The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: First Trial (4)

Assassins affiliated with Breath of the Angel are trained from a young age to distinguish between liars and those who tell the truth.

So it was obvious at a glance that Sage was telling the truth.

“When you get to be my age, you can tell just by looking into their eyes. Whether someone’s going to amount to something or not.”

The old sage’s faded eyes turned to me.

“That kid was someone who could’ve been something. That’s why it’s such a shame.”

Someone who could’ve been something. So what?

‘My life was twisted from the moment I was born anyway.’

I rose silently from my seat.

Hypocrisy is unpleasant, but sincere sympathy like that is even harder to bear.

It felt like standing barefoot on a bed of stones heated red-hot.

“Let’s not dawdle here. We have to leave before the sun sets.”

“Geez, what’s the rush! We have to pack and distribute the medicine too!”

“Medicine? But Leo said he can’t make it anymore…”

At the word ‘medicine,’ Edwin turned back with shining eyes.

“It’s not a complete cure. But if it’s administered in small doses over a long period, it can stop the disease’s progression. It’ll leave scars, though.”

The reason the medicine wasn’t given all at once but over time was simple.

If everyone in the village showed improvement at the same time, it would raise suspicions.

“I’ll handle distributing the medicine. Old man, just get going already.”

Just then, Leo, with a bandage on his arm, appeared from the back of the cabin.

Thanks to Sage administering the medicine in time, the poison in his body had long been neutralized.

“Also, you—come talk to me for a sec.”

Leo pulled Edwin by the wrist with a stern expression.

“What? You’re not stopping him?”

Sage looked at me curiously.

“He hasn’t gone far, so there’s no need.”

“You really are something. You might be the only attendant who lets a prince roam free.”

Sage smirked at my response.

As if he had some idea of my true identity. Though that couldn’t be.

“Enough talk, start packing. Before I knock you out and drag you.”

“Whoa, scary. You’re fiercer than you look. If I follow you, I’m not sure I’ll live to see another day.”

“Shall I bring just your head, then?”

“Alright, alright! I’ll pack already!”

I glared at Sage as he grumbled, then turned my head.

Through the half-open door, I saw the two boys standing face to face.

***

“Are you out of your mind?!”

Leo shouted without warning.

“Who told you to do something that crazy? What if you had died trying to save me?! What do you expect me to do? Live my whole life with that guilt?!”

“No, I…”

“What if that monster had killed both of us?!”

“But it didn’t!”

We lived, didn’t we? Then why was he yelling?

Edwin raised his voice against Leo, who was blaming him.

“If I hadn’t done that, we both would’ve died!”

“Even if you did, if we’d been unlucky, we still could’ve both died! If I hadn’t asked that woman you came with for help! If she’d arrived a little later! If Master hadn’t found me just a little later, we’d all be dead!”

Edwin tried to argue but stopped, his brows drooping.

In Leo’s eyes, much larger than his own, tears had welled up.

“Who asked you to save me anyway? If you died, I’d totally sleep just fine for the rest of my life!”

“Uh, are you… crying?”

“Who’s crying! Ugh, I’m just pissed off!”

Leo yelled again, then turned his head away.

He stared into the distance in silence for a long while before speaking again.

“…Hey.”

Edwin’s eyes widened as he waited for Leo to speak.

“…Thanks.”

It was a blunt thank-you.

Edwin’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

He couldn’t believe a thank-you came out of the same mouth that had just scolded him.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’! I mean, I lived thanks to you, so thanks! It’s only right to say it!”

Leo’s ears were flushed red as he turned his head.

Was it embarrassment, or anger?

“Anyway, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve been on my way to the afterlife. So thanks!”

“…Really?”

“Huh, of course really! You think I’m lying?”

Leo whipped his head around and glared at Edwin.

His face was just as red as his ears as he raised his voice.

“And quit making that dumb face! Makes it look like I’m bullying you or something!”

“Hey, dumb face?! I’m not dumb!”

“I didn’t say you were dumb—I said stop making that dumb face!”

“That’s the same thing! And you should stop squinting like that! You look scary!”

The two boys bickered back and forth until they were out of breath.

It was Leo who spoke again first.

“Whatever, just take this!”

Edwin tilted his head at the pouch Leo thrust at him.

“What’s this?”

“The magic stones you dug up today. Take them.”

“What?!”

The pouch was so heavy he needed both hands to hold it.

It had to be more than half of what both of them had dug up today.

Edwin stared at Leo with wide, flustered eyes. “You’re giving me all this? Is that okay?”

“Of course it is. You dug them up, didn’t you? Who else would take them?”

