The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: A Wish and a Promise (2)

“I’ll use the second wish right away.”

Emma held my hand with a sorrowful look.

She looked up at me, now much taller than her, and forced a smile.

“If the work you’re doing ever becomes too hard, come back anytime. Kyla, you know that, right?”

Even though she knew I couldn’t return, she still said those words.

“We’re not related by blood, but we’re still family.”

Yes, she was my only ‘family.’

The only person I thought of as family.

Emma patted my shoulder and smiled playfully.

“I’ll save the last wish. Who knows, you might disappear again without a word.”

She glanced at the setting sun and suddenly turned around in surprise.

“Oh my, it’s gotten so late.”

Just as she was about to run back into the house, she looked back at me.

“Kyla, will you stay for dinner? I made your favorite stew.”

That day, when the evening glow was especially beautiful—

I cried for the first and last time at her words.

“K-Kyla, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you suddenly crying?”

I couldn’t help it.

Because even knowing I was a killing machine, she still said something so casual like staying for dinner.

Because I knew all too well that as Kyla Angel, I could never stay by her side again.

That was the fate of those who lived by taking lives.

Those who walk the night could never be with those who lived in the day.

We were allowed only to pass each other briefly, like the fleeting moment when night and day meet.

Before the sun finished setting, I parted ways with her.

Because I had to return to the world I belonged to before nightfall.

“To use the last wish like this… You’ve grown sly in your absence.”

It was laughable.

As if she’d saved that final wish knowing this moment would come.

“……”

I clenched my fists.

Honestly, I could’ve just ignored a request from the dead.

It wasn’t even something she wished for herself.

Why should I waste my time on a child who had nothing to do with me?

‘Damn it.’

But no—it wasn’t like that anymore.

Edwin, Emilia—they were no longer people unrelated to me.

In the end, it had turned out that way.

“You just have to protect me! You’re my nanny!”

“Lia likes Achel!”

When I closed my eyes to calm my tangled thoughts, I remembered the question the princess had asked not long ago.

“Achel, what are you scared of?”

What am I scared of?

‘This.’

When I opened my eyes again, I saw Edwin.

Burning with fever, having lost the people most precious to him.

‘In the end, the scariest thing is…’

The feelings people have for one another.

Emotions that reason cannot control.

“…Ha.”

I let out a hollow sigh.

Still—a promise was a promise.

If Emma’s final request was for the Third Prince to be happy—

I quietly looked down at Edwin, still gripping my hand like a lifeline.

‘If that’s all it is…’

Then I would grant that request.

Even if it meant postponing my revenge.

***

“Nanny, is it true?”

Catherine jumped up from her seat at my words.

“You really mean it?”

Her eyes sparkled with joy.

“You’re really not quitting being our nanny?”

“I told you I’m not.”

“Oh my gosh! That’s such a relief!”

Catherine ran around the desk and hugged me tight.

It was so sudden, I couldn’t avoid it.

I froze for a moment before frowning and pushing her away.

“You’re suffocating me.”

“Ah, sorry!”

She quickly let go and held out her right hand.

“Let’s continue working well together.”

I hesitated a moment, then shook her hand.

“But Nanny, didn’t you say you had something important to do? Is it alright now?” Catherine asked with concern as we shook hands. “You didn’t give it up because of this job, did you?”

“That’s not it.”

I wasn’t planning to give up on finding Ian just because I continued working as a nanny.

Instead, I decided to change my approach.

I would use this place as my base and start gathering information from outside.

That seemed like the safer way to face Ian.

‘Even Ian would have to take a risk to break into the palace himself.’

Just as I was thinking that I needed to head out soon to learn more about Ian—

“By the way, Nanny, have you told Their Highnesses yet?”

“Told them what.”

“That you’re not leaving.”

“Do I really have to say it explicitly?”

“Of course you do! They still think you’re going away!”

I was the one who said I was leaving, and now to turn around and say I’m not—that felt awkward.

