The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 10
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10. Hide and Seek of Tears (2)
“Stop crying.”
I sighed as I looked at Edwin, who showed no signs of stopping his tears.
“I’m sorry for being late, but I did find Your Highness, didn’t I?”
“Sniff—!”
I had no intention of allowing him to blow his nose, but the kid wiped his nose on my sleeve.
Watching the snot stick wetly and stretch on my sleeve, I couldn’t help but frown.
I hid my sleeve behind me and continued speaking.
“Stop crying. The Housekeeper caught me on the way, so I couldn’t help being late.”
On my way here, the housekeeper had scolded me, asking where I’d left the prince while leisurely taking a stroll.
I recalled her incredulous expression when I told her we were playing hide and seek.
Meanwhile, Edwin listened to my words and looked at me with teary eyes.
“…Why did you look for me?”
Why did I look for him? Isn’t hide and seek a game that ends when the seeker finds the hider?
It was truly a puzzling question.
“Well, because the game ends when I find Your Highness.”
When I replied as if it were obvious, the kid pursed his lips.
What on earth did this kid want to hear?
I stood Edwin up, then got up from my spot and patted Emilia’s bottom.
Unlike her crybaby brother, Emilia stopped crying easily.
“Anyway, since I won, you have to eat all your vegetables.”
At that moment, Edwin’s face, which had seemed to stop crying, turned white as a sheet of paper.
* * *
“It’s all cold! How am I supposed to eat this! Vegetables taste even weirder when they’re cold!”
Back in the dining room, the kid made a sour face looking at the pile of vegetables on his plate.
“I’ll have them reheat it.”
“Ugh, forget it!”
After glaring at his plate for a while, the kid scooped up some vegetables with his spoon and put them in Emilia’s mouth.
Unlike her brother, the princess had a good appetite and chewed happily.
“A bet is a bet, Your Highness.”
When I moved Emilia away from him, Edwin glared at me.
“Do you enjoy tormenting me?”
“Tormenting? Vegetables are good for you.”
“So what if they’re good for me! They taste awful!”
“Your Highness, the world of competition is always ruthless. The loser must eat what they promised to eat, no matter how unappetizing.”
The kid, who had been scowling at being called a loser, finally put his share of vegetables in his mouth.
“Ugh—!”
Quite pitifully, his whole body trembled as he did so.
After finishing his meal with much difficulty, the prince ran straight to the garden without looking back.
“Brother! Wait for Lia!”
The kid running across the green lawn with his sister was full of energy, as if he’d never been crying.
Standing quietly with my arms crossed under the shade of a tree, I recalled what happened this morning.
– She’s dead.
Edwin had definitely said the previous caretaker was dead.
‘Judging by how the servants avoid talking about the previous caretaker, it probably wasn’t an honorable death.’
I tilted my head as I watched the prince running around in the garden.
‘From what he said, it seems he was quite close to the previous caretaker.’
To be so cheerful after experiencing the death of someone close to him.
‘Is it his natural personality, or is he just thoughtless?’
Just then, something glinted on Edwin’s wrist as he raised his arms to the sky.
It was the bracelet I had retrieved from those insolent servants.
The pale pearl bracelet that remained dull even in sunlight looked familiar somehow.
Why does it keep catching my eye?
‘It’s just an ordinary accessory you’d see anywhere.’
That’s right. It was a cheap accessory you could see anywhere.
The problem was why a prince of a nation would carry such an ordinary accessory like an amulet.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I uncharacteristically asked the kid first.
“Your Highness, I have a question.”
When I approached, Edwin turned around with a thoroughly sulky face.
He must have been that upset about eating vegetables earlier.
“What question?”
“That bracelet, is it precious to Your Highness?”
Edwin paused for a moment at my question, then raised his eyebrows and asked back.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“Like before, you seem to treasure it greatly.”
The kid remained silent at my words.
Then Emilia answered on behalf of her brother.
“Brother’s bracelet used to be Emma’s! Emma gave it to brother!”
“Lia! You don’t need to tell that woman such things.”
Edwin scolded his sister with a flustered face.
But the princess just looked like she knew nothing.
Edwin sighed looking at his sister, then turned his head to me.
The kid, who had been staring at me intently, opened his mouth in a prickly voice.
“Yes. It’s a very precious thing to me. Because it’s Emma’s keepsake.”
Edwin fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist.
“This was Emma’s last wish.”
“A wish, you say?”
