The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 79
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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 79. LOVE & POISON (3)
“You’re saying a person keeps appearing before your eyes?”
Is it a hallucination? Did someone attempt to poison me without my knowledge?
No, there’s no way there could be a poisoning attempt I’m unaware of.
As I frowned while making all sorts of speculations, Catherine’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Oh my, who is it? Could it be…?”
She squinted one eye and spoke in a playful voice.
“A woman?”
“Uh…”
At Catherine’s words, Edwin turned pale as if genuinely shocked.
“H-how did you know?”
“Kyaaaa, how wonderful!”
She’s absolutely delighted.
Catherine repeatedly hit my shoulder and her eyes sparkled even brighter.
“So, Your Highness? When you think of that person who keeps coming to mind, how do you feel?”
“Uh, well…”
Edwin pondered for a moment, then fidgeted with his fingertips.
“I keep thinking about her, and whenever she appears even briefly, I keep looking at her, and I want to talk to her…”
The boy blushed as if embarrassed.
“I-I want to become close with her. But whenever she appears nearby, my heart beats fast and I get so nervous I can’t do anything.”
Just like he had drunk poison.
At Edwin’s innocent answer, Catherine covered her mouth with both hands.
“My goodness, first love!”
“L-love?”
Edwin blinked his eyes without even thinking to hide his reddened cheeks.
“The beginning of a great disaster.”
I unconsciously sighed and pressed my forehead, when Catherine hit my shoulder once again.
As if telling me to just shut up and stay quiet.
“So who might be the person who has stolen our Prince’s heart?”
“Uh, well…”
Edwin scratched the back of his head shyly at the expectant gaze awaiting his answer.
He finally mumbled quietly in a barely audible voice.
“…Bridget.”
“Bridget? Miss Bridget? Who is that…?”
“Don’t tell me you mean the Crowner Ducal Princess?”
The beloved daughter of Duke Jerome Crowner, Commander of the Gloria Knight Order. Bridget Crowner.
As far as I knew, she was the only noble with the name Bridget.
“My goodness, surely not that Crowner Ducal Princess?”
Catherine seemed not to have imagined that the person in question was the daughter of one of the Empire’s most powerful noble families.
I left her in her state of shock and opened my mouth.
“You’ve been spacing out all this time for such a trivial reason— mmph!”
“Come to think of it, the other palace maids were saying that this time the Crowner Princess’s birthday banquet will be held at Her Majesty the Empress’s palace. Do you know about this, Your Highness?”
Just then, Catherine covered my mouth and rattled off words like a machine gun.
But how does she even know that the Ducal Princess’s birthday banquet is being held at the Empress’s palace?
No matter how I look at it, this woman’s true calling isn’t as a maid but as an information broker or assassin.
“Mmhm, I heard from Sir Philip.”
“Oh my, how perfect! If it’s a banquet held at the Empress’s palace, Your Highness might be able to attend!”
“Ah, well…”
Edwin’s shoulders suddenly drooped at Catherine’s words.
“Well, according to Sir Philip, only invited people can go. It’s a gathering where only those close to the Ducal Princess are invited…”
Of course that would be the case. It’s the birthday banquet of a young lady who hasn’t even made her official social debut yet. Moreover, she’s the only daughter of that Duke Crowner, so they can’t just invite anyone. It would be troublesome if unnecessary commotion arose.
“Don’t worry!”
Just then, Catherine shouted in a triumphant voice.
“I’ll figure something out somehow!”
That’s supposed to be my line.
I raised one eyebrow and looked at Catherine.
“What do you mean you’ll figure something out?”
“Obviously!”
She raised her snow-white fist with a determined expression.
“I mean I’ll make it so our Prince Edwin can attend the Crowner Ducal Princess’s birthday banquet!”
* * *
“It’s you again.”
Philip, the Vice-Commander of the Gloria Knight Order, was in a very irritated state.
It was because of a certain woman who had been lurking around in front of him for several days, pretending it was coincidence.
It was Catherine Bale, a maid from the 3rd Prince’s Palace.
“Hello, Vice-Commander! I see you again today?”
Even seeing the Vice-Commander frown as soon as he saw her, Catherine just smiled brightly.
She showed him the huge snack basket she had brought.
“Today I prepared apricot pie and fried sardines! The fried food needs to be eaten before it gets soggy, so quickly…”
“Baroness Bale.”
“Yes?”
Philip continued with a stern and solemn expression.
“Even though you are a maid from the Prince’s Palace, it doesn’t look good to frequent the Knights’ Quarters like this every time.”
