The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 150

Chapter 150. Reunion (1)

“Princess Emilia, it’s dangerous to run so fast.”

Emilia was brimming with energy lately.

She was always energetic, but lately she was so unusually lively that I didn’t know what to do with her.

Perhaps spending so much time with old Sage had rubbed off on her, and she’d picked up his unruly streak.

“Don’t worry! Lia knows all the paths now!”

When did she pick up that twig?

Emilia marched along, holding the slender branch out in front of her like a conductor’s baton.

“Lia can go see my brother at the knights’ quarters without Achel! Don’t underestimate Lia!”

Did she have any idea what could happen to her tiny body if she fell while running around like that?

Unlike Edwin, who was timid by nature, Emilia was far too fearless for someone so young.

‘Honestly, that cheeky little chick. She doesn’t listen to a damn thing.’

I finally gave up trying to stop Emilia and quickened my pace.

“Let’s go together, Your Highness!”

“Aaaah, Lia’s running away! Catch Lia, Achel!”

I wasn’t trying to play tag. But when I followed close behind her, Emilia started running even faster.

“Ahahaha! Hurry up, Achel! My brother’s waiting!”

We were on our way to fetch Edwin after his training with the knights.

Normally, I would’ve gone alone, but today I had no choice but to bring Emilia.

‘Catherine seems preoccupied with something besides her duties as head maid, and Sage is completely absorbed in studying the mana stone from the mutant monster.’

The other maids were far too busy for me to leave the princess in their care.

Only ten maids had to clean and maintain the Third Prince’s palace every day, despite its grounds being comparable in size to the Emperor’s palace. No one could call that easy, even as a joke.

‘Catherine seems to have been considering hiring more staff for quite a while.’

Why did she keep considering it without actually hiring anyone?

‘Is that why she’s been looking so troubled?’

I’d have to ask her about it soon.

I was following Emilia, thinking just that, when it happened.

“Ow!”

The moment she rounded a fork in the maze-like paths lined with hedges as tall as a person.

Emilia gave a small cry and fell backward onto her bottom.

“Your Highness!”

I quickly helped Emilia up and checked her for injuries.

“Are you all right?”

“Uh-huh, Lia’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

Emilia blinked, apparently just startled by her sudden fall. Then she sprang up as though nothing were wrong and brushed off her bottom herself.

“Oh dear.”

Just then, the shadow falling over my head drew closer. The expensive leather shoes that appeared before my eyes were adorned with emeralds.

“My apologies. I should’ve paid more attention to my surroundings.”

I knew very well that life had never been kind to me, right from the day I was born. But did it have to be this cruel to me alone?

“Are you all right?”

The slightly husky voice was infinitely gentle.

I slowly raised my head.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

There he stood, with the light streaming from behind him.

The man who stabbed me in the back and took everything from me.

The man who was once my lover.

Ian Angel.

***

“You’re later than I expected.”

Helena, the Second Consort, set down her teacup at the sight of the man entering the drawing room.

“I heard you arrived at the imperial palace some time ago.”

“Oh, my apologies, Your Highness.”

The man bowed with a radiant smile.

“A small problem arose on my way here.”

“A problem? What sort of problem?”

Helena’s gaze sharpened instantly.

“It was nothing.”

Despite the Second Consort’s sharp tone, the man brushed it off with a smile.

“A minor collision. Nothing you need concern yourself with, Your Highness. Please don’t worry.”

His tone was polite, but ultimately, he was telling her not to pry.

Helena drew her brows together slightly and took a sip of tea.

‘Devious bastard.’

The man sitting before her was named Ian Miller.

To the outside world, he was a young noble who gained the Marquis of Radcliffe’s trust and received the title of viscount only a year ago.

‘How on earth did he win Father over?’

Helena tightened her grip on the teacup’s handle.

‘Hah. If only he didn’t have something on me…’

She knew Ian Miller’s former name. Or, more precisely, his former surname.

‘I would’ve never stood by and let Father join hands with a butcher like him.’

Ian Miller, or rather, Ian Angel.

The former deputy leader of the continent’s most notorious assassin guild.

Though he was overshadowed by the fearsome reputation of its leader, known at the time as the Reaper of the Silver Thread, he was the assassin best known among clients.

