Revenge Alliance (1)
Creak. Thud.
The door shut right behind me.
Unlike the darkness that had settled outside, Kaiden’s room was still brightly lit. Lamps scattered throughout the space bathed the room in a crimson glow.
“It seems a little early to be asleep.”
Kaiden glanced back at me and grinned.
“How about we keep each other company for a while?”
Instead of answering, I simply stood there with my hands clasped in front of me. Kaiden gestured toward the sofa in the middle of the room with his chin.
“Have a seat first.”
“Thank you.”
I walked over quietly and perched on the edge of the sofa. Kaiden let out another soft chuckle as he watched me.
“The more I see you, the more interesting you are.”
What exactly did he find so amusing? I turned my head with a blank expression, and Kaiden shrugged.
“Your mannerisms… they’re just like a cat’s, I suppose.”
Meeting my eyes, he asked in a casual tone, “Is walking without making a sound a habit of yours?”
His unexpected observation made my fingertips twitch. Moving without a sound was one of the habits I’d picked up during my days as an assassin.
Habits really are terrifying.
They showed themselves even when I wasn’t consciously trying. I lowered my head, pretending nothing was wrong.
“I apologize if it bothered you.”
“Hardly. Not at all.”
Kaiden, now seated across from me, reached out and flipped over two glasses on the table. He picked up a large bottle beside them.
“Do you drink?”
His tone was friendly, as if I were one of his subordinates or fellow knights.
“…If Your Majesty commands it, I will drink.”
“I’m not forcing you.”
He certainly had a way with words. Even as he claimed he wasn’t forcing me, Kaiden slid a glass filled to the brim toward me.
“It’s simply a gesture of goodwill.”
And if I refused the glass now, I would become the insolent woman who rejected the King of Adamant’s goodwill.
“Thank you.”
I offered a polite thanks, then widened my eyes at the familiar scent wafting from the glass. The drink Kaiden had poured was apple wine.
It was the kind of liquor poor commoners drank—something the nobility famously refused to touch. Perhaps it was because of his commoner origins.
Well, not that I mind.
Coincidentally, apple wine was my favorite drink—not beer, not brandy, not fine grape wine. In my previous life, I had liked it so much that I used to fill my canteen with it instead of water whenever I went on a mission.
It was hard to come by in the imperial palace. Did he have it prepared separately?
I sipped the apple wine in silence for a while. Kaiden leaned back comfortably on the sofa and brought his own glass to his lips. He downed it in one go and poured himself another.
“Do you drink often?” I asked, watching him lift his second glass.
“Now and then.”
Kaiden swirled the glass lightly in his hand.
“Finishing the day with a drink puts me in a rather good mood.”
“I see.”
“What about you, Nanny? Do you drink often?”
Drink often? I would have loved to drink every day, but I couldn’t. It would be troublesome if rumors spread that the princes’ nanny was a drunkard.
“…As someone who serves Their Highnesses, I exercise restraint.”
“Haha, exercise restraint, you say.”
Kaiden burst out laughing, clearly amused by my answer.
“Then how much would you drink if you didn’t restrain yourself?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never drunk until I was drunk.”
In my past life, no matter how much I drank, I had never gotten drunk. With this frail body now, two or three bottles of wine would probably be my limit.
“Then how about drinking until you’re drunk today?”
Kaiden suddenly leaned toward me. A pair of mischievous eyes stared straight at me. He looked like he was hoping I would take his provocation.
Not a chance.
After taking a few more sips of the apple wine, I set my glass down on the table.
“My apologies. I must attend to Their Highnesses tomorrow as well.”
At the mention of the prince and princess, Kaiden’s gaze sharpened for a moment. He sank back into the sofa, his face expressionless.
“How old are Their Highnesses this year?”
“His Highness Edwin is twelve, and Her Highness Emilia is five.”
“I can understand the princess, but does the prince still need a nanny’s care? He’s already twelve.”
“…It is customary in the imperial family for royals to have a nanny until they come of age at fifteen.”
Kaiden furrowed his brows and curled one corner of his mouth upward.
“If that’s the imperial family’s policy, then there’s nothing to be done. So that’s why the princes are so immature.”
Princes. Plural. That meant the prince Kaiden was calling immature wasn’t just Edwin.