“Even Prince Edwin thinks so because of what Princess Emilia told him!”

Just the other day, having fully recovered from his cold, Edwin was completely ignoring me.

As if there was nothing more to say to someone who was about to leave.

“Then Catherine, why don’t you tell them yourself.”

Catherine raised her eyebrows at my words. “Nannyyy, what did you tell me last time?”

“What did I say?”

“You said you’re someone who takes full responsibility for your own actions! So finish what you started properly.”

Even seeing my reluctant expression, Catherine didn’t back down.

“You’re the one who told Princess Emilia you were leaving, so take care of it yourself. Got it?”

“But—”

“Come on now, go deliver the good news! Off you go, Nanny!”

In the end, I had no choice but to be pushed out the door by Catherine.

And I felt a small pang of regret for having let her out of the storage room that day.

***

As usual, Edwin was doing his absolute best to ignore me today.

Or rather, it might be more accurate to say he was trying really hard not to ignore me.

He sat in the middle of the back garden, deliberately far away from me.

“Brother, can Lia play with Achel too?”

“No.”

Edwin was braiding clover flowers to make a crown for his sister.

Emilia looked at his hands with a sulky face. “Why not? Lia wants to play with Achel too.”

“She’s leaving us tomorrow anyway. Why would you want to play with someone like that?”

At Edwin’s words, Emilia looked visibly dejected.

“Don’t worry. You have me, right? You don’t need someone like her.”

“But Brother, you’re weak.”

“…What?”

“It’s true.”

The little princess continued without realizing what kind of face Edwin was making.

She was young, but smarter than other children her age.

She just lacked the words to express it well.

“Brother always gets beaten by bad guys. But Achel always saves Lia.”

That night when the storm raged, and even when the demon-like Second Prince attacked—

It wasn’t the prince who saved the princess.

“And Brother’s always sick. Weaker than Lia. You can’t protect Lia.”

There was no malice in her words.

She was just stating facts.

But it was more than enough to shatter Edwin’s already fragile pride.

“Waaaah—!”

“Your Highness!”

I rushed over from where I had been watching from a distance.

Because Edwin suddenly shoved Emilia’s shoulder.

She fell backwards onto the grass with a thud.

“Hwaaaaah—! Achel—! Brother pushed me!”

I quickly picked the princess up and looked at Edwin.

It was the first time he had treated his sister so roughly.

Usually, they shared even a single bean between them—what was going on now?

“Your Highness, what are you—”

But I couldn’t finish.

Because tears were falling from Edwin’s eyes.

“I don’t… I don’t need someone like you either—!”

His flushed face twisted as he bit his lip.

The moment our eyes met, Edwin threw the clover crown he was holding at my face.

“I don’t need someone like you either—!”

After shouting that, he turned and ran off.

Really now, how could that little prince throw plants in someone’s face and run off without even an apology?

“Ptooey—”

I spat out the leaves that had gotten into my mouth, scowling.

Meanwhile, Emilia, shocked by her brother’s words, started bawling even harder.

“Uwaaaah—! Brother said he doesn’t need Lia—! I hate Brother—!”

“Nanny, what’s going on—!”

Perhaps thanks to the princess’s thunderous voice, Catherine came running from the office.

“It’s nothing. Please take care of Her Highness for a moment.”

“Huh? If it’s nothing, why is she crying so much?”

I handed Emilia over to Catherine and fixed my shoes.

“Nanny?”

“I’m going to fetch him.”

“Huh? Fetch who?”

Who else but that bratty prince.

I didn’t bother answering and instead took off running.

“Nanny! Wait! Where are you going?”

“To fetch His Highness, of course—!”

“No, wait, more like chasing him down—oh dear, what am I saying! I meant catching him, definitely catching—”

Leaving behind Catherine’s concerned rambling, I sprinted off.

To catch the little prince who still didn’t know how to properly deal with his own temper tantrums.