The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 38

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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 38. The Sage, Sage Ril (1)

“H-how did you know?”

Edwin seemed shocked that Sage had immediately seen through the fact that he was a prince.

Edwin’s eyes widened to their fullest extent.

“Those clothes you’re wearing. That’s silk from the Asha Kingdom, which would be hard to obtain unless you’re royalty. If you’re going to disguise yourself, you should do it properly.”

At Sage’s words, Edwin looked up at him with bewildered eyes.

He seemed amazed that his identity had been figured out just from his clothes.

“So, you want me to become this kid’s teacher in exchange for my life?”

“That’s right.”

“Becoming a teacher isn’t difficult.”

Sage looked down at Edwin with an arrogant expression as he spoke.

“But I have no intention of taking just anyone as my disciple.”

“A prince of a nation isn’t just anyone, is he?”

“Well, that depends on what kind of prince, doesn’t it?”

Sage snorted as he continued speaking.

“Honestly, I could just pay the life debt with my actual life and be done with it. I’ve lived long enough anyway, and I have no attachment to this world.”

What an excuse.

I knew his words were a complete lie.

There was no one in this world who wanted to make their existence known to the world more than this man.

Sage ran his fingers through the parchments piled on the table as he continued.

“However, I’m thinking it wouldn’t be bad to properly raise one disciple before I die.”

“Then there’s nothing to hesitate about. Let’s depart immediately…”

As I stepped forward saying I’d escort him to the carriage right away, Sage blocked my mouth.

“I said it before. I don’t take just anyone as a disciple.”

His sharp gaze turned toward Edwin again.

“So prove it to me, little prince. Prove that you’re not just ‘anyone.'”

The smile on the old sage’s wrinkled face looked somehow mischievous.

* * *

The Great Sage, Sage Ril Viscount.

Forty years ago, when he had just turned twenty, he was an extraordinary person who secured a full professorship at the Imperial Academy despite being of common birth.

He was the first scholar to break the unwritten rule that commoners, no matter how smart, could not rise to professorship.

Perhaps it was natural, given that he was proficient not only in literature, history, politics, and philosophy, but also in medicine.

Despite his eccentric temperament, he often proposed policies for the marginalized lower classes.

Those who envied Sage called him a hypocrite and insulted him.

However, that didn’t make his achievements disappear.

The fact that most of the Empire’s relief policies still in effect today came from his mind proved this.

In recognition of his brilliant contributions, he even received a title directly from the Emperor.

People never ceased to praise him as ‘Great Sage Sage.’

However, as is often the case with people called geniuses, Sage also had peculiar aspects that differed from others.

“He wants you to prove you’re not just anyone.”

For example, being overly serious even when dealing with children.

“Uh…”

Edwin looked troubled.

The beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead spoke for his state of mind.

This ill-tempered old man. Why does he keep finding fault?

“Lil Viscount, have you forgotten the deal with me, no, with the Kayla Guild leader? The life debt is to be paid anytime, without conditions.”

“I just told you. At this point, I could just jump off a cliff without paying the life debt and be done with it.”

“You, stop it…”

Do you think I came all this way to see this frustrating spectacle?

I wanted to shout that I was Kayla, and if he kept being uncooperative, I could drop him off the cliff right now.

Just as my short patience was about to run out, Edwin slowly opened his mouth.

“…How can I prove it?”

The kid now had a determined expression and was looking straight at Sage.

Though he was still sweating nervously.

“How can I, no, how can I prove that I’m not just anyone and become your disciple, grandfather, no, Sage-nim?”

“Hmm, not bad. From the looks of it, I thought you’d tuck your tail and run away immediately.”

Even I was surprised this time.

Given Edwin’s personality, I thought it would be nearly impossible for him to actively approach a stranger.

But right now, the kid was holding his head up, looking straight at Sage’s face, and saying what he needed to say.

“Puhaha!”

Sage, who had been looking down at him, burst into laughter.

“Little prince, how old are you?”

“I’m twelve.”

“Twelve years old. Right when your mind starts working well. But I don’t really like smart kids.”

“What? Why?”

“Because even when those kids grow up, they’re all dumber than me! Puhahahaha!”

“…”

Sage, who had been laughing frivolously, soon became serious and opened his mouth again.

“So I don’t look here,”

He tapped Edwin’s forehead with his index finger and then moved his finger downward.

“I look here.”

