The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 140

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

Chapter 140. In the Rain (4)

“Y-yes?”

Whatever she was imagining, Catherine’s face turned pale.

Her voice trembled like a goat’s.

“I encountered a group of bandits on the way here. It seems their blood got on me. I thought it would all wash away in the rain.”

Coming here with bloodstained clothes—how careless of me.

If I hadn’t run into those organization bastards, I wouldn’t have made such a rookie mistake.

I looked down at my bloodstained clothes and clicked my tongue softly.

“Oh no! Bandits! Are you alright?”

Meanwhile, Catherine was startled by the mention of bandits and didn’t know what to do.

“Are you hurt anywhere? I knew this would happen! That’s why I told you to take an escort with you!”

“I told you I’m fine.”

I snatched the towel from the flustering Catherine and roughly dried my hair.

“More importantly, hasn’t Prince Edwin returned yet?”

“I heard the knight order will return to the barracks around this evening. His Highness should return around that time too.”

Good thing Edwin didn’t see me like this.

That guy would have reacted even worse than Catherine.

“Then I should wash up first. I can’t let His Highness see me in this state.”

“Good heavens, what kind of state is that?”

I wondered why he hadn’t appeared yet.

I rolled my eyes at the emergence of yet another nag.

“It’s been a while, Gardener.”

“Where on earth did you roll around this time?”

The sage and gardener of the 3rd Prince’s Palace, Seiji, was horrified at the sight of me.

“You said you were going on vacation, but what did you do out there…”

“Um, Gardener?”

Then Catherine raised her hand as if to stop him.

“Let’s talk later, shall we? The Caretaker needs to get cleaned up first. Prince Edwin will be returning soon.”

Seiji frowned at her words.

Then he sighed deeply and waved his hand dismissively.

“Tsk tsk, fine then. The stench is overwhelming. If you don’t want to walk around reeking of blood, wash your clothes properly first.”

Seiji passed by me while holding his nose.

“Caretaker, go to the grand bath and wash up. As the Gardener said, if you just wash carelessly, the smell of blood won’t come out.”

As soon as he disappeared, Catherine grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

“I’ll scrub your back for you.”

“No, that’s a bit…”

“Come on, don’t be shy.”

Why is this woman so excited?

I looked at the back of her head with suspicious eyes.

But Catherine was just charging forward excitedly like a new recruit receiving their first mission.

* * *

Whoooosh.

Hot steam filled the grand bath.

I soaked my body in the tub and cracked my neck from side to side.

Outside, Catherine was bustling about with her skirt hem rolled up.

“Catherine, I’m really fine. I can wash myself clean.”

“Oh, don’t worry and just leave it to me. I may not look it, but before coming to the Imperial Capital, I had experience attending to noble ladies’ baths.”

“I’m not even a noble lady…”

I’d never had anyone attend to me in my entire life anyway.

It made me uncomfortable too.

“Then would you like to bathe together, Catherine?”

I reluctantly offered an alternative.

Then Catherine’s eyes widened as she looked at me.

“What? Is that okay?”

“What’s so strange about it? We bathed together before.”

“Back then Princess Emilia was with us too, so I thought she gave permission.”

I shrugged and pointed at her with my chin.

“It doesn’t matter. And Catherine, you’ve gotten quite dirty too.”

“Ah.”

Perhaps because she’d been holding the towel used to wipe away blood and dirt.

Catherine’s appearance wasn’t very neat either.

“Hmm, shall we do that then? Actually, I was feeling uncomfortable too.”

They say there’s no one in the Empire who dislikes bathing.

Catherine smiled brightly while looking at the grand bath with its warm steam rising.

Then she unhesitatingly threw off her clothes and came inside.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while.”

I said something while watching Catherine.

“Catherine seems quite unpretentious.”

Catherine, who had been melting into the water, smiled playfully at my words.

“Oh, that means I’m not noble-like, right?”

“Yes, it’s a compliment. Being noble-like is an insult.”

“What? Ahahaha—!”

Catherine burst into laughter at my words.

Then she leaned her back against one side of the bath and stretched.

“Mm, I think it’s because I’ve always been in an environment where I had to get along with other people.”

