The Maid With a Child - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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23. A Residence.
“Teaching the Crown Prince a single word shouldn’t be difficult, would it?”
“I—yes, well, that is to say, his speech would need more time to develop…….”
Spitting out random words and constructing proper sentences were vastly different things. It would take far longer.
“He’s already speaking something close to human language. Not immediately—in three months, on my birthday. That’s when we debut him in Moron High Society. Until then, just teach him a simple birthday greeting. Easy, yes?”
But the King had already drawn up his entire plan.
“I—I’ll do my best…….”
If it didn’t work, perhaps every single day would become intensive training until it did.
At Adlen’s answer, the King smiled with satisfaction.
‘This is bad…….’
If she refused now, the King would execute her whether she failed later or refused now—it made no difference. He’d hand down the sentence either way.
The King could truly carry out an execution for Crime of Disobedience to Royal Command.
So she’d agreed to try, but……would it work out?
“After the Crown Prince’s High Society debut, what becomes of his treatment?”
It was Racalt who asked, having listened quietly until now.
He’d been paying close attention to the word “going forward.”
“What becomes of it? He’ll need to keep growing.”
The King shrugged and spoke casually.
“……!”
“!”
Yet Racalt and Adlen were struck as if by lightning, then fell into despair.
The High Society debut alone was no small task, and now he was saying to continue raising him indefinitely. No fixed age meant simply forever.
The very disaster Adlen had feared came to pass.
A lifetime spent as a nursemaid and servant, her entire life ruined.
“Until the Crown Prince grows into a perfect Tepland citizen—unable to harm Tepland by his own hand—and takes his throne as a Puppet King of Moron.”
At the King’s continued plan, Adlen drew a sharp breath.
At least the young master’s life was guaranteed. But……the thought that such a future was now fixed troubled her deeply.
“……Then wouldn’t it be better to keep the Crown Prince in the Royal Palace instead?”
Well done, my lord!
This was precisely why having someone on her side mattered.
Adlen, though not family, was deeply moved by the excellent support of what felt like a family superior.
And if the young master grew up in the Royal Palace, he’d receive far more resources and develop under specialized hands.
“For now we don’t know, but there may come a time when something needs to be……removed. The Palace would make it easier to avoid attention.”
“…….”
Family or not, they could disagree.
Not to raise him well, but to kill the young master if circumstances demanded it.
Adlen pulled the child close, cradling him as if to hide him.
Both Racalt and the King’s eyes turned toward Adlen at once. As if they were targeting the child, Adlen gripped him tighter, sheltering him further.
“Uh-uh? Kyah-ung!”
Unaware of what was happening, the child thought it was playtime and laughed brightly. There, before the very people planning his death.
It was only more pitiable.
“Still, the Crown Prince will continue to be raised in your Residence.”
“……May I ask your reason?”
“Who would raise him in the Palace? Myself? With these hands?”
The King lifted his own thin wrist and waved it weakly. The delicate hand fluttered like a dried leaf.
“There are nursemaids and attendants standing ready in the Royal House.”
“They won’t do. I’ve prepared them for our next heir, whenever that comes.”
“! Has the Queen conceived?”
“No. Someday we will, I suppose.”
The King laughed innocently. From anyone else, it would have sounded mocking or callous. But because he was King, it was accepted. Surely there was purpose in everything he did.
“I hear there are also alternate candidates for those positions.”
“Those are far too unreliable. Could you trust any of them?”
“…….”
Racalt’s mouth sealed shut.
The King chuckled, as if he’d expected this very silence.
Once more, the King reached out and gently took Racalt’s hand. Racalt accepted it without resistance, his eyes downcast.
“Racalt. Then and now, the only one I trust is you alone. That maid—I trust her because you do.”
“…….”
“The Palace is too vast. Too easy for rats to hide in. So I have no choice but to entrust her to you. Racalt. Yes?”
The King’s voice was earnest. He was not speaking to Racalt as king to subject, but as one would to family.
Adlen shook her head inwardly.
No, it won’t do. It won’t do, my lord. Please don’t give in to that……. No matter how loyal you are, no matter how tenderly His Majesty makes his request rather than a command, we still need to survive, don’t we?
