The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 82

Chapter 82: LOVE & POISON (6)

“Nanny, I think I’m going to die.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Because His Highness is just too cute!”

Catherine, who had been hiding in the bushes watching Edwin’s every move, suddenly collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest.

“Haa, our prince is so cute it feels like my heart is in danger!”

“No one dies just from seeing something cute.”

“Ah, I didn’t mean it literally!”

Catherine gave me a withering look, then pointed toward Edwin beyond the bushes.

He had just been invited directly by Brigitte to her birthday and was grinning from ear to ear.

‘If he had been rejected, I would’ve had a hard time figuring out how to console him. Good thing it worked out.’

In fact, this might be a chance.

‘I bet that Jerome bastard is calling himself a doting father.’

If Lady Crowner were to truly come to like Edwin, perhaps the Duke of Crowner could be drawn to his side.

A father who dotes on his daughter can’t easily ignore the man she cares for.

‘Of course, it could also lead to a charge of treason.’

After all, to a father who dotes on his daughter, a potential son-in-law is often seen as an enemy.

While Catherine rolled around the ground shouting, “Our prince is so cute,” I pondered.

‘Either way, for now, the only option is to make Lady Crowner care about Edwin.’

Specifically, I needed to think about how exactly to win over the Duke’s daughter.

***

On the way back after taking Emilia, who insisted on being with Sage, to his hut.

I saw Edwin sitting on the grass, groaning as he tugged at his hair. Beside him, Catherine was crouched down, ruffling her own hair as well.

“What are you two doing?”

Were they practicing some kind of scalp-strengthening training together?

“Rachel!”

The moment he saw me, Edwin’s eyes drooped and he whined, “No matter how hard I think about it, I don’t know what gift to give Brigitte!”

“Hmm.”

There were only three days left until Lady Crowner’s birthday. And Edwin still hadn’t chosen a gift for her.

“What about money? I’ve never seen anyone who dislikes money.”

“Kyaaaa! Nanny, take that back right now!”

At that moment, Catherine lunged at me.

“What kind of boy gives money as a gift for the birthday of the girl he likes! That kills the mood completely!”

“Then do you dislike getting money on your birthday?”

“No, that’s not it! But this is a child’s birthday! It’s not like an adult giving allowance money to a kid!”

Hmm, is that so?

Strange. Even as a child, I had always liked receiving money the most.

“And besides, the other person is the daughter of a duke. She already has more than enough money. Why give her that? It’ll just look insincere.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! And the very meaning of a gift includes the time spent thinking about the person. In that sense, money is the worst.”

Her reasoning sounded convincing, though I couldn’t completely agree.

The only truth I had learned through life as an assassin was that money was the best.

“Your Highness, don’t you know anything Lady Crowner might like?”

“Something she might like?”

Edwin frowned at Catherine’s words, deep in thought. Then he spoke in an uncertain voice, as if recalling something.

“Flowers? Brigitte said her house doesn’t have a garden.”

“Does she like flowers?”

“I think so.”

“Giving flowers isn’t bad.”

But for the Duke’s daughter’s birthday, it felt a bit lacking.

Unless he gifted her an entire garden, that is.

And to me, it was a gift that made no sense.

“Flowers? What use are flowers? You can’t eat them, they’re useless, and they take too much effort to care for.”

“Nanny, honestly. Does a gift have to be useful? Flowers are beautiful and fragrant. That in itself has value.”

“And when they wither, don’t they smell and attract bugs?”

“Ugh, you really have no sense of romance.”

Catherine gave me a dissatisfied look, then shifted the subject.

“Then how about giving a bouquet along with another gift?”

“That sounds good. A bouquet with lots of gold coins tucked in…”

“Nanny, just stay out of it.”

Now she wouldn’t even let me say anything.

I glared at Catherine with an annoyed look, but she wasn’t the least bit intimidated. Instead, she glared back at me with her eyes wide.

Flustered, I opened my mouth, and Catherine stuck out her tongue at me.

