The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 290

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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 290. Deal (3)

“This is really too much, Caretaker!”

Catherine cried out with tears in her voice.

She quickly locked the door before the knights could enter.

Bang bang.

The knights pounded on the door from outside.

Catherine stood firmly in front of the shaking door and poured out words like rapid fire.

“Are you really going to leave so meaninglessly like this? What crime did the Caretaker commit? You only protected us, so why are you being treated like a criminal and trying to leave alone?”

Her face, which was usually pale, now looked like a radish washed in water.

“You surely have another plan, right? You’re just pretending to leave, right? Are you really going to leave so meaninglessly like this? Without any farewell?”

“How did you know to come here? Being in the Imperial Palace…”

“Is that what’s important right now?!”

Catherine threw a tantrum as if frustrated by my question.

Of course, even while doing so, she didn’t forget to kindly add an explanation.

“I was waiting for Prince Edwin when I saw the Imperial Palace knights taking the Caretaker away, so I followed! Are you satisfied?”

“Then Prince Edwin is…”

“He’s talking with The Emperor! More importantly, why aren’t you saying anything?”

I tightened my grip on my luggage bag.

“What could I possibly say? It’s already over.”

“What’s over! I can’t let it end like this!”

Catherine gripped the shaking door handle tightly with both hands.

There was no way to know where such strength to block the knights from opening the door came from in that frail body.

“Let go, Catherine. If you get hurt…”

“I!”

Catherine’s voice echoed through the old room.

“I knew from the beginning that the Caretaker was different from other people! That the Caretaker was a special person!”

“I’m not a special person…”

“So what if you’re an assassin!”

My fingertips holding the luggage bag tingled.

Catherine was looking at me with desperate eyes.

“To me, the Caretaker is a good person! No matter what anyone says!”

A good person, she said.

Those words, which I had grown accustomed to, were also the first words Catherine had ever said to me.

“Catherine.”

“S-so what if you killed some people! It’s not like the Caretaker wanted to do it! You were paid and ordered to do it!”

Did she even know what she was saying?

I firmly shook my head at her words.

“That doesn’t make the crimes I committed disappear. Nor does it make the suspicion toward me disappear.”

“Then are you going to live like that for the rest of your life?”

Catherine raised her voice as if screaming.

“For the rest of your life without saying anything, carrying everything alone, receiving only suspicion for life! Living your whole life with the label of criminal!”

“…Yes, if necessary.”

It was a problem that could be solved if only I left.

I didn’t want to insist on staying and create noise in those kids’ future.

“Then, are you really saying it’s the Caretaker’s will to leave like this?”

“That’s right.”

“But, but what about Prince Edwin and Princess Emilia?”

Catherine frowned as if she couldn’t understand.

“Are you really going to leave just them here and go? Without saying anything?”

“Anyway, after Prince Edwin’s coming-of-age ceremony, I was supposed to leave this Imperial Capital. If you think of it as just leaving a little earlier…”

“You’re not just leaving temporarily!”

A sob-mixed shout burst from her mouth.

“You’re leaving forever! If you leave now, you can never set foot in the Empire again! Never, never be able to meet the princes again!”

“…Catherine.”

I slowly approached Catherine while holding my luggage bag.

“Please step aside.”

“No, please, Caretaker.”

“There’s no time.”

“I can’t let you go! You can’t leave like this! At least say goodbye to the princes…”

“If I say goodbye.”

Was it because my voice came out louder than expected?

Catherine looked at me with surprised eyes, her mouth open.

“…I don’t think I could bear it.”

Because if I said goodbye, I would have to promise to come back.

Because this time I would have no choice but to make a promise I couldn’t keep.

Because I would have to turn away from those two kids who would believe such a false promise completely.

“So I’m just leaving.”

“C-Caretaker…”

“Still.”

I looked at Catherine and smiled faintly.

“I’m glad I could say goodbye to you like this, Catherine.”

“That…”

“Catherine was the best person I’ve ever met.”

That was true throughout my first and second lives.

Would I ever meet someone kinder and more caring than her again in my life?

“…I think I was able to continue working as a caretaker because I met Catherine.”

I took Catherine’s hand that was gripping the door handle and slowly pulled it down.

“Thank you for everything, Catherine.”

Had the knights outside heard our conversation too?

The door handle that had been turning noisily was no longer moving.

“Please stay safe and healthy. I entrust the princes and Seiji to you.”

The door handle turned weakly.

Beyond the open door, knights were waiting.

“Caretaker!”

Could a grown adult cry so sorrowfully?

Catherine burst into tears like a child and hugged me.

“Don’t go, Caretaker!”

“You must not make contact with a criminal, Housekeeper.”

