The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 149

Chapter 149. The Prelude (2)

‘No, to be more precise.’

Perhaps it was more that he wanted Kayden to win.

Edwin lowered his eyes.

“Prince.”

The day the delegation from Adamant returned home after the Founding Festival.

Kayden’s words echoed in his ears.

“You seem to have a talent for the sword. If you keep honing it, you could become a fine swordsman.”

Perhaps he was only being polite. But hearing those words from the Knight King alone gave Edwin tremendous encouragement to practice his swordsmanship.

Whether Kayden knew it or not.

“Prince Edwin!”

The knights’ voices roused Edwin from his thoughts. They’d finished grumbling and were already moving on to their next training session.

“Afternoon training is starting! Let’s head to the archery range!”

“Oh, right!”

“By the way, Your Highness.”

Edwin looked up at Finet, who’d come up beside him.

“If all the immediate members of the imperial family are taking part, you’ll be joining the campaign, too?”

Edwin gave a small nod. “…Yes. Probably.”

In the past, whatever happened outside would’ve had nothing to do with him, but things were different now.

The Emperor acknowledged him as a prince, so he had to fulfill his duties.

‘If this campaign is going to decide who becomes Crown Prince, I need to work even harder.’

To distinguish himself in the campaign and somehow stand out above the other princes.

That was Edwin’s goal.

“Then did you already know?” Finet asked, looking down at the young prince. “That question you asked earlier sounded like you knew you’d be taking part in the monster extermination campaign.”

His question about what to do if he had to fight an incredibly powerful monster.

Finet couldn’t quite put it out of his mind.

“Uh, um.”

Should he say yes or no?

As Edwin hesitated, Finet draped his arm around his shoulders again.

“Of course, my answer would’ve been the same either way.”

“Hm?”

Finet winked at the bewildered Edwin.

“No matter how powerful a monster comes at us, we in the Third Unit will protect you.”

Edwin’s eyes widened. For a moment, he couldn’t think of what to say.

Then he asked without thinking, “W-why?”

“What? Well…” Finet frowned, apparently taken aback by the question.

Then he broke into a bright smile. “Because you’re one of us, Prince Edwin. You’re part of the Third Unit.”

“That’s right!”

Did they all feel the same way?

The moment Finet finished, knights chimed in from every direction as though they’d been waiting.

“Who else would we protect if not you, Your Highness?”

“His Majesty has the First and Second Units. They’ll take care of him!”

“Even so, what do you think will happen if someone hears you saying something so disrespectful?”

Another knight, Bata, came up beside them and scolded his comrades for their careless words. Then he bent down and whispered in the prince’s ear.

“But I feel the same way. I think it’d be more rewarding to protect the prince who sweated and struggled alongside lowborn men like us than some high-ranking person whose face we don’t even know.”

Edwin looked at Bata in surprise.

Bata winked at him. “If it’s a joint operation, the entire Gloria Knights will probably participate. We’ll be able to fight alongside you, too.”

Finet snickered from Edwin’s other side.

“You’re just as disrespectful yourself, Bata.”

“Shut up, Finet.”

It was such a strange thing. Edwin watched the two bicker on either side of him, then looked at the other Third Unit knights walking ahead.

‘What is this feeling?’

Tears welled in his eyes, but he wasn’t sad.

Something deep inside his heart seemed to grow hot, then ache.

Yet it didn’t hurt. Instead, he felt overwhelmed.

It was a little like the feeling of pausing to catch his breath after running at full speed.

“So, with the time we have left….”

Finet lightly nudged Edwin’s back with his elbow as the prince followed in a daze.

“Let’s put ourselves through our paces together, Prince Edwin.”

Any other prince would’ve punished him for his insolence.

But Edwin was different.

“…Yes!”

The Third Prince nodded with a bright, delighted smile.

“Then let’s race to the archery range! Last one there gives up all his snacks!”

“Agh, Finet, you sneaky bastard!”

As Finet shouted and took off, the other knights who’d been strolling along scrambled to run after him.

“Honestly, that immature fool.”

