The First Mission (1)
‘I did mention running into Adrian at the library.’
Edwin had told me about going to the library alone and encountering the First Prince. It was the first time they’d had a proper conversation, and he seemed rather excited, saying the prince appeared to be a good person.
‘He said the First Prince encouraged him to follow his own path.’
I didn’t know the exact words, but if that was how Edwin felt, it couldn’t have been a lie.
‘Still, I’ve only seen Prince Adrian in passing.’
I recalled the Adrian I had met at the Empress’s palace.
‘He didn’t seem like the type to offer empty compliments.’
Whether for good or ill, if he had no interest in Edwin, he wouldn’t have bothered speaking to him at all. That was the impression I’d gotten from the First Prince.
“And His Highness said he didn’t want to lose to the Second Prince.”
“Pardon? His Highness Edwin said that?”
Catherine couldn’t hide her astonishment.
Edwin had always been terrified of Lloyd, shrinking away from him. The fact that such a boy had shown any competitive spirit toward his second brother seemed almost unbelievable to her.
‘Well, there’s probably a bigger reason behind it.’
I thought of the small girl whose gaze Edwin’s eyes always followed.
Brigitte Crowner, the only daughter of Duke Crowner.
‘The girl destined to become the future empress.’
And Edwin’s first, clumsy love.
For some reason, I felt like laughing.
‘What is love, anyway?’
What exactly was this thing called love that could make even a child with barely any blood in his head throw away everything he had?
It was truly incomprehensible.
“As His Highness’s nanny, I have decided to walk the path he has chosen. So if the two of you would walk it with us, I would be endlessly grateful.”
I looked back and forth between Catherine and Sage as I spoke.
“Well, whatever the trigger was, I’m in favor.”
Sage was still smiling as if the whole situation amused him.
“The title of Crown Prince’s teacher sounds far more honorable than Third Prince’s teacher—and Emperor’s teacher even more so.”
He’d gotten quite good at lying so naturally. For an old man with zero ambition for power.
‘He’s just fond of Edwin, that’s all.’
I glanced at the shamelessly grinning Sage before turning my eyes to Catherine.
“Catherine. I will do my best to ensure the things you’re worried about don’t happen, but I can’t guarantee the outcome. No one knows what the future holds.”
“…I know.”
“Will you still join us?”
At my question, Catherine remained silent for a long time, letting out a low hum.
Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she opened her mouth with a solemn expression.
“I am the head maid of the Third Prince’s Palace. I have no intention of handing this position to anyone else, nor do I plan to leave the palace.”
Her eyes burned as she looked at me.
“I, too, will serve Their Highnesses to the end. As head maid.”
Good.
I offered a satisfied smile.
“Excellent. Then the three of us are now in the same boat.”
“So, what do you plan to do from here on, Lady Brown?”
Sage asked, genuinely curious.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s any immediate pretext to bring Duke Crowner to our side.”
“We should start with what we can do.”
Yes. Let’s begin with what’s possible.
My eyes sparkled as I added,
“Besides, our allies aren’t only inside the palace.”
At the cryptic remark, both heads turned toward me at once.
* * *
In a dark alley somewhere in the imperial capital.
I stood with Sage, who had pulled his hood low over his face.
“I never thought I’d end up doing something like this.”
Sage let out a deep sigh as he looked at me.
“Do we really have to go this far? Exploiting an old man like this?”
“It can’t be helped. We already made a promise.”
“Really, I still can’t figure you out no matter how long I know you.”
Sage handed me the bundle he was holding and asked,
“Just how did you end up on such friendly terms with the King of Adamant?”
“It just happened.”
“Normal people don’t just happen to form cooperative relationships with kings.”
“I’m not exactly a normal person, am I?”
At my answer, Sage’s mouth stretched into a thin line.
But I paid him no mind and unwrapped the bundle he had given me.
A pure white priest’s robe emerged.
“What’s that priest robe? The fabric looks expensive.”
“The Adamant side procured it for me.”
The temples of the Leon Holy Kingdom were spread across the entire continent. Perhaps because of their vast scale, the design of priest robes varied from temple to temple. It was to help distinguish which region a priest belonged to.
‘This is exactly why, even when forming alliances, you should partner with those who hold real power.’