“Ah!”

As I was plotting how to get back at Catherine, Edwin suddenly sprang to his feet.

“I’ve got a good idea! I’m going to prepare it right away!”

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Out of courtesy, I asked, but Edwin shook his head firmly.

“No! I can do it alone. No, I want to try doing it alone.”

“I see. Then let me know when you need help.”

“Yeah, thank you! Then I’ll take some personal time until training!”

Edwin beamed and ran off toward his room.

He looked rather excited.

“Mmm~ indeed, love is amazing~ to think it could change our prince so much~!”

Catherine giggled as she watched Edwin’s retreating figure.

“Oh my, first love is so adorable! Don’t you think so, Nanny?”

“I wouldn’t call it adorable watching someone walk into hell of their own will.”

This time, Catherine didn’t even bother to respond. She rested her chin on her hand and giggled away.

“Goodness, didn’t you see Prince Edwin’s eyes? In all my time working at the Third Prince’s Palace, I’ve never seen his eyes sparkle like that!”

“I see.”

Catherine clasped her hands together and pressed them to one cheek, twisting her body.

“People in love really do seem full of life. Like a source of energy. Even I feel fluttery. Don’t you think so, Nanny?”

“A source of energy, huh. Then when love ends, life must end too. Since all the energy would’ve burned out.”

“Nanny!”

Catherine finally screeched.

“Why are you always so cynical! You’ve never even been in love, have you?”

“…No, I have.”

“Then why do you always scowl whenever love is mentioned?”

Catherine stared at me as if she couldn’t understand, then suddenly her eyes widened as if realizing something.

She lowered her voice and asked cautiously, “Ah, could it be that the person you dated before was a really awful person?”

At that moment, Ian came to mind on his own.

From the moment he killed me, Ian had become trash so foul that even calling him awful felt like a waste.

But was he always a terrible person from the start? That, I didn’t know.

“Kyla, I thought of you on the way here.”

Whenever he returned from a solo mission, Ian always brought me gifts.

One day it was a bouquet, another day jewelry, another day a dress.

They were things that never matched someone like me, who had been born human but chose the trade of killing humans, yet I didn’t hate them.

Every time I received such a gift, I wondered if maybe I could live a normal life as a woman.

In the end, it was all just a futile dream.

“Kyla, what are you doing alone?”

You, who always spoke to me first when I was apart from the group.

“They’re all idiots. If they knew how kind you are, they’d be shocked out of their minds.”

Even when the organization members called me a heartless woman, you were the only one who told me I was kind.

“I love you, Kyla.”

You, who confessed your love like it was a habit.

And you, who drove a poison-coated blade into my back.

“Burn it. Leave not even ashes.”

You poured oil over my body and set it aflame.

As if trying to erase me completely from the world.

‘Pathetic.’

Once, memories of Ian had been the pillar that gave me the strength to survive the most dangerous missions. Now, they were nothing but a dark past I wanted to forget.

‘When you fall in love, you’re full of life.’

I recalled Catherine’s words.

‘So when love ends, is it painful enough to feel like dying?’

I thought of that first month after waking in this body. A time when grief, rage, and betrayal made even breathing unbearable.

“Um, Nanny?”

Just then, Catherine’s voice called to me.

“Are you all right?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just…”

Catherine looked at me with eyes full of worry.

“Your face suddenly looked so sad.”

“…It’s just your imagination.”

Pointlessly thinking of the past must’ve made me wear an uncharacteristically sentimental expression.

I quickly gathered my face back into composure.

“Don’t be too disheartened, Nanny.”

Meanwhile, it seemed Catherine had guessed that my sadness came from my past love life.

She raised her fist with forced cheer. “You’ll meet true love someday…”

“No.”

“Huh?”

But I cut her off firmly.

“I will never love again.”

If love were really an emotion that could both save and kill, then I never wanted it again.

I wasn’t going to entrust my life to such a petty feeling ever again.

Never again.