Traces (2)
“Ack!”
She jumped in surprise at the sudden voice of the story’s protagonist that had reached her ears.
“N-Nanny?”
Standing behind her was the prince’s nanny, Rachel.
And her face clearly showed she was utterly exhausted.
“Ah, ahaha. So, about my relationship with the nanny…?”
“What sort of relationship do we have?”
“Um, well……”
Catherine fidgeted with her fingers, sneaking glances at me to read my mood.
“Shouldn’t we call ourselves friends?”
“I believe I’ve told you this before.”
I answered firmly.
“I don’t make friends.”
“But we’ve seen everything about each other! That’s what friends are!”
“I said no.”
At the merciless rejection, Catherine’s face crumpled into a pout.
Edwin, who had been watching the exchange, hurriedly stepped in.
“Even I can see that Rachel and Catherine are practically friends. No, you two seem even closer than that. So let’s all get along, alright?”
I glanced at the flustered Edwin before turning away.
“So what exactly were the two of you talking about?”
I was curious what kind of conversation could have led to a discussion about how close Catherine and I were.
“It’s just that Rachel’s expression hasn’t looked very good lately.”
Edwin answered in place of the sulking Catherine.
The boy kept stealing glances at me as he continued.
“You seem a little different since coming back from your vacation.”
“Different? Who?”
“You, Rachel.”
Edwin’s small face was clouded with both resentment and worry.
“You’ve been speaking less than usual, your reactions are cold, and it feels like you’re always lost in thought……”
“Ah.”
It was true that my mind had been crowded with thoughts ever since returning from Paradis.
The information I’d heard from the Golden Goose Merchant Coalition and my encounter with the members of Angel’s Breath had left me unsettled.
Because of that, I had unconsciously become colder than usual.
After all, when a person’s inner world is in chaos, they tend to ignore what’s happening around them.
“If I’ve caused you any worry, I apologize.”
I offered Edwin my sincere regret.
“I’ve been organizing my thoughts. I’ll be more mindful from now on, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Organizing your thoughts?”
Edwin raised one eyebrow at my words.
He continued to watch me with anxious eyes.
“Rachel, did something really happen?”
“No, nothing at all.”
Life was full of events.
The problem was that most of them could not be shared with others.
And this was no exception.
The Golden Goose Merchant Coalition, Angel’s Breath—there’s no point in letting this boy know about any of it right now.
Besides, even if I told the current Edwin, he would be unable to help.
These were matters that could only be revealed once the small boy before me had at least become crown prince.
“It’s truly fine. My thoughts are all sorted out now.”
I lifted the corners of my mouth in a casual smile.
“From now on, I’ll focus on my duties—my responsibilities—as usual.”
The fact that Angel’s Breath still stood strong and that Ian was alive and leading the organization.
Neither piece of information was particularly important.
They were things I had already anticipated to some degree.
In any case, what I must do is already decided.
Whatever scheme Ian—who had killed me—was plotting, whatever Angel’s Breath was up to, or whether it had any connection to the Radcliffe Marquisate, only one thing mattered.
To return everything.
Revenge.
I had to stake my entire being to repay the man who had taken everything from me.
Right now, that was the only force driving the single life granted to me.
The young king of Adamant seemed quite satisfied.
He continued in a pleasant, languid voice.
“Thanks to you, I’ve obtained some excellent information.”
The image of Kaiden reflected in the crystal orb shimmered faintly.
He appeared to be smiling.
“By the way, Lady Brown is quite fortunate.”
“To encounter a member of Angel’s Breath in the very place you went for vacation.”
“I consider myself lucky as well.”
“More than anything, the most surprising part is that they didn’t notice you.”
His gaze felt almost accusatory, as if asking how she had managed to avoid detection.
I lowered my head, deliberately avoiding his eyes.
“As expected, you are far too talented to be wasted as a nanny.”
Kaiden remained silent for a moment, a smile playing on his lips.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the crystal orb and land directly on me.
“Still, I wonder why such luck doesn’t follow me.”
His tone was distinctly self-mocking.
Kaiden tapped his fingers on the desk as he went on.
“I’ve been tracking them for over three years, yet I’ve never once crossed paths with any of their members.”
“It’s better not to encounter them.”
Ordinary people lived their entire lives without even realizing assassin guilds existed.
