Revenge Alliance (4)
I answered Kaiden’s words with firm resolve.
“You’ll need it. Without a doubt.”
The empire was no fool.
They even maintained a separate department dedicated to identifying and handling spies, so there was no telling when or how Kaiden’s planted eyes and ears might be compromised.
Besides, no matter how capable the newborn kingdom’s intelligence network was, it couldn’t possibly uncover every single event unfolding inside this vast imperial palace.
“Before you heard what I had to say, you had no idea that His Highness Edwin was nearly assassinated during the hunting competition, did you?”
“…Hearing that stings my pride more than I expected.”
How honest.
I watched Kaiden’s slightly hardened expression and offered a faint smile.
“After all, when it comes to matters inside the imperial palace, insiders always know more than outsiders.”
When I added what was less comfort and more statement of fact, he let out a soft chuckle.
“So you’re saying we should join forces for revenge.”
“If Your Majesty permits it.”
A foreign king and the imperial nanny working together.
To anyone who overheard, it would sound like a ridiculous joke—something too absurd to even consider.
“Yes, I can tell how desperately you want revenge.”
Kaiden replied in a voice still laced with amusement, then rose from the sofa.
Because of that, I had to tilt my head up for quite a while just to look at him.
“I only asked for someone to talk to. I never imagined we’d become so personally entangled.”
Kaiden looked down at me and grinned.
“I don’t trust just anyone. But I do trust my own judgment when it comes to people.”
He tapped the area around his eyes.
Just like when he had said my eye color was beautiful.
“You seem suspicious, yet somehow trustworthy.”
Could the words “suspicious” and “trustworthy” really appear in the same sentence?
It felt strange, but I pretended not to mind and held his gaze without looking away.
“…Well, having eyes and ears at the very center can’t hurt.”
Kaiden’s eyes narrowed into long slits.
As if he had some other scheme in mind.
But that didn’t matter.
Once I catch Ian, I can leave the rest of them to this man.
Since he was someone who could take on an entire legion alone, that much should be as easy as drinking cold porridge.
I stood up and bowed toward him.
Or rather, I tried to—until I saw the large hand thrust in front of me.
“Since we’re practically allies now, isn’t a formal bow a bit too stiff?”
Allies? What a heavy word to choose. Quite burdensome.
When a slightly flustered expression crossed my face, Kaiden laughed softly.
“Are you afraid now that we’re actually going to do this together?”
“…No, of course not.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
He gave the hand he’d extended a little shake.
“Hurry up and take it.”
“…There’s one more thing I’d like to tell you.”
Instead of taking his hand, I carefully pulled out another card.
One that might turn out to be completely useless.
“One more? What is it?”
“You must already know that the position of the empire’s crown prince has yet to be decided.”
From the moment I heard that the King of Adamant would be staying at the Third Prince’s Palace, I had planned to bring this up somehow.
If it had been the Kaiden I knew before, I would have used any means necessary to present him with leverage for blackmail.
But the man before me was someone I knew nothing about.
Except for the fact that he held a grudge against Angel’s Breath, just like I did.
That was why I had deliberately brought up Angel’s Breath first, but I wasn’t sure whether Kaiden would accept the proposal I was about to make.
“Your Majesty.”
I asked, my voice slightly tense.
“Are you not interested in who will become the next emperor of the empire?”
At my words, Kaiden’s expression grew subtle.
Fortunately, he didn’t look completely uninterested.
He couldn’t afford to be uninterested.
No matter how outstanding Kaiden was, the Adamant Kingdom was still a newborn nation.
If a country could thrive on the strength of a single exceptional individual alone, no kingdoms would have ever vanished from history. The less established a nation’s foundations were, the more crucial its diplomatic relations with neighboring countries became.
Especially its relationship with the Ventrum Empire, which would undoubtedly have a massive impact on Adamant’s future.
“The sudden purpose behind bringing up such a topic…”
Kaiden spoke slowly.
“I understand it well enough, but aren’t you supposed to be a nanny?”
A spark of genuine interest flickered in his golden eyes.
“You’re acting exactly like the prince’s strategist.”
“His Highness Edwin still lacks a suitable spokesperson to represent him.”
It wasn’t that there was no one who could serve as a spokesperson.
But Sage was someone who could not be exposed to the outside world, and as a nanny, there were clear limits to what I could do.
Therefore, neither Sage nor I were suitable as Edwin’s backers.