So there had been a reason he deflected Lloyd’s sword during the sword dance after all.
“Twelve is…”
I paused to gather my thoughts, then spoke slowly and clearly.
“Still too young to be mature.”
Kaiden looked displeased with my answer, as if he couldn’t possibly agree.
“I think it’s best for children to remain children for as long as possible.”
Innocent, naive, unaware of the world’s filth—for as long as they could. Meeting Kaiden’s eyes, I spoke in a firm voice.
“Knowing the world too early doesn’t make anyone happier.”
Born a prince, Edwin would inevitably learn about the world faster than ordinary children. Yet despite being called the bastard prince and treated with contempt, he still possessed that sparkling innocence unique to children. I wanted to protect that for as long as I could.
“That’s why I…”
Time was never on a child’s side anyway. Someday, Edwin would come to understand how filthy wealth and power were, and how low and depraved humans could become in their pursuit of them.
“I hope His Highness the Prince remains immature for as long as possible.”
The golden apple wine in the silver glass shimmered transparently. As I gazed into the glass, I slowly lifted my head. I could feel a piercing gaze from across the table.
“…Your Majesty Kaiden?”
I was a little taken aback. Kaiden was staring at me with wide, startled eyes, as if he had seen a ghost. He sat frozen in his half-reclined position on the sofa, as though under a petrification spell.
“Your Majesty?”
“…I didn’t expect there to be another similarity.”
Kaiden muttered to himself, his meaning unclear. His beast-like eyes remained fixed on me.
“You really are…”
His voice was half-choked, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat.
“…Interesting.”
What on earth did he find so interesting? Even in my past life, no one had ever praised my sense of humor.
I tilted my head indifferently.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Kaiden stared at me blankly for another moment before letting out a small cough. He downed the rest of his drink in one gulp and changed the subject.
“His Highness Edwin is fortunate to have such an excellent nanny. I’m sure the late Third Consort can rest in peace as well.”
“Is that so.”
Clack.
I filled Kaiden’s glass, then set the bottle down on the table with a deliberate sound. Turning to him, I offered a faint smile.
“It’s quite remarkable to hear such words from someone who erased His Highness’s maternal family from the map.”
In an instant, the air in the room turned cold. Kaiden’s face had lost all trace of expression.
“I truly didn’t expect someone like you to mention the late Third Consort.”
“…Lady Rachel Brown.”
My name left the king’s lips for the first time. His eyes had gone icy cold.
“I’d prefer you didn’t cross the line.”
“Weren’t you the one who crossed it first, Your Majesty?”
After the Third Consort’s death, Edwin and Emilia’s positions had plummeted even further. Once Emma, who had looked after them, died, and after the fall of the Lionel Kingdom, the situation had grown even worse.
“I know you don’t look upon Their Highnesses favorably.”
And right now, the man who had orchestrated the destruction of the Lionel Kingdom sat before me.
“However, the master of this Third Prince’s Palace, where Your Majesty is currently staying, is His Highness Prince Edwin—and he is the blood relative of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of the Ventrum Empire.”
I recalled Edwin’s face from breakfast, when he had been at a loss after Kaiden subtly ignored him. I also clearly remembered how Kaiden had dismissed the boy’s attempts at conversation and demanded only what he wanted.
“So even if you don’t like it, I hope you will treat His Highness Edwin with the respect due to an imperial prince.”
I knew it. My actions right now were no different from those of a madwoman. A mere commoner-born nanny lecturing a king of an entire nation. It would be a miracle if I wasn’t dragged away and beheaded on the spot.
But still.
I couldn’t just sit in silence while he made me angry. Because of whom had those children suffered so much?
I can’t punch him, so I’ll have to beat him with words instead.
I kept my expression bold and unapologetic.
“Haha… hahahahaha!”
Kaiden stared at me in silence for a long moment before bursting into incredulous laughter. He covered his eyes with one hand, laughing continuously. I could feel his gaze peeking at me through the gaps between his fingers.
“…You really are interesting. I keep telling you.”
My reflection shone clearly in his golden eyes, tinted crimson by the lamplight.
“Lady Rachel Brown.”
After laughing for a while, Kaiden called my name softly.
“Did you calculate the consequences of that statement before you said it?”