His finger, dry as an old tree branch, was pointing to the center of his chest.

Edwin, who had been looking down at his chest, just blinked with a confused expression.

Sage smiled at the prince and suddenly threw open the back door.

“Leo! Leo! Come here!”

“I’m busy as hell, why are you calling me again?”

What appeared at Sage’s call was a boy.

‘He’s grown a lot.’

I immediately remembered the kid.

He was definitely the child from Luksen that Sage had taken in and raised.

“What is it? I still have a lot of firewood to chop.”

The boy, who looked about fifteen, replied bluntly and then looked this way.

Despite his youthful face, his sharp eyes and sturdy build were impressive.

“Ah, I didn’t introduce him. This guy here is ‘Leo’. He’s around your age. He’s like my assistant.”

Leo irritably swatted away Sage’s hand that was placed on top of his head.

“Assistant my ass. Why did you call me? I told you I haven’t finished chopping wood.”

“Right, forget the firewood, go quarry some stones with this kid. Don’t forget to check on the villagers on the way.”

“Got it.”

Edwin, who had been pushed out by Sage, stiffened his face as he looked at the boy standing in front of him.

“Um, excuse me…”

Leo was tall enough to be about two heads taller than Edwin.

Edwin seemed quite tense from the inexplicable hostility and intimidation he felt from the kid.

Leo, who had been looking down at Edwin for a while, indifferently turned his back.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

The kid called out to Edwin, who was looking back and forth between me and Sage at the threshold.

“Didn’t you hear him say to come together?”

“Uh, um…”

“If you’re not coming, I’m going ahead.”

“No, let’s go together!”

Edwin, who had been looking back this way until the end, followed Leo when I nodded my head.

* * *

Once the two boys disappeared, the house became as quiet as a tomb.

It was Seiji who broke that silence.

“Well, I’ll check what kind of character that little prince has a bit later.”

Seiji crossed his arms and glared at me.

“Really strange, I tell you.”

Seiji, who had been standing five steps away, slowly walked toward me.

“You seem like an attendant, but you don’t seem to serve the prince, nor do you seem to protect him.”

He muttered in a genuinely curious voice.

“Coming here without a single guard, and just letting the prince go outside alone. No sane attendant would do this.”

Right. Someone who didn’t know this place wasn’t as dangerous as it seemed wouldn’t have done this.

“Unfortunately, I am perfectly sane, Lil Viscount.”

“Your way of speaking is strange too. What’s your real identity?”

What’s wrong with how I speak?

Instead of answering, I stared at him quietly.

Meanwhile, Seiji frowned as if deep in thought, then opened his mouth again.

“So, how do you know Kayla?”

“…We’ve been close friends for a very long time.”

“So you’re friends?”

“…Something like that.”

“Don’t lie! You expect me to believe that? Where would that kid have friends? I don’t even have any!”

This old man?

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you. But I only came here after hearing from Kayla.”

At my words, Seiji made all sorts of faces before tilting his head.

“Hmm, well, you must have been quite close. My whereabouts are practically top secret.”

He accepted my words more easily than expected.

Well, ‘Kayla’ was like a lifesaver to him.

‘Though I thought he’d be somewhat suspicious.’

The fact that the scholar who doubted everything in the world didn’t doubt ‘me’ alone felt somewhat burdensome. After hesitating for a while, Seiji opened his mouth again.

“Is she alive? That Kayla kid.”

Hmm, should I say she’s in a state of neither being alive nor dead?

Her body died and disappeared, but her soul is perfectly alive here.

“She’s not dead, so don’t worry.”

“…Really?”

At my answer, his expression became strange for a moment, but it was very brief.

Soon returning to his irritable face, he suddenly got angry.

“That bad girl! If she’s going to dump someone in a place like this, she should at least show her face on time! Not a single contact in 4 years!”

Instead of answering, I stared at his wrinkled face for a long time.

The face of the great sage, once filled with confidence and arrogance, now only held loneliness.

‘How strange.’

In my memory, he had a more venomous and fierce face.

“People outside have long forgotten someone called ‘Seiji Lil’. People are all like that. They can’t easily forget enemies, but they easily forget benefactors.”

Now he just had a face that looked tired.

He had devoted his life for the Empire, for the people of the Empire, but what came back was cold indifference.

“I was the foolish one. I thought I knew everything, but in fact, I was just a fool who knew nothing about the ways of the world.”

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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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