.”

Adrian opened another book that had been lying in front of him.

“Then how do you make that girl you like into one of your people?”

He spoke to Edwin, who was looking at him straight on.

“You become so strong that no one can argue with you.”

It was obvious.

Adrian gave his half-brother a gentle smile as he looked confused.

“Simply put, Edwin, it’s a problem that gets solved if you become emperor.”

At the word emperor, it felt like his heart dropped.

Edwin pressed his lips shut.

‘Emperor.’

Once, in front of Brigitte, he’d vowed boldly.

If becoming emperor was what it took for him to stay by her side, then he’d do it.

‘But.’

Realistically, for him, the Third Prince, becoming emperor was harder than reaching for a star.

First, First Prince Adrian, the Empress’s legitimate eldest son, still sat firmly in his place.

And then there was Lloyd, who was constantly eyeing that seat, backed by the powerful Marquis Redcliff’s family.

“Haha, you don’t look confident….”

Adrian started to laugh at Edwin’s serious face, then knit his brows.

He suddenly took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth.

Then, as if he’d been waiting for it, he broke into a violent fit of coughing.

Cough, cough.

“Brother?”

It sounded like the cough came from deep inside.

Startled, Edwin rose and hurried to his side.

Adrian’s coughing showed no sign of stopping.

“B-Brother!”

Adrian’s complexion had gone so pale he looked like he might collapse at any moment.

For a split second, the image of Emma as she lay dying flashed through Edwin’s mind.

Edwin turned deathly white and tried to dash out of his seat.

“I, I’ll go call someone….”

Thud.

But before he could even take a few steps, Adrian grabbed his wrist.

Edwin fidgeted anxiously as he checked his condition.

“…Stop making a fuss. I’m fine now.”

At last, the coughing stopped.

Adrian quickly tucked the handkerchief that had been covering his mouth into his chest.

But he couldn’t fool Edwin’s eyes, which had been trained too well through Rachel’s evasion drills.

Edwin had already seen the bloodstain on Adrian’s handkerchief.

“B-Brother, the blood….”

“Forget what you just saw. Above all, you must never tell Duke Crowner. It’s a secret.”

“Yes? But….”

Is he trying to hide his condition?

Edwin glanced around, then lowered his voice. “Coughing up blood isn’t normal. You need to check your condition right away….”

“Edwin.”

Adrian seized his half-brother’s shoulder as Edwin looked at him with worried eyes.

With an intense gaze, he stared straight through the youngest prince.

“Think carefully. Since you were born as a member of the imperial family, you can’t keep living like a child forever. With that soft attitude, you won’t achieve any dream.”

“Brother….”

“And maybe we could become each other’s most reliable allies.”

Edwin felt strength tighten in the slender fingers gripping his shoulder.

“If you keep this secret, I’ll help you too.”

Help him? With what?

Edwin was confused, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

He was tempted by the terms his half-brother suddenly offered, but if it was a condition Adrian wanted to hide that badly, Edwin also thought he couldn’t speak of it carelessly.

“…Yeah. Stay quiet, just like now.”

Adrian seemed pleased with Edwin’s silence, and slowly rose from his seat.

“Brother Adrian….”

His steps wobbled slightly, making him look precarious.

But Adrian quickly straightened his posture and walked with elegant composure.

“I’ll be going first.”

At the First Prince’s short farewell, all Edwin could do was watch his back with worry.