The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: LOVE & POISON (13)

Gasp.

Edwin unconsciously held his breath.

Looking at the delicate, snow-white nape of the duke’s daughter gave him a strange feeling.

A tickling sensation spread in his chest, and his stomach churned with unfamiliar emotion.

“Prince Edwin?”

At Brigitte’s voice, Edwin barely came back to his senses.

“J-just a moment.”

With trembling hands, he fastened the necklace around her neck.

“Th-there, it’s done.”

At his words, Brigitte tidied her hair and turned around.

“How does it look?”

She smiled brightly and touched the necklace on her neck.

“Is it pretty?”

She was like a young rose bud discovered in the early dawn.

For Brigitte, the word pretty was not enough. She had a charm that captured the eyes at once.

Edwin was left speechless, staring blankly at her.

“What is it?”

Seeing his face, Brigitte laughed playfully.

“Were you so shocked by how pretty I am?”

“…Yes.”

At his unexpected reply, Brigitte looked surprised. Edwin then said in a small but clear voice.

“You’re really pretty.”

Brigitte’s eyes widened.

None of the boys her age had ever told her outright that she was pretty.

Even those who obviously liked her had only teased her or said mischievous things.

Perhaps because she was unused to it, Brigitte’s cheeks turned rosy.

“Ah, um, I also have another gift!”

As embarrassment hit him belatedly, Edwin hastily offered the second present.

It was a silk pouch.

“This is…”

Opening the pouch, Brigitte blinked slowly.

“Flower seeds?”

Inside the pouch were five seeds.

At her words, Edwin nodded shyly. “That’s right.”

“What kind of flowers are they?”

“That’s a secret.”

“A birthday present, and it’s a secret?”

Brigitte looked at him suspiciously.

But Edwin firmly shook his head, as if he would never tell.

“You’ll find out once you grow them. You can plant them in a pot if you like.”

“So I’ll only receive this birthday present months later.”

At her words, Edwin gave an awkward smile. “W-well, isn’t there fun in waiting too?”

Fun in waiting.

Brigitte stared at the seeds in the pouch before closing it.

“Alright. I’ll take good care of them.”

She tucked the silk pouch deep inside her skirt pocket.

“Then was this the only reason you asked me to come?”

“Ah, well…”

“Then may I leave now?”

At her words, Edwin nodded, his eyes filled with lingering regret. He could think of no more excuse to keep her.

Brigitte looked at the prince, then turned without hesitation. She had only taken a few steps when—

“Your Highness.”

Brigitte, who he thought had gone far away, suddenly turned back and approached the prince.

Edwin looked at her in surprise.

“You must not like me.”

“…What?”

It felt like a hidden part of his heart had suddenly been exposed. Edwin stared at her as if struck hard.

“As I told you before.”

Brigitte spoke with a face far too mature for her age.

“I am destined to become empress.”

As the only daughter of House Crowner, it was a fate she couldn’t avoid. Only the future Emperor could be her husband.

Edwin’s lips moved unconsciously.

“…Even if my eldest brother becomes Emperor?”

The First Prince Adrian was her cousin. If they were to marry, it would surely be condemned as incest.

“If that were to happen, I would go east.”

“East…?”

“I might become Empress of the empire on the Eastern Continent.”

Brigitte knew very well what burden had been placed upon her shoulders. She wasn’t the type to throw it away irresponsibly without cause.

“Most likely, once I come of age, I will be betrothed immediately, no matter who the partner is. That’s what the elders of my house have decided.”

Hearing this, Edwin’s brows sank low.

“Is that… what you want?”

“Your Highness, in this world, there are things we must do even if we don’t want them. Just as there are many things that happen whether we want them or not.”

Brigitte whispered softly, her eyes locked with his, “So please, don’t like me. Now, I will take my leave.”

This time, the duke’s daughter turned without hesitation.

But again, she didn’t get far before stopping.

Because of Edwin.

“…What is this?”

Edwin was holding the edge of her sleeve.

In his sapphire-blue eyes shone a desperate light as he looked at her.

“I don’t want that.”

“This’s not a matter of Your Highness liking or disliking…”

“What if.”

Edwin fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve and parted his lips.

“What if I become emperor?”

“…What?”

At the prince’s shocking words, Brigitte’s eyes widened like saucers.

“What are you saying…”

“At the very least, what if I become greater than my second brother?”

In his blue eyes burned a heat stronger than anyone’s.

“Then Brigitte, would I be allowed to like you?”

