Clover Resolve
The boy let out a choked sob.
Edwin was crouched beneath the wall behind the annex, swallowing his tears in a way that looked utterly pitiful.
When I approached, he lifted his head. The rims of his eyes were red and swollen.
“What? Why did you follow me?”
“Why do you think I followed you?”
I held out a handkerchief to the sniffling boy.
“If the nanny doesn’t follow, who else would?”
“Go away.”
Edwin ignored the handkerchief and buried his face between his knees.
“Stop paying attention to me. You never cared about someone like me in the first place.”
“How could His Highness’s nanny possibly stop paying attention to—”
Edwin shot up before I could finish, shouting at me.
“You said you weren’t going to be my nanny anymore!”
“Who told you that?”
“Emilia told me everything! She said you were quitting!”
“Well, I will quit eventually.”
“What?”
“But not right now.”
Edwin frowned at my words.
“So you’re saying you’ll leave someday.”
He lowered his head again.
“You don’t want to work for a pathetic prince like me. I know that.”
“Your Highness.”
I looked at him and continued.
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“What?”
“That the weak cannot protect themselves, others, or anything at all unless they become cowardly.”
“…I remember.”
Edwin’s brow furrowed. The memory of that day seemed to sting.
“However,” I said, meeting his gaze directly, “there is a way.”
“What?”
“There is a way to protect everyone without becoming cowardly.”
Edwin slowly raised his head, clearly intrigued.
“What is it?”
“You simply need to become strong.”
“…What?”
Unlike the weak, the strong have no need to be cowardly.
More precisely, they have no need to resort to cowardice.
“In this world, there are vicious strong people, but there are no cowardly strong ones. Because they don’t need to be.”
I placed a hand on Edwin’s shoulder.
Emma had wanted this boy to be happy.
Happiness, huh.
In truth, I didn’t know how to become happy either. I had once dreamed of it, only to meet an utterly miserable end.
Even so, there was one thing I understood perfectly.
In this cruel world, the weak can never afford the luxury of happiness.
I studied the Third Prince before me. Small, scrawny frame. Anxious eyes. He looked like the very picture of a weakling anyone could trample.
“Your Highness is weak. Just as Her Highness Emilia said.”
“You—!”
“But that’s all right.”
“…What?”
“Because I will make you strong.”
It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a unilateral declaration.
Edwin blinked his large eyes slowly.
“Why?”
Then came an answer I hadn’t expected.
“Why are you suddenly saying this? Didn’t you not care what happened to me?”
He frowned, as if he couldn’t understand.
“I made a promise, so I must keep it.”
One promise made before my death, and another made last night.
“Therefore, I will not leave Your Highness’s side.”
Even if he ordered me to go.
“At least not until Your Highness no longer needs me.”
Of course, I would be the one to decide when that time came.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Edwin scrunched his face, still unable to comprehend. It seemed he didn’t remember what had happened last night.
“A promise? Who did you promise?”
“That’s enough idle chatter. Shall we head back?”
“Back? Where?”
“Where else?”
I took his hand and pulled him along.
“We need to go comfort Her Highness Emilia.”
“I’m sorry, Ria. Your big brother was wrong.”
“Hmph!”
“I said I’m sorry. Can’t you forgive me?”
“Hmph!”
Emilia turned her head away the moment she saw her brother return. She was clearly furious.
“Your Highness Emilia, why don’t you forgive His Highness the Prince? He looks so pitiful.”
Catherine, who was holding Emilia, coaxed her gently. Only then did the girl finally speak.
“Big brother acted like a villain and bullied Ria. Why should Ria forgive him?”
Edwin, kneeling on the grass, looked devastated at being called a villain. In an instant, he had been demoted to the same level as Lloyd.
“I really did wrong. I won’t bully Ria again. Okay?”
“Hmph, hmph!”
“If big brother ever bullies Ria again, then…”
I cut in before Edwin could finish.
“Then I will scold His Highness thoroughly.”
“Nanny will?”
Emilia turned her head, seemingly tempted by my offer. But she quickly sulked again.
“Hmph! Nanny is going to abandon Ria and leave anyway. Liar!”
“That’s not true. Where would I go?”
“Nanny, you’re not leaving?”
At my reassurance, Emilia turned to face me fully.
“Yes, I’m not leaving.”
“Really? You really won’t leave? You’ll stay by Ria’s side?”
