The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 275

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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 275. Last Dance (1)

A wind that cut through the dark night blew in.

Disheveled hair scattered in all directions.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you, yet no greeting. How disappointing.”

Ian let out a small sigh and jumped down from the railing.

He landed in a crouched position and slowly straightened his body.

“But what about the little ones? Did you come alone?”

Ian, who had lowered his mask, slowly walked a few steps toward me.

He examined my blood-soaked appearance up close and let out a small laugh.

“Ah, have you decided to quit playing house now?”

They say when anger becomes too extreme, you actually become calm instead.

My senses were so sharp I could clearly feel even the wind touching my skin and the sensation of my hair.

“…Yeah.”

I responded calmly to Ian’s words.

“I’ve decided to quit.”

Ian raised one eyebrow as if my answer was unexpected.

“…It was never a position that suited me from the beginning.”

A second life given as if to forgive all the sins of my previous existence.

Not a life of killing people for money, but simply the life of a caretaker who protects and cares for children.

‘But as expected…’

That kind of life didn’t suit me.

At least not for someone like me who couldn’t erase the past life and memories.

‘This kind of life suits me better.’

A life covered in others’ blood, numb to screams and pain, wielding a sword without any future.

‘Rachel?’

Edwin bleeding in the dark corridor and the sobbing Emilia came to mind. Recalling the two children’s terrified expressions somehow made me feel suffocated.

“…I had forgotten.”

Someone once said that being a caretaker suited me better than being an assassin.

But now I can say with certainty.

“I’m the kind of person who’s better suited to this way.”

In the end, I wasn’t different from Ian.

In that we would use any means or methods to get what we aimed for.

“…Hmm.”

Ian looked at my face and smiled faintly.

“Yeah, it seems like you’ve made some kind of grand resolution.”

He placed his hand on his waist and drew out a sword about the length of a forearm.

It was a medium sword of ambiguous length—longer than the daggers assassins often used, but shorter than the swords knights wielded.

“So now you’re going to try to kill me?”

“No.”

I looked at the Imperial Palace behind Ian.

“I’m planning to deal with all those bastards behind you.”

“Wow, my goodness.”

Ian widened his eyes as if surprised.

He lightly swung the sword in his hand and asked.

“Do you think that’s possible by yourself? Even if you were the famous Crimson Reaper from the old days, that’s impossible, Kayla.”

His tone was like scolding a naive child who didn’t know how the world worked.

“Do you know what kind of people are in there right now? The Imperial Council nobles supporting the 2nd Prince and the nobles from House of Redcliff are camped there with their private soldiers.”

The Empress and 1st Prince had been captured long ago while trying to escape, and the Emperor had also voluntarily surrendered himself to save the hostages.

“Duke Crowner seems to be making an effort, but it probably won’t go as planned. Even if he removes the magic blocking devices planted on the fortress walls, the spare blockers my subordinates have will activate.”

The magic blockers Ian’s subordinates possessed might not match the ones fixed to the fortress walls, but they were sufficient to interfere with external magical intervention.

“Kayla, even that troublesome mage you employ won’t be able to exert his full power.”

No wonder Saylus’s voice kept cutting out again.

I glared at Ian silently.

“If the Emperor just quietly signs the document declaring he’ll appoint the 2nd Prince instead of the 1st Prince as heir, tonight will end peacefully without any more bloodshed.”

He continued speaking fluently like a merchant presenting a business plan.

“And the same goes for the 3rd Prince, Kayla. If you stay put, that young child will also be able to preserve his life safely and become a cleric of the Holy Kingdom…”

Ian spoke as if Edwin and Emilia would be safe as long as I remained still.

“If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.”

I replied expressionlessly.

“I’ve never seen anyone who usurped power through illegitimate means keep alive brothers who could threaten them.”

If Prince Lloyd became Crown Prince, the Imperial Council would gain power, and then it was obvious the Emperor would abdicate before long.

‘When that happens, Prince Adrian who should have been Crown Prince originally, or Edwin who has no maternal relatives, will definitely become targets for elimination.’

So I absolutely had to stop them.

Those damned old nobles trying to put the 2nd Prince on the throne.

Ian standing before me, that bastard who wouldn’t be satisfying enough even if I tore him apart.

“You really seem intent on trying.”

Ian shrugged his shoulders after seeing the killing intent I was emanating.

“You said you quit playing house, but what’s the reason for going this far…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because I immediately threw a dagger.

