The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 153

Chapter 153. An Unexpected Gift (1)

“…Princess Emilia?”

“Achel! Acheeeel!”

Thump.

A weight that was no longer quite so light pressed into my skirts.

Emilia wrapped her arms around my legs and nuzzled her head against them.

“Acheeeel!”

“Your Highness? What’s wrong?”

Emilia didn’t answer. She simply kept rubbing her head between my knees.

“Your Highness, why are you suddenly….”

“Hah, hah, Nannyyy.”

Catherine finally caught up with Emilia and gripped my shoulder, panting heavily.

“Catherine, what’s going on? Why is Her Highness suddenly acting…”

“What on earth happened to you today, Nanny?”

“…Pardon?”

“You were white as a sheet when you went back to your room earlier.”

Catherine glanced between Emilia and me with worried eyes.

“Do you have any idea how worried Princess Emilia was about you? She refused to eat dinner without you, and we ended up out here while I was trying to persuade her.”

Come to think of it, the princess should’ve finished dinner by now.

“Your Highness, did you skip your meal?”

Emilia didn’t answer.

Grrrrumble.

Instead, someone’s stomach growled loudly.

Emilia’s shoulders flinched, and she muttered, “That wasn’t Lia.”

The little princess clung to my legs, showing no intention of letting go.

I gazed down at the golden crown of her head for a moment, then scooped her into my arms.

Emilia immediately wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face against it.

“Princess Emilia.” Resting a hand on the silent Emilia’s back, I asked, “Were you worried about me?”

Emilia nodded without a word. Her face tickled the spot on my neck where she’d buried it.

“I’m all right.”

“…You’re lying. You’re not all right, Achel,” Emilia mumbled in a small voice.

“I really am.”

“No, you’re not! You looked really, really sad all of a sudden after you met that strange mister!”

Emilia jerked her head up and shot back accusingly.

Fat tears pooled beneath her large blue eyes.

“It’s because Lia, because Lia didn’t listen to you, isn’t it? It’s because Lia ran into that mister, isn’t it?”

“What?”

How on earth had she gotten that idea?

I stared blankly at Emilia. Her lower lip jutted out as though she might burst into tears at any moment. Her tiny nose was as red as a ripe strawberry.

“Your Highness, that wasn’t your fault….”

“Waaaah! Lia will listen! Lia will be good! So don’t go, Acheeeel!”

I couldn’t begin to follow the princess’s train of thought.

As I soothed the bitterly sobbing Emilia, I looked at Catherine.

“I think she remembered what happened to Mrs. Conrad, who used to work here.”

“What about Mrs. Conrad?”

“Well, she once heard that Mrs. Conrad died while covering for a mistake His Highness made. I thought she’d forgotten all about it, but apparently she still remembers.”

So she was worried I’d disappear or be gone, just like Mrs. Conrad.

“Waaaah!”

I stared at Emilia as she sobbed her heart out.

It felt so strange to have someone worry over even the smallest thing I did, crying so hard that her whole body trembled.

“Your Highness.”

I wiped Emilia’s tears and patted her back.

“I’m all right. Truly.”

Emilia studied my face, then finally stopped crying.

“Sniff… really?”

“Yes, really.”

I hadn’t been all right, but now I truly was.

‘Yes, I’m all right.’

I hugged Emilia tightly and quietly gritted my teeth.

‘And that’s why….’

Ian’s face, shadowed against the light, rose before my eyes.

‘I’ll never let you get what you want, whatever it is.’

Taking a life wasn’t the only form of revenge.

Sometimes, taking away what someone desperately wanted was the cruelest revenge of all.

‘Ian Miller.’

With the cool breeze brushing against me, I vowed once more.

I would never again surrender anything to the lover who betrayed me.

***

“Hmm?”

After I finally managed to calm Emilia down and returned to my room, a soft glow greeted me.

It came from the communication orb the King of Adamant left with me.

‘What’s this all of a sudden? It’s not time for us to be in contact yet.’

I quickly drew the curtains and pulled the box out from under my bed.

The communication orb inside was shining brightly.

[It’s been a while, Lady Brown.]

His voice was still annoyingly pleasant to listen to. And his face was still frighteningly handsome.

Kayden smiled broadly on the other side of the screen, apparently in a good mood.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

[It’s been a while, yet you don’t look particularly pleased to see me.]

Of course I wasn’t pleased.

Who could welcome a call from the king of an enemy nation while still reeling from running into the former lover who killed them, right in the middle of the imperial palace?