“Yes.”
“Kyaaaaah—!”
Emilia wriggled out of Catherine’s arms and threw herself at me.
“Your Highness, you’ll get hurt!”
“Nanny, I love you—!”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled against it. I froze like stone for a moment before slowly placing a hand on her back.
This blind, inexplicable affection was still difficult for me to understand.
But I couldn’t reject it.
After all, I was the one who had decided to stay by these children’s side.
“Ria, what about big brother?”
Edwin looked at his sister with a slightly hurt expression. Emilia responded with an exaggerated sniff, as if granting a great favor.
“Fine. Since Nanny is staying, I’ll forgive you!”
The young princess narrowed her large eyes and glared at her brother.
“But you have to make me a flower ring and a flower crown! If you don’t, I won’t forgive you!”
“O-okay! Just wait a little! I’ll make them right away!”
Startled by his sister’s threat, Edwin began frantically picking clover.
Even a rabbit searching for food wouldn’t have been so diligent.
“Pfft.”
Catherine finally burst out laughing at the sight.
“Ahahaha—!”
“What! Why are you laughing!”
I glanced away from the fuming Edwin. Emilia’s eyes widened as she piped up.
“Nanny laughed just now too, right?”
“…Not at all. I did no such thing.”
“You did! Nanny laughed!”
“I didn’t laugh.”
“What! Why is everyone laughing!”
That day, Edwin only received his sister’s forgiveness after making clover wreaths for all three women.
“How is the Third Prince doing?”
“He is carrying on as usual. Yesterday, he enjoyed a flower-viewing outing with Her Highness the Princess.”
“How fitting for that pathetic boy. Plucking flowers and playing like a little girl.”
The Second Consort of the Empire, Helena, examined her perfectly filed nails with a satisfied expression.
“No unnecessary movements?”
“None. No significant activity has been detected.”
“It’s fortunate he isn’t doing anything that would hasten his own demise.”
Helena glanced into the jewelry box a maid had brought before looking up.
“By the way, have you looked into that nanny?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The masked figure kneeling at a distance bowed his head.
“Her name is Rachel Brown. She is twenty-one years old this year and entered the palace one month ago.”
“Brown? A noble family?”
“Yes. She is the adopted daughter of Count Brown, a minor border noble. The previous nanny wrote a recommendation letter that allowed her to enter the palace.”
“So she’s connected to the deceased nanny?”
“Yes. It seems the previous nanny was the one who had the orphan Rachel adopted into the Brown family.”
“Hmm.”
Not even the biological daughter of some insignificant border noble, but an adopted one.
And an orphan at that?
Helena lowered her gaze.
Paylin seemed rather fond of that woman.
She recalled the conversation she had shared with her confidante, Countess Paylin Katrina, at a family banquet.
“There is no need to worry greatly about His Highness the Third Prince.”
“Why is that?”
“He remains unchanged as always. And the new nanny is quite adequate.”
“What do you mean by adequate?”
“She is polite, does not talk back, and above all, her eyes are dead.”
“Her eyes are dead?”
“Your Highness knows well that I have a keen eye for people, yes?”
“Of course I do. So you’re saying that woman poses little threat?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“The reason?”
“People with eyes like that are only interested in filling their own bellies. They lack the motivation to do anything for others.”
Paylin, who had spent years dealing with all kinds of nobles and honing her ability to read people, had said those words. There was no choice but to trust her judgment.
Thinking about what happened with Lloyd still makes me want to kill her, but it can’t be helped.
She had told her son to ignore the woman, but still.
How dare a lowly thing humiliate a prince?
Helena herself was not fond of the Third Prince’s nanny. However, it was the Emperor himself who had publicly declared forgiveness. She had no desire to stir up unnecessary rumors.
Helena waved her hand as if the topic had become tiresome.
“Enough. I no longer have the energy to concern myself with the adopted daughter of some border noble. You may withdraw.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The masked man bowed respectfully and vanished like a shadow.
As soon as he was gone, Helena called for the maids waiting outside.
“Attend me!”
“You called, Your Highness?”
“I wish to rest. Prepare refreshments in the rear garden.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Helena headed to the garden with a long line of maids trailing behind her, as if she could finally relax without a care in the world.
But she did not know.
That Paylin’s discerning eye was completely useless against someone who had thoroughly learned how to hide their true self.