Leo waved his hand dismissively and added, “They’re worthless in this village anyway. If you take them outside and use them for something good, that’s good for the stones too.”

Edwin reluctantly accepted the pouch.

“…Uh, thanks.”

Mumbling a tiny thank-you, the prince suddenly bit his lip.

“Hey, Leo.”

Leo stared blankly at the prince who had, for the first time, called him by name.

“What?”

“So, um.”

Edwin hesitated for a moment, then cautiously spoke, “Do you want to come with me?”

Leo paused, surprised by the sudden invitation.

He seemed to think for a moment, then asked, “You mean to the palace?”

“Wait, you knew?”

Edwin gaped in surprise.

“That I’m a prince?”

“I just found out a bit ago. That old man Sage told me while treating my wound.”

Leo held up his bandaged right arm.

Edwin’s expression clouded at the sight of the injured arm.

“…Right. So I guess you don’t want to come with me.”

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Because… you don’t seem to like people of high status.”

Edwin mumbled in a small voice, and Leo responded in disbelief.

“What? What does that have to do with anything? Prince or not, the fact that you saved me doesn’t change. Why would I hate you?”

Leo scrunched his brows and pretended to glare at Edwin.

“And what about you? Just because I’m lower status than you, are you going to pretend I didn’t protect you from the monster?”

“What? That’s ridiculous! If it weren’t for you, I’d already be dead!”

“Exactly.”

Edwin let out a short sigh and fell silent.

Leo chuckled incredulously at that.

“Geez, if all nobles or royals were like you, the world would be a better place. But I doubt that’s true. Even I can tell you’re one of a kind.”

“One of a kind?”

“Means you’re different. Unique. In a good way.”

One of a kind. Different from others. Unique.

It was a phrase Edwin had never heard in his life. But it didn’t feel bad.

In fact, he rather liked this new nickname.

“So, you’re coming with me, right?”

“Nope, not going.”

Edwin’s face fell at the flat rejection.

“Why not?”

“What do you mean why? You already said the reason.”

“I did?”

“Yeah. You said I’m someone this village needs. So I have to stay.”

Leo shrugged.

“And you’re right. If both that old man and I leave, this village will fall apart.”

For the first time, he showed a playful smile on his usually blunt face.

“So go on and do your best with that old man.”

Leo placed his hand on Edwin’s much smaller shoulder.

“So that one day, I can come find you all on my own.”

***

Getting out of Luxen Village wasn’t difficult.

As Sage had said, the guards’ observational skills were terribly lacking, which made it possible.

On top of that, there was the preconceived notion that a cleric would never lie.

“Your Highness, I think it would be best for you to get inside the carriage. It’s dangerous in the dark.”

“I can’t sleep because Master is snoring too loudly.”

Edwin said it was too noisy inside the carriage and came up to sit beside me on the driver’s seat.

He claimed Sage’s snoring had surpassed human limits.

“Then shall we tie him to the back and drag him along?”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“I’m always sincere.”

Edwin grimaced at my reply and shook his head.

“Hey, there’s something I want to ask.”

He fiddled with his fingers atop his knees, then asked a question with a deliberately serious face, “What should I do so that Leo can come to see me?”

Leo, huh. Calling him by name so familiarly.

Well, it’s true that people who overcome hardships together often grow close.

“That boy even turned down Your Highness’s offer to come to the palace.” I asked back in a detached voice, “So why are you asking something like that?”

“No reason. Just curious.”

A truly simple and clear reason.

After thinking for a moment, I gave an equally simple answer.

“There’s only one way to let that boy come see Your Highness himself.”

“What is it?”

“You get rid of the plague village.”

At my answer, Edwin suddenly let out a shrill cry.

“No! It can’t disappear! That’s Leo’s hometown!”

“Your Highness, that place isn’t his hometown. No, it isn’t anyone’s hometown.”

“Why not?”

Edwin frowned at my words.

“Isn’t your hometown the place you were born and raised?”

“Your Highness, a prison cannot be called a hometown.”

That’s right. That place was a prison.

No one lived there by their own will.

“Hmm.” Edwin seemed to chew over my words, then asked again, “Then how do you get rid of the plague village?”

“…Why are you asking that again?”

“No reason. Just curious.”

Why is he always ‘just curious’? He sure is curious about a lot.

I glanced at him as he gave a vague answer.

“There are two ways to eliminate the plague village.”

First, distribute the cure for the plague.

Second, the Emperor of the Empire grants the patients in the plague village their freedom.

“But both are realistically impossible.”

“What? Why?”

To the naïve prince who asked in an innocent voice, I gave a firm reply.

“Because that would lead to either war or uprising.”