The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 152

Chapter 152. Reunion (3)

‘There’s no way to know whether Helena knew that when she commissioned the assassination.’

The assassin guild only learned that the First Consort was pregnant after the job was done.

‘She probably didn’t. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have considered doing something so dangerous.’

In any case, the Second Consort could count herself lucky, since she’d also eliminated a rival to her son.

‘But that also means she’s finished if the person who shares her secret betrays her.’

If Ian set his mind to blackmailing her, the Second Consort would have no choice but to let him pull her strings.

If it came to light that Helena had assassinated not only the First Consort but the Emperor’s child as well, she’d face execution at the very least.

‘Which makes this all the more puzzling.’

Why was the Marquis of Radcliffe leaving a man who held such leverage over his daughter alone?

‘Could the Marquis of Radcliffe have no idea what his daughter did?’

The person who accompanied Helena to the guild when she commissioned the assassination wasn’t the Marquis.

‘That would explain it.’

Helena’s crime was high treason, enough to bring down the entire marquis’s family. If the Marquis knew, he would’ve tried to eliminate Ian by any means necessary.

The dead never spoke, after all.

‘Those mercenaries at the temple mentioned Ian in their conversation, too.’

The Marquis of Radcliffe and the temple, with Ian between them. He seemed to be little more than a messenger, but the fact that the Marquis entrusted him with matters concerning the Holy Kingdom meant he trusted Ian that much.

‘The Marquis of Radcliffe heads the Second Prince’s faction.’

Following him ultimately meant that Ian’s goal was to make the Second Prince emperor.

“So we’re destined to be enemies after all.”

The lover I once loved, the enemy who killed me, apparently intended to become my political opponent as well.

‘Then….’

Frowning, I stared out the window across from me.

The sky, as though tinged with red paint, was steadily darkening.

‘Why on earth did Ian kill me?’

Surely it wasn’t to get rid of the guild and obtain the surname Miller and the title of viscount.

He couldn’t have betrayed me for something so trivial.

He just couldn’t have.

‘Because if he really betrayed me just to get those things, I think I’ll go out of my mind.’

As I continued thinking about Ian, a stinging ache spread around my eyes.

I rubbed my temples and rose to my feet.

‘In any case, there’s no need to investigate Ian’s activities separately anymore.’

Viscount Ian Miller, a supporter of the Second Prince’s faction.

Now I knew that the man I assumed merely shared his name was the very person I was looking for.

‘Then killing Ian right now is out of the question after all.’

Ian was no longer an assassin hiding in the shadows. He was a nobleman.

And I was no longer the leader of an assassin guild, but a prince’s nanny.

Neither of us stood to gain anything from a direct confrontation.

‘If I had my way….’

I’d strangle that traitor with my own hands right now.

But I had to hold back.

‘I have people to protect.’

Edwin and Emilia. Catherine and Sage.

Even the maids working in the Third Prince’s palace.

‘One wrong step, and every last one of them will be slaughtered.’

With the protection of House Radcliffe behind Ian, I had virtually no chance of winning.

‘Ian will realize who I am if I make even the smallest mistake.’

Ian was quick on the uptake.

And when it came to me, there was nothing he didn’t know.

‘He knows everything, from the way I fight to how I speak and walk, right down to my eating habits.’

I’d felt a little regret that I couldn’t question Ian directly when we met, but thinking about it now, fleeing immediately seemed like the right decision.

‘If our eyes had so much as met….’

He might have recognized me.

My eyes were the only part of my current appearance that still held a trace of my former self.

“Hah.”

Just as I let out a quiet sigh, it happened.

Whoosh, tap.

A small stone flew in from outside and struck the window.

I quickly got up and peered outside.

A familiar figure stood in the shade of a tree.

It was Lily, Somnia’s doll, whom I’d planted in the Second Consort’s palace.

***

“I’m sorry.”

I offered a sincere apology to Lily, who was hiding in the shade.

“I completely forgot we were supposed to meet today.”

“It’s all right. I didn’t forget.”

“Did you run into anyone on your way here?”

“No. I deliberately took a roundabout route where there was no one.”

Lily smiled, her face as smooth as porcelain.