Unlike the leader, who was somewhat selective about accepting jobs, he was relentlessly diligent, doing his utmost to carry out any assignment.

“What’s on your mind, Your Highness?”

Ian had set down his teacup and was gazing steadily at Helena. Leaning against the backrest with his legs elegantly crossed, he looked perfectly relaxed, yet left no opening.

“Nothing,” Helena answered with an untroubled expression.

She smoothly changed the subject. “So, how did it go?”

“Which matter do you mean?”

Ian’s eyes curved into crescents. He looked just like a mischievous child.

“Do you mean the matter of the Prophet? Or the matter concerning the Second Prince?”

Helena’s smiling face turned icy.

“Viscount Miller, I’m not sitting here to play word games with you.”

Ian shrugged, looking hurt. “Oh, my apologies. The Marquis enjoys my jokes, so I naturally assumed you would, too, Your Highness.”

“I’m not my father.”

The Second Consort set her teacup down with a clatter. Despite the displeasure in her eyes, she kept smiling.

“And even if my father indulges you, I would like you to remember your place, Viscount Miller.”

“Ah, goodness!”

Still seated, Ian bent forward in an exaggerated bow.

“My sincerest apologies, Your Highness! I’ve been rude. I’ll be sure to remember what you’ve just said.”

It was a frivolous gesture, like a clown bowing to an audience onstage.

Helena regarded him with contempt for the briefest moment, then sighed softly.

The sooner she got this unpredictable man out of her palace, the better.

“I won’t keep a busy man. Let’s get straight to the point and finish this.”

She placed both hands neatly on her lap, her eyes gleaming sharply.

“Start with the Prophet.”

“If that’s your wish, Your Highness, I’ll keep this brief and to the point.”

Ian continued with a smile, “We have yet to determine the Prophet’s exact current location, but we have identified where he was staying until recently.”

Not long ago, all the sick people in a certain slum recovered their health at once. Strangely, however, none of the village’s physicians or priests had treated them.

“It must’ve been the Prophet’s doing.”

Helena raised an eyebrow.

“Then it’s only a matter of time before you capture him.”

“I can’t guarantee that.”

Ian looked annoyed.

“The guardian at his side is an exceedingly troublesome opponent.”

“Isn’t eliminating troublesome opponents by any means necessary what you people do?”

At Helena’s sharp retort, Ian smiled.

“Your Highness.”

His voice was lower than before, almost a murmur.

“I am a viscount.”

His hollow gray eyes stared Helena down, as though everything within them had burned away, leaving only ash.

“How could a noble engage in such lowly work?”

His lips curved upward, but there was no amusement in his voice.

Helena flinched involuntarily and clutched her skirt.

“That is what my subordinates do, not ‘you people.’ I merely give the orders.”

Only after seeing the Second Consort turn pale did Ian adopt his playful expression again.

“Well, in any case, as you said, we’ll use whatever means necessary to find the Prophet, so you needn’t worry about that.”

He interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on his lap.

“We’ll secure the Prophet before the First Prince’s faction does. Without fail.”

Securing the Prophet was the most important prerequisite for everything that lay ahead.

“And I believe I’ll be able to join the monster extermination campaign you mentioned.”

Ian gave a meaningful smile.

“As Prince Lloyd’s attendant.”

“…What do you mean? I don’t recall appointing you as Lloyd’s attendant.” Helena’s brow furrowed deeply.

“The Marquis of Radcliffe ordered me to accompany him. He said he would inform you separately, Your Highness.”

Acting on his own again.

Helena silently gritted her teeth at the thought of her father.

She was the consort. She was the Second Prince’s mother. Yet every important decision was always left to the Marquis of Radcliffe.

“Did you truly not hear?”

“…Of course I did.”

Helena forced a smile.

“It slipped my mind for a moment.”

“I see. Well, I hear you’ve been occupied with all sorts of matters lately. The Marquis has also been quite worn down, both physically and mentally, from having to sort them all out.”

There was a subtle barb in his words. But openly reacting to an insult was a novice’s mistake.

“Yes, I’ve been rather busy.”

Helena immediately smiled as though nothing were wrong.

“So unimportant matters sometimes slip my mind.”

As though telling him that his existence meant nothing to her, and she didn’t care what he did.