The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 90
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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 90. Founding Festival Preparations (1)
“Prince Lloyd is a Prince of the Empire. If we’re talking about an opponent worthy of such a person’s status, it would have to be another Prince, and excluding Prince Adrian, he’s the only one.”
Helena frowned at Pailin’s words.
‘Edwin.’
She wasn’t particularly keen on displaying that mutt of a prince in front of everyone either.
But he might be the perfect opponent to preserve Lloyd’s dignity.
Helena seemed to ponder for a moment, then soon showed a pleased smile.
“That’s not a bad idea.”
It wouldn’t be bad to use this opportunity to make the 3rd Prince realize his place.
If he were humiliated by being compared to Lloyd in front of everyone watching, he’d never be able to hold his head up again.
“I should petition His Majesty about this.”
Helena’s beautiful lips curved up crookedly.
* * *
“I greet Your Majesty.”
Edwin kept his head bowed while rolling his eyes.
Called suddenly by The Emperor, he had come to the audience chamber and was taken aback.
The 2nd Empress and Lloyd were also there.
“Yes, Edwin.”
The Emperor looked at Edwin standing respectfully with both hands clasped in front of him and smiled lightly.
“You know the Founding Festival is coming soon, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Envoys from various countries will be coming.”
He lightly swirled the cup in his hand.
“At that time, how about performing a sword dance together with Lloyd?”
“A sword dance?”
Edwin was flustered.
He had never performed anything called a sword dance in his life, and it hadn’t been long since he started secretly learning swordsmanship from Philip.
“Yes, Lloyd says he wants to perform with you.”
“B-but if it’s to be performed in front of the envoys, surely Brother Adrian would be…”
“Adrian says he has no interest in swordsmanship.”
At The Emperor’s words, Edwin, who had been making a troubled expression, unconsciously looked toward Lloyd.
As soon as their eyes met, Lloyd quietly sneered at him.
It was as if he was certain that Edwin wouldn’t be able to refuse The Emperor’s proposal.
“This Founding Festival is planned to be held grandly.”
Then, 2nd Empress Helena added with a smile.
“Especially this time, envoys from Adamant, with whom we’ve newly formed an alliance, will also be coming. Since it’s a more meaningful occasion than usual, shouldn’t we show that all the Empire’s princes are outstanding?”
Her excessively artificial voice was enough to give him goosebumps.
Edwin couldn’t even show his displeasure and just hemmed and hawed.
“Or perhaps, do you have something else prepared?”
“N-no. I don’t.”
Helena smiled as brightly as a flower at Edwin’s answer.
“Then the answer is already decided.”
Edwin finally nodded under Helena’s pressure and The Emperor’s gaze directed at him.
“I look forward to it.”
The Emperor seemed pleased with his answer.
He looked back and forth between the two princes and smiled broadly.
“Both of you work hard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
2nd Prince Lloyd and 3rd Prince Edwin answered simultaneously.
In The Emperor’s eyes as he looked at his two sons, there was an intrigued gleam.
* * *
Creak.
As soon as Edwin left the audience chamber, he stopped walking.
The 2nd Empress and Lloyd, who had gone out first, were waiting for him.
“…Then, I’ll take my leave first.”
He greeted them and tried to disappear as quickly as possible.
But as he turned around, the 2nd Empress’s voice called him back.
“How is the knight training going, Edwin?”
At her words, Edwin flinched and stopped.
“Why are you surprised?”
Helena continued with a mocking voice.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? As an adult of the imperial family, would I be useful if I didn’t even know a prince’s daily schedule?”
“That…”
“I heard you’re receiving harsh training mixed in among the 3rd Army knights. It must be difficult.”
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to know about receiving sword instruction from Philip, the Count.
Edwin answered politely with a slightly relieved face.
“…Thanks to your concern, I’m receiving training without incident.”
“That’s fortunate. You’ll have to practice sword dancing with Lloyd soon, and it would be troublesome if the skill gap was too great.”
Snicker.
Lloyd, who was standing behind her, chuckled without saying anything.
But Edwin made no reaction and just quietly kept his head bowed.
“Hmph.”
The 2nd Empress snorted at Edwin and started walking.
Then she stopped briefly and left a sarcastic remark.
