Me, a Nanny?! (Part 2)
In all my life, I had never once crossed paths with children.
My thoughts spun in such utter disarray that a wave of sheer dizziness washed over me.
Either way, if she got in through a personal recommendation, she must be an aristocratic lady.
I formulated an initial hypothesis regarding Rachel Brown, only to dismiss it almost immediately. As far as I knew, not a single noble family in the entire empire bore the surname "Brown." To begin with, wasn't Brown a name far better suited to commoners? A proper aristocratic house was supposed to have a name that rolled gracefully off the tongue and carried an imposing, grand meaning.
Or perhaps she's an impoverished lady from an utterly unremarkable house.
She most likely fell into the latter category. Even if she was serving as a maid, no daughter of a prestigious clan would ever be caught dead in clothes this worn and faded.
Right on cue, a piercing headache struck me like a blade.
A chillingly familiar voice echoed in my ears.
"Take this chance to think it over. Why I'm doing this."
His existence, which I had momentarily pushed aside, resurfaced with terrifying clarity.
"In the afterlife."
As if I had swallowed burning coals, the center of my chest ignited into a blaze. It felt as though those damned flames, which had ravenously devoured my flesh, were still charring my very heart.
"...Ian."
I shouldn't have spoken it. I never should have let the name of the bastard who murdered me escape my lips.
The fire raging in my chest leaped into my eyes before I could stop it. Hot tears welled in my vision and spilled over my lashes.
"Nayche, you cwying? Does it hurt?"
Just then, the little ball of fluff—no, the child addressed as Her Highness Emilia—wrapped her tiny arms around my knees.
"Nayche, don't hurt! Waaah—!"
"Wait, hold on..."
Before I could react, the little princess burst into a flood of tears. Watching her wail at the top of her lungs in tandem with me left me completely flustered.
Having no other choice, I gingerly rested my hand atop Emilia's tangled nest of hair. The last time I had ever comforted a child was so far in the forgotten past that I couldn't even recall it, leaving me entirely out of my depth.
"...Please, stop crying."
I gently stroked her downy, soft locks. I wondered if such a clumsy gesture would actually work, but to my relief, it seemed to do the trick. The moment my hand smoothed over her head, Emilia's sobs began to quiet.
"Mmh... then Nayche won't cwy anymore, either?"
"Yes. I won't cry anymore either."
"Then Lia won't cwy!"
The little princess wiped away her tears with surprising vigor and pressed her lips tightly together in resolve. Watching her, the dense fog clouding my mind strangely began to clear.
Right. Having died and returned to life, petty personal sentiments were the least of my concerns. Clenching both fists, I recalled the final order the bastard had uttered.
"Burn it. Don't leave even ash behind."
Ian had wished for not a speck of ash to remain of me. Yet contrary to his fervent desire, my soul had defied annihilation, borrowing another's flesh to live once more.
Just wait, Ian.
Gritting my teeth, I pictured the face of the lover who had driven a blade into my back.
Whatever your reasons were.
For a traitor, there was only death. Recalling the absolute, unforgiving iron law of our syndicate, I ground my molars together.
I will never forgive you.
On the day I opened my eyes not as the continental supreme assassin and guild master, but in the frail body of an imperial nanny—I resolved that this second life granted to me would be lived solely for revenge.
"Nayche, Nayche."
It was right as I was silently feeding the flames of my vendetta that Emilia tugged persistently at the hem of my skirt, whining.
"Brother wan away. Find him, pwease."
Brother? Ah, come to think of it, the head maid had instructed me to fetch "His Highness Edwin."
"Do you mean... His Highness Edwin?"
Belatedly registering that the toddler before me was an imperial princess, I elevated my speech into formal deference.
"Uh-huh! Brother's name is Edwin!"
Nodding at Emilia's reply, my brow soon furrowed into a frown.
Wait, is there any reason for me to stay here and play along?
Slipping out of the imperial palace wouldn't be difficult in the slightest. Even right now, I could count more than five secret passageways leading outside on one hand.
Even if I escaped right this second, there's no guarantee I could track Ian down.
I had no idea how much time had elapsed since my death, and I didn't possess a single copper coin. Venturing recklessly into the outside world under these conditions would be sheer idiocy.
This body isn't tempered like my old one, either. If I make a careless move, dying a second time wouldn't be out of the question.
Looking down at the little princess, I made up my mind. For the time being, I would endure playing this absurd role of a "nanny."
With an expression of grim, resolute solemnity, I threw the bedroom door wide open. It was the true beginning of my new life.
Tracking down the prince was easier than anticipated, largely because Emilia knew his whereabouts.
"Are you certain it is over there?"
"Yeah! Brother Ed always plays over dere!"
Growing impatient with Emilia's tiny, toddling steps, I scooped her up in one arm and quickened my stride.
Why is she so light?
