The Prince's Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 98

Chapter 98: Guest of the Prince’s Palace (3)

[It’s not like I’m making that extreme of a leap, but still, we should be cautious.]

Aurel crossed his arms and shrugged.

[According to the spies we planted in the Holy Kingdom, the atmosphere there has been chaotic because of the upcoming Holy Emperor election in two years.]

It was an opportunity, a time when the Holy Emperor and other priests were too busy with internal affairs to notice anything else.

[How about secretly sending a small reconnaissance unit around the Holy Kingdom? We’ll only investigate the areas where monsters have been appearing frequently.]

Kayden hesitated for a moment.

If they were discovered, relations with the Holy Kingdom could deteriorate.

But what mattered now wasn’t maintaining peace with the Holy Kingdom; it was eliminating as many monsters as possible rampaging across the land.

“You’re right. There’s no harm in being careful. Our kingdom and the Holy Kingdom of Rion are only separated by a single mountain range.”

If there truly was a problem within the Holy Kingdom, Adamant would be the first to suffer its consequences.

“Select only those with exceptional mobility and send them.”

[By the King’s command.]

Aurel bowed his head with a serious expression, his usual playfulness gone.

But only for a moment.

[Ah, and don’t forget to win some favor with your nephews….]

“What? They’re the ones who should be trying to win favor with me, not the other way around. If that’s all, I’m ending this transmission.”

Kayden grimaced and began to withdraw his magic from the crystal orb.

[Ah, we’re not done yet. Also, please be mindful not to gain a reputation as a womanizer while you’re there. Try to restrain yourself when you see those green eyes—]

Splash.

Before Aurel could finish, the crystal orb dropped into the bath.

Kayden had cut the connection as if he found no further reason to listen.

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and rose from the bath.

Across his battle-hardened, sculpted body were countless scars, large and small.

Among them were deep marks that looked like the kind earned only at the brink of death.

Step, step.

Kayden walked out of the bath as if it were nothing and pulled on the robe hanging by the door.

Outside, the head maid stood waiting with a tray holding a glass of liquor. Her thin frame and light-colored hair reminded him of something fragile.

‘I thought someone had set up a scarecrow here.’

Kayden picked up the glass from the tray.

“Th-th….”

The head maid, Catherine, flushed red under his gaze.

‘No! I have Sir Philip! Get a grip, Catherine Vale!’

She chanted the name of her soon-to-be fiancé in her mind, trying to regain her composure.

But the sight before her—a strikingly handsome man standing there, his body still damp—was too stimulating to keep calm.

“Good drink. Thank you.”

Kayden downed the liquor in one gulp and placed the glass back onto the tray.

“Also, thank you for guiding me earlier today.”

“O-oh, it was nothing, Your Majesty.”

Catherine bowed her head so quickly that her curls trembled. Never in her life had she imagined receiving words of gratitude from a king, let alone the King of Adamant himself.

“What was your name again, Head Maid?”

“Pardon?”

Catherine’s eyes widened.

“My name?”

Fear flickered in her large eyes.

“It’s C-Catherine. Catherine Vale.”

“Catherine, huh.”

Kayden wiped the corner of his lips with his thumb, his gaze fixed on her.

He gave her a small, knowing smile.

“Then, could I ask you for a favor, Catherine?”

“…A favor?”

Why did he have to say that while smiling like that? One that made her heart drop to her stomach.

Catherine’s pupils trembled faintly.

***

“What brings you here at this hour?”

Late at night, I was returning to my room after putting Edwin and Emilia to bed. Both had been exhausted after spending the entire day greeting envoys from other nations.

“Do you have business with me, Catherine?”

The familiar shadow standing in front of my door belonged to the head maid, Catherine.

“Nannyyyy!”

The moment she saw me, Catherine ran toward me as if her life depended on it. She clung to my skirt and began to wail.

“Nanny, please save me! Huuuuhhh!”

“My skirt’s coming off. Let go first and then talk.”

“What do I dooo?!”

She showed no signs of calming down. Fine, then.

I held my skirt tightly with one hand so it wouldn’t slip and asked evenly, “So? What’s going on for you to be making such a scene…?”

“The guest in the Prince’s Palace told me to serve him in bed tonight!”