“But what is that appearance? It’s not like you’re wearing a potato sack. Does the 3rd Prince’s Palace tailor not even know how to properly measure their master’s size?”
She looked down at the top of Edwin’s head with contemptuous eyes.
“I hope you’ll refrain from behavior that diminishes your dignity as a prince.”
“…I’ll be careful.”
As soon as Edwin’s answer ended, the 2nd Empress’s skirt hem fluttered away.
Lloyd, who was following behind, deliberately bumped Edwin’s shoulder as he passed.
There was no apology.
“…”
Edwin quietly watched the two people moving away toward the end of the corridor.
His eyes, which had always been filled with fear, were now burning with quiet determination.
* * *
“I dodged them all!”
Edwin, who had avoided all the flying wooden daggers, excitedly cheered in celebration.
He ran toward me with a face full of joy, but was eventually hit on the forehead by one last dagger that flew in.
“Ugh!”
Edwin grabbed his forehead and crouched down, then protested in an aggrieved voice.
“Rachel, that’s too much! Where’s the rule about suddenly throwing another one!”
“One must never let their guard down.”
“You threw that one on purpose to hit me!”
“You should have anticipated that much.”
At my words, Edwin huffed indignantly.
Even so, he kept rubbing his forehead vigorously with his palm.
‘Amazing.’
It was exactly one week since we had started training to dodge projectiles in the 3rd Prince’s Palace backyard.
Honestly, I hadn’t planned to teach Edwin directly, but my mind changed after the hunting competition incident and the Empress’s Palace poisoning incident.
‘There’s no law saying Edwin won’t be assassinated either.’
The poison adaptation training was still ongoing.
The problem was that assassination methods weren’t limited to poisoning alone.
‘If he could just dodge sudden flying weapons, he’d be able to prevent most assassination attempts.’
Edwin’s evasion training that began this way showed remarkable results despite the short period.
‘He’s not dodging by instinct. He saw and dodged every single flying dagger.’
I recalled the movements Edwin had shown just moments ago.
‘It’s not just that his movements are agile.’
His dynamic vision that could discern the trajectory of incoming weapons—that was Edwin’s greatest strength.
Perhaps he really does have a talent for this kind of martial arts.
‘Ian also had exceptional eyes for reading attacks.’
I unconsciously thought of Ian.
He was the fastest-growing among all the assassins the organization had trained.
‘His talent was unmatched even within the organization.’
But Edwin was showing learning ability far superior to Ian from those days.
‘Could it be that this guy is also…’
I gazed down at Edwin, who was still sitting on the lawn sniffling.
‘A genius of the same caliber as Ian?’
I thought of Ian and swallowed a bitter smile inwardly.
Perhaps because we’d spent so much time together, memories of Ian would surface even from trivial things.
Even though it was painful enough that I wanted to cut out all the time I’d spent with him, if I could.
“But Rachel, how did you learn all this stuff?”
At the sound of his voice, I turned my gaze to see Edwin looking up at me with a frown.
“Archery is one thing, but does an aristocratic lady learn this kind of thing too? Bridget didn’t seem to know how to do this.”
“…I learned it on my own.”
“What? Why?”
“…Because I was bored.”
I couldn’t possibly tell him about my past life.
Edwin listened to my answer and made an expression of disbelief.
But he didn’t seem inclined to press further.
“Really, you must have been incredibly bored.”
Just then, a maid approached from the distance.
“Your Highness, someone has come from The Second Prince’s Palace.”
“Already?”
Edwin’s eyes widened at the maid’s words.
Then he quickly got up from his seat and dusted off his bottom.
There was a strange anticipation in his eyes as he looked back at me.
It was understandable.
“It seems they’ve found a sword dance instructor.”
“Looks like it.”
The sword dance performance by the two princes in front of foreign envoys during the Founding Festival.
Though it sounded grand, it was essentially no different from a public comparison of whose skills were superior.
‘The 2nd Princess Consort may have made the proposal, but The Emperor must have approved it knowing this full well.’
After all, sword dance was ultimately a form of swordsmanship.
‘Then today I’ll be able to see the 2nd Prince’s level.’
I dismissed the maid and returned to the room with Edwin.
To prepare for going to The Second Prince’s Palace together with him.
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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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