The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 121

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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 121. 1st Prince, Adrian (2)

“Wh-what kind of outrageous thing are you saying!”

Edwin was startled and began rambling whatever came to mind.

“About dying! Brother, you must become Emperor and live for ten thousand years…”

“Do you also think I should become Emperor?”

Adrian had already closed his book and was resting one arm on the table.

“If I become Emperor, you might die, you know?”

He stared intently at Edwin while resting his chin on his hand.

“You know it too, don’t you? That princes who fail to ascend to the throne will eventually die.”

The Emperor’s brothers could inherit titles from their maternal families.

However, even if they showed no interest in state affairs and lived quietly like dead mice, most didn’t live long and died young.

“The Emperor’s brothers are a threat to the Emperor just by existing, so his close associates won’t leave them alone.”

Therefore, unless they went to the Holy Kingdom to become clerics, the chances of a prince who didn’t become Emperor surviving were extremely slim.

“That’s why, Edwin, weren’t you planning to go to the Kingdom of Leon as soon as your coming-of-age ceremony ends?”

Edwin, struck right at the heart by Adrian’s words, pressed his lips tightly together.

As he said, the only way for a prince who didn’t become Emperor to survive was to seek asylum in the Holy Kingdom and become a cleric.

“And…”

Adrian paused for a moment and showed a self-deprecating smile.

“No one would be happy if a prince who might die at any moment ascended to the throne.”

Why does this brother keep talking about dying? It’s scary.

Edwin looked at Adrian with a bewildered expression.

“Why, why do you keep saying such things?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

Adrian continued speaking indifferently, as if talking about someone else.

“There’s no one in the Imperial Palace who doesn’t know that I’m destined not to live long.”

“But…”

Adrian glanced at his half-brother who couldn’t continue speaking, then fixed his gaze back on his book.

“Do you know this story?”

“Huh? What story?”

“The Emperor was the most sickly among his siblings. That’s why he wasn’t even considered as a candidate for heir to the throne.”

The Emperor was sickly?

Thinking of how the current Emperor appears now, it was unimaginable.

“Nevertheless, in the end he seized the throne. Surpassing all his siblings.”

Though he used the most refined expression ‘surpassing,’ the reality was one-sided slaughter.

The Emperor killing all his siblings and ascending to the throne was a very famous anecdote.

“I inherited his constitution. Though I didn’t inherit his temperament.”

The sharp intelligence in his gray eyes gradually lost its light.

Adrian muttered in a small voice.

“Even so, the adults want me to ascend to the throne. Believing it’s the right thing regardless of my own will.”

He showed a somehow twisted smile.

“I really can’t understand it. What more could a sickly prince with no particular desire to rule become than a puppet?”

Every single word from his half-brother was bewildering.

Edwin felt like crying.

“Edwin.”

Then, Adrian quietly stared at Edwin, who looked uncomfortable as if sitting on a bed of thorns.

“Do you have a dream?”

“A dream?”

“Yes, a dream. You could call it a goal. I call it that because the possibility of achieving it seems slim.”

A dream or goal.

Edwin fell deep into thought.

If it was the dream of a young prince, there was exactly one thing.

‘I want to become strong enough to protect the people I care about. And…’

If possible, he wanted to become Crown Prince.

It was a very personal reason, a dream he couldn’t reveal in front of his half-brother.

Edwin fixed his gaze on his half-brother’s red hair and asked back.

“Then what is Adrian’s dream?”

“What?”

“From what you’ve said, it seems like you don’t want to become Emperor.”

But as he said himself, princes who don’t become Emperor will only die.

Surely he doesn’t want to die, and he certainly doesn’t want to enter the Holy Kingdom to become a cleric either.

Edwin asked back in a careful voice.

“You have a different dream, don’t you?”

“…”

Adrian didn’t answer.

He just stared at Edwin intently, then lowered the hand supporting his chin.

The 1st Prince’s face held a light of resignation unbefitting his age.

“How amusing that the person curious about my dream is none other than you.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re asking, I suppose there’s no reason I can’t answer.”

Adrian ran his hand over the books stacked like a tower beside him.

“My dream is to be an archaeologist.”

It was too modest a dream for someone born with the most noble status in the Empire.

