The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The One I Couldn’t Protect (1)

“Alright, I’ll let it slide even though you refused to tell Lia a princess story and went off early last night. I don’t know what kept you up, but fine.”

Edwin pouted and waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ll be fine on my own without you.”

Did he take my words from yesterday to heart? He’s more sensitive than he looks.

“Then I’ll rest for just a little while and come back.” I bowed my head obediently to Edwin and retreated.

“Catherine! Lia wants more of this!”

“Oh my, our Princess Emilia is eating so well, you’ll grow up in no time!”

“I want more too.”

“Oh dear, it seems this suits your taste as well, Prince Edwin. I’m so glad!”

Catherine looked genuinely pleased as she watched the children eagerly devour their food.

‘She’s clearly more suited for the nanny role.’

I chuckled softly as I quietly left the dining room.

At that moment, I had no idea that I’d end up regretting my absence today for a long time to come.

***

Catherine Vale, Head Maid of the Third Prince’s Palace. She was the eldest daughter among the four sons and three daughters of Viscount Vale. With a significant age gap between her and her siblings, she felt confident in her ability to take care of children. After all, she had taken care of her younger siblings in place of her always-busy parents.

But there was one thing she had completely overlooked.

“Huff, huff, Princess Emilia, wouldn’t it be better to return to your room now?”

“No, no! Why is the horse talking?”

“Heeeying!”

Princess Emilia was far more peculiar than her siblings ever were.

Catherine crawled on all fours across the lawn with the young princess riding on her back. She had never imagined that she would end up being the “horse” for the princess’s favorite game of “riding.”

“Hyah—! Go faster!”

Emilia swung two strands of Catherine’s hair as if they were reins.

“Heeeying!”

Catherine breathed heavily, her eyes brimming with tears.

“P-Princess, shall we play a different game?”

No matter how young the princess was, carrying her on her back while crawling around was exhausting. How on earth had the nanny done this for hours?

“A different game?”

“Yes! Prince Edwin seems to be bored sitting alone!”

“Hmm? Brother?”

Emilia turned her head to look at her brother. Just as Catherine had said, Edwin was sitting on the lawn, pulling at the grass. Anyone could see he was extremely bored.

Seeing this, Emilia tilted her head. “Is he? Then what game do you want to play?”

“Well, um…”

Seeing an opportunity, Catherine set Emilia down on the ground and stood up. At that moment, Edwin suddenly got to his feet.

“I’m thirsty.”

“Oh my, it must be snack time already. Shall we go to the annex then? I’ll bake some delicious apple pie for you.”

“I want to eat it here. Bring it to us when it’s ready.”

“Here? Oh…”

Catherine hesitated briefly at Edwin’s firm request. She was reluctant to leave the young prince and princess alone. Besides, Rachel was also not here at the moment.

Noticing her hesitation, Edwin added more insistently, “Lia and I will wait here, so hurry up and bring it.”

“Um, Your Highness, perhaps you should wait inside…”

“Are you defying the prince’s orders?”

“N-No, of course not! I’ll bring it right away! Just wait a moment!”

Eventually, faced with the prince’s stern tone, Catherine gave in and dashed off toward the annex, her eyebrows fluttering as she ran.

Watching her retreating figure, Edwin lifted one corner of his mouth in a smirk.

Unlike that woman who never blinked an eye no matter what he said, the head maid was a very loyal servant. And that made her easy to deceive.

With a gleeful expression, Edwin turned to his sister. “Lia, let’s go outside.”

“Hmm? Can we?”

“Yeah. Remember how you said you wanted to visit the central garden again?”

“Yes! Lia wants to go!”

The young prince and princess held hands and ran. Their destination was the wall behind the annex.

***

“N-Nanny—!”

Catherine’s shrill scream woke me from my nap. She burst in without even knocking, her face streaked with tears.

A sense of foreboding gripped me, and I hurriedly got up.

“What happened?”

“Their Highnesses… Their Highnesses are gone!”

“What?”

It was a bolt from the blue.

***

“Brother, the butterfly can’t fly.”

“Butterfly?”

Edwin looked down at Emilia’s words. What his sister was looking at while squatting down wasn’t a butterfly but a flower.

“Is it hurt?”

Emilia stared at the flower with worried eyes. Seeing her, Edwin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Lia, that’s not a butterfly; it’s a flower.”

