The Prince and the Nanny (1)
“Child-rearing is most certainly hard labor,” I sighed as I closed the door behind me.
“Or perhaps that little brat is simply exceptional.”
Just picturing the detestable prince’s face was enough to make my blood pressure rise.
Instead of chasing after Edwin, who had run off with the bracelet, I had chosen to leave him alone. But the head maid had caught me leaving Emilia by herself.
The real problem was that she had discovered Emilia first—the girl had been unable to bear her hunger and had slipped into the kitchen to steal food.
Damn it.
To think I would be threatened with money by a mere commoner.
It wounded my pride, but I had no choice. To escape this place, I needed funds, and every coin mattered.
In the end, I had spent the entire day trailing after the imperial siblings.
Of course, the moment Edwin saw me, his face would twist in disgust and he would busy himself running away.
I let out a deep sigh.
“I never imagined I would end up making a living as a nanny.”
The word nanny suddenly stirred old memories.
I—that is, Kyla Angel—was an orphan. It was the crime of being born in an age when monster and barbarian attacks left the land drenched in blood without a single peaceful day.
Abandoned the moment I was born, I spent seven years in the orphanage attached to a temple. That was where I met a woman. She had taken it upon herself to be a mother to children like me who had lost their parents. We called each other family.
But that peaceful life did not last long. Not even the temple could escape the barbarian raids. The temple burned, the children scattered in every direction, and none of us knew who had lived or died.
I barely escaped with my life, only to be captured by a strange slave trader. The trader sold me at a high price to the assassin guild Angel’s Breath. Despite my malnourished upbringing, my physique was better than my peers’, and that had convinced the former leader to take me in.
My first memory of that place was the instructor’s face as he ordered me to kill a puppy that could not yet open its eyes.
Only after spending five years in the assassin guild was I allowed back into the outside world. And that was when I reunited with the woman who had raised me. She was still excellently fulfilling her role as mother to children without homes or parents.
Unlike me, who could say nothing because the reunion was so sudden, she pulled me into her arms the moment she saw me and wept bitterly.
“I’m so glad you’re alive. Truly, it’s such a relief, Kyla.”
In front of her, I could not bring myself to reveal what I had become. After reuniting with that old bond, I visited her whenever I could steal the time. Being with her felt like returning home—though what home could a lone orphan truly have?
But the former leader, who had already marked me as the next guild master candidate, would not tolerate my meetings with her.
“What use is exceptional talent? This place is for defective goods.”
The former leader pressed the tip of his blade against my chest upon my return and clicked his tongue.
“To kill every single member I sent to eliminate that woman. Is she your real blood relative or something?”
Instead of arguing, I lowered my eyes and swore an oath.
“I will never meet that woman again. So please, do not touch her.”
“Do you really think that woman will understand you if you do that? You, who have already become a murderer?”
He looked at me, drenched in the blood of his own men, with eyes that genuinely pitied me.
“This is why I say girls are no good. So sentimental.”
The former leader did not withdraw his regretful gaze.
“Kyla, that weakness of yours will one day kill you.”
I no longer remembered what I had answered then. But after that, I encountered the woman a few more times—inevitable meetings disguised as coincidence. In my faint memories, I could still see her laughing with the children.
Emma.
I repeated the woman’s name inside my heart. She was probably living out a happy later life with her true blood relatives in her hometown by now. She was someone who deserved that much.
Sometimes, even the faint outlines of old memories can bring comfort.
With that thought, I closed my eyes and fell asleep. It was a rare, profoundly deep sleep.
“…Damn it.”
At the hour when dawn was breaking outside the window.
“So it really wasn’t a dream.”
I rose from bed, still staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.
When I threw open the window, cold air rushed in. Looking outside, I saw servants already moving busily despite the early hour.
The utterly ordinary scene made my heart stir strangely.
I had lived my entire life as an assassin and died as one. The guilt of murder had faded long ago, and I had never once felt pride in that life.
Perhaps that was why I sometimes wondered what it would have been like to live an ordinary existence.
