The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Reflection (1)

After the commotion in the central garden, we safely returned to the Third Prince’s Palace.

I immediately examined Emilia’s injuries. Fortunately, she only had severe bruises on her skin, with no damage to her bones or muscles.

Considering she had been kicked by a growing boy and came away with only this, she was incredibly lucky.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Your Highness. If only I hadn’t left my post, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Meanwhile, Catherine was horrified to see the deep bruises on Emilia. She couldn’t stop crying until the princess’s treatment was complete.

Sitting by the bedside with her swollen face, she looked utterly pitiful.

“Crying won’t heal Her Highness’s wounds. Please stop now, or you’ll wake her.”

“N-nanny…”

I ignored the sniffling Catherine and grabbed ointment and a towel.

“Why did you leave your post so carelessly?”

“T-that is…”

“You wouldn’t have been able to take responsibility if something happened to either of Their Highnesses.”

At my words, tears streamed even more fiercely from Catherine’s already swollen eyes.

Seeing those large, guilt-ridden eyes made me feel uneasy.

“…The greatest fault lies with me, the nanny, for leaving my post. It is not solely your fault.”

“T-that’s not true! No, Nanny, you did nothing wrong! It was my fault for presumptuously insisting on accompanying Their Highnesses…”

“Enough. What’s done is done. What matters is ensuring this never happens again.”

“Sniff, yes! I promise this will never happen again! Never!”

Catherine wiped away her tears and nodded vigorously.

I stood up.

“Then, I will go see Prince Edwin. I’ll call a maid to look after Her Highness—”

“No, I will stay here today.”

“What about your duties as head maid?”

“I can handle them tomorrow. Children are fragile. They might develop a fever later or feel pain somewhere else…”

Catherine couldn’t take her eyes off the princess.

Her warm hazel eyes, gazing at the child, were filled with regret and sorrow.

“I understand. Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

I quietly left the room. A kind-hearted sinner needed time to atone on their own.

***

“I’m coming in.”

Even after knocking, there was no response, so I opened the prince’s door without hesitation.

Edwin stood motionless by the window.

Outside, heavy rain poured down.

“Your Highness, your injuries—”

“How is Emilia?”

He continued staring outside as he spoke.

There was no strength in his voice.

“Her Highness has just finished treatment and fallen asleep.”

“Was she badly hurt?”

“It looks severe, but it’s only bruising. She’ll recover quickly.”

Hearing my words, the prince gave a small nod.

“You need to treat your wounds as well, Your Highness.”

“I’m fine.”

“I saw the wound on your face earlier. Let me apply ointment—”

I reached out toward Edwin.

At that moment, he swatted my arm away and shouted, “I said I’m fine—!”

The medicine container slipped from my hand and rolled noisily across the floor.

“Ah…”

Edwin looked flustered at what he had done.

Shrinking his shoulders, he raised his voice unnecessarily.

“I already said I’m fine, why—ugh!”

“That’s not a fine-looking face.”

In an instant, I grabbed Edwin’s chin, and his face flushed red.

“W-what are you doing?! You can’t just touch a prince’s face—”

“Your Highness, when you realize your own mistake, you should be angry at yourself. Not at others.”

Hearing my emotionless, cold voice, the young prince’s eyes wavered.

“So stop taking it out on others like this.”

Edwin’s eyelashes trembled.

Without another word, he lowered his gaze.

‘Finally, he’s calmed down.’

Only then was I able to examine Edwin’s injuries.

Despite taking just a single punch, his lip was split.

“You took quite the hit.”

“Ow, that hurts!”

“You said you were fine earlier.”

Ignoring his whining, I held him still and applied the ointment.

Luckily, his face was the only place injured.

“Today, Your Highness made two mistakes.”

“What?”

“First, you left the palace with the princess without an attendant.”

I released his chin.

“Second, you recklessly attacked someone stronger than you without a plan.”

“So I was supposed to just stand there like a coward in that situation?!”

“Weaklings are supposed to be cowards.”

Edwin’s eyes widened at my words.

