The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 42

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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 42. The First Test (2)

“…Rachel?”

Edwin blankly repeated The Caretaker’s name.

Meanwhile, Rachel threw her entire body at the side of the monster charging toward the prince, then rolled across the ground.

While the monster staggered and was pushed to the side, she immediately attempted a counterattack.

Her movements were so swift that one might wonder if a person could move that quickly.

Rachel instantly thrust her dagger into the monster’s slick nape.

Kyaaaaa—!

Unfortunately, far from cutting the monster’s throat, she had only provoked its anger.

Contrary to its appearance, the monster’s hide was quite thick.

The dagger she had thrust with all her might only left a small scratch and didn’t seem to deal much damage.

But Rachel didn’t waver.

No, far from wavering, she immediately charged at the monster again.

She leisurely dodged the monster’s teeth and claws while continuously stabbing her dagger into the same spot.

Thud, thud, crack.

Until the small scratch became a large hole.

Rachel’s hands didn’t stop.

Her appearance fighting the monster was like that of a wild beast.

‘It’s like watching monsters fight each other.’

While Edwin was thinking such thoughts with a stunned face, the battle finally reached its conclusion.

Thump—.

The monster’s heavy body collapsed with a loud noise.

The victor was his caretaker, Rachel.

* * *

“Tch.”

The dagger I had taken from the bandit was completely dulled.

It was already old to begin with, and it seemed to have broken from using excessive force.

I threw the dagger to the ground and turned around.

Edwin was looking at me with a dazed expression.

The kid’s condition was more of a mess than when I first met him.

His hair was tangled with dirt and twigs, both hands were covered in wounds, and his pants and shoes were all torn up.

“Rachel, how did you…?”

Edwin’s large eyes were still brimming with tears.

Well, he had just escaped death, so that was understandable.

“How did I come? I ran here.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

The kid looked flustered at my straightforward answer.

Well, he’d be curious about how an ordinary caretaker could defeat a monster.

However, I had no intention of giving him the answer he wanted.

‘I absolutely can’t tell him.’

How could I tell a child that I’m not really Rachel, but was the head of an assassin group in my previous life?

In the end, I deliberately changed the subject.

“First, let’s start with you getting hit once.”

“What? Ow!”

Edwin, who received a knock on the head from me, clutched his head.

The kid blinked his round eyes and gaped his mouth as if he couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Who told you to do such a reckless thing? A diversion tactic against a monster? Did you think Your Highness had the ability to do such a thing?”

“I…”

“No, it wasn’t even worthy of being called a diversion tactic. What Your Highness did was nothing more than a suicidal act. Why on earth did you do such an insane thing? Did you completely forget all the advice I gave you regarding Prince Lloyd’s incident?”

When I snapped at him with a sharp voice, Edwin shrank his shoulders.

“There’s nothing more useless in this world than a meaningless death!”

Normally I would have backed down by now, but at this moment I couldn’t calm down.

Trying to face a monster when he didn’t even have the strength to protect himself—had his head suddenly popped open or something!

“Don’t you value your one and only life!”

It had been a long time since I had shouted this loudly.

Edwin seemed surprised too, as he curled up his body with his eyes wide open.

“Why aren’t you answering! Say something! Your Highness has a mouth, doesn’t he!”

Edwin caught his breath for a while, then pouted his lips.

The kid opened his mouth with a stuffy voice as if holding back tears.

“I don’t understand why you’re angry at me.”

Edwin continued speaking while constantly wiping away tears with his palm.

“I wanted to be helpful too! Everyone got hurt and died because of me! I hate that! I don’t want to see that anymore!”

His faintly trembling voice gradually grew louder until it became almost a wailing sound.

“It’s all because of me! Everything is because of me, so this time I didn’t want it to be like that! I wanted to be helpful too! But I can’t do things like you! I thought about it a lot before acting!”

“What kind of thinking? The thought that someone like me dying wouldn’t matter?”

“That’s…!”

Instead of answering, Edwin hung his head low.

I looked down at the kid’s round crown and continued speaking.

“I ran into Leo on the way here. He was crying his eyes out. He was worried that Your Highness was in danger.”

I had also heard from the kid what Edwin had said.

That unlike himself, Leo was someone the villagers needed, so he should live and escape.

“…Leo was?”

The kid seemed to find it hard to believe that someone he had just met today was worried about him.

“After seeing you being chased by a monster right before his eyes, wouldn’t it be stranger if he wasn’t worried?”

I crouched down in front of the kid who was only looking at his feet.

“Your Highness, you said you didn’t understand why I was angry.”

Edwin sniffled and nodded slightly at my words.

I took out the ointment from my pocket and examined the kid’s right hand.

Blood was flowing from his palm where it had been scraped by stones.

