The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 280
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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 280. Last Dance (6)
“…Hahaha!”
Ian burst into short laughter.
The bastard’s body slightly hunched as he continued laughing at whatever he found so amusing.
“Yeah, try it.”
His hunched body stretched out like he was stretching.
At the same time, Ian shot toward me like an arrow.
“If you really think you can make it back alive!”
The ground beneath my feet shook from his weighted downward strike.
I barely managed to block it, but my entire body felt numb and tingling.
“Maybe in the old days, but with that body, you have no chance of winning, Kayla.”
Ian pressed down harder on the dagger I had blocked, pushing it downward.
If I let my guard down even slightly, both my knees felt like they would buckle immediately.
“Without help from that white-haired monster, and with the King of Adamant not by your side, how could you possibly beat me?”
Because of the magic blocking device, Saylus couldn’t come to me directly, and I couldn’t activate the brooch Kaiden had given me.
I replied with a deliberately calm expression.
“…I don’t need help or anything like that.”
“But in this life, you’ve always received help, haven’t you?”
Ian’s eyes narrowed.
“Especially from the King of Adamant. You’ve always received help from him.”
“What…”
“No wait, was it him who always tried to help you?”
I gritted my teeth and put strength into my body. I finally succeeded in deflecting Ian’s attack with the recoil.
“You must be quite close with the King of Adamant.”
“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting in the middle of a fight…”
“He jumped off The Cliff to save you during the Subjugation Campaign.”
Ian ignored my words and continued speaking.
“Unless you were more than just acquaintances, he wouldn’t have risked his life rushing to save you like that.”
What the hell is he trying to do?
I put distance between Ian and myself.
Without lowering my guard, I asked him back.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Did you make a promise with him too? That you’d return someday?”
I could sense displeasure in his mocking tone.
I tilted my head slightly to the side and frowned.
“Whether I make promises with him or not, what does it have to do with you?”
“…What does it have to do with me?”
Ian stood there dazed for a moment, as if I had hit a nerve.
He silently ran his hand through his hair several times, thinking about something.
“Right, it has nothing to do with me.”
The smile disappeared from Ian’s face as our eyes met.
“When we’re supposed to kill each other.”
“Good thing you understand that.”
There wasn’t much time left.
Commotion continued from the direction of the Imperial Palace.
I thought I could hear a child’s voice here and there.
Swish, clang.
This time I struck first.
It was hard to match him in strength or build.
So even with a preemptive attack, it would be hard to gain an advantage, but I had no choice.
“Using such an obvious move.”
Close enough to hear each other’s breathing.
Attacks that barely missed vital points crossed paths.
‘Poison is meaningless, and throwing weapons are meaningless too.’
As fellow assassins, as colleagues who had been together for a long time.
We knew each other too well, so we could only fight using brute methods.
“You know this is just buying time anyway.”
“I don’t know!”
“Why are you fighting so desperately? Are you really going back to those brats? You? Kayla Angel?”
I threw a hidden dagger at Ian while shouting.
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, shut up! It’s distracting!”
“I don’t want to.”
Ian seemed to step back to avoid the dagger, then instantly closed the distance.
“How could I give up the easiest way to shake you up?”
“…Cowardly bastard.”
“It’s not cowardly, it’s clever. Not being picky about means and methods was always my way.”
He looked down at me with a sly smile.
“That should be the same for you too, Kayla.”
“Ridicu…”
Before I could finish speaking.
Ian’s offensive became even more fierce.
‘Damn it.’
I thought his skills might have gotten a bit rusty since he quit being an assassin.
‘He’s still the same. Annoyingly so.’
If anything, he was even more troublesome to deal with than before.
Rather than Ian’s skills definitely improving from before, it was probably because I had gotten weaker.
‘Even though I trained so hard…’
I succeeded in counterattacking a few times, but that was all.
The momentum wouldn’t shift decisively to my side.
‘But that point is the same for Ian, that bastard too.’
I could see subtle irritation in his slightly furrowed brow.
It was the expression Ian made when things weren’t going his way.
Thud.
Was it because I was thinking about something else for a moment?
Ian’s knee landed squarely in my abdomen.
“Kugh.”
I quickly bent my waist, but it was an attack that landed properly.
I held my breath from the pain that felt like my internal organs were twisting.
