The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 160

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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 160. Farewell (2)

It was a voice filled with earnest hope.

Edwin tightly gripped the hand that was placed in his.

“…I will.”

Why was it?

In the appearance of the most noble princess, he seemed to see his past self.

“I will definitely return safely.”

Edwin nodded as if making a promise to himself.

“So that you can stand by my side.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

A gentle breeze blew between them.

As if telling them not to be too heartbroken by the upcoming farewell.

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.

It was a faint knocking sound.

I stopped packing and opened the door.

The identity of the unexpected visitor in the late night was the Princess, Emilia.

“Neitche!”

As soon as I opened the door, Emilia wrapped her arms around my knees.

“Your Highness the Princess? How did you come here at this hour….”

“Her Highness said she really wanted to see The Caretaker.”

A voice so clean it seemed alien.

The one who had brought Emilia to the front of my quarters was Somnia’s doll maid.

“You….”

As soon as I saw the maid’s face, I frowned.

“Can you change your appearance too?”

“Are you uncomfortable?”

The maid before me had an appearance remarkably similar to mine.

Ash-brown hair, and even green eyes with a strange heterochromatic tint.

At a glance, she was indistinguishable from me.

“The owner of the Golden Goose told me to do this. She said it might raise unnecessary suspicion if The Caretaker’s position was left empty.”

That was something I hadn’t even thought of.

While I was inwardly impressed by Somnia’s attention to detail, I couldn’t hide my discomfort.

“If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll return to my original appearance.”

“No, it’s fine. The Golden Goose owner is right. Maintain that appearance until I return.”

The maid gave a subtle smile at my words and bowed her head.

“Then please have your conversation comfortably. I’ll guard outside the door.”

For a doll, she was incredibly perceptive.

The maid quietly closed the door and disappeared.

“Neitche.”

“Your Highness.”

I lifted the whining Emilia and held her in my arms.

“Why aren’t you sleeping and came here instead? Does Catherine know about this?”

“Mm-hmm, I came here keeping it secret from Catherine. And Catherine went to sleep early today.”

Well, since tomorrow’s dawn was the subjugation campaign departure ceremony, she’d need to sleep early to see us off.

I looked into Emilia’s eyes and asked.

“What did you want to tell me?”

“Mm, nothing in particular.”

“Nothing? Then why….”

“I just wanted to sleep with Neitche.”

Emilia wrapped her arms around my neck and chattered.

“Today there’s no rain, and no thunder either. It seemed like Neitche wouldn’t come to Ria, so Ria came to Neitche.”

“…Can’t you fall asleep?”

“Mm-hmm, I just wanted to sleep with Neitche.”

Large eyes similar to Edwin’s looked up at me.

“Is that not okay?”

“You have your own chamber, so sleeping here instead is….”

If I let the Princess sleep in my quarters, I didn’t know what kind of scolding I’d get from Catherine.

“If Catherine finds out, she’ll be angry….”

“Shhhhhh!”

Emilia frowned and brought her index finger to her lips.

“Let’s keep it secret from Catherine!”

Already making secrets between just the two of us.

Catherine would be hurt.

“It can’t be helped. Since it’s late, just sleep here.”

“Kyaaaa! I’m so happy!”

Emilia rubbed her face all over my cheek.

Tomorrow, I would be parting with this dandelion seed-like child for a while too.

Somehow, a corner of my heart felt empty.

‘I’ll have to wake up a bit earlier tomorrow to finish packing.’

I pushed the luggage I hadn’t finished organizing into a corner.

Then I raised my voice so the doll standing outside the door could hear.

“I’ll escort Her Highness the Princess out tomorrow morning, so you may return now.”

No answer came back.

Only the presence that had been standing outside the door moved away at a steady pace.

“Then let’s go to sleep now.”

“Mm? Can’t we play a bit more before sleeping?”

“You said you’d see off Prince Edwin at dawn. If you want to wake up early, you need to sleep now.”

“Mm.”

I lay down on the bed while holding the resisting Emilia in my arms.

Then the Princess buried her face in my chest.

“…Neitche.”

“Yes.”

“Does Neitche love Ria?”

It was an unexpected question.

I stared quietly at the top of her head visible below my chin.

“Do you know what love is, Your Highness?”

“I do!”

Emilia lifted her head vigorously.

She spoke with a determined expression.

“Love is wanting to be together every single day!”

Wanting to be together every single day is love.

‘That makes quite a bit of sense.’

The reason lovers who fall in love eventually promise marriage is ultimately because they want to spend every day with their partner.

I pondered the Princess’s words and opened my mouth.

“Do you think that I don’t want to be with Your Highness every single day?”

There would be no other reason for her to suddenly ask if I loved her.