“……Yes.”
But at the answer that followed, Adlen fell into despair.
That’s right. My lord—the one who devoted his life to his house. If His Majesty commanded him to die, he wouldn’t merely pretend to die; he would truly die. She had forgotten that.
And now she was bound together with the master she’d once been grateful to for stepping forward on her behalf, and both of them were ruined.
“Thank you. Who else would I entrust that Crown Prince to, if not you? And besides, this isn’t something you need to suffer through.”
The king turned his eyes from the groaning Racalt and smiled slightly at Adlen.
“But you will suffer through it.”
“…….”
Adlen squeezed her eyes shut at the king’s words—words far too accurate for comfort.
The king’s questions did not end there.
“What’s your name?”
“Yes, ah, I’m Adlen.”
“I see. You didn’t have any marriage plans, did you?”
“……No, Your Majesty.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Do you have any family, relatives, or friends connected to Moron?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“No problem there either. So there’s nothing wrong with you raising the Crown Prince from now on, is there? Especially since he takes to you so well.”
But I’m only temporary. Only temporary. I was only temporary.
She wanted to scream it. But His Majesty had already decided that Adlen would spend decades raising the child. There had been no question of “Would that be alright?” or “Would you like to?” asked.
She had dodged and evaded becoming a nursemaid for so long, and now she was bound for life by royal decree.
My small, precious dream. A normal family, ordinary happiness—it was all slipping away.
If she said no here, would that be treason?
Her life was already falling apart, tied to this child, her entire future turned upside down. Since she was ruined anyway, why not commit treason once?
Adlen’s insides twisted and coiled tighter.
“The Crown Prince of Moron is the crucial key to Tepland’s future. He must never be taken from us. If he is, there will be war again.”
To Adlen in this state, the king left behind what seemed like a plea but sounded like a threat.
How could she say no when another war might break out? If she did, she wouldn’t just be a traitor—she could become a betrayer of the entire nation.
Adlen, who had once nearly become exactly that and was caught red-handed for it, felt this threat all the more keenly.
“Wait, you’re not calling me here to ask me to raise the Crown Prince, are you?”
Just then, a clear, lilting voice came from nowhere, settling gently upon Adlen’s flailing sea of despair.
Adlen’s head snapped up.
Both men turned their heads toward the source of the voice.
The person who arrived with that laughing voice was…….
‘A heavenly being?’
A beautiful woman with long golden hair that seemed to flow like honey, and pale amber eyes.
At the sight of this woman’s stunning beauty, Adlen forgot her displeasure, anxiety, and despair all at once.
“Maeltina.”
The king greeted the woman with a faint smile.
The woman named Maeltina approached with graceful steps. Even her dress seemed to float around her, as if a flower were walking toward them.
As Maeltina drew near, she bowed elegantly to the king, then let out a long sigh upon seeing Racalt.
“I wondered why you were calling so urgently this morning, and sure enough. Racalt.”
“If I’ve caused you any inconvenience, I am deeply sorry.”
“Why would you apologize? This is all His Majesty’s doing.”
Adlen’s eyes widened as she looked between the two of them.
They maintained proper courtesy, yet their exchange seemed remarkably comfortable.
‘What’s their relationship?’
Adlen’s heart quickened as she focused on the angel who had suddenly appeared.
Even the king let out a laugh and poured tea directly into the cup placed at Maeltina’s seat.
“I’m so moved by how hard you’ve worked to scheme this that you should overlook it for me, don’t you think?”
“You’re not even the one doing the work, yet I’m supposed to overlook it on my own? That’s a bit much.”
“Did you hear that? Work harder.”
The king issued the command to Racalt.
“I shall do my best.”
Racalt answered with gravity.
“Don’t. You’ve already brought such a lovely lady along with you—what more effort could you possibly need?”
Maeltina suddenly pointed toward Adlen.
Adlen drew in a sharp breath.
Maeltina’s eyes gleamed as she studied Adlen intently.
Adlen shrank back like prey before a predator, holding her breath.
“So, who is this lovely young lady?”
……A servant, ma’am.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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