“I just came because I was worried that Prince Edwin might be having a hard time with his difficult training. And the knights also looked tired, so I thought it might help…”
“Enduring difficult training is also part of the training. Do you think there would be a knight who takes out snacks to eat during combat because it’s hard?”
Philip didn’t like the woman before him who seemed generally lacking in pigmentation.
He didn’t like that she came to the knight order under the pretense of bringing snacks, that the 3rd Army knights became silly whenever they saw her and discipline became lax, and that she encountered him every single time she came.
“If your purpose is to give snacks to Prince Edwin, please leave them with the guards at the knight order entrance from now on. I don’t know what your scheme is, but encountering each other like this every time is very uncomfortable.”
Though it was awkward to say it himself, Philip was quite popular with women.
There were quite a few maids and noble ladies who came to the knight order just to see his face.
‘This woman must ultimately have the same purpose.’
Philip frowned with a displeased expression.
Because of his status as a noble of commoner origin, commoner-born maids aiming for social advancement often launched physical offensives against him.
But perhaps due to his naturally fastidious personality, Philip greatly despised such women.
Thanks to this, his nickname among the palace maids who admired him was ‘Gloria’s Iron Wall.’
“My goodness, Sir Philip! Why do you say such hurtful things?”
Meanwhile, Catherine covered her mouth with both hands and made a fuss in front of his serious face.
“Prince Edwin worries when I don’t show my face. And I’ve become quite close with the 3rd Army knights, so it would seem too cold if I just dropped off snacks and left! It’s not like I’m drawing lines!”
“Such ridiculous excuses…”
“And I was just passing by here by coincidence!”
Catherine drooped her eyebrows as if truly wronged.
“What can I do about Sir Philip constantly appearing on the path I take?”
“So you’re saying I should hide while moving around inside the Knights’ Quarters?”
“Oh, that’s not what I mean.”
“In the first place, an outside maid wandering around freely inside the Knights’ Quarters is against protocol. If you don’t want to be reprimanded by the Commander later, please exercise restraint.”
“…Geez, your way of speaking is just like the Caretaker’s. You two are exactly alike.”
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing at all!”
When Philip became serious, Catherine hurriedly shook her head.
He frowned. He wanted to point out that talking to oneself openly in front of others was also against etiquette, but he held back.
There was no point in showing such kindness only to have her misunderstand that I was interested.
“Then please return now.”
“Ah, Count Philip! Wait a moment!”
Catherine grabbed the edge of Philip’s sleeve as he turned away.
When his gaze turned cold, Catherine carefully let go of his sleeve.
“I, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it.”
“You said I must have some ulterior motive.”
Catherine looked up at him with her large eyes.
“Aren’t you curious about what that ulterior motive might be?”
What kind of woman is this?
Philip stood still for a moment as if dazed.
Was she really asking him to be curious about what ulterior motives she had?
“Ugh, how frustrating!”
When Philip only stared at her silently without saying anything, Catherine soon let out a sigh as if exasperated.
She set down the basket she was carrying on the ground. Then she placed both hands on her hips and straightened her back.
“Fine! The truth is, I had an ulterior motive regarding Count Philip, so I kept taking this path every time! Because Count Philip only uses this path!”
As expected.
An unpleasant light flickered in Philip’s eyes.
Just as he was about to say something, Catherine fired off words like a machine gun.
“Count Philip is the same way. There should be limits to ignoring people! If we’ve run into each other and greeted each other so many times, wouldn’t you at least think to strike up a conversation first?”
“…So you’re criticizing me right now? For not acknowledging you first?”
“Yes! I’ve never seen a man as frustrating as Count Philip in my entire life! Were you perhaps shy? Even though I’ve been staring at Count Philip every single day, you never said anything!”
“What, shy…”
This was truly absurd.
Did this woman not realize that he didn’t want her attention? Did she really not know that he had deliberately ignored her and avoided speaking to her first?
“Baroness Veil, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I…”
“Do you know how hard it is to work so hard to run into someone while pretending it’s coincidental every time?”
Why should I need to know that?
Philip could now only move his lips slightly without being able to say anything.
“Count Philip knows too, right? That you’re popular! Half the maids in the Imperial Palace are watching to see who’s making moves on Count Philip! Do you think it’s easy to approach naturally like I did in that situation?”
“So why would you do such a thing…”
“Obviously because I have a favor to ask of Count Philip!”
Honestly, it was something he hadn’t expected to hear.
At most, he had expected words like why don’t you understand my feelings, you’re ignoring a woman’s heart, so please accept me if I confess.
Philip hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth while keeping his gaze fixed on the fried sardines.
“…What is this favor? Let me hear it.”
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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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