“Move away! Who’s a criminal! The Caretaker is not a criminal, how many times do I have to say it! She never participated in treason! If killing people makes you a criminal, then you’re all criminals too! The Caretaker was just trying to protect us…”

Catherine held onto my sleeve until the very end.

But she was eventually stopped by the hands of other knights who had been waiting in the distance.

“Caretaker! Caretaker!”

The voice calling my name followed like an echo.

However, I didn’t look back. I knew that if I turned around, it would become even harder to leave.

“…May I stop by one place before leaving The Imperial Capital? I already received permission from The Emperor.”

Instead, I quietly asked the escorting knight for understanding.

“State your destination.”

I took a deep breath.

And with my eyes half-lowered, I murmured.

“…Leon Cathedral inside The Imperial Capital.”

There was someone there I absolutely had to say goodbye to one last time.

* * *

Crash.

An unexpected commotion erupted in the 3rd Prince’s Palace.

Emilia, who had returned from the Empress’s Palace, threw a tantrum upon discovering that her caretaker had disappeared.

“Give Rachel back! Tell Rachel to come! Give Rachel back to meeeeee!”

Catherine tried to stop Emilia as she threw all sorts of dishes and decorations.

She held the struggling Emilia tightly in her arms and tried to comfort her.

“The Caretaker has, just, just gone on a trip for a while, so…”

“Liar! You’re all liars!”

Emilia struck Catherine’s chest with her cotton ball-like fists.

“Rachel would never go on a trip without saying goodbye to Ria! Rachel even said goodbye to Ria when she went to war!”

“Your Highness…”

“Ria heard everything! Daddy told Rachel to leave, and Rachel said she would just go!”

Catherine silently hugged Emilia even tighter.

The child who had been struggling continuously finally became exhausted and went limp, gripping the housekeeper’s collar tightly.

“Catherine, why did Rachel leave?”

Her voice was hoarse and completely dejected from all the crying and screaming.

“Did Rachel start to hate Ria? Does she not want to see Ria anymore?”

“Your Highness, it’s really not like that.”

“Then why did she leave only Ria behind?”

Emilia looked up at Catherine with her tear-soaked eyes.

“Ria keeps loving Rachel, but Rachel doesn’t love Ria anymore?”

Just because she’s a child doesn’t mean she can’t feel deeper sadness than adults.

Catherine hugged Emilia even tighter to avoid the child’s eyes.

‘Caretaker, I have never resented you as much as I do right now.’

No matter what circumstances there were, leaving without a word was definitely not the right answer.

“…Rachel left?”

While Catherine was holding and comforting Emilia.

Edwin, who had returned at some point, was standing blankly in the doorway.

“What are you talking about? She already left? Without saying anything?”

Edwin slowly looked around as if he couldn’t believe it.

“When I, when I become Crown Prince, she was supposed to leave then. But why now…”

“Prince Edwin, please calm down. The thing is, the Caretaker…”

“Where did she go? When did she leave?”

“Your Highness…”

“Answer me! Where did Rachel go!”

It was a fierceness I had never seen before.

Catherine flinched at the murderous aura Edwin was emitting, then opened her mouth with difficulty.

“She departed from here about thirty minutes ago. She went with the knights, but where she went…”

If she left thirty minutes ago, she probably hadn’t escaped the Imperial Capital yet.

As soon as Edwin heard Catherine’s words, he quickly moved back and forth around the room.

“Prince Edwin? What are you suddenly…”

Edwin was strapping a sword to his waist and putting his arms through his outer coat.

“I’m going to see Rachel.”

“What? But no one knows where the Caretaker went…”

“The knights would know! At least where they’re escorting a criminal!”

Catherine chased after Edwin as he ran out of the palace.

“Move!”

Edwin shouted at The Emperor’s knights who were already positioned in front of the Prince’s Palace.

“Move! Let go of this!”

“Until the investiture ceremony is held anew, there are strict orders from The Emperor that Prince Edwin must not step even one foot away from this place.”

Edwin shook off the hands blocking him and shouted.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Move! Who are you people! What have you ever done for me! I’m going to see Rachel! I…”

Edwin, who had been struggling, finally fell to his knees on the dirt ground.

“I have something I need to do… for Rachel…”

It was at that moment when the despairing young prince clenched his hands that were pressed against the ground.

“Get out of the way.”

A familiar voice was heard from above his head.

Edwin slowly raised his head with a frown.

“Please stand up, Prince Edwin.”

“…Philip, the Count?”

“If we leave now, it won’t be too late.”

Philip, the Vice-Captain of the Gloria Knights, knelt on one knee in front of the prince and extended his hand.

“If she’s someone precious to Your Highness, shouldn’t you at least say goodbye one last time?”

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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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