The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 112

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

Chapter 112. Alliance of Revenge (4)

“You will need it.”

I answered Kaiden’s words firmly.

“Absolutely.”

The Empire wasn’t foolish either.

They had a separate department for discovering and managing spies, so even the eyes and ears Kaiden had planted could be compromised at any time.

Moreover, no matter how capable the new kingdom’s intelligence agents were, they couldn’t possibly uncover every detail of what happened within this vast Imperial Palace.

“Until you heard from me, didn’t you also not know that Prince Edwin had nearly been attacked by assassins during the hunting competition?”

“…Hearing that does wound my pride quite a bit.”

How honest of him.

I smiled faintly as I looked at Kaiden’s slightly stiffened face.

“After all, matters within the Imperial Capital are better known by insiders than outsiders.”

At my words of consolation that weren’t quite consolation, he let out a bitter laugh.

“So you’re telling me to join you in revenge now?”

“If Your Majesty would permit it.”

A collaboration between a foreign king and an Imperial caretaker.

If others heard this, they would laugh and dismiss it as a joke – it was truly preposterous.

“Yes, I understand your burning desire for revenge.”

Kaiden answered with laughter in his voice, then soon rose from the sofa.

This forced me to crane my neck up to look at him as he stood.

“I only asked for a conversation partner, but I never expected to become personally entangled like this.”

Kaiden looked down at me and grinned.

“I don’t trust just anyone. But I do trust my eye for people.”

He tapped the corner of his eye.

Just like when he had said my eye color was beautiful.

“You seem suspicious but trustworthy.”

Could the words “suspicious” and “trustworthy person” really belong in the same sentence?

Though it felt strange, I didn’t avoid his gaze and acted nonchalant.

“…Yes, having eyes and ears at the very center wouldn’t be bad either.”

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed into crescents.

As if he had some other ulterior motive.

But it didn’t matter.

‘Later, when we catch Ian, I can leave the other bastards to this guy.’

Since he was said to face armies single-handedly, that much would be child’s play for him.

I rose from my seat and bent my waist toward him.

Or rather, I tried to. Until I saw the large hand thrust in front of me.

“Now that we’re practically allies, isn’t a formal bow too stiff?”

Grandly calling it an alliance relationship? What a burdensome choice of words.

When I showed a slightly flustered expression, Kaiden chuckled softly.

“Are you afraid now that we’re actually working together?”

“…No, of course not.”

“Then what are you doing?”

He wiggled the hand he had extended toward me.

“Hurry up and take it.”

“…There’s one more thing I’d like to tell you.”

Instead of taking his hand, I carefully drew out another card.

Or rather, a card that might prove useless.

“One more? What is it?”

“Your Majesty is well aware that the position of Crown Prince of the Empire has not yet been decided.”

From the moment I heard that the King of Adamant would be staying at the 3rd Prince’s Palace, I had been determined to bring this up somehow.

‘If this had been the person I originally knew, he would have presented blackmail material by any means necessary.’

But the man before me was someone I knew nothing about.

Except for the fact that, like me, he had a grudge against the Breath of the Angel.

That’s why I had deliberately brought up the Breath of the Angel first, but I was uncertain whether Kaiden would accept the proposal I was about to make.

“Your Majesty Kaiden.”

I asked with a slightly tense voice.

“Are you not interested in who will become the Empire’s next great emperor?”

At my words, Kaiden’s expression became subtle.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem completely uninterested.

‘He can’t be uninterested.’

No matter how capable Kaiden was, the Adamant Kingdom was a newly founded nation.

If countries could run well on the strength of exceptional individuals alone, there would be no nations disappearing into history. The less established a country’s foundation, the more important its diplomatic relations with neighboring countries.

Especially, relations with the Bentrum Empire would certainly have a major impact on the Adamant Kingdom’s future.

“The intention behind suddenly bringing up such a topic is…”

Kaiden slowly opened his mouth.

“I understand well enough, but weren’t you a caretaker?”

His golden eyes held a glint of interest.

“You act as if you’re the prince’s advisor.”

“Prince Edwin still has no suitable spokesperson to represent him.”

It wasn’t that there were no suitable people to serve as spokespeople.

However, Seiji was someone who shouldn’t be exposed to the outside, and even I had limitations in what I could do with the title of caretaker.

So neither Seiji nor I were suitable as Edwin’s backing.