“Yes. Emma said she wanted me to be happy. That was probably her last wish.”
To wish for another’s child’s happiness at the last moment of life.
‘…Her way of thinking resembles that woman exactly.’
Just then, someone tapped my hand.
It was Edwin.
“Here, a gift.”
The kid extended his clenched right fist to me.
He had seemed angry just moments ago, but suddenly a gift?
Perhaps he was a rather admirable kid who knew how to respect adults.
“Thank you.”
The moment I reached out with my thanks, the kid suddenly grinned mischievously.
“Hahaha, revenge!”
Edwin placed a large green object on my hand.
The identity of that thing with its long, slender form was…
None other than a grasshopper.
“…”
Edwin was looking at me with an extremely excited face.
He seemed to be hoping I’d be startled and faint.
But I had no intention of playing along as the kid hoped.
“I don’t particularly like insects. I’ll return it to you.”
I politely grabbed the grasshopper’s hind legs and gently placed it on top of Edwin’s head.
Then both Edwin and the grasshopper looked at me in bewilderment.
“Ah! What are you doing!”
Only then did the guy realize the situation, shaking his head vigorously and huffing.
“This is no fun at all! I want to go to my room!”
“Let’s do that.”
“Emilia, come here! Let’s go inside and play!”
Edwin took care of his younger sister and went inside the palace.
I was about to follow them inside as well when it happened.
The back of my head felt prickly. I quietly turned my head.
Behind me stretched only a long wall, trees, and bushes.
‘Even if he’s called the dog-hair prince, there are still eyes watching.’
I have to acknowledge that royals are unnecessarily suspicious.
I stared at a distant tree and stretched my lips into a smile.
‘Well, their skills don’t seem particularly outstanding.’
As I stood there with my gaze fixed for a moment, a sharp shout reached my ears.
“Hey, what are you doing not following quickly!”
Edwin and Emilia.
Two pairs of innocent eyes were looking at me.
“I’m coming.”
I wasn’t in a position to stay long anyway, so there was no reason to worry about trivial things.
I straightened my clothes and lightly turned my steps.
* * *
‘What rotten luck.’
While walking with the royal siblings, I ended up running into The Maid Captain.
The Maid Captain seemed to pay no attention to my existence.
She looked at the prince, gave a light bow, and scrutinized him with sharp eyes.
“Your Highness, did you perhaps go outside the Prince’s Palace yesterday?”
Edwin shrank back excessively at The Maid Captain’s question.
He looked exactly like a frightened baby deer.
‘He was calling her a demon hag so boldly in front of me.’
Edwin hesitated for a long time before barely managing to speak in a crawling voice.
“N-no. I didn’t go out…”
“Please tell the truth. Did you really not go out?”
Edwin’s face turned terrified at The Maid Captain’s cold voice.
“Lying is wrong, Your Highness.”
“Th-that’s…”
“The maid who serves Your Highness clearly said that you went to the stable yesterday. Isn’t that right?”
Ah, that maid who brought the wash water.
Come to think of it, I think I mentioned the stable in front of that maid.
‘To tattle in such a short time, what admirable loyalty.’
I clicked my tongue at the unnamed maid’s loyalty toward The Maid Captain.
“I’ll ask once more, Your Highness. Did you really not go out yesterday?”
“I just…”
“Then I’ll have to reprimand that maid for making a false report.”
At The Maid Captain’s words, Edwin hastily opened his mouth.
“I just went out for a moment! I just went for a walk!”
Why is he so frightened?
It was a reaction I couldn’t understand.
Why was the guy who boldly charged at those big stable workers acting like this?
Meanwhile, The Maid Captain’s expression became even sharper after hearing Edwin’s answer.
“A walk? I’m sure I told you not to wander around without my permission.”
“He went out with me.”
When I suddenly interjected, The Maid Captain’s brow furrowed.
Edwin had the same reaction.
The guy seemed very surprised that I was taking his side.
“What do you mean by that, Brown Lordling?”
“His Highness said he felt stifled being only in the Prince’s Palace, so we went for a walk outside together.”
Good, that was quite a nanny-like answer.
I was quite satisfied with my own response, but The Maid Captain’s expression became even more distorted.
It was a more unpleasant face than when she came looking for me on the first day I opened my eyes here.
“How ridiculous.”
The Maid Captain sneered with narrowed eyes.
“Brown Lordling, by what right do you take His Highness outside so carelessly?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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