The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: First Trial (5)

‘Obviously.’

If the cure were distributed, it would mean war with the Holy Kingdom, and if the people of the plague village were set free, the citizens of the Empire wouldn’t stand for it.

“Haaaa, so that’s how it is.”

After hearing my answer, Edwin let out a long sigh.

He wore an expression full of worry, quite unbefitting a child.

“Why are you sighing, Your Highness?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

What useless thoughts is he having in that tiny head of his again?

I glanced at Edwin’s face, then turned my head.

“I’ll speed up. We have to get in before the gates close.”

With a firm flick of the reins, the carriage picked up speed.

Behind the dust-kicked wheels, long shadows stretched.

A particularly long day was coming to an end.

***

Leaving the village was easy, but the real issue began after arriving at the Third Prince’s Palace.

“…Huh.”

Catherine looked utterly horrified the moment she saw Sage.

After all, the person who had gone out to fetch the prince’s teacher had returned with someone who looked more like a vagrant. No wonder she was shocked.

“Wow, said you had nothing, but you live in quite the place, huh? Oh? Even though it’s the palace, everything here’s so high-class.”

Seriously, what about him says ‘sage’? He looked more like a washed-up old thug off the streets.

Sage wandered the drawing room nonchalantly.

“Hmm?”

Just then, the door opened and Princess Emilia entered.

The moment their eyes met, Sage flinched and stepped half a pace back.

“Grampa? Who are you?”

“…Huh?”

Sage pointed at Emilia and turned his head.

“What is this puppy?”

“Whaaat? Lia’s not a puppy! I’m a person!”

“Wow, the puppy talks.”

“Lia’s not a puppy!”

“Sure you are. A mutt? No, maybe a golden pup at this level?”

“I said I’m not!”

When the strange old man called her a puppy, Emilia burst into a tantrum.

“Nooo! Nooo!”

“What’s not?”

“I’m not a puppy!”

“Then what are you?”

“Lia’s a person! A princess!”

“…A princess?”

Sage furrowed his brows, then suddenly widened his eyes as if he remembered something.

He quickly squatted to eye level with Emilia.

“Ohh, so you’re the First Princess! Emilia Luce Ventrume!”

“Excuse me!”

Catherine raised her voice, no longer able to hold back.

“How dare you utter Her Highness the Princess’s name so carelessly! Show some respect!”

“Please. Why bother with useless formalities just to say a kid’s name?”

“W-what did you say?”

Sage didn’t even pretend to listen to Catherine.

Instead, he lifted Emilia into the air with both hands.

“Kyaaa, Princess Emilia!”

When an outsider touched the princess, Catherine nearly fainted in shock.

“Yes, yes. Our dear Princess, nice to meet you. You can just call me Grandpa, okay?”

“Uhh…”

Emilia stared at Sage with wide eyes, clearly startled.

Then, spotting the bushy beard hanging from his chin, her eyes sparkled.

“Cloud!”

“Ack!”

Emilia grabbed Sage’s beard with both hands and started shaking it wildly.

“Kyaa! A cloud! A cloud!”

“A-a cloud?! That’s a part of my body, kid! Let go!”

“Lia wants to eat the cloud!”

“Aaaaah! Don’t put it in your mouth!”

Sage tried to set Emilia down, but it was too late.

She had such a firm grip on his beard that he couldn’t make her let go.

“Ugh, forget going bald, she’s going to rip off my beard first!”

“Ehehe! High, high!”

“What do you mean high! Let go, you little mutt!”

“Lia’s not a mutt!”

“Ah, ah! Fine, I got it! Just stop yanking so hard!”

And just like that, Sage ended up playing with Emilia, bouncing her up and down.

At a glance, they looked like a kindly grandfather playing with his mischievous granddaughter.

“…Nanny.”

Catherine whispered softly in my ear, maintaining a strained smile.

“So, who exactly is that vagr— I mean, gentleman?”

“Didn’t I tell you? He’s to be His Highness the Prince’s teacher.”

“Hohoho, you did say that. Certainly.”

Catherine twitched at the corners of her mouth as she watched Sage running around with Emilia in his arms.

Just as Sage flopped onto the sofa, declaring defeat at Emilia’s hands, a vein popped on her forehead.

“No matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem like a noble, nor does he appear to be someone of scholarly background.”

“He may not look it, but he’s quite extraordinary. Please don’t worry.”