And that was the very definition of a peaceful, normal life.
“Meeting them only leaves you with two choices: kill or be killed.”
“Is that so?”
Kaiden raised both eyebrows at my words.
“For me, that’s simply everyday life.”
Even if a few assassins came after him, it wouldn’t change much.
He muttered to himself before abruptly changing the subject.
“Still, I’m rather disappointed. It would have been nice if you had told me beforehand that you were going on vacation.”
His golden eyes sparkled with mischievous playfulness.
“There was no contact at all, so I ended up waiting for you all day long.”
The position of king in a nation was hardly a leisurely one.
I hid my true thoughts and answered in a polite tone.
“I apologize. Next time, I will inform you before leaving my post.”
“No, no. Rather than that.”
Kaiden tilted his head with a displeased expression.
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just carry the communication orb with you?”
“It isn’t a convenient item to carry around.”
The communication orb was heavy, conspicuous, and above all, extremely expensive.
If it were to break or get lost, it would be difficult to handle the consequences.
“So I don’t think I can carry around such a precious magical tool.”
“Lady Brown, you and I are clearly in an alliance.”
Why bring up the alliance so suddenly?
I stared at Kaiden blankly.
“If your one and only alliance partner suddenly cuts off contact or remains unreachable for a long time, what would you think?”
“I would assume they must have died.”
“...You occasionally come up with ideas I would never expect.”
Kaiden’s expression cooled before he let out a hollow laugh.
“Lady Brown, when that happens, normal people don’t simply assume the other person died. They tend to ‘worry.’”
But you are not a normal person.
What reason would the king of a nation have to worry about the well-being of a nanny?
“As expected, speaking indirectly is useless.”
Kaiden’s voice now carried a hint of laughter.
“What I meant was that I become worried when I cannot reach you.”
The king of Adamant was worried about me?
I blinked in a daze.
Why is he suddenly saying something like this?
His expression was too serious to dismiss as mere lip service.
This is strange.
Unless it was the possibility that I might leak secrets under threat, my life or death should hold no meaning for Kaiden.
Besides, I don’t even possess any secrets worth leaking.
All he might know was that I couldn’t sleep properly without people around me, but that was a fact already known to every maid in the 3rd Prince’s Palace, including Catherine.
“Therefore, Lady Brown, I would appreciate it if you would always carry the gift I left for you.”
Kaiden lifted one corner of his mouth as he looked at my bewildered face.
“I already have enough headaches dealing with state affairs. I’d rather not add more by worrying about you.”
He furrowed his brows and let out a deep sigh, as if truly burdened.
It was such a nonchalant expression that it was hard to reconcile with his title as the god of war.
“Just recently, one of the nobles who followed me tried to deceive me. Cutting him off was more painful than you can imagine.”
Was it truly painful?
No matter how I thought about it, he probably felt refreshed.
Kaiden smiled gently at me as I remained silent.
“So, Lady Brown, I hope you will lighten my burden. Unlike my subjects, you are competent.”
At this point, it sounded less like a request and more like a threat.
I stared intently at Kaiden within the crystal orb before finally nodding.
“Understood. I will carry the orb with me from now on.”
“Good.”
Having finally received the answer he wanted, Kaiden smiled brightly.
“Now I won’t have to spend all day worrying about you.”
He was definitely a strange man.
No matter how much I thought about it, I had never done anything that warranted worry, and he had no particular reason to concern himself with me.
Yet he kept talking about worrying or thinking about me.
It was the kind of thing Catherine would say.
Catherine’s worry is at least bearable to hear.
But the groundless concern from a man I had not known long—and whose first impression had been the worst possible—was far from welcome.
Especially when that man was the king of another country.
Usually, men say such things when they’re trying to seduce a woman they like.
There was no way the king of Adamant harbored such feelings toward me.
With an expressionless face, I entertained various hypotheses.
Perhaps he has some other ulterior motive? Maybe he’s deliberately trying to seduce me, make me devote my heart to him, and then use me before discarding me later.
While my thoughts wandered in different directions, Kaiden was busily organizing the items on his desk.
It seemed he was about to end the communication.
“Ah, now that I think about it, we’ve discovered something new on our end as well.”
He stared at the corner of his desk and continued.
“Lady Brown, have you ever heard of mutant monsters?”