The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Miracle Cure for Sore Muscles

‘Was I too hasty?’

I had to appear as nothing more than a ‘normal nanny.’

Realizing my mistake, I quickly bowed my head. “I apologize. Please forgive me.”

“Don’t do anything that requires forgiveness. Unless you don’t value your life.”

The Emperor slowly descended the stairs.

It was as he brushed past me.

“Be grateful for the fact that I don’t dislike those who put in effort.”

A voice only I could hear.

“I’ll overlook it for now. Though I don’t know how long that child will last.”

With a low chuckle, the Emperor quietly took his leave.

I clenched my fists as I watched the spot where he had stood.

‘Being looked down on doesn’t suit me.’

Since arriving at the Imperial Palace, nothing had suited me.

Everything was irritating, but for now, I had to endure.

‘It will help both me and Edwin more in the long run.’

Still, why did I not want to back down?

I adjusted my clothes, thinking of Edwin’s naïve face.

‘A substitute, huh.’

I descended the stairs the Emperor had stepped on.

Not to follow the Emperor or the Knight Commander, but to fetch the prince I had chosen.

***

Splash―

“Aaack!”

Splash―

“Eeeek!”

Plop―

Edwin groaned bizarrely as he floundered.

But his body refused to obey his will.

‘This is so hard! So hard! It’s seriously hard!’

After completing ten round trips to the mountain peak, the next challenge waiting for the young prince was ladder climbing.

Edwin, soaked like a wet mouse, looked up.

A long ladder was laid out above his head.

Known as “Crossing the Stream.”

Despite the cute name, it was one of Gloria Knights’ grueling training routines that had left many breathless.

Edwin blankly stared at the knights passing above.

All of them were in full armor, hanging from the ladder, heading to the other side.

Some couldn’t handle the weight and fell halfway into the pool below.

Of course, no one fell every time like Edwin.

“Your Highness, you’ll tire easily if you stay in the water too long!”

A knight offered advice from above.

Gritting his teeth at the comment, Edwin thought,

‘Did my brothers go through training like this too? How do they even do something this hard?’

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like his brothers had undergone such training.

Not that he could just quit and walk away.

‘Earlier my knees were shaking, now I think my arms are giving out!’

Dragging himself out of the waist-deep pool, Edwin grabbed the ladder again.

Gritting his teeth, he reached with one arm, then the other, but it was the same result.

“Aaagh!”

With another loud splash, Edwin fell again.

He had barely passed nine rungs, yet his arms kept losing strength.

He was frustrated. Angry at himself for being this weak.

“Uuuugh!”

Clenching his teeth until his gums ached, Edwin crawled out of the pool again.

His water-soaked clothes clung to him like wet cotton, but he didn’t care.

In the prince’s mind, there was only one choice: to complete the task given.

‘I’ll do it! I’ll finish and…!’

The faces of several people flashed through the young prince’s mind.

“Uaaaah!”

Edwin reached out toward the ladder once more.

Shouting ‘Just a bit more!’ in his heart over and over again.

“Haaaah.”

Finally succeeding, Edwin collapsed flat on the dirt.

The third prince had completed his first day of Gloria Knights training.

After nearly 200 attempts, he finally managed to cross the 600-foot distance on the ladder.

***

“Uuugh…”

Edwin groaned the moment he regained consciousness.

“You’re awake?”

“Brother, are you okay?”

Hearing me and Emilia, the boy slowly turned his head.

“Emilia? Rachel…?”

“You fainted during training. You’re in your bedroom now.”

“…Bedroom?”

Edwin looked around in a daze and then took a deep breath.

“I haven’t finished training yet… Waaagh!”

Trying to get up quickly, he screamed and collapsed.

“Uuuuu―!”

“You’re in a lot of pain from using unfamiliar muscles. Just stay lying down for now.”

“But there’s more training left…!”

“Your Highness, it’s already evening. Training is over.”

When the knights completed the last exercise, Edwin had finally crossed the stream and fainted.

As soon as he collapsed, I brought him here, washed him, and changed his clothes.

That was already four hours ago.

“Ah…”

Staring at the dim sky beyond the window, Edwin sighed.

He leaned against the headboard, utterly disheartened.

“I guess I really can’t do it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I didn’t last through all the training.”

“Don’t worry. The training ended the moment you fainted.”