“Extraordinary? In what way, exactly?”

Catherine eyed Sage with deep suspicion.

He was feeding Emilia sweets directly into her mouth to separate her from him.

“You weren’t scammed, were you? I know you’re not the type, but still…”

“Despite appearances…”

I didn’t mind if Sage was treated like a crazy vagrant, but I couldn’t tolerate having my own abilities questioned.

I was about to reveal to Catherine that the old man’s true identity was the vanished great sage, but closed my mouth.

‘If I say something unnecessary and it causes problems later…’

Yes, better not to say that the man is the great sage himself.

“Nanny?”

Catherine looked puzzled when I stopped mid-sentence.

“That gentleman—he’s not what he seems, is he? Is he someone extraordinary I don’t know about?”

“…Have you ever heard the name Sage Rill, the Great Sage?”

“The Great Sage? Of course I have!”

Sage’s fame was more remarkable than I’d expected.

Even Catherine, a commoner and a frontier noblewoman, knew his name.

Though the fact that he had developed a cure for Scale Disease wasn’t public knowledge, his accomplishments were vast regardless.

“I heard he suddenly vanished one day. Why was that?”

“In truth, this man—”

I pointed to Sage with a solemn expression.

“Is a distant relative of the Great Sage.”

“Eeeeh? Really?”

“Truly.”

I quickly whispered in a voice only Catherine could hear.

“It’s not widely known, but even the Great Sage’s relatives were called geniuses nearly on par with him. This man is one of them.”

“R-really?”

Catherine looked flustered but seemed to believe me.

After pondering for a moment, she asked again with a puzzled look, “But why would someone so amazing agree to be Prince Edwin’s teacher?”

“…Well, that’s how it turned out.”

“W-wait a second.”

Catherine pressed her forehead like she was overwhelmed.

“But isn’t Viscount Rill a criminal wanted across the entire continent?”

“That’s true. But since he’s been declared missing, he’s no longer being actively pursued.”

“Ah… still, this isn’t right. Even if he’s not the Great Sage himself, letting the relative of a high treasonous criminal stay here…”

Catherine looked at me with a frightened expression.

“But Nanny, how on earth did you find the Great Sage’s relative? I heard no one on the continent knows where the Great Sage or even his family went…”

“…I have very personal connections.”

“I-I see.”

Catherine seemed to accept my explanation, though she couldn’t hide her worry and doubt.

“Nanny, I’m really concerned. Is it truly okay to have that man here in the Prince’s palace? I still feel like this isn’t right.”

“Catherine.”

I quietly turned around and took both her hands.

She blushed in surprise, looking flustered.

“N-nanny?”

“The truth is, the Great Sage was a very close acquaintance of my foster parents.”

“Huh? R-really?”

“Yes, and through my foster parents, he asked me a favor.”

“W-what kind of favor?”

“He asked me to help that pitiful man—who’s been chased around the continent for over ten years simply for sharing the same blood. He’s now old and too weak to keep running.”

With just those words, Sage, who had been living vigorously in the plague village, suddenly became a frail, pitiable old man.

‘It’s all a lie, but it can’t be helped.’

It wasn’t my foster parents but my past self who had the connection, and Sage wasn’t a relative of the Great Sage—he was the Great Sage himself. But I couldn’t reveal the truth.

Who would believe someone who said they woke up in another person’s body and used to be an assassin?

I’d be lucky not to be labeled insane.

“Uuuuugh.”

Catherine clutched her forehead and sighed after much deliberation.

“All right. Then I suppose there’s no helping it.”

“Thank you, Catherine.”

“But Nanny, there’s one thing.”

She crossed her arms and looked at Sage with concern.

“How do we introduce him to others? We can’t call him the Great Sage’s relative. If he’s to be the prince’s teacher, he needs a clear status…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I stood and straightened my clothes.

“The Founding Festival is coming up, isn’t it?”

Catherine’s eyes widened. “Huh? Ah, yes. But why mention the Founding Festival now?”

“We’ll need to prepare our palace to welcome guests.”

Catherine furrowed her brows, trying to grasp the meaning of my words.

“You mean… for entertaining guests…?”

“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but the Third Prince’s palace feels too bleak.”

The garden was large, but all it had were a few flowering trees and some common plants.

Looking at Sage still bickering with Emilia, I curled my lips into a smile.

“Isn’t it time we hired a gardener of our own?”