“That’s how you survive.”

His face twisted in frustration, and he raised his voice. “So just surviving is all that matters? Even if you’re treated like something worse than an insect, as long as you survive, that’s enough?!”

“Of course.”

I answered firmly, my face devoid of expression.

“There is nothing more important than survival in life.”

“But…!”

“And a meaningless rebellion from someone who does not know their place will only provoke their opponent’s anger.”

At my words, Edwin’s face contorted as if wounded.

“So you’re saying I should have just stood there while Emilia was kicked?”

“You should have avoided it.”

“…What?”

For a moment, his large blue eyes trembled.

“To begin with, Your Highness remained silent when the Second Prince compared Princess Emilia to an animal. You also stayed quiet when he poured tea over her hand.”

“……”

I asked expressionlessly, “Why did you not endure it until the end?”

“That—that’s…!”

“Shall I answer for you? You endured it the first two times because you could. If you just endured for a moment, it would pass.”

Edwin’s face flushed bright red. Clenching his fists tightly, he retorted, “Insults can be ignored, and the tea wasn’t even hot…!”

“I am not reprimanding you for being a coward. In fact, I think you did well.”

I looked down at Edwin coldly.

“The problem was the last time. You were too reckless.”

Had he remained a coward, the situation would not have escalated. The issue was that he acted recklessly in the end without a plan.

“If it were me, I would have tried to appease the Second Prince, restrained Princess Emilia, and found a way to leave the scene.”

Even if it meant being called a coward, that would have been the best choice for Edwin at this moment.

“Your Highness, do you remember the promise you made to the princess last night?”

I looked into Edwin’s clear, wide eyes and continued speaking.

“A promise to protect someone should not be made lightly.”

At my words, Edwin bit his lip.

“Had His Majesty not intervened, no one could predict what would have happened to you both.”

“I… I…”

Edwin finally lowered his head to the floor.

“You said you would not live as a coward. But for now, it would be better if you did.”

I spoke while looking down at his crestfallen head.

“For Princess Emilia’s sake. And for your own.”

My voice was so cold that even I could not sense any emotion in it.

But it could not be helped.

‘Because I will not always be there to help him like this.’

I turned away, looking at Edwin, who remained silent with his head bowed.

Just as I was about to quietly leave the prince’s room—

“Wait.”

Edwin, his eyes full of questions, looked toward me.

“But how did you know what happened to Emilia?”

His brows furrowed as if he could not understand.

“You arrived when I was fighting Lloyd.”

Sharp, unnecessarily so.

I averted my gaze slightly before answering honestly, “I was there even earlier.”

“What? So you saw everything that happened to Emilia and me?”

Edwin looked up at me with hurt eyes.

“And you just watched without doing anything?”

“Yes.”

I had arrived at the scene just as Edwin found Emilia. But I had deliberately chosen not to step in.

That was because of what Catherine had said upon seeing the Second Prince.

“What do we do? His Highness the Second Prince always torments Prince Edwin whenever he sees him!”

Her words overlapped with the fear on Edwin’s face.

So I watched.

I wanted to see if he could truly handle the situation alone, even when facing someone he feared.

“Why? You’re my nanny! You said you would protect me!”

Edwin looked at me as if I had betrayed him.

“You’re supposed to be on my side! So why?!”

He clung to my dress.

“Why didn’t you help me? Why did you just stand there and watch?!”

I looked down at the young prince.

A pure and naïve child.

One who could so easily speak of protecting others and refusing to be a coward.

That was why I wanted him to learn through bitter experience.

To understand the weight of his own words.

I slowly pried his hands off my dress.

“I have already helped as much as I could.”

Even stepping into the conflict between the princes was a great risk for me.

A mere nanny interfering in royal matters could be grounds for execution.

Had His Majesty or the King of Adamant not intervened, I would have been the one in grave danger.

“Remember this, Your Highness.”

I spoke to the young prince with genuine sincerity.

“As long as you remain weak, unless you learn to be a coward, you will not be able to protect yourself, others, or anything at all.”