Catherine’s family became a mess after her father lost all their wealth to gambling debts.

Nevertheless, the reason the family could survive without starving was largely due to Catherine’s strong survival skills.

“Since mother was ill, I had to take care of all the household affairs. So from a young age, I had to deal with many people. From debt collectors to market merchants I had to ask for credit every time.”

Catherine looked at me and smiled brightly.

“One thing I realized then was that there’s no treasure in the world more precious than people.”

People as treasure? That value system might be similar to mine.

I looked at Catherine silently.

“So I try to like people. If you like them, you can treat them sincerely. And I also want them to like me.”

“You treat them sincerely if you like them?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Catherine began moving closer to me.

“In that sense, I’d like you to like me too, Caretaker.”

She pretended to cry with both hands folded over her chest as if sad.

“I know you’re a good person, but… how should I put it, it still feels like you’re putting up walls against me?”

“…I’m sorry.”

I replied indifferently while looking at Catherine.

“You’re not even denying it?”

“Because you’re right.”

I once liked people too.

I wanted to treat them sincerely.

‘But.’

I clenched my fist tightly.

The water I’d grasped in my palm trickled down.

‘It was all pointless.’

My trust in humans had been minimal from the start, but the betrayal of the one I loved and trusted most changed everything.

I used to think there was at least one person in this world I could trust completely, but even that thought had long since turned to ash and disappeared.

“For me, there’s nothing more difficult than trusting someone completely.”

At my words, Catherine let out a sympathetic sigh.

Then she shook her head from side to side and clenched her fists.

“No, I can still see hope.”

“What hope do you see?”

“If I just try a little harder, I think the Caretaker will truly come to like me.”

“…How can you be so certain of that?”

“Well, in the past, you never would have suggested we bathe together first!”

Catherine’s eyes sparkled.

“So there’s still hope, isn’t there? Right?”

What a truly amusing woman.

I was about to make an expression like I’d been hit, but instead let out a quiet laugh.

“Shouldn’t you save talk like that for when you’re trying to seduce men?”

“Oh come on, when it comes to winning someone’s heart, what does it matter if they’re a man or woman!”

Catherine winked and picked up a sponge from outside the tub.

“Your body seems warmed up enough, so shall we get to scrubbing off the dirt?”

“Catherine, we can each handle that ourselves…”

“Hey, don’t refuse! Turn your back! I’ll scrub you so thoroughly it’ll feel amazing!”

Where on earth does she learn to talk like that?

I eventually gave up halfway and turned my back.

“Wow, Caretaker! You have really nice skin! Do you take special care of it?”

“…You sound like a bath attendant with good sales skills, Catherine.”

“Oh my, really? I guess this occupational habit of mine hasn’t disappeared yet.”

Catherine chattered away while washing my body.

After focusing intently on her task for a while, she suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh my, Caretaker.”

“What is it?”

“That mark Princess Emilia mentioned before.”

Catherine poked the area near my shoulder blade.

“Looking at it again, it’s so clear it looks like it was drawn on.”

Just how does it look for her to make such a fuss about it?

I silently turned my head to look at Catherine.

She frowned and continued speaking.

“It really looks like a snake biting its own tail.”

“A snake?”

I let out a quiet laugh at Catherine’s words.

‘How fitting.’

In the Western Continent, snakes symbolized both death and resurrection, as well as evil.

‘A snake biting its tail.’

It felt like a mark representing the existence of ‘Kayla Angel’ – myself.

* * *

Knock knock.

“It’s me, Prince Kaiden.”

Aurel, the Royal Mage of Adamant, opened the door along with his knock.

Inside the antique room, only the items necessary for conducting official business were placed.

“I didn’t say to come in.”

“It’s an urgent matter.”

“Ha.”

The owner of the room, who had been lying on the sofa in the center, slowly sat up.

Kaiden, the King of Adamant, lightly tapped his shoulder while holding a rolled-up pile of documents.

“An urgent matter?”

He frowned and asked back with an annoyed tone.

“What is it?”

“We’ve found traces of the angel.”

Aurel reported to his lord in a calm voice.

“In the Adamant Border Region, we discovered a woman with an ouroboros carved on her body.”

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