The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 146

Chapter 146. The Prophet and the Guardian (4)

“Hmm.”

Sage didn’t answer.

He didn’t seem to want to believe it either.

For entirely personal reasons.

“I certainly hope this has nothing to do with the Holy Kingdom.”

Muttering to himself, the old sage tapped the mana stone with a finger.

“It’s all just conjecture, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And there’s no way to confirm it….”

If only conjecture could remain nothing more than conjecture.

‘If this is true, we’re in serious trouble.’

It would mean the Holy Kingdom of Rion was behind the mutant monsters wreaking havoc across the continent lately.

“Haa, this is a real problem….”

Sage answered me irritably, “Then let’s find out. Look, Ky… I mean, Nanny. Come on, stop talking nonsense. Are you planning to go out and catch a mutant monster?”

“Yes. We have to take part in the upcoming monster extermination campaign anyway, so isn’t this perfect?”

Silence fell.

Edwin slowly turned to look at me.

“Rachel, what do you mean?”

He seemed to turn my words over in his head once more, then shouted, “A monster extermination campaaaaign?”

Loud enough to blow the little cottage away.

***

‘Nothing’s been decided yet. Should I have kept my mouth shut?’

I looked at Edwin’s stunned face.

Ever since he heard the words “monster extermination campaign,” he seemed halfway out of his wits.

For days now, whenever he sat at his desk in the study, he did nothing but scribble “monsters” on a blank sheet of paper.

“Prince Edwin.”

Unable to watch any longer, I called to him.

His jewel-like blue eyes turned toward me.

“You don’t need to worry already. For now, focus on what you can do.”

Edwin murmured, his voice thick with tears, “But… even fighting one monster is more than I can handle…”

Was he remembering the monster we encountered in Luxen?

His hands trembled.

“Don’t worry. You’re much stronger than you were back then. And….”

I gently took Edwin’s trembling hand.

To keep it from shaking.

“You have me, don’t you?”

Back then, now, and on the battlefield to come.

I would stay by this young client’s side.

“…Rachel.”

Edwin softly spoke my name.

His hand had stopped trembling.

“You really are….”

His sapphire eyes sparkled beneath their gentle lids.

“Like my very own ‘guardian.’”

“…Pardon?”

“Hm? You don’t know what a guardian is?”

At my awkward expression, Edwin gave an incredulous smile.

“Haven’t you even read the sacred scriptures? The word comes up so often you get sick of it.”

He seemed delighted to have found a subject he could explain to me.

“Guardian is a term for the Holy Kingdom of Rion’s holy knights. Knights who protect the priests who serve God’s will. It’s a sort of respectful title for them.”

Could the guardians the mercenaries and guild members mentioned have been holy knights, too?

I frowned, lost in thought.

“Rachel?”

“Your Highness, then what about the word prophet….”

“Prophet? You don’t know that either?” Edwin’s eyes widened in surprise again.

Then he smiled and explained, “In the sacred scriptures, that’s what they call humanity’s first seer. But I’ve heard the Holy Kingdom also calls the priest who’ll become the next Holy Emperor the Prophet.”

For a moment, I felt as though someone struck me across the back of the head.

Only now did I begin to understand a little of what the mercenaries and guild members hiding in the temple were talking about. And why they mentioned the House of Radcliffe, too.

‘The Prophet and the Guardian. The future Holy Emperor and a holy knight.’

The current Holy Emperor’s term would end soon.

In that case, deciding who became the next Crown Prince would fall to the next Holy Emperor.

The Holy Emperor’s recognition was indispensable to becoming the Empire’s ruler.

‘The Second Prince’s faction was trying to get ahead of everyone else.’

It seemed they intended to find the future Holy Emperor and bring him over to their side.

‘But there’s something strange….’

Someone who was to become the Holy Emperor should be living under heavy guard at the Holy Kingdom’s Grand Temple.

Why were the members of Breath of the Angel searching for him outside the Holy Kingdom?

‘Did he go on a pilgrimage? Or is he on the run?’

It would be strange for the future Holy Emperor to suddenly leave on a pilgrimage with his enthronement so close.

And even if he was on the run, what on earth was he running from?

Where could a priest be safer than the Holy Kingdom of Rion?

‘The Holy Emperor’s successor. I’ll need to look into him immediately.’