Edwin’s eyes widened slightly.

“An archaeologist?”

“Yes.”

“Why an archaeologist?”

He knew Adrian liked ancient civilizations, but to that extent?

Edwin made a slightly unconvinced expression.

‘I heard archaeology isn’t such a promising profession. My teacher said it’s no different from being a grave robber.’

Meanwhile, Adrian looked down at the book in front of him as he answered his question.

“Because it resembles me.”

Fragments of the past that exist only in literature and ruins.

Traces of glory where only fame remains.

When looking at ancient civilizations or ruins, it felt exactly like looking at himself.

The way they remained stagnant in that place, maintaining their position regardless of their own will.

“And because I want to resemble them.”

It was an enigmatic statement.

Edwin smiled awkwardly, hiding his cold sweat.

“I, I see.”

“You have a face that says you don’t understand. Is it that surprising? That I want to become a scholar?”

“Ah, well…”

Edwin hesitated for a moment, then continued while gauging Adrian’s reaction.

“Honestly, I don’t really understand. You could become anything, but why specifically…”

“Could become anything. Do you really think so?”

“Of course! Since you could even become Emperor, you could become anything else too…”

“Being able to become Emperor doesn’t mean I can become anything—it means I can only become Emperor.”

For the reason of being born as the current Emperor’s legitimate eldest son, the only future permitted to Adrian was the path of becoming Emperor.

Some might call it a luxurious complaint, but to him it was merely a suffocating reality.

“If I can’t become Emperor, I’m nothing but worthless trash.”

Perhaps that’s why he’s even more drawn to ancient civilizations.

I envied how ruins that were utterly useless in real life received truly precious treatment from someone. What would it feel like to be loved just for existing?

“But there are many things you can do when you become emperor.”

“Yes, I could enjoy the ultimate power and wealth. But I would grow increasingly distant from what I truly want. The me who becomes emperor wouldn’t exist for myself, but would exist solely for this empire.”

Edwin frowned as if troubled.

‘I didn’t know since we never had a proper chance to talk until now, but Brother Adrian.’

It seemed his half-brother liked to discuss difficult topics.

“Yes, it might still be a difficult topic for you. You probably haven’t thought about it before.”

Adrian changed the subject as if reading his half-brother’s mind.

“So what about you?”

“Pardon?”

“You still haven’t answered. About what your dream is.”

“Ah, I.”

At the question about his dream, Edwin answered with a confident expression.

“I want to become a strong person!”

“…A strong person?”

“Yes! I want to become someone who can protect all the people I love.”

Adrian’s eyes wavered slightly at the 3rd Prince’s answer.

“You.”

He continued while staring intently at his half-brother.

“You really have changed a lot.”

“Oh, have I?”

“Yes, the kid who used to hide behind the old caretaker and just watch everyone nervously.”

The old caretaker would be Emma, not Rachel.

Edwin looked at Adrian with surprised eyes.

‘He knows Emma. I thought he was someone who had no interest in other people at all.’

Come to think of it, on the day of Emma’s funeral, a flower bouquet had been sent from the Empress’s Palace to honor the deceased. And the person who came to deliver that bouquet was none other than Prince Adrian.

‘I was too distracted to pay attention at the time and just let it pass…’

He remembered that on the morning of the funeral, when he couldn’t easily leave his chamber, he had glimpsed the 1st Prince’s figure outside the window. He also remembered that the housekeeper at the time had greeted him and received the bouquet in his place.

‘Brother Adrian might perhaps…’

Edwin quietly watched Adrian as he took out another book.

Perhaps Prince Adrian was a much more caring person than others thought.

“Um, Brother.”

Adrian glanced up at his half-brother’s words.

“There’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“My dream.”

To bring up another dream story without even being asked.

Adrian responded while recalling Edwin’s old appearance when he used to be busy avoiding his gaze.

“What is it?”

“Well, I lo…”

“Lo?”

“Lo, lo…”

It was strange.

Edwin’s pale white face was gradually turning red.

Just when Adrian was feeling frustrated by his inability to continue speaking.

“I want to marry the person I love!”

At his half-brother’s utterly bold answer, Adrian’s eyes widened like saucers.

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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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