“What? Why?”

“There was a monster sighted at the north gate. The entire knight order was deployed.”

Recently, monsters had frequently descended into populated areas and launched attacks in the Empire.

Even the Imperial Palace was no exception.

‘But it hasn’t been long since the monster subjugation in Adamant, has it?’

Didn’t they say that the King of Adamant had eradicated them completely?

It was strange for monsters to appear so often like this.

“I see…”

Meanwhile, Edwin looked troubled, as if something weighed on his mind.

I could never tell what was going on in that little head of his, but at least right now, I felt like I could.

“Well done.”

When dealing with beasts or humans, a carrot-and-stick approach was essential.

I lightly patted Edwin’s head.

“…Huh?”

Edwin looked at me with startled eyes.

“I said you did well. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d manage to finish climbing the mountain.”

At my words, Edwin’s eyes grew round.

“Really? I did well?”

It didn’t seem to matter that I hadn’t even expected it.

“Yes. You did very well.”

His face lit up with joy at my simple praise.

“Then, then! Do you think I can become strong like Sir Jerome too?”

Jerome again, that guy.

Edwin looked at me with eyes sparkling like a fawn’s.

“…Didn’t Your Highness say you wanted to be strong like me?”

My voice came out curt without meaning to.

“Huh? Yeah! Rachel, you’re super strong too!”

Edwin still answered with a bright face.

“But Jerome is the strongest in the Empire. They said you should always aim high.” He added with a cheerful smile, “My teacher said so!”

Sage. That old man really has a habit of saying unnecessary things.

He wasn’t wrong, but hearing it now somehow irritated me.

“…Your Highness, please take off your clothes.”

“Huh? Why my clothes all of a sudden?”

“We need to relax your tense muscles. You have training tomorrow too.”

With a blank face, I picked up a jar beside me.

As I opened the lid, a spicy scent wafted up.

“Achel, what’s that?”

Emilia approached curiously.

Then she sniffed and scrunched her whole face.

“Achoo! Achoo! Ahh-choo!”

“Princess Emilia, come here.”

I wiped the snot from under her nose and carried her on my back.

“W-what is that?”

Edwin tried to back away from me as if it were ominous.

“It’s massage oil diluted with pepper oil.”

“Pepper? Isn’t that used in cooking?”

“Things don’t only have one use.”

“Uh…”

Edwin stared at the oil in my hand with a horrified expression.

“But I heard that stuff is super expensive. How did you get it?”

I couldn’t say I swiped one while getting cold medicine from the medical office.

I’m a nanny now, I can’t go around teaching kids to steal.

“…I came across it by chance.”

I too had constant muscle pain from nightly training.

So when I found it at the medical office, I had no choice but to quietly take one.

“Now take off your clothes and lie down.”

“All of them?”

“Yes. Everything except your underwear.”

“Do we really have to go that far?”

“Shall I do it over your clothes instead? It won’t be as effective.”

Edwin hesitated at my words, then obediently undressed.

Wearing only shorts, he lay flat on the bed.

‘He’s clean.’

When I first met him, his body was covered in bruises.

Now, seeing his unblemished skin, I felt a renewed sense of emotion.

“Ack, it tickles!”

As I carefully laid my hands on him, Edwin squirmed.

“Hey, that tickles!”

“Bear with it.”

He giggled for a while, then suddenly screamed.

“Ow! That hurts!”

“Of course it does.”

I deliberately didn’t hold back my strength.

“Gentle! Please be gentle! That spot really hurts!”

“I am being gentle.”

“Gaaah!”

This was his punishment for saying Jerome was the strongest in front of me.

Feeling petty, I pressed even harder. He let out a strangled noise like a suffocating frog.

“Gack. Reicel, stop…”

“Achel! Lia too, Lia too, to Brother―!”

Emilia, who had been calmly on my back, suddenly jumped onto Edwin’s back.

“Graaaargh!”

“Brother, Lia will make you better soon!”

“Graaaargh, Lia, ugh…”

Face half-buried in a pillow, Edwin twisted his whole body.

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t about helping him recover faster—it looked more like she was trying to finish him off.

Maybe the princess has a knack for assassination.

“Eeeeeek!”

Edwin screamed into the blanket, then raised his head.

“Eek! Hey, Rachel! Be honest! You’re mad at me about something, aren’t you?!”