“The reason I was angry at Your Highness is, as I said before, because you recklessly charged in without properly assessing your opponent.”

Courage and recklessness are separated by a paper-thin difference.

Since that paper-thin difference sometimes determines life and death.

Those who navigate between life and death must develop the insight to distinguish between the two.

“And above all.”

I applied ointment to the kid’s wound.

It was quite a deep scrape, so it would likely leave a scar.

“…I was angry that Your Highness thought that way.”

The Edwin before my eyes was a child before he was a prince.

For such a harmless being, who had neither the power to protect himself nor the ability to distinguish and filter between good and evil, to already think of himself as worthless.

When there were mountains of truly evil adults in the world who deserved to die, it was unacceptable that a mere child like this would think of himself that way.

“What I’m saying is that not everything Your Highness experienced while growing up was Your Highness’s fault. So please don’t blame yourself.”

“But…”

“There are no buts, Your Highness.”

I firmly pressed Edwin.

“Your Highness’s only fault is recklessly charging at this monster today. Do you understand?”

Edwin was about to retort but hastily nodded at my fierce gaze.

They say choices always come with responsibility.

But the kid had never even had the option to ‘choose’ until now.

Yet this young kid was blaming himself, saying everything was his responsibility.

‘With Lloyd’s matter, I was a bit too harsh.’

Back then, I had no intention of taking care of Edwin or Emilia until the end, so I deliberately acted harshly to cut off any emotional attachment.

‘But now the situation has changed.’

I took out a clean handkerchief and wrapped Edwin’s wound.

“You know.”

Edwin stared down at his hand wrapped in the handkerchief for a long moment before muttering in a small voice.

“…I want to become strong like you too.”

At those words, I stopped my hands and met Edwin’s eyes.

In his bright blue pupils, frustration and longing dwelled simultaneously.

“Can I do it?”

“Your Highness, when we return.”

I looked into the prince’s eyes that seemed ready to shed tears at any moment and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“I will help Your Highness be able to ‘choose’ anything.”

Edwin tilted his head as if my answer was unexpected.

“What does that mean?”

“I will.”

I showed my teeth in a smile for him.

“Make Your Highness stronger than anyone else.”

* * *

Right after barely rescuing the prince from the monster’s jaws.

Seiji looked at us returning home with a nonchalant expression.

“Well, as long as you’re both alive, isn’t that enough?”

Seiji remained completely calm even after hearing that the two boys had nearly been bitten to death by a monster.

“For someone who deliberately drove them into danger, you show no sign of remorse.”

“Deliberately?”

Seiji got angry at my words.

“Hey, no matter how eccentric I am! I’m not crazy enough to throw a child into a monster’s mouth, okay? I’m still perfectly sane!”

“Your Highness, I apologize. I overlooked that this man is half-mad. Let’s just go. It seems we’ll need to find another master.”

“Are you ignoring what I’m saying right now? When an elder is speaking, a young person should—!”

Meanwhile, Edwin’s face had turned deathly pale, as if he was deeply shocked by the conversation we two had shared.

“Then you mean, you knew a monster would appear but still sent Leo and me…?”

“Good grief, I said it’s not like that! Now even a brat who’s still wet behind the ears is ignoring my words?”

Seiji beat his chest as if frustrated, then immediately became serious.

“Fine, let’s say I sent you there knowing a monster would appear, as you claim. Would that be a problem?”

“What?”

“In the first place, where in this world is there a test without trials, right?”

Seiji looked down at Edwin, who was much smaller than him, and narrowed his eyes.

“If you had used Leo as a shield and run away, I would have grabbed you by the collar myself and thrown you into the monster’s mouth.”

At Seiji’s words, Edwin hiccupped in surprise.

“Of course, if you died charging at the monster head-on, that would be the end of it too. I have no intention of taking such a stupid fool as my disciple.”

“I suppose you didn’t think they could die while running away. For someone called a great sage.”

“I don’t take unlucky bastards as disciples either. It makes me unlucky too.”

This unparalleled crazy old geezer.

I was grinding my teeth inwardly when he turned his head toward Edwin.

“That aside, did you find an answer to my question? Young prince.”

“What?”

“Didn’t I tell you to prove whether you’re worth teaching?”

What is there to prove in this situation?

Maybe I should just prove that even sages die if bitten by monsters.

“Your Highness, it seems my judgment was wrong.”

I glared at the cranky-faced sage and then stood in front of Edwin.

“A person like this is not suited for the position of master. Let’s find someone else…”

Then, a small voice came from behind. It was Edwin.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and I still don’t really understand what kind of ‘anyone’ you meant.”

Edwin had a quite serious expression on his face.

“But if ‘anyone’ means someone who’s no different from other people, then I…”

His bright blue eyes turned toward Seiji.

“I don’t think I can become your disciple, Sage. I’m sorry.”

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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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