“Well, I’ll be.”

Ian looked down at the dagger he had deflected and raised his gaze.

“Kayla, I think you’d better reconsider.”

Cold gray eyes looked me up and down.

“Your old body might be one thing, but do you think you can beat me with that ordinary, even pathetic body?”

“Whether I can win or not isn’t important.”

Fighting wasn’t something you did to win in the first place.

It was something you did to avoid losing everything without even trying.

“I have to do it, so I’m just doing it.”

I put strength into my knees and soles.

“And at least you…”

At least to you, I don’t want to lose, Ian.

Not this time. At least not in this lifetime.

Swoooosh.

The wind blew once more.

Along with the sound of rustling leaves, we clashed silently.

‘I’m definitely being pushed back.’

I realized how blessed Kayla’s body had been.

Back then, even when fighting Ian or men much larger than Ian, I was never immediately pushed back.

‘One and a half steps.’

The moment I crossed swords with Ian, my footing was pushed back a full step and a half.

‘Though I was pushed back less than expected.’

I quickly bounced my body and crossed my daggers forward.

Then Ian thrust his sword into my defensive range as if he had been waiting.

Clang clang clang clang.

As I hastily lowered my stance and pushed back, sharp metallic sounds tore at my ears.

“What’s this, not bad?”

Ian spoke in a voice that seemed somehow excited.

“But you’re still not what you used to be, Kayla.”

A grueling exchange continued.

It was because my opponent was much larger than me and had a wider attack range.

‘Damn it.’

I had thought it would be tricky to fight since he had such good dynamic vision.

‘But I never thought I wouldn’t be able to land a single attack until now.’

The strike I delivered only grazed the edge of Ian’s clothes, unable to even leave a scratch.

“Still, since we’re doing this…”

Unlike me, who couldn’t say a word due to concentration, Ian seemed to have plenty of leisure. He smiled as he thrust his small sword toward my vital points.

“This brings back old memories, doesn’t it?”

Ian chuckled as if he found it amusing.

“Back then, Kayla, you used to toy with me like this.”

“Shut up.”

“Come to think of it, it was like that from the beginning.”

He blocked my punch aimed at his face with one arm and grinned wickedly.

“Kayla, you always devoted your heart to things weaker than you. I must have been one of them too. Isn’t that right?”

For a moment, I felt as if I’d been struck by lightning, my entire body pierced by something.

‘How dare he, how could he dare…’

Eventually, the emotion that filled my mind was a terrible sense of betrayal.

I couldn’t hold back and ended up shouting.

“Shut up!”

Once the emotion burst out, it poured forth like a flood.

“How can you, how dare someone like you speak that way!”

Anger literally became my driving force.

I frantically thrust my sword, aiming only for Ian’s vital points like a madman.

As I swung my free limbs immediately after the sword passed, I could feel him becoming flustered too.

“How could you, my heart, a person’s heart…!”

When you betrayed me first.

When you stabbed me in the back first.

And yet you dare to belittle my feelings as mere pity.

“How much I…!”

Clang, clank.

Despite the clear difference in our builds, there was one reason the fight wasn’t easily decided.

Ian and I knew each other too well. Even each other’s fighting styles and minor habits.

“How much…!”

The longer the fight continued, the more miserable I felt.

When we knew each other this well, why did the past me have to suffer at your hands without knowing anything?

Clang, crack.

The blade of the dagger I thrust last scraped against the Imperial Palace wall.

Ian seemed surprised that he had been driven back to the wall, glancing behind him before looking down at me.

“…How much of what did you do.”

He looked at me with utterly cold eyes and asked back.

“What did we do and how much of it.”

Ian twisted up one corner of his mouth and smiled bitterly.

“You don’t know anything about me, Kayla.”

He brought his weaponless hand to my face.

“Not in the past, not now.”

“So what? Did I kill you because I didn’t know you? Because I knew nothing about you? Just such ridiculous…”

“You didn’t even try to find out.”

The dim moonlight bathed Ian’s face.

I saw those same ruined eyes I had seen on the day I died.

“Even now, you came running to me because protecting those kids’ safety was more important than why I killed you.”

“You…”

Ian smiled with a furrowed brow.

“Kayla, I killed you because loving you was too painful.”

He whispered the secret he had kept hidden all this time, as sweetly as if confessing his love.

“Because if you were alive, if you were by my side, I would inevitably end up loving you.”

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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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