She felt weightless enough to scatter at a breath of wind, and a sweet scent of baby powder drifted from the crown of her head.
Good grief, she isn't a furball; she's a bundle of cotton candy.
Clinging to my neck, the cotton candy-like princess giggled merrily.
"Nayche, I'm so tall!"
I couldn't fathom what she found so amusing, but I let her toy with strands of my dark hair as I hurried along.
Come to think of it, what kind of kid was Edwin again?
Though I had infiltrated the imperial palace countless times before my death, this was my first time visiting the Third Prince's Palace.
Still, for a prince's residence...
The palace compound, flanked by arched colonnades, was... how should I put it? It was grand in scale, but utterly devoid of anything filling the space.
Desolate.
It was, in the truest sense of the word, a barren wasteland.
Ah, now I remember.
Staring at the hollow, neglected palace, fragments of information regarding the Third Prince drifted back to me. The Third Prince of the Ventrum Empire, Edwin Anaxinian Ventrum.
An utterly forsaken child.
Third Prince Edwin was the sole son born between the reigning Emperor Carvelius III and the late Third Imperial Consort Edith Lionel. However, Consort Edith had passed away three years ago. She was said to have succumbed to postpartum hemorrhaging, meaning she likely died right after giving birth to Emilia—leaving nothing behind for her young children.
Not that she had much choice.
Hailing from a foreign realm, she possessed no substantial backing or political faction within the empire. Having arrived virtually as a hostage bride, such support was out of the question. The Lionel Kingdom was far too preoccupied dealing with its own internal crises to spare any attention for her, either.
With nothing and no one to vouch for them, Third Prince Edwin and First Princess Emilia saw their presence fade from the imperial court, slowly and steadily, as if they had never existed from the start.
That was the entirety of what I knew about Third Prince Edwin.
No wonder my memory was hazy. He was practically a ghost.
In any palace, servants bound to a master stripped of authority always suffered the most. Remaining here long-term promised nothing but an uphill battle of misery.
I should escape the moment the opportunity presents itself.
Lost in these calculations, I arrived at the rear garden of the annex before I realized it.
Hmm, something's off.
No matter where I looked, the prince was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, I surveyed the area before ultimately closing my eyes, sharpening every fiber of my concentration to catch even the faintest presence.
Just then, a distinctly rowdy commotion brushed against my senses from beyond the stone perimeter wall. I promptly made my way toward the source.
"This is..."
Tucked into a secluded corner of the annex's rear garden wall was a patch of hastily arranged brush. It was a crude attempt at concealment, far from enough to fool my trained eyes.
Sweeping the thicket aside revealed a small dog-hole chiseled through the stone. The grass surrounding the opening was flattened, bearing unmistakable traces of either a small animal or a young child crawling through. If the prince wasn't in the rear garden where he belonged, he must have slipped out through this gap.
No choice, then.
I set Emilia down onto the grass.
"Nayche?"
"Your Highness, you must remain right here. Do you understand?"
"Wemain?"
Emilia fidgeted with her fingers, looking troubled.
"Lia's hungwy."
Now that she mentioned it, she had been complaining of hunger ever since we first met. I felt a pang of sympathy, but my hands were tied. I couldn't recklessly drag the young princess outside with me. Furthermore, if anyone discovered that the Third Prince had left his palace without an escort, it would cause an uproar. I needed to retrieve the boy as quickly as possible.
"I will return shortly. Please wait just a moment."
"Mmkay. Come back quick, otay?"
Offering a brisk nod instead of an answer, I drew in a deep breath. With a single, fluid spring, I kicked off the earth and cleared the stone wall in one clean leap.
"Nayche! Amazing!"
Emilia's admiring cheer carried over the wall. Fortunately, this new body possessed decent enough athletic reflexes.
Just as I dusted off my hands and casually turned around, I felt it.
A gaze.
A covert yet tenaciously lingering stare. It held no apparent malice, but it was far from pleasant. I whipped my head around to face it, yet the presence vanished in an instant, melting away without a trace.
Was it just my imagination?
Narrowing my eyes, I was about to step toward the direction where I had sensed the gaze when a sudden cry shattered the air.
"Give it back!"
A shriek echoed from the opposite side—a child's voice.
The source of the commotion was the imperial stables situated near the Third Prince's Palace.
"Give it back! I said give it back!"
Beneath the wooden eaves of a livestock shed roughly twenty paces away, a pack of burly older boys had cornered a small child.
"Give it back right now!"
"G-Give it back right now~"
The boys seemed thoroughly amused, mimicking the child in high, jeering taunts. Judging by their attire, they weren't of low birth.
They have large frames, but their faces are still childish. They all dress like nobles... are they noble pages?
As I pondered the identities of the juvenile gang, I caught a fleeting glimpse of an oddly out-of-place little figure trapped in their midst.
Found him.
Third Prince Edwin.
He was the very target I had been sent to find.