The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The One I Couldn’t Protect (3)

“What are you doing? Take it already!”

Emilia looked at the teacup and then at Lloyd with displeasure.

Growing anxious, Edwin began coaxing her. “Emilia, Second Brother is apologizing to you. Take it quickly.”

“No!”

“Emilia! Hurry!”

“No—!”

“Emilia—! Listen to me!”

“Uuugh!”

Emilia groaned, expressing her frustration. She hated the person in front of her, her second brother. He was the one who had just ordered her to be tied up, and the one who had fired an arrow at her.

However, with Edwin pressing her, she had no choice. Reluctantly, the princess extended her hand.

Seeing this, Lloyd smiled broadly. “Yes, gifts should be received with your hands.”

Drip—

Lloyd tilted the teacup, pouring the tea directly onto Emilia’s outstretched hand.

“Waaah—!”

“Emilia!”

The startled Edwin grabbed Emilia’s hand and pulled her into his arms. Luckily, the tea had cooled, and it didn’t seem like she had been burned.

“Hahaha!”

Lloyd burst into laughter at the sight.

“Did you really get scared? Did you think I’d harm such a worthless little girl?”

He was certainly capable of it. The Lloyd that Edwin knew had that kind of temperament.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. She’s not hurt. Emilia is safe.’

As Edwin hugged his sister and panted heavily, something warm trickled down from above his head.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay out of my sight?” Lloyd spoke as he held an upside-down teapot. “How can someone like you be a prince with the same rights as me? I just don’t get it.”

To Lloyd, Edwin was just a fancy shell. They were merely half-brothers who shared the imperial bloodline.

‘But still.’

Lloyd frowned. He remembered an old nanny who once raised her voice to protect Edwin in front of him.

‘I don’t understand.’

What was so likable about someone who had nothing, no support from his maternal family?

‘Why did she bother protecting him?’

Every time he saw Edwin crying bitterly, being comforted by that old nanny’s gentle words, it filled him with rage. Although he couldn’t understand why.

“This is your only warning, remember it.”

Lloyd threw the empty teapot to an attendant and turned around. But he didn’t make it more than two steps.

“You villain—! Apologize to my brother!”

Emilia bit his calf with all her strength.

“Ugh! You little brat—!”

Losing his temper, Lloyd kicked Emilia, who was clinging to his left leg, with his other foot.

In the moment that his sister was kicked in front of him, Edwin’s pupils contracted. It felt like a thin thread in his head had snapped. At the same time, Emma’s face, smiling with closed eyes, flashed in his mind.

With a scream, Edwin lunged at Lloyd.

“Aaaaah—!”

“Ugh!”

Edwin toppled the Second Prince and climbed on top of him, throwing his fists wildly.

It was a brawl.

Edwin, crying, screamed at the top of his lungs. “What did I do so wrong—!”

“You bastard—!”

“My sister didn’t do anything wrong either! Why did you touch her—! Why!”

As if releasing all his pent-up anger, Edwin’s punches showed no hesitation. He seemed to overwhelm Lloyd, who was taller by a head.

But it didn’t last long. Edwin couldn’t defeat the Second Prince, who had trained under an excellent teacher since childhood.

Lloyd grabbed Edwin’s arm and quickly reversed their positions. Without hesitation, he struck Edwin’s face. Blood formed on the lips of the Third Prince.

“Fool.”

Lloyd looked down at his brother with wild eyes.

“Fine, I’ll teach you. Just how pathetic and lacking you are.”

He grabbed Edwin by the collar and raised his right hand high.

“Just one or two punches won’t be enough.”

With a chilling threat, his fist was about to come down.

“Stop it.”

Lloyd frowned at the sight of his arm being held mid-air.

A woman he had never seen before was the one who had stopped him. Judging by her attire, she seemed to be a maid working in the palace. But to dare block the way of a prince.

“Let go….”

Lloyd tried to shake off her hand in annoyance. However, his arm didn’t budge from her grip.

‘What is this? Such strength?’

Lloyd was taken aback. He was still young, but he had trained for a long time, making him stronger than his peers. There was no way he could be so easily held back by a mere maid.

With a look of disbelief, Lloyd shouted, “Who are you? Do you even know who I am?!”

