The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Save the Master! (2)

“I see. But are you sure I can come along too? Really?”

“Your Highness begged to be brought along.”

“When did I? I just said it wouldn’t be fair for you to go alone to find my tutor!”

“Let’s leave it at that. Quiet now, and get in. We need to depart immediately.”

“Alright, alright, stop nagging.”

Edwin pouted as he climbed into the carriage.

Since borrowing a carriage from the imperial stables would leave a record, I had hired a private one from outside.

“But if someone finds out I left the palace, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“Don’t worry. I asked Catherine to cover for us.”

By rule, princes couldn’t leave the capital before their coming-of-age ceremony.

But it was said the First and Second Princes visited their maternal homes dozens of times each month.

At this point, it was a rule in name only—whether caught or not, it didn’t matter.

“Still, if we get caught, Catherine will be punished too.”

“Don’t worry. She said she was happy to help.”

If Catherine had heard that, she would have fainted on the spot.

“It’s too dangerous, Nanny! If we get caught, we’re all dead!”

She had objected until the very end and only accepted because she had no other choice.

Honestly, it would’ve been strange if she had cheerfully agreed to let a prince go out without an escort.

Had I not lied and said we’d hire guards outside, she wouldn’t have budged.

“She said to spread the rumor that His Highness suddenly had an upset stomach and spent the whole day running between the bedroom and the bathroom. That way, no one will get suspicious.”

“Why would you make up that kind of excuse…”

Though grumbling for a while, Edwin quickly regained his cheerful demeanor.

His first outing clearly had him excited.

“So, where exactly are we going?”

“To Luxen Village.”

“Luxen Village?”

Edwin tilted his head for a moment, then his expression turned to shock.

As if he’d just heard a forbidden name.

“No way, right?”

His excited face went pale.

“It’s not that Luxen Village, right? It’s a different one, isn’t it?”

“Since when has the Empire had more than one Luxen Village?”

“I—I’m not going! Let me out! Let me out now!”

Edwin began flailing as if to jump out of the carriage, but he couldn’t.

The carriage was already speeding down the road to Luxen Village.

Yes.

Our destination was none other than Luxen Village, a three- to four-hour ride from the capital.

The only plague village in the Ventrume Empire.

***

“Does Catherine know too?” Edwin asked with a tearful voice.

He trembled and bit his nails in disbelief. “Luxen Village? That’s absurd.”

I gently pulled Edwin’s hand away from his mouth and answered calmly, “Catherine knows too.”

“Liar!”

“……”

“I knew it! You lied to me!”

In truth, even Catherine didn’t know we were going to Luxen Village.

She’d already made a fuss about going without an escort—had she known we were heading to a plague village…

We wouldn’t have even made it out the gate.

I stared at the terrified Edwin. “Are you that afraid?”

“Of course I am! It’s a plague village—we could die if we go there!”

I could understand his reaction.

‘Well, any imperial citizen would react that way.’

Luxen Village—the quarantine village for those infected with ‘Scale Disease.’

A highly fatal illness with no proper cure.

Even survivors were left disfigured, earning it the nickname ‘the Devil’s Curse.’

The only known treatment was prolonged exposure to strong holy power.

But that required money.

Clerics capable of healing with holy power were extremely rare, even among clergy.

Hiring one alone cost a fortune.

So unless you were royalty or a high noble, you couldn’t even think of calling one.

Poor citizens could only await death once infected.

“When I said no, it was Your Highness who insisted on coming. You said you wouldn’t regret it.”

Edwin raised his voice in protest. “That was before I knew it was Luxen Village! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have let you go either!”

“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”

“What if we both catch Scale Disease?!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

“How would you know that?! Turn the carriage around! I’m getting out!”

Edwin leapt up from his seat, his face twisted in fear.

“What are you doing?! Sit down this instant!”

“Stop the carriage! I said stop it—!”

“It’s dangerous! I said it’s dangerous! Sit down!”

“Stop it, stop iiiiit!”

