The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 19
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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 19. A Stormy Night (1)
“Giddy up―! Giddy up!”
“Neighhhh.”
I am a horse.
A four-legged beast that runs, a horse.
“Neiche, go right!”
“Neigh.”
A famous horse among famous horses that would brave even cliff paths at its master’s command.
“Now turn! Round and round!”
“Neigh.”
Right now, I’m not a person, but a horse.
“C-Caretaker?”
Catherine was shocked to see me crawling on all fours with the princess on my back.
“Catherine, hello! Say hi to my horse.”
“Ah, hello, Caretaker, no, Horse-nim?”
She actually did it when told to greet me – that woman isn’t ordinary either.
Where in the world would you find a human greeting a horse like that.
“Neiche, when someone greets you, you should greet back!”
How is a horse supposed to return a human greeting?
I almost broke out of the hypnosis for a moment and hastily cleared my throat.
“Neighhhh.”
“Caretaker…”
Catherine looked at me with pitying eyes.
Damn it, to think I have to receive sympathy for something like this.
That was annoying in its own way.
“Puhahahaha―!”
That prince brat laughing his head off was also annoying though.
After laughing for a while, Edwin seemed to have an interesting idea as his lips curled up.
“Ria!”
“What, brother?”
“Your horse can do tricks too, is that true?”
“Tricks?”
“Yeah, you know, lifting both front legs up and waving them around.”
“Of course! She can definitely do it!”
Emilia grabbed both sides of my head.
“Neiche, tricks! Tricks!”
Tricks.
How dare she tell the leader of an assassin group to perform tricks?
“Neiche! If you don’t listen, I’ll spank you―!”
But even an assassin group leader doesn’t want to get spanked by a little kid in front of others.
I recalled my duty as a horse again and raised both arms up to the sky.
“Neighhhh!”
“Caretaker…”
My face burned under Catherine’s sympathetic gaze.
But the trials I had to endure as the prince’s caretaker didn’t end with just this.
‘As expected, childcare is definitely hard labor.’
Anyone who says childcare is easier than work should be hung upside down and dunked in valley water.
‘I’d rather spend two weeks lurking in a swamp.’
After the horseback riding play ended, I entered the large bath to bathe Emilia.
“Your Highness, you need to raise your arms.”
“No! Ria, it tickles!”
We need to finish bathing to have dinner on time.
Whether she knows the caretaker’s heart worrying about missing mealtime or not.
Emilia just kept her arms pressed tightly to her sides and shook her head.
“No! I won’t do it! Ria just wants to play in the water!”
There’s no choice.
I have to bring out my secret weapon.
“Your Highness.”
“Yeah?”
“Look here.”
I took out a small candy from my pocket and waved it above my head.
As soon as she saw the candy wrapper, Emilia’s eyes sparkled.
“Candy!”
Emilia raised both arms high to grab the candy.
I didn’t miss that opportunity and rubbed the sponge under her arms.
“Kyaaaah! It tickles―!”
Splash―
Thanks to the princess flailing her arms unable to bear the tickling, I ended up looking like a drowned rat.
“Oh, Neiche took a bath too! When did you do that?”
“…Just now.”
I wrung out my wet hair once and dried Emilia’s body thoroughly.
After the arduous bath came study time.
Edwin goes to receive lessons from a tutor who visits once a week, but not Emilia.
In the imperial family, it was customary for the caretaker to be solely responsible for a young princess’s education.
She would have to be about twelve years old before a noble lady from a prestigious family could be brought in to teach her the virtues and studies she should possess as a woman.
Thanks to that, educating Emilia was my responsibility.
“Neiche, what does this word mean?”
Fortunately, it seemed the previous caretaker had taught imperial letters well.
Emilia would read fairy tale books by herself and then ask me about words she didn’t know.
“Which one do you mean?”
“This one!”
Emilia pointed to a word in the corner of the book.
[Emperor of the Night]
“…”
“Ria’s daddy is the emperor, so what’s the emperor of the night? Are there two emperors?”
The problem was that she sometimes brought strange books and asked about them, making things awkward.
I sighed looking at [Night of Burning Flesh and Bone] written on the book cover.
“Did you bring something the annex maids were reading again?”
“Yeah! Catherine was reading it, and it was pretty so I brought it!”
Emilia proudly showed off the colorful book cover.
“Your Highness, this book is still too difficult for you, so I’ll go pick another book.”
“Huh? Why? This book is pretty.”
“Let’s go pick a different book.”
Of all things to choose, why did it have to be an adult romance novel.
I can’t exactly nag Catherine, who’s already an adult, to change her reading preferences.
“Neighhhh.”
Meanwhile, Emilia was being carried like luggage in my arms and had a sulky expression.
“When will Ria get to read this book then?”
“Much later.”
“Then what’s the emperor of the night? Ria is curious!”
