The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 225

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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 225. An Unexpected Two-Sided Strategy (3)

“Uh…”

Catherine was quite flustered.

She usually prided herself on being able to counter any strange words from strangers, but today was different.

‘Yesterday’s enemy could become today’s ally? Does yesterday’s enemy refer to Prince Edwin?’

If so, was Pailin declaring that she would now turn against the 2nd Imperial Consort and support the 3rd Prince? But what if she was just testing her instead?

Catherine hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth with an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry, Countess. I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to say…”

It seemed better to ask directly rather than rashly guess the Countess’s intentions. And Catherine’s judgment didn’t seem wrong.

“I don’t know if you’re being oblivious for someone who’s a head maid, or just pretending to be oblivious, Baroness Veil.”

Pailin lightly waved her fan and smiled.

“Fortunately, I don’t dislike cautious people.”

“Pardon?”

“About that rumor you heard, Baroness Veil.”

The Countess’s eyes became much sharper than before.

“Because that rumor isn’t completely groundless.”

“…What?”

“You must have heard it before too, Baroness Veil.”

The Countess quietly set down her teacup.

She raised the fan in her hand up to below her eyes.

“The story that the 2nd Imperial Consort had a man she truly loved, not His Imperial Majesty.”

She had heard it roughly from Somnia and knew about it, but she didn’t think everything she said was true.

‘But if the Countess is bringing up this story like that, then perhaps…’

She had a premonition that she was about to hear something she shouldn’t.

Catherine unconsciously pressed her lips together and clasped her hands.

“Well, freely dating before marriage is common among the Empire’s nobles. It’s not particularly a flaw either.”

If there was a problem, it would be about the social status of the romantic partner.

Helena’s pre-marriage romantic partner, who was the noble daughter of one of the Empire’s three great noble families, was a knight from an insignificant family.

“The love story between a noble lady and a knight from humble origins is common, isn’t it? But it would be different if the lady was to become the Emperor’s companion.”

Pailin and 2nd Imperial Consort Helena had been close to each other even before marriage.

They entered social circles around the same time, and because Pailin’s father was a noble belonging to the Senate.

It was perhaps natural that Helena, the daughter of the Senate leader, could become close friends with her.

“I know very well who that knight the 2nd Imperial Consort was dating was.”

Her toes twitched for a moment.

Catherine made a surprised expression with a face that knew nothing as much as possible.

“Eh? Really?”

“Of course.”

Pailin lowered the fan she was holding and picked up her teacup again.

“He was a very ordinary-looking man. His swordsmanship was quite excellent, but other than that, he had no other talents.”

She continued speaking with her eyes downcast as if recalling the distant past.

“Ah, if I had to pick another advantage, it would be that he had a very calm and patient personality. He could handle the 2nd Imperial Consort’s sensitive temperament without any trouble.”

Pleasing a woman whose mood went up and down several times a day for no reason was not something anyone could do.

But for that man, Helena’s feelings came first, rain or shine.

“Once, the 2nd Imperial Consort got angry at that man and ordered him to stand outside the door until she finished preparing to go out.”

It was a simple excuse.

Helena had no intention of going out in the first place, and just wanted to vent her anger on the man.

“Moreover, the 2nd Imperial Consort was young at that time and more selfish. She even forgot that she had left that knight standing outside.”

It was a day in the middle of winter when heavy snow was falling.

Even in the cold that would freeze your hands and feet if you stood outside for just 10 minutes, the man waited for Helena without moving from his spot.

“He stood there until the next morning.”

Seeing that his nose and lips were frozen and he couldn’t say anything, other attendants felt sorry for him and told him to go inside, but it was useless.

“Only after the surprised 2nd Imperial Consort ran out and burst into tears did that knight finally move his body.”

Pailin laughed softly as if it was amusing.

“From that day on, the relationship between the two became special. The 2nd Imperial Consort, who had been arrogant, became an ordinary woman who couldn’t move at a single word from that knight.”

But the daughter of the Redcliff Marquess family should not become an ordinary woman.

A life as an ordinary woman was something she could never obtain.

“Naturally, the Marquis of Redcliff wanted his daughter to become Empress.”

So the separation between Helena and that knight was predetermined.