“Got you.”
Ian grabbed both my shoulders and muttered quietly.
“Since you want close combat, let’s do it properly.”
Damn it.
As soon as I crossed both arms above my face, Ian’s knee came flying.
Thanks to quickly raising my defense, I avoided the disaster of my nose bone caving in or my front teeth flying out.
Thud, thud, thud.
But Ian didn’t give up despite the failure.
His knee mercilessly struck hard, targeting my face, chest, and sides.
‘A brawl.’
I deliberately penetrated Ian’s blind spot to target his vital points.
But if the situation continued like this, I would be at a significant disadvantage.
“This…”
I somehow managed to block Ian’s knee and immediately threw a punch.
My target was his exposed waist as he gripped my shoulder.
“Let go!”
To be precise, it was a strike aimed at his ribs.
Ian couldn’t react to my fast and swift punch and released his grip.
“Kugh!”
Ian staggered, clutching the area around his ribs where I had hit him.
Since I had struck with full force, at least one bone should be completely broken.
“Ha, your strength isn’t what it used to be, but your punches are still fierce, Kayla.”
“You’ve gotten much softer than before.”
The area where Ian had hit me throbbed.
But I tried not to show any sign of it.
Revealing weaknesses to an enemy would only put me at a disadvantage.
“…Only you remain.”
It seemed difficult for him to breathe with his broken ribs.
Ian caught his breath and slowly opened his mouth.
“Among those who gave me misfortune, you’re the only one still alive, Kayla.”
“…That means you’ve killed all the others.”
I had somewhat expected this.
If Ian’s words were true, then the imperial family member who had ordered the killing of Ian’s family that day, and all the related parties who followed the imperial’s orders, would have met their deaths long ago.
“Meaning I’m the last one.”
My death in the reed bed would have been Ian’s final revenge.
There, he planned to settle all misfortune and reclaim what he had lost. If I hadn’t come back to life, everything would have gone according to his plan.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Ian smiled, baring his teeth.
Blood from shallow cuts was also smeared on his face.
Perhaps due to the contrast between the bright red blood and his white teeth, his smile had an eerie, beast-like quality.
“Kayla. I need to eliminate you to escape from pain, to escape from the past. Only then can I move forward again.”
Ian’s lips stretched long on both sides.
“And that’s probably the same for you too, isn’t it?”
It was a meaningless question.
We both already knew the answer to that question.
Claaaang.
A sharp metallic sound echoed across the Imperial Palace rooftop.
As if it would never end, continuously.
* * *
“We’ve eliminated them all!”
The Mage shouted while gasping for breath.
He raised his voice on behalf of his colleagues who were sprawled out exhausted everywhere.
“Duke Crowner, we’ve eliminated all the magic interference devices!”
“Then quickly request external support…!”
“Yes! Ah, yes?”
The Mage was confused.
Even if they were to request external support, they would have to ask the nobles within the Empire, but they were all inside the Imperial Capital.
‘Everyone outside are all Elders’ Council nobles.’
The Elders’ Council nobles were the very ones who had orchestrated this treasonous act.
They were in no position to seek help from them, nor should they.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it…”
The Mage hastily used magic to detect the outside.
Perhaps there might be Imperial Faction nobles who had noticed the disturbance in the Imperial Capital and rushed over.
‘Please, let there be someone. Anyone!’
It was then, as he expanded his detection magic with the intention of sending at least a rescue request.
Thud, thuuud.
Heavy sounds came from outside the palace gate.
Duke Crowner, the knights, and even the assassins turned their heads in surprise.
“Must you really do this?”
A faint voice could be heard from within the thick fog that had risen near the palace gate.
“If you get involved in Empire affairs like this, it’ll really be troublesome…”
“Just let our lord do as he pleases, Lord Aurel. It’s not like this is the first or second time he’s acted so arbitrarily.”
Finally, where the thick dust had cleared.
There stood dozens of knights clad in pitch-black armor.
“…I came rushing here urgently to have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor on urgent business.”
It was a voice that tried to sound calm but somehow carried a hint of anger.
A large man wearing the same black armor as the knights stepped forward from the center.
“It seems there were guests faster than me.”
The figure who appeared in the midst of chaos was neither a noble nor royalty of the Empire, but the King of Adamant, Kaiden Ram.
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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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