“…A man who is strong at night is called the emperor of the night.”
Emilia tilted her head as if she didn’t quite understand.
“Then is Ria’s daddy also an emperor of the night?”
“…Why would that be the case?”
“Ria’s daddy is the emperor, so he’s the strongest in the world, which means he’s strong at night too. Isn’t he?”
“I’m not sure about that either.”
Damn it, how would I know whether the emperor is virile or not.
I wasn’t curious about it at all, nor did I want to confirm it. Suddenly I felt nauseous.
“Why does Naeche always say you don’t know? Are you doing that because you think Ria won’t understand? Ria isn’t stupid!”
But Emilia seemed unsatisfied with my answer and puffed out her cheeks.
In the end, I had no choice but to throw out some irresponsible response.
“When you meet His Majesty later, you can ask him directly.”
“Oh, that would work! Got it!”
I felt like I had done something terrible to the emperor, but I didn’t care.
Anyway, by the time the emperor might visit this place, Emilia would have forgotten that question.
* * *
An ordinary caretaker’s day was incredibly busy.
While the princess was taking her afternoon nap, I tidied up the room and took her worn clothes to the laundry room.
After bringing back new clothes, I had to wake the princess and prepare her meal.
During meal times, Edwin was always the troublemaker.
His picky eating seemed to improve but then didn’t improve at all.
Not long ago, he secretly threw away those precious raw oysters and got scolded by Catherine.
‘That was the first time I learned that woman could actually get angry.’
Catherine, who was also the head chef of this palace, was very strict about food.
– My family was poor when I was young, so food was really precious. That’s why I really can’t stand seeing food being wasted.
It was a very reasonable reason.
Anyway, after hearing those words from Catherine, Edwin didn’t leave any food when she was nearby.
It was truly amazing.
After the hectic meal time ended, it was time to put the kids to sleep.
Edwin was relatively used to sleeping alone, but Emilia was not.
She couldn’t fall asleep unless someone stayed by her side until she fell asleep.
She was quite a peculiar kid.
For me, if someone was watching me, my sleepiness would disappear even if I was getting drowsy.
“Naeche, pat pat me!”
Just then, Emilia called me from on top of the bed.
It seemed like this kid wouldn’t fall asleep today either until I left her side.
* * *
When night came, the weather looked ominous.
The sky was full of dark clouds, and before long, rain began to pour down.
The Empire’s only princess, Emilia, lay in bed looking out the window.
The princess looked somehow anxious.
It was when her caretaker Rachel was about to extinguish the lamp to end the day.
Emilia grabbed her sleeve.
“Naeche, stay here. Can you not turn off the light?”
Rachel hesitated for a moment at the princess’s request.
In the Imperial Palace, regardless of status, lights had to be extinguished when sleeping.
This was not only to save oil, but also to prevent any possible fires.
If a fire broke out and a member of the royal family died, it would be a disaster.
“Very well.”
Rachel seemed to read the earnestness on the princess’s face and withdrew her hand from the lamp.
Thanks to that, the lamp continued to emit its warm light.
Emilia blinked as if she hadn’t expected her to grant her request.
“Is it really okay not to turn it off? Emma also said the lights have to be turned off every day.”
“That person is a bit inflexible.”
“Huh? Naeche, what did you say?”
“Nothing at all.”
The caretaker who had been talking to herself covered the princess with a blanket and then patted her chest.
It was quite a mechanical movement.
But why was it?
Strangely, her rhythmic patting made drowsiness pour over me instantly.
As Emilia was heading to dreamland.
“Sleep well, Your Highness.”
The caretaker quietly withdrew with a soft goodnight greeting.
Still, the princess’s room was brightly lit by the small lamp.
* * *
Rumble―
Blue lightning colored the sky along with fierce wind and rain.
It was a stormy night.
Whoooosh―
The fierce wind brought by the storm also struck the princess’s room.
A gust of wind that entered through the window gap extinguished the lamp helplessly.
Then, as if it had been waiting, a loud thunder roared throughout all directions.
“Eek!”
Emilia’s eyes snapped open, startled by the loud thunder.
Everything around was pitch black.
“It’s, it’s dark.”
The young princess rubbed her eyes and looked around.
On the lamp placed far from the bed, only a half-burned wick remained.
“Ria is sc-scared….”
Emilia came down from the bed, sniffling.
There were exactly two things that the cheerful princess feared most in the world.
Namely, darkness and thunder.
“Hiiing….”
Thunder in the dark night was especially more frightening.
Emilia crouched down in a corner of the wall as far away from the window as possible.
“Ugh, Ria is scared all alone….”
The terrified princess couldn’t even think of calling for someone.
That’s when it happened.
Knock knock―
“Your Highness, are you still awake?”
A familiar voice was heard from outside the door.
It was the caretaker, Rachel.
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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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