Hidden Scars
Something felt off.
The stinging glares from the maids that assaulted me the moment I stepped into the prince’s palace.
The strangely subdued atmosphere.
What is this?
I frowned and scanned my surroundings.
Edwin looked at me with curious eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“The mood feels strange.”
“The mood?”
Edwin blinked as if he had no idea what I meant.
At that moment, the maid who had brought the prince’s wash water that morning caught my eye.
Despite everything that had happened this morning, she looked rather pleased.
Like someone who had just received good news.
“You there.”
“N-Nanny?”
The maid jumped at my call.
“Why are you so startled?”
“W-when did I say I was startled?”
The maid glanced at me before her attitude flipped completely.
“But why did you call me? I’m quite busy right now.”
Her subtly condescending tone made my brow furrow on its own.
“Did something happen while I was away?”
“What do you mean?”
“The atmosphere doesn’t seem very pleasant.”
“Ah.”
The maid let out a short gasp at my question, then smiled as though troubled.
“Well, you see. One of the annex maids committed the insolent act of disobeying the head maid’s orders.”
An annex maid?
A bad premonition stirred inside me.
When my expression changed, the maid smiled with her eyes.
Her mouth, however, was not smiling.
“She dared to serve a meal to His Highness without permission. The kitchen claims they knew nothing about it.”
At the maid’s next words, Edwin’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.
“What is she talking about?”
It was exactly what I wanted to say.
“What happened to that maid?”
“What happened? The head maid punished her herself, of course.”
The maid kept chuckling as if the whole thing delighted her.
“She’s probably locked in the food storage by now. Well then, I have a lot of work, so if you’ll excuse me.”
She gave Edwin a haughty nod and walked away.
The moment the maid disappeared, Edwin demanded an answer.
“What was that about? She got punished for serving me a meal?”
For some reason Edwin’s voice was unusually sharp.
I couldn’t tell why, but the boy looked anxious.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Only then did I realize that Edwin had been clutching the hem of my skirt the entire time.
The prince’s small hand had gone deathly white.
His tiny face was now steeped in fear as well.
Instead of answering, I slowly peeled his hand away.
“…It’s nothing. Please go up to the room with Her Highness Emilia first, Your Highness.”
“What? What about you?”
“I have somewhere I need to stop by briefly.”
“Hey, where do you think you’re going? Hey!”
I handed Emilia to the prince and hurried away.
Edwin’s gaze clung to my back, but I deliberately ignored it.
The food storage I reached after questioning the kitchen maids was locked tight.
“Catherine, are you in there?”
“…Nanny?”
After a brief silence, a small voice answered from inside.
It was definitely Catherine.
“What happened?”
“Well… the head maid found out that I served His Highness a separate meal.”
“……”
When no answer came, Catherine added in a deliberately bright voice, as if worried.
“But the head maid showed mercy. She said if I reflect here for just one day, she’ll let me out. It’s fortunate, isn’t it?”
Listening to her trembling voice, I frowned.
I was the one who had asked her to disobey the head maid’s orders.
Therefore, this was my responsibility.
“Nanny?”
“Wait a moment.”
“Yes?”
Clank. Clank. Rattle—.
The lock on the storage door fell with a noisy clatter.
When I flung the door open, Catherine—bound with ropes—stared at me in a daze.
Her half-undone hair, lips split and bleeding.
Seeing her in such a mess, it was clear she had been slapped around at the very least.
“Nanny…?”
Catherine still wore a foolish, bewildered expression.
“Nanny, h-how…?”
She murmured in surprise, staring at the chains and lock scattered across the floor.
“The key should be with the head maid…”
“You don’t always need a key to open a lock.”
When I tossed the bent hairpin onto the floor, Catherine looked horrified.
“W-wait! Nanny, if you do this, even you will…!”
“Stay still.”
“Ah, no—ow!”
Ignoring her protests, I untied the ropes. A pained groan escaped her.
“Why are you…”
I couldn’t finish the question; my brow furrowed.
Bloodstains marked her slender back.
This is…
Through the torn fabric, countless long scars were visible—whip marks.
In that instant, my mind sank as coldly as if it had been doused in ice water.
