The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 9

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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 9. Hide-and-Seek of Tears (1)

“A bet where the loser has to eat all the vegetables?”

“Yes, does it appeal to you?”

I decided to use the psychology that he wanted to give me a hard time.

Edwin seemed quite interested in the betting conditions as he asked back.

“What are we going to bet with? I don’t want Monte.”

He seemed to be on full alert, probably remembering what happened yesterday.

It seemed he thought he could never beat me at Monte.

Then did he think he could win with something else?

‘Quite a cunning thought.’

I dabbed the corners of my mouth with a napkin and continued speaking.

“How about hide-and-seek?”

Hide-and-seek.

At those words, the prince’s eyes immediately lit up.

“That’s my specialty!”

He jumped up from his seat as if he was about to run outside at any moment.

“Hide-and-seek? Ria wants to play too! Ria wants to play too!”

Emilia, who was sitting beside him, also got excited and tapped the table with her spoon.

I lifted the princess up and continued speaking.

“Princess Emilia and I will be the seekers.”

“Kyaaaaa!”

Excited Emilia waved both hands above her head and screamed.

Meanwhile, Edwin raised his eyebrows with a confident face.

“Hmph, you’ll regret it.”

“However, we’ll limit the location to the first floor where the dining room is.”

“Fine by me. It would be troublesome if you couldn’t find me.”

Edwin shrugged his shoulders as if he was doing me a favor.

I looked at him and casually added.

“If I find Your Highness, it’s my victory, and if I can’t find you, it’s Your Highness’s victory.”

“The loser eats all the remaining vegetables. Right?”

Edwin confirmed the betting terms once more and grinned.

“Don’t regret it.”

* * *

The 3rd Prince of the Bentrum Empire, ‘Edwin Anaxinianus Bentrum’.

Now 11 years old, he had almost no opportunities to play with peers his age.

No noble would send their child to play with a prince who had nothing to gain from such association.

He couldn’t get along with anyone, and except for the deceased Emma, no one showed him interest.

Perhaps because of this, Edwin never easily opened his heart to anyone, but paradoxically, he would melt helplessly at even the smallest bit of attention.

The reason he had been tricked by Gail’s Gang into betting his bracelet in Monte was also for this reason.

It was rare for a child his age to approach him first and suggest playing together.

“Tch, this place isn’t great either.”

Anyway, that prince seemed very excited today.

Edwin peered around the storage room attached to the kitchen.

‘Where would be a place that woman can’t find?’

After much deliberation, the prince chose a large vegetable crate.

The crate, half-filled with carrots, was large enough to fit his body with room to spare.

Edwin got inside the large vegetable crate and closed the lid.

‘Perfect. If I’m here, she’ll never find me.’

The prince crouched inside the crate and giggled quietly.

Then, he heard footsteps approaching nearby.

The prince pressed his eye to a gap in the crate.

Fortunately, it wasn’t Rachel.

“I’ve never seen such a handsome person in my entire life.”

The two maids who entered the storage room began chatting.

“Really? The King of Adamant is that handsome?”

“Yes! I thought he’d look scary since they call him the Wolf King, but he didn’t!”

Hair as black as the night sky, appropriately tanned smooth skin, amber eyes that sparkled like stars—

The maid recited all sorts of flowery words while twisting her body.

“And his body was so magnificent! I thought he was a statue that had escaped from some temple!”

“You’re practically writing poetry. Poetry. Where in the world would you find someone who looks like that?”

“There is! There is! I saw him!”

The maid shouted at her companion as if scolding her, then hugged her own arms.

“Ah, if I could just be held in those broad arms once, I’d have no other wishes, really.”

“Stop it. Would a king of a nation even glance at a mere maid? Let’s hurry up and go.”

“You never agree with anything people say.”

The grumbling maid seemed to leave the storage room but then came back.

“Oh, I almost forgot to put this up here. The mice have been terrible lately, that would have been a disaster. Hey, don’t go alone, help me!”

“Stop pretending to be weak!”

The maids approached close to the crate where Edwin was hiding.

Thud—

A heavy sound came from above his head, and the maids’ footsteps gradually faded away.

The storage room became quiet again.

Edwin, who had been holding his breath with his mouth covered, confirmed that the maids had disappeared and let out a sigh.

‘That was close. I almost got caught by the maids first.’

He almost damaged his pride as a hide-and-seek master.

In the cramped crate, Edwin sat quietly with his knees drawn up.

“Mmph.”

How much time had passed?