Bata clicked his tongue, but he, too, picked up his pace.

“Prince Edwin, you’re automatically in the race, too!”

“Uh, okay!”

Edwin could eat all the snacks he wanted once he returned to his palace. Even so, he started running after the knights.

“Wait for me!” Edwin shouted.

As he ran, pumping his arms, he happened to glance at his palm.

Unlike before, it was covered in calluses. It wasn’t pretty to look at, but he liked it very much.

‘…Yes, I can do this.’

His once-delicate palms, which used to get scratched by the slightest brush of a twig, now remained unmarked even when he fell on sharp stones.

So he, too, could become much stronger than he was now.

Just as his palms, once soft and fragile, had grown rough like Rachel’s.

***

“Your Highness, is something uncomfortable?”

The head maid of the Second Consort’s palace watched her mistress carefully.

Helena, the Second Consort, with her glossy blonde hair and red eyes as beautiful as a sunset, had paused halfway through dressing to stare into the mirror.

“This dress.”

Helena ran a palm over the waist of the dress she was still putting on.

“Who made it?”

“Pardon? Oh, our seamstress maids, of course….”

“This embroidery isn’t the work of any of the girls who’ve been here.”

The head maid couldn’t see what was different about it.

While she stood speechless and flustered, one of the seamstress maids helping Helena dress stepped forward.

“Your eye is as discerning as ever, Your Highness.”

The maid brought forward the small young girl standing behind her.

Helena tilted her head as she looked at the child. “I haven’t seen you before. Are you new?”

“Yes. She used to work in the Emperor’s sewing room, and she’s exceptionally skilled at embroidery.”

A seamstress maid from the Emperor’s palace.

Helena’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She recalled hearing that a maid from the Emperor’s palace had transferred here, but she hadn’t had time to pay attention.

With news of the large-scale monster extermination campaign, she’d been busy meeting with the nobles who supported the Second Prince.

“…I’m quite pleased with the embroidery.”

Lush white peonies were embroidered around the waist. As though the girl knew Helena liked those flowers.

“You.”

Fully dressed, Helena turned around. She could see the crown of the girl’s head as the child stood below the dais, bowing meekly.

“What is your name?”

At the Second Consort’s question, the girl lowered her head even more respectfully. Then she answered in a quiet but clear voice, “My name is Lily, Your Highness.”

“Very well. May I entrust you with the dress I’ll wear to next week’s banquet?”

To personally assign work to an attendant who’d only just arrived. She must’ve been quite taken with the young maid’s embroidery.

“Pardon? Really? If you entrust it to me, I’ll do my very best!”

The young maid named Lily also smiled brightly, apparently delighted to receive her mistress’s favor. It was an open, innocent smile, seemingly free of any ulterior motive.

“Then you may all….”

Just as Helena was about to dismiss the maids,

A maid hurried in from outside, rushed to the head maid, and whispered in her ear.

The head maid’s expression visibly changed, then quickly returned to normal.

“Your Highness Helena.”

The head maid approached Helena. Then she whispered so softly that no one but the consort could hear.

“Baron Miller and the people from the temple have arrived at the imperial palace.”

“They’re here now? It isn’t the agreed date yet.”

“Then perhaps they’ve discovered the Prophet’s whereabouts?”

Helena’s expression changed the moment she heard those words.

Her face, which until then was merely intimidatingly beautiful, took on a truly menacing look.

“When they reach my palace, bring them to the drawing room.”

Instead of answering, the head maid bowed deeply.

She signaled with her eyes for the other maids to leave.

Once outside the consort’s room, the maids each breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to their duties.

The new seamstress maid, “Lily,” also left the room with gleaming eyes.

‘The Prophet.’

To think she’d hear the word Prophet like this.

Lily’s eyes, clear as glass marbles, sparkled.

‘And Baron Miller.’

There was no such family among the Empire’s noble houses her true mistress told her about. That meant he was a newly made noble.

‘I should let her know, too.’

With a smile spread across her face, Lily descended the stairs at an even pace.

Thinking she should share this information with a certain woman she frequently met in secret within this vast imperial palace.