“You’re the one who begged to come! That’s enough already!”

“No, no! I’m not going! I said I’m not going!”

The boy yelling out the window all of a sudden made things difficult.

“Your Highness, trust me! Even if we go to Luxen Village, we won’t catch Scale Disease!”

“Don’t lie! How am I supposed to believe that?!”

“Because I went there a long time ago, and I was fine!”

“What? What are you saying…?!”

Just as the flustered Edwin tried to say more—

Hiiiiiing—

With a startled whinny, the carriage came to a stop.

“D-Don’t tell me we’ve already arrived?”

“…Stay quiet.”

Outside, the presence of dozens could be sensed.

A bad feeling surged through my entire body.

***

“To think I’d live to say we’re starving to death as bandits.”

The man spat on the ground, then looked around at the subordinates gathered around him.

“What do you idiots think about this situation, huh?”

But none of them could easily answer.

Even if they knew the answer, saying it outright would surely earn them a beating.

“You’ve got mouths, so talk, you dumb bastards!”

“Aack, B-boss!”

But silence earned beatings all the same.

The man kicked the shin of the subordinate standing in front of him, grinding his teeth as cold sweat trickled down their backs.

Just then, one of them stepped forward. “B-boss, but this is the road to Luxen Village. It’s always been a quiet route… Maybe we picked the wrong spot.”

It was true.

It had been nearly twenty years since Scale Disease became widespread.

Maybe that’s why.

Clerics and doctors rarely visited Luxen Village anymore.

Thanks to that, the bandits and thieves in the area were suffering a sudden recession.

The ‘Jerry Bandits’ were no exception.

The man named Jerry, leader of the Jerry Bandits, spat curses after hearing his subordinate’s words.

“Damn it! Like I don’t already know that! What we need is a solution, a damn solution!”

“Boss!”

At that moment, a subordinate sent out for scouting came running over, panting.

“What?!”

“A target has appeared!”

“What?!”

Joy flashed across Jerry’s face at the rare news—then doubt.

He narrowed his eyes at the subordinate.

“They’re not another bunch of penniless zealots, are they?”

Most travelers to Luxen were usually clerics performing penance.

They had no money, and not even a shred of common sense—no gain to be had.

No one in their right mind would walk into a plague zone, after all.

But the subordinate shook his head brightly. “I don’t think so! There were no escorts!”

Even the lowest-ranking cleric didn’t travel outside temples without a paladin or two.

That was the custom of the theocratic nation, the ‘Holy Kingdom.’

“So not a cleric. Any other details?”

“There was a woman inside the carriage!”

“What? A woman?”

“Yes! Just her and some little kid!”

The mention of a woman and child made the bandits’ eyes gleam.

Even if a woman had nothing, that didn’t matter.

If she was young and pretty, she could fetch a high price from slave traders.

‘A girl traveling by carriage without a guard… Probably not a noble, but maybe a merchant’s daughter. Jackpot.’

If she belonged to a wealthy merchant family, even if they couldn’t sell her, they could demand ransom.

‘The kid must be a servant. Whatever.’

If the kid was cute enough, they could be sold too—boy or girl didn’t matter.

“Kahahaha!”

Jerry, the leader, sprang to his feet.

“Right, no such thing as hopeless luck!”

Laughing heartily at the fortune fallen into their laps, he shouted, “What are you lot waiting for?! Get ready! We’re going to greet our lady guest!”

“Yaaahhh!”

The bandits hollered in excitement and charged down the ridge.

Unaware that the future awaiting them wasn’t rose-tinted, but blood-red.

***

“Come out nicely, miss!”

“We don’t want to get rough, you know! Hahahaha—!”

The Jerry Bandits jeered as they surrounded the carriage.

Soon after, the door opened without a sound.

A lone woman stepped down.

The child inside seemed to be lying down, asleep.

But the brown-haired woman who exited the carriage showed no sign of fear despite the sudden appearance of the bandits.

With a blank expression, she simply looked at them in silence.