Even if the two people involved had no idea at all.

“One day, that knight died. He was said to have been so horribly killed while fighting intruders who invaded the territory that his body couldn’t even be found.”

“Yes, yes? Then the 2nd Imperial Consort…”

“Became a complete mess.”

Pailin shook her head slightly as if just remembering that time made her tired.

“Helena around that time, no, the 2nd Imperial Consort seemed out of her mind. But not long after, for some reason, she obediently married His Imperial Majesty.”

Of course, not only did she fail to secure the promised Empress position, but she even lost the First Imperial Consort position to that woman the Emperor truly loved.

Helena Redcliffe’s personality had no choice but to become increasingly twisted.

“So it’s not unreasonable for such rumors to circulate.”

“Excuse me, Countess. Still, rumors are just rumors, so please don’t worry too much…”

“Because the 2nd Prince was born prematurely, His Imperial Majesty even demanded paternity verification from the Holy Kingdom.”

What? What did I just hear?

Catherine’s eyes wavered.

“At that time, the Holy Kingdom certified that the 2nd Prince was indeed His Imperial Majesty’s legitimate child.”

Pailin folded her fan and lightly tapped her knee.

“But before that happened, no one knew that the Redcliff Marquess’s territory had donated dozens of times more money than usual to Leon Temple.”

Now it was difficult even to pretend to be oblivious, to act like she knew nothing about the world.

Catherine unconsciously frowned and opened her mouth.

“…Surely, Countess, you’re not doubting the Holy Kingdom’s certification?”

“Oh my, of course not.”

Pailin smiled innocently.

She had an innocent face as if she had completely forgotten that she had been sarcastically revealing the 2nd Imperial Consort’s past just moments ago.

“I’m just repeating stories I overheard from my parents.”

For a moment, an eerie aura surrounded the Countess’s face.

“Of course, my foolish parents directly questioned the Marquis of Redcliff about that story and suffered unpleasant consequences.”

Suffered unpleasant consequences.

Could it be that they were even killed by the Marquis of Redcliff?

But hadn’t Pailin said with her own mouth that her parents were followers of the Marquis?

“But I don’t want to make the same foolish choice as my parents.”

“When you say foolish choice…”

“What do you think it might be, Baroness Veil?”

Catherine didn’t answer.

The Countess sighed softly as if she expected this.

“So people, you know.”

Pailin looked straight at Catherine and continued.

“Shouldn’t there be at least a backup plan for when an investment fails?”

Yesterday’s enemy becoming today’s ally, a backup plan for investment.

Catherine thought for a moment and carefully opened her mouth.

“…Then are you saying that the backup plan you’re referring to is our 3rd Prince?”

“So you were pretending to be oblivious after all.”

“Well, that’s…”

“It’s fine. As I said before, I like cautious people.”

Pailin smiled with satisfaction at last.

She tilted the teacup she was holding and continued speaking.

“In the past, I too judged that His Highness the 3rd Prince was not fit to be emperor.”

What could a prince who hid behind his old caretaker’s skirts and couldn’t even receive greetings properly accomplish? Especially when he didn’t even have a powerful maternal family backing him like the other princes.

“However, the recent displays His Highness the 3rd Prince has shown have been quite impressive.”

The hunting competition, the Founding Festival, and even his achievements in the subjugation campaign.

Pailin set down her teacup with a faint smile.

“Baroness Veil, as the housekeeper, you must have already received reports. About how significant His Highness the 3rd Prince’s achievements were in this subjugation campaign.”

Edwin not only protected the knights of the Second Prince’s camp alongside the knights he led, but also saved the 1st Prince who nearly died to the monster.

Not only that, but he even discovered the source of the mutant monsters that had been rampaging recently—it was truly a remarkable achievement.

“In social circles too, Prince Edwin’s name has been coming up quite frequently. Soon, the achievements Prince Edwin made in the subjugation campaign will spread throughout the entire Empire.”

The words delivered in a melodious, gentle voice were neither kind nor affectionate.

“However, with just one word from me, Prince Edwin’s achievements could become as unsightly as a gravestone stuck in muddy water.”

A statement that could be either negotiation or threat.

Catherine’s face froze instantly.

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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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