“Even if I had, no one would’ve noticed me, so don’t worry.”

Just as Lily said, I couldn’t sense her presence at all. Even the sound of her artificial heartbeat was absent.

“Can you control the sound of your heartbeat, too?”

“Yes. My master added that feature in case I ever needed to appear to be an actual doll. When I conceal my presence completely, I silence every sound my body makes.”

What a convenient feature.

I glanced at Lily’s clear, innocent face before changing the subject.

“So, what news do you have?”

“A man named Viscount Ian Miller visited the Second Consort’s palace.”

So that bastard did go to the Second Consort’s palace after all.

My eyes narrowed as I listened closely to Lily.

“He came on a day other than the one arranged, and the Second Consort’s head maid wondered aloud whether he’d come early because of the matter concerning the prophet.”

Lily continued smoothly, without a single stumble, “This Viscount Miller was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, with dark ash-blond hair and gray eyes….”

“Skip his appearance.”

Lily’s eyes widened slightly when I interrupted. “Did you already know what he looks like?”

“…More or less.”

I folded my arms and tipped up my chin.

“Never mind what he looks like. Did you find out anything about what he discussed with the Second Consort?”

“Would you like their conversation in full?”

That was an odd way to put it.

I frowned at Lily. “Are you saying you overheard their entire conversation?”

“Yes. Dolls made by the Golden Goose Merchant Guild have hearing a hundred times better than a human’s.”

I was too astonished to speak. How on earth did that bastard Somnia make something like this?

My amazement lasted only a moment before I urged Lily on.

“I want it in full.”

“Please give me a moment.”

Lily seemed to stare blankly into space, then began moving her lips at a steady pace.

“You’re later than I expected. I heard you arrived at the imperial palace some time ago. Ah, my apologies, Your Highness. I ran into a little trouble on the way. Trouble? What sort of trouble….”

The conversation between the Second Consort and Ian, delivered in Lily’s flat voice, contained more information than I expected.

‘Ian and the Second Consort aren’t as close as I thought.’

It seemed Ian had won over the Marquis of Radcliffe first. And Helena apparently couldn’t say a word about getting rid of him, even as she watched him side with her father.

‘Naturally, since he has something on her.’

Ian also seemed to have a rough idea of the prophet’s whereabouts.

‘He may not know the exact location, but people always leave traces wherever they go.’

He said he’d found a village where the prophet recently stayed, so it would only be a matter of time before the guild members following Ian tracked him down.

Assassins were the best trackers, after all.

‘And the most important piece of information….’

Was that Ian would attend the coming monster subjugation as the Second Prince’s attendant.

‘He’s even identified and finished surveying all the subjugation areas. Nothing’s been officially announced yet.’

Did House Radcliffe give him the information in advance, then?

In that case, the First Prince’s side must already know where the subjugation would take place, too.

‘Other information might be easy to obtain, but this concerns the subjugation that will determine who inherits the throne.’

Even in my previous life, I probably would’ve struggled to obtain information about it.

‘Damn it. Is this why you need a powerful noble backing you?’

Whether in assassination or war, nothing mattered more than information.

As this proved, the quality and quantity of information you could obtain depended on the wealth and power of your supporters.

“That’s everything.”

Having finished reciting everything she heard, Lily’s eyes were lively again.

“Did they say anything else about the subjugation?”

“No. Unfortunately, that was the entire conversation.”

What a shame.

I clicked my tongue softly and furrowed my brow.

“I think I should be getting back now.”

Lily turned toward me, blinking her large eyes.

“Do you have any further instructions?”

“…Viscount Miller. Let me know if that man visits the Second Consort’s palace again. Everything he says and everything he does there.”

“Understood. Anything else?”

When I shook my head silently, Lily dipped into a small curtsy.

I watched her retreating figure as she slipped quietly away.

“…I don’t think I’ll even have time to be angry.”

The subjugation that would determine the princes’ fates was almost upon us.

I slowly turned to look at the Third Prince’s palace. As I lowered my head, weighed down by a tangle of feelings I couldn’t explain, a bell-like voice rang out.

“Acheeeel!”

Emilia had spotted me in the distance and was running toward me. Behind her, I could see Catherine hurrying after her.