Chapter 128

Chapter 128: The First Mission (1)

‘He said he met Adrian in the library.’

Edwin told me about how he went to the library alone and ran into the First Prince.

He seemed pretty excited, saying they talked at length for the first time and that he seemed like a good person.

‘He said the First Prince cheered him on in his path.’

I don’t know exactly what he said, but if Edwin felt that way, it wouldn’t be a lie.

‘Prince Adrian is someone I’ve only seen in passing, but….’

I recalled Adrian, whom I ran into at the Empress’s Palace.

‘He didn’t seem like the type to say empty words.’

Whether for good or ill, if he had no interest in Edwin, he wouldn’t have spoken to him at all. That was the impression the First Prince gave me.

“And he said he doesn’t want to lose to His Highness the Second Prince.”

“Pardon? His Highness Edwin said that?”

Catherine couldn’t hide her surprise.

Edwin had always been afraid of Lloyd and intimidated by him.

It seemed hard to believe that the boy would show competitiveness toward his second older brother at all.

‘Well, it feels like there’s an even bigger reason than that.’

I thought of the small girl Edwin’s gaze always followed.

Duke Crowner’s only daughter, Young Lady Brigitte Crowner.

‘The girl who’ll become empress in the future.’

And Edwin’s green, youthful first love.

Somehow, I felt like laughing.

‘What is love, anyway?’

Love, what is it that even a young child would throw everything away for it?

It was something I truly couldn’t understand.

“As His Highness’s nanny, I’ve decided to walk the path His Highness chose together with him. So I’d be grateful beyond words if the two of you would join us on that path as well.”

I said it while looking back and forth between Catherine and Sage.

“Well, whatever the trigger was, I’m in favor.”

Sage was still smiling like he found the situation amusing.

“It’s more prestigious to be a prince’s teacher, but even more so to be a crown prince’s teacher, and better still to hold the title of the emperor’s teacher.”

So you’ve learned to lie with a straight face.

Even though you’re an old man with not a shred of desire for power.

‘You’re just doing it because you like Edwin.’

I glanced at Sage as he played dumb, then turned my eyes back to Catherine.

“Catherine. I’ll do my best so what you’re worried about doesn’t happen, but to be honest, I can’t guarantee the outcome. No one knows what lies ahead.”

“…I know.”

“Even so, will you be with us?”

At my question, Catherine stayed silent for a long time, only letting out low hums.

Then, at last, as if she’d made up her mind, she opened her mouth with a resolute expression.

“I’m the head maid of the Third Prince’s Palace. I’ve got no intention of handing this position over to someone else, and I’ve got no intention of leaving the Prince’s Palace.”

She looked at me with burning eyes.

“I’ll support Their Highnesses to the very end as well. As head maid.”

Good.

I smiled with satisfaction.

“Good. Then the three of us are no different from being in the same boat now.”

“So what are you planning to do from here on out, Lady Brown?” Sage asked like he was genuinely curious. “Right now, it doesn’t seem like there’s any immediate opportunity to pull Duke Crowner to our side.”

“First, we should do what we can.”

Yeah, let’s start with what we can do.

I said with my eyes shining, “And helpers aren’t only on the inside.”

At the puzzling, vague words, both of them turned their heads at the same time.

***

In a dark alley somewhere in the Imperial Capital.

I stood with Sage, who had his hood pulled low.

“I never thought I’d end up doing something like this.”

Sage let out heavy sighs as he looked at me.

“Do we really have to go this far? You’re working an old man to the bone for this.”

“We don’t have a choice. We already promised.”

“Seriously, I still don’t know what to make of you.” Sage handed me the bundle he was holding and asked, “How did you even end up that close with the King of the Adamant Kingdom?”

“It just happened.”

“Normal people don’t ‘just happen’ to form a cooperative relationship with a king.”

“I’m not a normal person, am I?”

At my answer, Sage’s mouth stretched into a long, straight line.

But I didn’t care at all and undid the bundle he’d handed me.

A pure white cleric’s robe appeared.

“What is that, a cleric’s robe? It looks different, doesn’t it?”

“The Adamant side procured it for us.”

Temples of the Holy Kingdom of Rion existed all across the continent.

Maybe because the scale was so vast, the cleric robes differed in appearance from temple to temple.

They said it was so you could tell which region a cleric belonged to.

‘This is why, if you’re going to join hands, you join hands with the powerful.’