Brigitte couldn’t say a word.

As she had done with the Second Prince, she couldn’t rudely shake off his grip and tell him not to be insolent.

No, perhaps she could, but she didn’t want to.

“If one needs qualifications to like you.”

Looking at her, Edwin spoke in a firm voice, as if making a vow.

“Then I will become such a man.”

They were twelve years old. An age when even the most childish words could be spoken as if they would last forever.

But for some reason, the prince before Brigitte’s eyes seemed more sincere than anyone.

“…If you can.”

Brigitte smiled at Edwin without realizing it.

“Do try.”

Only after hearing her reply did Edwin’s hand lose its strength.

Brigitte’s sleeve, finally free, soon disappeared into the distance.

Watching her leave, Edwin clenched his fists tightly. In his blue eyes shone an unyielding determination no one could break.

***

The Second Consort’s Palace, the most luxurious and beautiful palace within the Imperial Palace of the Ventrume Empire.

A sharp scream rang out there, where normally only the beautiful songs of the birds the consort kept could be heard.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Second Consort Helena screamed as she trampled relentlessly on the slave at her feet.

The sturdy male slave endured the kicking in silence, curling up his body without even letting out a groan.

If he made a sound, it would only further anger the Second Consort and could cost him his life.

“Haa.”

Perhaps tired from all the kicking, Helena let out a rough breath and swept back her disheveled hair.

She turned to the maids standing around her and shouted sharply, “Did you all see it too? His Majesty cherishes that brat!”

The maids remained silent.

They knew all too well that silence was the only way to preserve their lives.

Helena glared at the maids watching her warily, then snatched up a glass of iced mead from the table and downed it in one go.

‘That man, who never even openly showed such favor to Adrian, why did he look at that worthless brat like that?’

She recalled the Emperor at the hunting ground, resting his hand on the Third Prince’s shoulder with a proud look, and gnashed her teeth.

‘Surely he hasn’t switched from the First Prince to the Third Prince?’

No, that was impossible.

Right now, House Crowner was indispensable to the Emperor.

‘How infuriating. The First Prince is already a thorn in my side, and now the Third Prince too. On top of that, the assassins I sent still haven’t returned.’

Helena slumped into the chair beside her and bit her nails.

She had no way of knowing that the Gilbert brothers had become fertilizer in the herb garden tended by the Third Prince’s gardener.

Crack.

Helena gnawed furiously at her nails.

Worse than the assassins failing to return from the Third Prince’s Palace was something else.

‘Because of the Empress, once again, only I suffer!’

After the Empress had nearly been poisoned, the Emperor had tightened security in the palace even further.

Thanks to that, even leaving her palace became difficult, and access of outsiders to the palace grounds was strictly controlled.

‘They say it was some nanny or maid of the Third Prince who saved the Empress that day.’

Helena seethed, unable to contain her rage.

Just thinking of the Third Prince made her blood boil even more.

‘That brat who used to cower at the sight of me now struts around with arrogance. And Jerome—he said he wouldn’t take sides, so why did he let the Third Prince join the knights’ training?’

As Helena sank into her own thoughts, her face twisted more and more.

At that moment, Countess Feline Katrina, who was visiting the consort’s palace, dismissed the slave tactfully and called in the maids to tidy her appearance.

“Your Highness, isn’t the Founding Festival coming up soon?”

Feline brought up a topic that might soothe the Second Consort’s mood.

“At every Founding Festival, it is the custom for the princes to compete. Last year, Prince Lloyd could not participate because of his injured leg, but this year will be different.”

At the word compete, Helena’s eyebrows twitched.

Feline quickly added, “Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to show His Majesty the splendid swordsmanship of the Second Prince?”

“Swordsmanship?”

“Yes. At every Founding Festival, the princes perform a sword dance, don’t they?”

The Founding Festival, held once every three years, was a national event attended by envoys from foreign lands.

Performing the sword dance at such a place was both a burden and an honor.

“But a sword dance requires an opponent. Are you saying I should put Adrian on stage too?”

That boy was considered a crown prince candidate for no other reason than being the legitimate First Prince. She had no desire to make him stand out even more by having him perform alongside her son.

“The Empress would never allow it anyway.”

At Helena’s words, Feline stretched her lips into a sly smile.

“There is another prince, isn’t there?”

“You don’t mean…”

Helena glared at her with disbelief.

“Are you saying Edwin should be Prince Lloyd’s sword dance partner?”