I slipped the priest robe Kaiden had sent over my clothes. The smooth, rustling texture characteristic of high-quality fabric held none of the humility or piety one might expect from those who served the gods.
“Here.”
Sage handed me a thin silver plate.
“It’s the identification tag of the priest you asked me to retrieve. This is the right one, yes?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Is it any good?”
I skimmed over the holy script engraved on the silver plate. Even upon close inspection, it was nearly impossible to tell apart from the real thing. It had been worth the hefty sum paid to that skilled back-alley craftsman.
“Hm. Not bad.”
“What would you know about it? What if real priests can tell it’s fake at a glance?”
“No, this level of quality would fool even the sharpest-eyed priest.”
Forging identification was basic knowledge for any assassin. And I prided myself on having the best eye for spotting well-made counterfeits.
“Hah, honestly…”
Sage looked at me with worried eyes.
“Just don’t get caught.”
“Don’t worry.”
I gave Sage a light bow.
“Then, while I’m away, I’ll leave His Highness in your care.”
“Don’t worry. The prince’s palace will be well guarded by me and that puppet of a head maid.”
Reliable as ever. I let out a small chuckle and turned away.
Beyond the alley, a massive temple with dazzlingly bright walls came into view.
‘Shall we begin, then?’
I walked forward with confident steps.
To carry out the first mission in our alliance with the King of Adamant.
* * *
‘I felt it when I came here for Emma’s memorial, too.’
I fiddled with the silver plate and glanced behind me.
The Holy Knights guarding the temple entrance were yawning widely.
‘The security is an absolute mess.’
They barely glanced at my fake identification before seeing the priest robe and immediately opened the gate, telling me to enter. It was almost ridiculous.
‘Well, this is holy ground even the emperor wouldn’t dare touch lightly, so I suppose their vigilance has grown lax.’
For me, it was a welcome development.
With security this full of holes, moving around would be twice as easy.
In fact, as I walked all the way to the priests’ quarters, not a single person looked at me with suspicion.
‘Now, where should I start looking?’
As expected of the largest temple in the imperial capital, its scale was impressive. Even if I spent the whole day exploring, it probably wouldn’t be enough to see everything.
‘It would be best to go where the most priests are gathered.’
I already knew the personal details of the priests who frequented the imperial palace and that most of them belonged to this temple—thanks to my very own helper’s hard work.
“The priests who visit the imperial palace? In that case, Sir Dale would know.”
Catherine had answered immediately when asked if she knew any priests connected to the palace.
“Who is Sir Dale?”
“He’s a knight serving as captain of the gate guards. Why? Shall I ask him for you?”
At that moment, I became certain that Catherine’s true calling was not head maid, but assassin or information broker.
‘If I had met her in my previous life, I would have tried to recruit her into our organization.’
Of course, she would have refused in terror back then.
I shook my head, dismissing the pointless daydream.
‘It seems even I have grown dull from living too long as an ordinary person.’
Letting idle thoughts intrude during a mission was something only amateurs did.
I calmed my mind once more and resumed walking when—
“Sister? What are you doing here?”
Damn it.
I had deliberately stuck to places where I wouldn’t stand out, yet someone had appeared.
‘Could he be a priest from this temple?’
If so, he would see through my fake identity at a glance.
Prepared to strike his neck and flee if necessary, I turned around.
“The prayer meeting will be over soon. If you don’t hurry, you might miss it entirely.”
Fortunately, the person who had appeared was not a priest.
Judging by his worker’s attire, he seemed to be a servant employed by the temple.
I kept my face composed and tried to come up with a decent excuse.
But I soon realized it wasn’t necessary.
“Ah, I heard a lot of new priests arrived from the Holy Kingdom recently. Are you one of them, sir?”
How kind of him to misunderstand on his own. I was grateful.
Instead of answering, I kept my mouth shut and simply stared at the worker.
He smiled warmly and pointed in a certain direction.
“The Grand Chapel is over there. If you don’t run, you might even get a demerit.”
A prayer meeting in the Grand Chapel, huh.
‘Then all the priests here must be gathering there.’
I gave the worker a faint smile and a small nod.
Then I hurried toward the Grand Chapel.
Ding, diiing, ding—.
The sound of bells ringing from the bell tower in the center of the temple followed behind my footsteps, long and dark like a shadow.