“…Isn’t it strange?”
“Pardon?”
I continued as if speaking to myself.
“Who do you think is the master of this palace?”
“Of course it’s His Highness Edwin…”
“Yet you were whipped and locked away simply for preparing a meal for His Highness Edwin.”
At my words, Catherine closed her mouth as if speechless.
She must know as well.
Just how unreasonable this situation was.
Preparing a meal for the palace’s owner, only to be punished for it.
It was truly absurd.
Yes. It doesn’t make sense.
Not if Edwin weren’t the shabby prince.
I slowly rose to my feet.
“I’ll ask you one thing.”
Catherine lifted her head.
“Knowing you would be treated like this if caught, why did you help me?”
Catherine tried to smile as if it were a joke.
“I didn’t help the nanny, I…”
“I’m asking sincerely.”
She hesitated at my serious tone, then lowered her gaze.
“…Because I was grateful.”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
As if my piercing stare made her uncomfortable, she continued with her head bowed.
“The main palace maids have been harassing me constantly, but you were the only one who stepped forward to help. So… so…”
I stood motionless for a long time.
“Catherine.”
“Yes.”
“I really hate troublesome things.”
“I-I’m sorry. I promised you the head maid would never find out…”
Catherine’s face crumpled, thinking I was scolding her for getting caught.
I looked at her and added, expressionless.
“But there is one thing I hate even more.”
“Yes?”
“No matter how rationally I think about it, I cannot accept it.”
I turned my back on the dazed Catherine.
“First, return to your quarters.”
“Nanny! Wait—ow!”
Catherine tried to follow but collapsed before she could stand.
“What’s wrong?”
“My legs… they’ve gone numb…”
What a handful.
Still, Catherine’s current state was my fault from the beginning.
Frowning, I approached and helped her up.
She gazed at me with a touched expression.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Pardon?”
“Since this happened because of me, helping you is only natural.”
Catherine stared at me blankly.
It seemed she didn’t quite understand what I was saying.
I sighed and added one more thing.
“It was my way of saying not to thank me.”
At that, Catherine let out a small laugh.
She could still laugh after being whipped?
“Why are you laughing?”
When I asked, unable to understand, she grinned playfully instead.
“Just because. Does there need to be a reason to laugh?”
“If you have energy left to laugh, then walk properly.”
“Nanny.”
Catherine, arm around my shoulder, suddenly called my name.
“You’re truly unique, Nanny.”
Her words brought back what Edwin had once said to me.
You’re really strange.
I had somehow become both strange and unique.
“I’ve been hearing that often lately.”
“And you seem like a good person.”
A good person.
A wry chuckle escaped me.
“Nanny?”
Catherine looked puzzled by my reaction.
“It seems all the good people are dead.”
Calling an assassin a good person.
It was the most ridiculous thing I had heard in either life.
Catherine, however, seemed to take it as a joke.
“Nanny, really!”
She was still smiling brightly.
— Captain! You’re covered in wounds again today!
— Shall I apply medicine? You don’t want it? As if I enjoy this? I’m only doing it because if you die, the organization will fall apart!
When we entered the annex with Catherine, the annex maids came rushing out with startled faces.
“Catherine!”
“My goodness, what happened!”
“Are you all right?”
“Did the head maid release you?”
Every one of them wore an expression of genuine worry.
“No, it was the nanny who let me out.”
“What?”
At Catherine’s words, all eyes turned to me at once.
I nodded to them with a slightly awkward expression.
The annex maids seemed just as uncomfortable.
They watched me warily, as if seeing Rachel Brown for the first time.
“So this is the new nanny?”
It appeared the real Lady Rachel Brown had never once set foot in the annex.
I ignored their curious stares and spoke.
“Catherine’s wounds are severe. We should move her somewhere more suitable.”
“Ah, this way—!”
The annex maids seemed to snap out of their daze.
Supporting Catherine, I entered the quarters.
The moment I laid her on the shabby bed, the maids began moving busily.
They resemble them.
The way they ran about caring only for Catherine reminded me of my former subordinates.
I recalled the voices of comrades who had been with me for so long and quietly lowered my gaze.
Somehow, a bitter taste filled my mouth.