You’re more romantic than you look, Kyla.
Ian’s words to me came to mind reflexively. That bastard who had killed me had often called me “romantic.” He had frequently said that being an assassin didn’t suit me, the guild master.
That’s why I liked him.
When everyone else told me I had been born to be an assassin, only he had said it didn’t suit me.
I had liked that about Ian. Probably.
But what does any of that matter now?
Shaking off the useless memories, I turned away. A modest dress hung neatly on the wall as if waiting for me.
While eavesdropping on the people here yesterday, I had learned a few things.
First, I had been resurrected a full year after my death. I had no idea why the one-year gap existed. I couldn’t even begin to understand how I had come back to life in the first place. There had to be a reason, but I had no way to uncover it right now.
Second, the real Rachel Brown had been recommended by the previous nanny. No one would tell me what had become of that previous nanny; they all changed the subject the moment the name “Mrs. Conrad” appeared. The only thing I could gather was that the real Rachel Brown had been particularly close to her predecessor.
Third, security was twice as strict as usual because the king of another nation and his delegation were visiting. I had planned to slip out secretly to gather information on the organization and Ian, but that would have to wait.
A king from a newly established kingdom had arrived leading a knight order. Why did it have to be right now, of all times?
The timing is impossibly bad.
If I were caught climbing the walls while a foreign monarch was visiting, I might be saddled with every false accusation imaginable and executed horribly.
This current body wasn’t terrible at physical movement, but it was pathetic compared to my old one. I had no desire to be caught attempting a clumsy escape and sentenced to death.
I’ll have to lie low for the time being.
I stared quietly at the dress hanging on the wall.
That’s right. This isn’t childcare—it’s a mission.
The role I had been given was nanny. The clients were not one but two: a temperamental prince and a walking disaster of a princess.
Endure it even if it’s difficult. It’s only a means to gather money, after all.
Once I had saved enough funds and built up my strength, I would escape immediately. I straightened the hem of the dress I was wearing, longing for the day I could leave this place as soon as possible.
“Shall we go, then?”
Once I had finished preparing, I opened the door with determination. It was the start of my second day as nanny in the prince’s palace.
Perhaps it was thanks to having chased after the imperial siblings so desperately yesterday. Fortunately, I did not suffer the misfortune of being unable to find the prince’s room.
When I entered carrying Emilia, who was still half-asleep, Edwin looked at me with startled eyes.
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
His expression said he had never expected me to come and torment him so early.
I had not exactly hoped for a warm welcome, but his open reluctance still irritated me.
“As your nanny, is it not perfectly natural for me to come wake Your Highness at this time?”
“How unusual. You never once came at this hour during the past two weeks.”
The maid who had just brought in the washbasin also glanced at me with a look of surprise.
Judging by their reactions, the real Rachel Brown apparently wasn’t suited to being a nanny either.
I lowered my head to hide my awkwardness.
“I apologize. As this was an unfamiliar place, I have been remiss in my duties toward Your Highness while adjusting. From now on, I will correct—”
“Enough.”
He yawned widely and obediently rose from the bed. It seemed he had given up on running away like yesterday.
“I’ll wash up.”
With a still-sleepy face, Edwin stood in front of the basin.
But then he began doing something I could not understand at all.
What is he doing?
Edwin merely dipped his fingertips into the water and rubbed his eyes. He repeated the process several times before staring straight at me.
“I’m done washing.”
Done washing? What exactly had he washed? His eyeballs?
I let out a quiet sigh. I had never dreamed I would have to teach the prince how to wash himself.
“You must wash behind your ears as well, Your Highness.”
Despite my pointed remark, Edwin shook his head in annoyance.
“I did it properly!”
Properly? I could not see how any of that had been proper.
I forced a smile at the boy.
“Your Highness, the parts that are hard to see are usually the dirtiest. Behind the ears and the neck…”
“I’m not dirty!”
“On what basis?”
At my question, Edwin shouted with absolute conviction.
“Because I’m a prince!”