But the woman just looked at him with cold eyes. She held onto Lloyd’s wrist even tighter.

***

“Princess Emilia! Oh my goodness—!”

Catherine screamed when she saw Emilia lying on the lawn. After making sure she had picked up the princess, I turned my attention away.

The Second Prince was glaring at me as if he could tear me apart. I looked him over carefully.

‘Second Prince, Lloyd Cathalonian Ventrume.’

Thanks to Catherine’s tip, I had recognized him immediately. He was the only child born between the current emperor and the Second Empress, Helena Redcliffe.

Perhaps because he had the backing of the Marquisate of Redcliffe, said to be the richest in the empire, Lloyd seemed to lack any sense of restraint.

‘He doesn’t resemble the emperor at all except for his hair and eye color.’

Since the Second Empress was famous for her beauty, that was probably a good thing for Lloyd.

As I considered Lloyd’s appearance, two knights who seemed to be his guards came running from a distance. They had probably been keeping watch, concerned that someone might see the prince’s malicious behavior.

As soon as one of the knights saw me, he drew his sword.

“You wretch! Release the prince immediately! How dare you lay a hand on His Highness!”

I threw Lloyd’s wrist aside as soon as the knight finished speaking. Lloyd stumbled backward toward the knights.

“You insolent—!”

“Your Highness, are you alright?!”

“Did you see that…?”

Ignoring the enraged Second Prince, I helped Edwin to his feet.

“Are you alright?”

“H-How did you…?”

Edwin looked at me with wide eyes, as if he hadn’t expected me to appear.

He was a mess. Dirt and grass stains covered his clothes, and his face was streaked with tears and blood from his split lip. If someone saw him, they would mistake him for a street urchin, not a prince.

“You insolent woman! Kneel and apologize to His Highness right now!”

Just then, one of the guards yelled at me.

He still had his blade pointed at me. Brandishing a sharp sword at an unarmed civilian—this knight had no sense of honor.

‘Ah, well. Most knights only cared about appearances; they were all despicable and narrow-minded people.’

Clicking my tongue internally, I bowed my head with an indifferent expression. “I apologize. As the Third Prince’s nanny, I couldn’t simply watch what was happening before my eyes. Please forgive me.”

“Hah! To think you’d speak of forgiveness so easily!”

The knight seemed taken aback at how readily I apologized.

“A nanny, is it?”

At that moment, Lloyd raised an eyebrow as if he had learned something interesting.

“So, you’re the nanny who replaced that insolent old woman?”

Instead of answering, I stared at Lloyd silently.

“How amusing. The master may be nothing but a Shabby Prince, but the nannies all act so arrogantly.”

He looked me up and down, smiling derisively.

“Edwin, if you needed a dog to bark for you, you should have picked one that was stronger and smarter. Not some clueless fool. Once might be a mistake, but twice…”

Lloyd turned his gaze to Edwin, who was trembling beside me.

“Couldn’t that only mean the master’s intentions?”

“B-Brother….”

“But I can’t punish the master directly, so I’ll have to punish the dog for the wrongdoing.”

The Second Prince called over one of the knights in a casual tone.

“A mere nanny dared lay a hand on the body of a prince without permission, and even pushed me. The crime is grave. Cut off her hand for insulting the imperial family.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The knight approached me without hesitation.

“Nanny!”

Catherine, who was behind me, screamed in horror. But the knight did not stop.

“No! Stop it!”

Even as Edwin, now fully alert, tried his best to block the knight, it was useless. The knight paid him no attention, pushing him aside with one arm before standing in front of me.

“Now, give me your arm….”

Just as the knight was about to grab my arm, I quickly lay on the ground and hugged Edwin, who had been pushed away.

“Insolence—!”

As soon as I shouted, a mix of surprise and confusion spread across everyone’s faces.

“Prince Lloyd! A mere knight dared lay a hand on a prince without permission and even pushed him. The crime is grave. Cut off his hand for insulting the imperial family!”

“What, what did you say?”

The knight turned his head in shock. He looked between me and the fallen Edwin before turning to Lloyd with a dazed expression, silently asking what to do.

‘It’s working.’

In the meantime, I smiled as I sensed the growing presence behind us.

Beyond the bushes.

The emperor’s flag, fluttering in the wind, was drawing closer and closer.