“…I was merely surprised by your unexpected call.”

[You don’t look well. Did something happen?]

This man was far too perceptive, too.

I gave a small shake of my head, pretending nothing was wrong.

“No, nothing happened.”

[Your expression says otherwise.]

“If anything’s wrong, it’s only that your unexpected call caught me off guard, Your Majesty.”

[Hmm.]

Kayden propped his chin on one hand and raised an eyebrow.

[You don’t look caught off guard. You look sad.]

I flinched and instinctively brought a hand to my face.

Kayden’s expression immediately turned serious.

[So something did happen.]

There was no lying to him.

Sighing inwardly, I slowly began to speak.

“To be honest, something did happen that you should know about, Your Majesty.”

[Something I should know about?]

Kayden folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

As perceptive as ever, he guessed correctly at once.

[Does it concern the Holy Kingdom or Breath of the Angel?]

I nodded and continued, “You remember the conversation I relayed to you between the mercenaries hiding in the temple?”

[I do.]

“Today, I encountered the Viscount Miller they mentioned at the imperial palace.”

[Viscount Miller?]

Kayden seemed to ponder something, then tilted his head.

[I’ve never heard that surname before. Is he a prominent noble in the Empire?]

“No. I believe he was only recently ennobled.”

[What’s his full name?]

I hesitated for a moment before quietly uttering his name.

“Ian. Viscount Ian Miller.”

Silence fell over the room. All I did was say Ian’s name, yet Kayden’s expression on the other side of the crystal orb was unsettling.

“Your Majesty?”

[…The same.]

What was the same?

Kayden’s muttered words made no sense to me.

After appearing to think something over intently, he asked me a question.

[Do you know anything about this Ian Miller?]

“As you can tell from the information I gave you before, he’s a noble in the Second Prince’s faction who follows the Marquis of Radcliffe….”

I paused to take a breath, then continued, “And he’s the man who killed the person dearest to me in my life.”

At that moment, Kayden’s expression visibly hardened.

I thought he was just as skilled at hiding his emotions as I was. So he could show an expression like that in front of someone else.

[I wondered where he’d hidden himself. To think he’s been living in luxury as a nobleman.]

I could almost feel an intangible killing intent emanating from beyond the crystal orb.

Kayden seemed lost in thought for a long while before smiling again.

The murderous atmosphere from a moment ago was nowhere to be found.

[What a coincidence, though.]

It was an obviously false, perfunctory smile.

[I never imagined we were seeking revenge on the very same bastard, Lady Brown.]

Rather than answer, I gazed steadily at Kayden.

I still didn’t know why, but he, too, was pursuing Breath of the Angel.

‘Was he after Ian all along, rather than Breath of the Angel?’

Come to think of it, he’d been following traces of my past. Perhaps he wanted to find my killer, not Breath of the Angel.

‘Though that still doesn’t explain why.’

I had no memory of meeting anyone like him when I was Kyla. I had no way of knowing when, where, or how Kayden met me to become this obsessed.

“Viscount Miller will also be participating in the upcoming subjugation as the Second Prince’s attendant.”

[His attendant?]

“Yes.”

[The details of the subjugation haven’t even been announced yet, and he’s already volunteered to attend him?]

“He seemed to be thoroughly familiar with the plans for the subjugation already.”

I looked directly at the King of Adamant on the other side of the crystal orb.

“Do you happen to know anything about the subjugation, Your Majesty? I believe you mentioned that the Kingdom of Adamant would also be participating.”

A curious gleam entered Kayden’s eyes.

[And?]

“I was hoping you could give me some advance notice of anything you know.”

I added with confidence, “We are allies, after all.”

[Ah, dear.]

Kayden gave me an infuriating smile.

[You’re putting me in a difficult position, Lady Brown.]

“Was it such a difficult request?”

[Indeed. His Majesty the Emperor of Ventrume was quite insistent that I not divulge any information about the subjugation to anyone.]

Since when was he so conscientious about keeping promises to the Emperor?

Everyone else was busy looking after their own candidates for the throne.

I was just wondering whether I’d have to make another unreasonable request of Somnia when Kayden spoke.

[But I can hardly disappoint my ally.]

Kayden continued, his arms folded. His arms, each as thick as a baby’s head, looked painfully constricted by his shirt.

[I’ve sent you some gifts in place of an apology. Think of them as a gift in return for the one Her Highness the Princess gave me.]