What?

I frowned and repeated her words.

“The guest asked you to serve him in bed?”

There was only one person currently staying in the Third Prince’s Palace who could possibly give such an outrageous order.

‘King Kayden of Adamant… that bastard?’

I recalled the man I’d run into earlier that day.

‘I knew there was something perverted about him.’

What an infuriating man.

So he really intends to lay his hands on one of the palace maids working in the Prince’s Palace.

If he were sane, he wouldn’t even think of doing that.

“Nanny, what should I do? What if I’m executed for refusing the king’s order? But I already have someone I’ve decided to give my virginity to!”

Catherine clung to me, eyes brimming with tears.

I sighed softly as I looked at her trembling face.

“Catherine, what exactly did the King of Adamant say?”

It was possible he hadn’t used the phrase “serve in bed” in its usual sense.

To my question, Catherine stammered and explained, “He said… to come to his chamber tonight. That it would be enough just to stay with him until morning….”

To stay until morning, huh.

I exhaled quietly after hearing her answer.

“How did you end up receiving such a request in the first place?”

“I was helping him bathe….”

“You’re the head maid, aren’t you? And yet you personally assisted him with his bath?”

“Do you think I did it because I wanted to?”

Catherine struck her chest in frustration.

“All the other maids kept refusing and passing the duty along until it finally came to me! There was no one else, so I was forced to do it!”

The day it was announced that the King of Adamant would be staying in the Third Prince’s Palace, every maid volunteered to attend him.

“He’s known across the continent as the most handsome man alive, so of course everyone was interested.”

Though he bore the terrifying nickname “the War Maniac,” those who’d seen him from afar said he was breathtakingly handsome.

But the moment they saw him up close, the maids scattered like frightened deer.

‘He’s devastatingly handsome, but if I get too close, I’ll really die.’

The King of Adamant was a man who had lived on battlefields, annihilating his enemies and surviving countless wars.

The pressure he exuded wasn’t something an ordinary person could withstand.

“But you somehow managed to endure it, Catherine.”

“Ugh, that’s because of you, Nanny.”

“My fault?”

Catherine wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and continued, “It’s because he had the same aura you get sometimes, when you look really scary without saying anything. I just imagined you standing there all angry, and somehow it was a little less terrifying.”

So, in other words, Kayden was terrifying, but me being angry wasn’t?

I felt a twinge of offense, but it faded quickly as Catherine grabbed my hands and stomped her feet.

“Nannyyyyy, please help me! I’m begging you!”

“What could I possibly do?”

“Could you tell him I suddenly fell ill and can’t come?”

“You want me to lie for you?”

“But I can’t think of any other way!”

Serving a handsome man might have been fine, but it was an entirely different story when that man was the God of War himself, surrounded by horrific rumors from the battlefield.

“I could barely stand in front of him without fainting! What if he gets angry and tears me apart?!”

“Catherine, this is the imperial palace. The King of Adamant wouldn’t go mad and do something like that.”

At my words, Catherine lowered her head without replying. Her slender shoulders trembled like those of a sparrow caught in the rain.

“…Fine, I understand.”

I eventually accepted her plea.

“I’ll speak to His Majesty the King myself. Is that enough?”

“Nanny!”

Catherine’s head shot up, and she threw herself into my arms.

“Thank you! You’re the best! I’ll never forget this favor! If there’s ever anything you want, just tell me—”

“That’s enough. Let go.”

I pried her off with some effort and sent her back to her quarters after a long string of thanks.

Then I turned and headed toward the guest chamber where the King of Adamant was staying.

***

Knock, knock, knock.

I knocked three times, precisely.

No response.

They said Kayden was staying in this room.

‘I hate wasting time.’

I hesitated for a moment, then turned the doorknob.

It wasn’t locked.

Creak.

As I slowly opened the door, darkness greeted me.

The faint light from the corridor lanterns seeped in, revealing only the vague outlines of the room. The massive bed appeared empty.

Creak, click.

I stepped further inside without a word.

Then the door closed behind me.

In an instant, the world was swallowed by darkness.

“This is unexpected.”

The sound of wood pressing down came from behind me, followed by a low voice.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come, Rachel Brown.”

I froze in place within the darkness.