Sure enough, Emilia pouted and mumbled with her lips.

“Neitche loves brother more than Ria. That’s why you’re following brother.”

Is that how it works?

I gently touched Emilia’s fine curly hair.

“It’s not for that reason, but because Prince Edwin is going to a dangerous place, so I need to protect him…”

“Then what about Ria? Who’s going to protect Ria?”

“Catherine is here, isn’t she? There are other maids too.”

“Ria knows that much!”

It was quite a sharp cry.

Emilia buried her head in my arms again and muttered.

“But brother won’t be here, and Neitche won’t be here either. The maids said so. They said both Neitche and brother might not come back tomorrow.”

I was sure I had told them to watch their tongues and not say unnecessary things in front of the Princess.

I muttered while restraining the strength entering my fingertips.

“Who said such things?”

“The newly arrived maids.”

Those dolls saying unnecessary things.

I thought they had some sense, but apparently not that kind of sense.

“Please don’t mind such words.”

“How can I not mind!”

Emilia cried out in a shrill voice.

Tears were welling up in the child’s eyes.

“If you don’t come back, I’ll never see you again! Just like Emma!”

It felt like I had been struck in the head.

I stared at Emilia in a daze.

“…No.”

And I gently embraced the back of Emilia’s head.

“That will absolutely never happen.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I promise you.”

Hadn’t I already promised at Emma’s grave?

That I would definitely protect both children, Edwin and Emilia, until the end.

“I am someone who must protect not only Prince Edwin but also Princess Emilia. I’m leaving for a while now, but…”

I made a vow to Emilia, whose two eyes sparkled like jewels.

“I will definitely return and stay by Princess Emilia’s side.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You promise? You’ll definitely come back? You can’t abandon Ria and leave?”

“Of course.”

Only after confirming my vow several times did Emilia begin to nod off drowsily.

“Then Ria will keep, keep waiting…”

Was it because of the young Princess’s warm body temperature?

Even I was overcome by an untimely drowsiness.

Coo, coo, coo.

The sound of wood pigeons could be heard from outside the window.

I slowly closed my eyes while patting the young Princess’s back.

The last night at the 3rd Prince’s Palace before departing for the subjugation campaign was passing by like that.

* * *

“Your Highness, please take care of yourself. Never skip your meals. You must cover yourself properly with blankets up to your neck when you sleep. And…”

Catherine grabbed Edwin’s shoulders and poured out worried nagging before biting her lips.

“Never overdo it. No matter what anyone says, Your Highness’s life always comes first. Do you understand?”

“Am I a child? Don’t worry so much.”

Because you are a child, that’s why I’m worried.

Catherine muttered to herself and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Really impossible to stop. How can Emilia be more mature than a grown adult?”

Edwin lightly kissed the forehead of Emilia, who was being held in Catherine’s arms.

“Brother will go and come back, Ria. You have to guard the palace well, okay?”

“Yes, just trust Ria!”

Catherine watched the siblings’ farewell and teared up once more.

She stopped wiping her tears and looked at me standing next to Edwin with surprised eyes.

“The Caretaker, right?”

“Who else would it be?”

“No, it’s just that with that disguise, you really don’t look like The Caretaker. You just look like an ordinary man.”

“That’s fortunate.”

I ran my hand through my hair that had been cut as short as other men’s.

It wasn’t awkward since it was the length I always maintained during my Kayla days.

Rather, the excessively black-dyed hair color felt more awkward.

“Prince Edwin. We need to depart now to rendezvous with the Gloria Knight Order.”

“Right.”

Edwin spiritedly mounted his horse at my words.

It was the same horse he had been with during the hunting competition.

“Well then, we’ll be going.”

I checked once more whether the luggage was properly loaded on the horse.

And I lightly leaped onto my own horse.

“Everyone please stay healthy.”

As Edwin and I pulled the reins together, the 3rd Prince’s Palace quickly grew distant.

The worried voices of the people from the 3rd Prince’s Palace followed behind us.

“Both of you must return safely!”

“Don’t die!”

“Come back soon, brother! Neitche!”

At a time when the sun had not yet risen.

It was the moment when the curtain rose on the joint subjugation campaign.

* * *

Thud thud thud thud thud.

From early hours, the sound of hoofbeats echoed throughout the land.

It was because the Empire’s great army on horseback was galloping at great speed.

“We need to ride for three more days to reach the first operation site.”

“Three days?”

Edwin asked back in a surprised voice at my words.

“Was the operation site that far away? I heard that the places where monsters mainly appear are only a day’s ride away…”

Edwin asked while frowning at the strong wind blowing.

“Then where exactly is the first operation site?”

“…The border region.”

I hesitated for a moment before adding one more thing.

“The place that borders the Adamant Kingdom.”

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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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