It seemed I’d have to commission Somnia for this one.

Merchants traveled to even the remotest corners of the continent. It wasn’t impossible for them to encounter the Holy Emperor’s successor.

Edwin blinked innocently. “By the way. Why are you suddenly asking about the Prophet?”

“Oh, I was just curious. I heard someone mention it in passing,” I answered without missing a beat.

“Hmm, I see.”

Fortunately, Edwin believed me without much suspicion.

Then he turned his attention back to the monsters.

“Rachel, don’t I need an army to take part in the campaign?”

Edwin looked worried. He seemed well aware that the princes would lead their followers into the campaign.

“My brothers will all bring armies. What am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I placed a sword in Edwin’s hand. “Now is the time to hone your swordsmanship, rather than dwell on vague worries.”

“But…”

“Prince Edwin, do you know what saves your life when danger surrounds you on every side?”

Edwin looked at me silently.

“Neither an invincible army nor noble blood.”

I lightly tapped the sword in Edwin’s hand with a finger.

“It’s the sword in your hand.”

On a chaotic battlefield, even allies could become enemies who threatened your life.

Everyone valued their own life most. No matter how capable a commander was, if their subordinates fled in terror, they would be the first to die.

The same would hold true even for a prince.

“So don’t neglect your training. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes!”

Edwin answered spiritedly.

Then he fastened the sword at his waist, his expression quite serious.

“I’ll work hard!”

“Yes, that’s all you need to do.”

Despite his spirited voice, Edwin looked at me anxiously again.

“Rachel, but the army….”

“I’ll find a way to handle that.”

At my words, Edwin’s face brightened a little.

“You will? Really?”

“Yes. Have you ever known me to make empty promises?”

Edwin shook his head vigorously.

I let out a small laugh at the sight.

“Then hurry along to your training. Sir Philip must be waiting.”

“Okay! I will!”

Edwin nodded firmly and dashed out of the study.

I stood still, watching him go. For far longer than usual.

***

“Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”

In an alley in some nameless slum.

An old woman bowed her head over and over.

“Thank you for saving my grandson! How can I ever repay you?”

Until a moment ago, the little boy in her arms couldn’t even open his eyes from his high fever. Now he was beaming as though nothing were wrong.

“Oh, please. It was nothing.”

The man with kind eyes waved away the old woman’s thanks.

“Oh, and please keep it a secret that I healed him, all right?”

“Of course. No one would believe me even if I told them. Who would believe a priest came to a slum like this to heal the sick?”

The man’s face darkened slightly at her words.

There was something bitter in his expression.

“Haha, I suppose so.”

The man forced an awkward laugh.

He was an oddly dressed young man, his shabby clothes at odds with his refined appearance.

“Are you unwell anywhere yourself, ma’am? I think I’ll have to leave today, so I’d like to heal you before I go, if I can.”

“Oh, goodness. How can anyone be so kind?”

The old woman’s voice trembled with emotion.

It was only natural. This was a slum.

Most people here couldn’t even find a single meal and died of starvation, so seeing a physician was all but impossible for the sick.

Yet this young man appeared out of nowhere and was going around the slum healing people for free. It was nothing short of a miracle.

“Sir Johan!”

Just then, a grubby little girl came running toward them from the distance.

Draped in worn cloth that looked like a sack, she threw herself into the arms of the man, Johan.

“Well, aren’t you full of energy?”

“It’s all thanks to you healing me, Sir Johan. Hehe!”

“You little rascal. What if you break your leg again?”

Johan gently pinched the girl’s little nose and wiggled it.

“I can’t stay in this village forever, you know.”

“Hehe, it’s all right! I’ll be careful when I run!”

The girl answered brightly, then chattered like a sparrow.

“Oh, I found the people who are too sick to leave their homes, just like you asked!”

“Oh, did you? How many are there?”

“Hmm, more than I can count on all ten fingers.”

Oh dear.

Johan let out a troubled exclamation, then smiled kindly.

“I see. Do you remember where all of them are?”

“Of course! No one knows their way around here better than me!”

The girl slipped out of Johan’s arms and shot one arm up, beckoning him to follow.

“This way, Sir Johan!”

“All right, I’m coming.”

The man called Johan rose with a smile.

Clutching her grandson in her arms, the old woman watched him with admiration.