“So what you’re saying is that I should bet Adamant’s future on the Third Prince.”
Kaiden let out a hollow laugh, as if even he found his own words absurd.
“On a prince who carries the blood of the royal family I personally erased.”
“Yes.”
“You want me to invest in His Highness the Third Prince, who has no support base here whatsoever.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Just where does this confidence come from?”
He stared at me as if my unhesitating answers were fascinating.
“Did you really think I would accept such a proposal?”
“I believed you might at least reconsider it once.”
I met Kaiden’s eyes directly.
“After all, Your Majesty is the one who declared you would stay at the Third Prince’s Palace throughout the founding festival.”
As he himself had said, Edwin was a prince carrying the blood of the royal family Kaiden had destroyed with his own hands.
Even though the empire had proposed it first, it was Kaiden himself who had chosen to stay here.
In any case, this man probably has no connections with the other princes either.
Of course, if he wanted to make connections, he could easily do so.
I can’t let someone like him fall into the other princes’ hands.
Looking at the faintly bewildered Kaiden, I continued.
Hoping that my words would strike right at his core.
“Even a bad relationship is still a relationship. Please stand on His Highness Edwin’s side.”
If only as atonement.
At the quietly added words, Kaiden’s eyebrows twitched.
He stared at me with a gaze filled with unreadable intent.
“…I really don’t understand how a prince like him ended up taking a woman like you as his nanny.”
After a long silence, Kaiden spoke again.
His expression wasn’t bad.
“I’ll think about it.”
Kaiden smiled, his outstretched hand still waiting.
“If you take this hand, that is.”
…It should be fine to take it, right?
It was ridiculous to hesitate like this after being the one who first suggested cooperation.
Meanwhile, when I continued to hesitate, Kaiden raised one eyebrow.
“What are you hesitating for? Don’t tell me you’re hiding a sword up your sleeve?”
It was clearly a joke, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.
There was no sword in my sleeve, but I was hiding two daggers under my skirt.
“Your Majesty, how could I possibly dare to touch Your Majesty’s person directly…”
“Did you have the same thought when you barged into the king’s bedroom without permission?”
In the end, I took Kaiden’s hand.
His large hand was so thick and rough that it was hard to believe it belonged to a person.
It made me wonder if it was actually a bear’s paw rather than a human hand.
Just how long had he been gripping a sword for it to become like this?
“Earlier you seemed determined not to take it.”
Kaiden’s amused voice came from above my head.
“Now it looks like you have no intention of letting go.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
I must be crazy.
I seemed to have been so absorbed in studying the palm of his hand that I hadn’t even realized it.
When I quickly released his hand, Kaiden let out a soft snort of laughter.
“It’s already this late.”
At some point, deep darkness had settled outside the window.
“Shouldn’t you be going to bed soon?”
“I’m sorry. It seems I’ve taken up far too much of Your Majesty’s time.”
I naturally stepped aside and bowed.
Kaiden then walked toward the bed.
The mattress sank heavily, and I heard the sound of him leaning his back against the headboard.
“Are you just going to stand there?”
It was a question that seemed to ask why I wasn’t getting into bed already.
Back then I acted without thinking, but…
For an unmarried woman to lie down beside a king went against both common sense and etiquette.
Even if neither of us saw the other in a romantic light, it still seemed necessary to maintain some propriety.
Today I came early, so several maids saw me entering this room.
If rumors spread that the prince’s nanny had entered a distinguished guest’s bedroom around evening time, everyone would surely find it suspicious.
“I will sit on the sofa.”
“You’re going to stay up all night there?”
“Yes.”
It was a lie.
The moment Kaiden fell asleep, I planned to leave immediately.
If I lay in bed, he might notice when I tried to get up.
“I heard it’s not necessary to lie beside you.”
Among the maids who had passed through here over the past few days, several had said they stayed up all night dozing on the sofa.
That meant there was no need to lie down right next to him.
“…Whatever.”
Kaiden stared at me for a moment, then lay down comfortably, gazing at the ceiling.
“Do as you please.”
Was it just my imagination, or did his voice carry a hint of disappointment?
“Then please rest well, Your Majesty.”
I gave Kaiden a respectful bow before sitting down on the sofa.
The crimson lamplight illuminating the room flickered gently.
In the bedroom where the bold negotiation between a man and a woman had ended, only silence remained.