“So what you want to say is, bet Adamant’s future on the 3rd Prince.”

Kaiden let out a hollow laugh as if he found his own words absurd.

“On a prince who carries the blood of the royal family I destroyed with my own hands.”

“Yes.”

“You’re telling me to invest in the 3rd Prince, who has no support base here.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“What exactly gives you such confidence?”

He looked at me as if amazed by my unhesitating responses.

“Did you think I would accept such a proposal?”

“I thought you would at least reconsider it once.”

I met Kaiden’s eyes.

“After all, Your Majesty Kaiden chose to stay at the 3rd Prince’s Palace during the Founding Festival.”

As he said, Edwin was a prince who carried the blood of the royal family he had destroyed.

No matter that the Empire had made the first proposal, it was Kaiden himself who had chosen to stay here.

‘This guy probably has no connections with the other princes anyway.’

Of course, if he wanted to establish them, he certainly could.

‘I can’t let someone like him fall into the other princes’ hands.’

I looked at Kaiden, who seemed slightly flustered, and opened my mouth.

Hoping that what I was about to say would strike his vital point.

“Even a bad relationship is still a relationship, isn’t it? Please stand by Prince Edwin’s side.”

If only as a form of atonement.

At my quietly added words, Kaiden’s eyebrows twitched.

He stared at me intently with a gaze full of unreadable intentions.

“…I can’t understand how the prince came to have a woman like you as his caretaker.”

After a long silence, Kaiden spoke again.

His expression wasn’t too bad.

“I’ll consider it.”

Kaiden grinned without withdrawing the hand he had extended to me.

“If you take this hand, that is.”

…Would it be alright to take it?

It was ridiculous to have such concerns when I was the one who suggested cooperation first.

Meanwhile, Kaiden raised one eyebrow as I continued to hesitate.

“What are you hesitating about? Don’t tell me you have a sword hidden in your sleeve?”

He was surely joking, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

There was no sword in my sleeve, but I had two daggers hidden beneath my skirt.

“Your Highness Kaiden, but how could I dare to directly touch Your Highness’s person…”

“Did you have such thoughts when you entered The King’s Chambers without permission?”

I finally took Kaiden’s hand.

His large hand was so thick and rough it was hard to believe it belonged to a human.

I almost suspected it might be a bear’s paw rather than a human hand.

How long must he have gripped a sword to become like this?

“Earlier you seemed stubborn about not wanting to take it.”

Kaiden’s voice, tinged with amusement, came from above my head.

“Now you don’t seem to have any intention of letting go.”

“Ah, I apologize.”

I must be crazy.

It seemed I had unconsciously become absorbed in examining his palm.

When I quickly let go of his hand, Kaiden chuckled softly.

“It’s already gotten this late.”

Deep darkness had settled outside the window.

“I think it’s time to retire for the night.”

“I apologize, it seems I’ve taken up too much of Your Highness’s time.”

I naturally stepped aside and bowed.

Then Kaiden walked toward the bed.

The bed mattress sank deeply, and I heard the sound of Kaiden leaning his back against the headboard.

“Are you going to keep standing there?”

It was a question that seemed to ask why I wasn’t hurrying to get on the bed.

‘Back then I acted without thinking, but…’

For an unmarried woman to lie beside a king was against common sense and propriety.

Even though we didn’t think of each other as members of the opposite sex, it seemed necessary to maintain some boundaries.

‘Since I came early today, several maids saw me entering this place.’

If rumors spread that The Prince’s caretaker entered a distinguished guest’s chamber in the evening, anyone would think it strange.

“I’ll sit on the sofa.”

“You’re going to spend the night there?”

“Yes.”

It was a lie.

I planned to leave as soon as Kaiden fell asleep.

If I lay on the bed, he might notice when I tried to get up.

“I heard that I don’t necessarily have to lie beside you.”

Among the maids who had passed through here over the past few days, some had spent the night dozing while sitting on the sofa.

That meant I didn’t necessarily have to lie beside him.

“…Well.”

Kaiden stared at me intently, then soon looked at the ceiling and lay down comfortably.

“Do as you please.”

Was it my imagination that his voice seemed tinged with disappointment?

“Then sleep well, Your Highness.”

I bowed respectfully to Kaiden and then sat on the sofa.

The crimson lamplight illuminating the chamber flickered.

In the chamber where the conversation between the two had ended, only silence flowed.

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