I draped the cleric robe Kayden had sent through someone over my clothes.

The smooth, crisp texture unique to fine fabric didn’t carry even a hint of a cleric’s frugality or piety, the kind you’d expect from someone serving the divine.

“Take it.”

Sage handed me a thin silver plate.

“It’s the cleric identification badge you asked me to find in your place. This is it, right?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Is it any good?”

I roughly inspected the holy script engraved on the silver plate.

Even looking closely, it was hard to tell it apart from the real thing. It was worth the fortune I’d spent going to a skilled back-alley craftsman.

“Hmm, it’s not bad.”

“What do you know that you’re evaluating it? What if real clerics can tell it’s different?”

“No. At this level, even a cleric with a sharp eye won’t realize it’s fake.”

Forging identification was basic training for an assassin.

And I prided myself on having a better eye than anyone for spotting a well-made forgery.

“Haa, honestly.”

Sage looked at me with worried eyes.

“Just don’t get caught.”

“Don’t worry.”

I gave Sage a light bow.

“Then while I’m away, please look after His Highness the Prince.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll guard the Prince’s Palace just fine with that scarecrow head maid.”

Reliable. I let out a quiet snort and turned away.

Beyond the alley, a massive temple came into view, boasting brilliantly white walls.

‘Well, shall we go?’

I stepped forward confidently.

To carry out the first mission for the alliance with the King of the Adamant Kingdom.

***

‘I felt it when I came for Emma’s memorial day too, but….’

Fiddling with the silver plate, I glanced back.

The holy knights guarding the temple entrance were yawning wide.

‘Security’s a complete mess.’

They barely looked at my fake identification badge, then, seeing I was wearing a cleric’s robe, immediately opened the door and told me to go in.

It was absurd.

‘Then again, this is sacred ground the Emperor can’t even touch rashly, so of course they’d let their guard down.’

It worked out well for me.

With security full of holes like this, moving around was twice as easy.

No one even looked at me strangely the entire time I walked all the way to the lodgings where the clerics stayed.

‘Still, where should I start looking?’

As befitted the largest temple in the Imperial Capital, the scale alone was impressive.

Even if I looked around all day, it didn’t seem like it’d be enough time to see it all.

‘Somewhere with the most clerics gathered would be best.’

I already knew the identities of the clerics who went in and out of the Imperial Palace, and the fact that most of them belonged here. Thanks to the hard work of my own helper.

“The temple people who go in and out of the Imperial Palace? If it’s that, Sir Dale would know.”

“Who is Sir Dale?”

“A knight who works as the captain of the gate guard. Why? Should I ask him for you?”

It was the moment I became certain, once again, that Catherine’s true calling wasn’t head maid, but assassin or informant.

‘If I’d met her in my past life, I would’ve suggested she join our organization.’

Of course, back then, Catherine would’ve refused, terrified.

I shook my head after indulging in that pointless fantasy.

‘Looks like living a normal life has dulled my focus. Even me.’

Letting stray thoughts surface during a mission was something only amateurs did.

Just as I calmed myself again and resumed walking,

“Excuse me, Sister? What are you doing here?”

This is bad.

I’d been deliberately moving only through places that wouldn’t draw attention, but for someone to show up now.

‘Don’t tell me, a cleric from this temple?’

If so, they’d be able to tell at a glance that I’m a fake cleric.

Prepared to chop the back of his neck and leave if I had to, I turned around.

“The prayer meeting will be over soon. If you don’t hurry, you won’t even be able to attend.”

Fortunately, the person who suddenly appeared wasn’t a cleric.

Judging by the worker’s clothes, he seemed to be a servant who worked at the temple.

Keeping a calm face, I tried to come up with a plausible excuse.

But soon, there was no need.

“Ah, I heard a lot of new clerics came from the Holy Kingdom this time. You must’ve come from there too, Sister?”

I can only be grateful that he misunderstood on his own.

Instead of answering, I kept my mouth shut and simply stared at the worker.

Then, with a good-natured smile, he pointed somewhere. “The grand chapel is over there. If you don’t run, you might get demerits, you know?”

A prayer meeting held in the grand chapel.

‘All the clerics here will gather.’

With a faint smile, I gave the worker a small nod.

Then I hurried toward the grand chapel.

Ding, daaang, ding.

From the bell tower in the center of the temple, the bell began to ring out.

It clung to my footsteps behind me, dark and long, like a shadow.