“A flower?”

“Yeah, it’s a pansy. But it does look a bit like a butterfly.”

“Oh, it’s a flower! It’s so pretty!”

Emilia reached out her hand in admiration. It was Edwin who stopped her as she tried to pick the flower without hesitation.

“Don’t pick it, Emilia. The flower will get hurt.”

“Huh? How can a flower get hurt? Did it say that?”

Prince Edwin was at a loss for words at Emilia’s innocent yet sharp question. He had simply heard from Emma as a child that flowers shouldn’t be picked.

“N-No, not exactly.”

“Then Lia wants to take it home. I’ll make it my friend.”

“Wait!”

“Hmm?”

Edwin held his sister’s small hand and spoke, “Emilia, do you like the palace you’re living in now?”

“Yes! Brother, and Achel, and Catherine are all here, so I like it!”

“Then it must be the same for this flower. All of its friends are here too, and it likes being here. If Lia takes it away, it might not like that.”

“Hmm, really?”

“And flowers wither if you pick them. Wouldn’t it be sad if such a pretty flower withered?”

After Edwin’s persistent persuasion, Emilia’s face turned sullen.

“I’ll ask them to plant some in our garden later. So let’s let this one stay here, okay?”

At the prince’s coaxing, Emilia finally nodded. “Okay.”

“Good girl.” Edwin smiled brightly and patted his sister’s head.

Emilia, grinning like her brother, yawned. “Haaaah.”

“Lia, are you sleepy?”

“Uh-huh. When you pat my head, it makes me sleepy.”

Come to think of it, this was around the time Emilia usually took her afternoon nap.

“Shall we take a nap here?”

“Okay.”

“Come here.”

Edwin took off his jacket and covered his sister as she curled up beside him. Watching her, he also started to feel sleepy.

“Haaaah.”

Edwin stretched and lay down beside Emilia.

By now, Catherine must have noticed their absence and was probably panicking. Just imagining it made him chuckle.

With a light laugh, Edwin placed his hands behind his head and gazed at the sky.

This place, where Emma used to bring him often when she was alive, was the prince’s only refuge. Being the most secluded spot in the central garden, it was rarely visited by anyone other than the guards.

Whenever he missed Emma, he would sneak away and come here.

Recently, the strange new nanny had kept him too occupied to visit.

Perhaps it was because he felt so at ease, but his eyelids soon grew heavy. And so, a sweet nap ensued.

It was Emilia who woke up first.

“Mmm.”

Rubbing her eyes, Emilia looked around, then at her still-sleeping brother.

As she looked around, something caught her eye.

A white cat with yellow stripes. It seemed to beckon her with its tail before disappearing into the bushes.

“Kitty!”

Emilia’s eyes sparkled with excitement. There was no way she could resist a cat.

“Kitty! Kitty—!”

She jumped up and ran into the bushes.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

When Edwin rolled over in his sleep and realized the spot beside him was empty, Emilia was already gone.

“…Emilia?”

Edwin called his sister’s name in confusion.

But there was no response.

“Lia? Emilia!”

Driven by a sense of foreboding, Edwin shot to his feet.

“Emilia—! Where are you—!”

The young prince’s voice was more desperate than anyone else’s.

***

“Kitty, where are you?”

Emilia was crawling on all fours across the ground. The first princess of the empire had been brought to her knees—all in the pursuit of a cat.

“Kitty, come out and play with meee.”

She called out to the cat in the softest voice she could manage, but there was no response.

“I’m sure it came this way…”

Disappointed, the princess stood up with a pout.

That’s when it happened.

Meeowww—!

A sharp, distressed cry came from somewhere.

“It’s the cat!”

Elated at the thought of finally meeting the elusive creature, Emilia dashed toward the sound.

But when the young princess pushed through the densely packed bushes and reached the source, it wasn’t just the cat waiting for her.

“Kitty…!”

The smile on Emilia’s face slowly faded as she took in the scene before her.

A group of well-dressed boys stood gathered.

“Hahaha! You idiot, you can’t even hit it?”

“Shut up! It’s only because it’s struggling so much!”

An orange-haired boy, visibly annoyed, picked up a stone from the ground. His gaze was fixed on the cat dangling upside down from a tree branch—the very cat Emilia had been chasing.