Even when other maids came and went after that, his nanny didn’t appear.

Edwin fidgeted restlessly in his sitting position.

‘This is uncomfortable.’

It was hard to breathe, and his legs were getting numb.

‘It feels like a lot of time has passed since I got in here.’

Edwin’s expression gradually darkened.

Suddenly, bad memories resurfaced in the young prince’s mind.

– Should we let you join in too?

The mischievous face of 2nd Prince Lloyd, who looked exactly like the Emperor.

The young children from noble families giggling behind him.

In those days when he didn’t even know what hostility was, Edwin had simply followed them happily.

– If you hide here, no one will find you. Edwin, you hide here.

– What about you, Brother Lloyd?

– I know another place to hide. So you stay here, and if you get caught, scream to let me know. Got it? That’s how ‘we’ win.

Lloyd put his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder, who was looking up at him with admiring eyes, and grinned.

– But you absolutely cannot come out of here until the seeker finds you, okay? If you do, we’ll lose because of you, Edwin.

Whether it was because the chest was in such a remote location, or because the 2nd Prince’s group didn’t tell anyone about it.

For hours, not only did no seeker come, but no one came looking for Edwin at all.

Because of Lloyd’s threatening request, Edwin couldn’t open the chest and come out on his own.

If Emma, who was his nanny, hadn’t heard the news late and come running, he might have had to spend the night in that chest.

– Your Highness!

The chest opened, and Emma’s tear-stained face appeared.

But what first caught the young prince’s eye wasn’t her face.

It was the faces of the servants visible behind the nanny.

Called out in the middle of the night, they held torches in their hands.

Thanks to this, Edwin could read all the emotions reflected in their eyes.

‘A troublesome burden.’

‘A half-wit prince.’

‘A selfish brat who only thinks of himself.’

Edwin’s pride as a prince was utterly shattered that day.

The prince bit his lip as he recalled the past memory.

‘…This isn’t fun.’

Just as he was about to open the box lid and go outside.

Clatter, clatter.

The box lid only made loud noises but wouldn’t open.

“What, what’s this?”

Edwin was flustered.

The box lid wouldn’t budge, as if someone had placed a heavy stone on top of it.

‘Could it be those maids from earlier?’

Edwin’s face turned pale as he remembered hearing a loud noise from above.

Come to think of it, they sometimes put heavy stones on storage boxes to prevent rats or cats from spoiling the ingredients.

‘Then I can’t get out either?’

Edwin’s small heart began beating violently.

It made such a loud noise as if his heart had moved to his ears.

Edwin squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears.

Now there was no Emma to come looking for him. No one would know he was here.

‘No, they probably won’t even know I’m missing.’

Maybe this time he’d be trapped here for life.

Just as the terror from the past was slowly consuming Edwin.

The box lid opened with a whoosh.

“There you are, Your Highness.”

Above his head, he could see the face of his nanny, Rachel.

Indifferent expression, indifferent tone, indifferent actions.

Why did Emma’s image overlap with this person who showed no warmth whatsoever?

The moment he recalled the face of someone he missed.

Finally, tears poured down from Edwin’s eyes like rain.

* * *

‘I’ll never understand children.’

Why on earth was this kid buried among a pile of carrots crying?

I was inwardly flustered but tried to maintain a calm expression.

“Then I won the bet…”

Just as I was about to declare victory in the bet.

Edwin suddenly burst into loud wails.

“Why, why are you so late! You idiot! Waaahhh—!”

Really, this kid was incomprehensible.

Yesterday he was avoiding me like the plague, and today he’s throwing a tantrum because I’m late.

“Brother, why are you crying? Don’t cry!”

Moreover, hearing her brother cry, even Emilia on my back started sniffling.

‘This is driving me crazy. What am I supposed to do?’

I inwardly sighed and put both hands under his armpits to pull him out of the box.

“Both of you, please stop crying.”

The sight of him crying alone after going in by himself and wanting to be taken out was truly absurd.

Meanwhile, even after escaping from the box, Edwin was still shedding tears.

‘This is troublesome.’

Crying adults quiet down quickly with a little threat, but children don’t.

That’s why I always found children difficult. I couldn’t understand or figure out creatures that couldn’t be reasoned with.

‘I have no choice.’

I was terrible at comforting, but I had no choice.

If I let him keep crying like this and he got dehydrated, I’d have to take responsibility again.

I hesitated, then wiped his tears with my sleeve.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

Along with an awkward apology that didn’t sound like comfort at all.

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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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