What Could Not Be Protected (1)
"Fine. You went to bed early after turning down Lia's request for a princess story, and while I have no idea what you stayed up so late doing, I'll let it slide this once." Edwin pouted, waving a dismissive hand. "Not that I need you around anyway. I manage just fine on my own."
Is he still holding a grudge over what I said yesterday? He's far pettier than he looks.
"Then I shall take a brief rest and return to duty shortly." I bowed meekly before stepping back out of the room.
"Catherin! Lia wants more of this!"
"My goodness, Your Highness Emilia, eating so well means you're going to grow tall and strong in no time!"
"Give me more too."
"Oh, did it suit your palate as well, Prince Edwin? What a relief!"
Catherine beamed with heartfelt joy as she watched the two children wolf down their food. Watching her fuss over them, a quiet smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.
Honestly, she suits the nanny role far better than I do.
I slipped out of the dining room without making a sound.
At the time, I had no way of knowing.
I had no idea that leaving my post today would become a regret I would carry for a long, long time.
Catherine Veil, head maid of the 3rd Prince's Palace, was the eldest daughter among four sons and three daughters born to Viscount Veil. Because she was considerably older than her younger siblings, she had always felt confident in her ability to look after small children; she had practically raised them in place of her perpetually busy parents, after all.
However, there was one crucial detail she had completely overlooked.
"Haa, haah... Your Highness Emilia, perhaps we might return to your chambers now?"
"No, no! Why is the horsey talking?"
"N-Neighhh!"
The First Princess was a child far more eccentric than any of Catherine's younger siblings had ever been. Catherine was currently crawling across the lawn on all fours with the little princess perched firmly on her back. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she would become the noble steed for Her Highness's latest obsession with horseback riding.
"Giddy-up! You have to go faster!" Emilia squealed, tugging on two locks of Catherine's hair as though they were leather reins.
"N-Neigh-h-h—!" Catherine gasped, teetering on the verge of tears as she struggled for breath. "Y-Your Highness, couldn't we play another game?"
No matter how small a child the princess was, bearing her weight while crawling on hands and knees was thoroughly exhausting. How on earth had the nanny managed to do this for hours on end?
"Another game?"
"Yes! It looks as though Prince Edwin is getting terribly bored all by himself over there!"
"Mmh? Big Brother?" Emilia craned her neck toward her brother.
Just as Catherine said, Edwin was sitting alone on the grass, aimlessly plucking stray weeds with his fingers. To anyone looking, he seemed bored out of his mind. Emilia tilted her head curiously at the sight. "Is he? Then what game do you want to play?"
"Well, you see..."
Seizing the opening, Catherine gently set Emilia down onto the grass and pushed herself to her feet. Just then, Edwin sprang up as well.
"I'm thirsty."
"Oh dear, it must already be time for your afternoon snack. Shall we head to the annex, then? I'll bake you a delicious apple pie."
"I want to eat it out here. Bring it to us when it's done."
"Pardon? Oh, but..."
Edwin's brisk command gave Catherine pause. Leaving the young prince and princess unattended was an agonizing dilemma, especially when Rachel was away resting. As if reading her hesitation, Edwin pressed on without missing a beat.
"I'll wait right here with Lia, so go and fetch it quickly."
"Um, Your Highness, if you could wait inside instead..."
"Are you planning to disobey an imperial prince's direct order?"
"N-No, of course not! I'll bring it right away! Please just wait a little bit!"
Wilted by the prince's sudden flare of temper, Catherine abandoned her objections and sprinted toward the annex as fast as her legs could carry her. Watching her retreating back, Edwin curled the corner of his lips into a sly grin.
Unlike that strange woman who wouldn't bat an eye even when he threw his royal title in her face, the head maid was a thoroughly dutiful servant. Which made her exceptionally easy to fool.
His previous bored demeanor vanished in an instant as Edwin turned an excited gaze toward his little sister. "Lia, let's go outside."
"Mmh? Are we allowed to?"
"Of course. You said you wanted to visit the Central Garden again, didn't you?"
"Yeah! Lia wants to go!"
Hand in hand, the young prince and princess took off running. Their destination was the low stone wall behind the annex.
"N-Nannyyyy—!"
What dragged me out of my nap was Catherine's shrill, frantic shriek. She burst through the door without even knocking, her face soaked in tears. An ominous foreboding gripped my chest, and I bolted upright instantly.
"What happened?"
"Their Highnesses... Their Highnesses have vanished!"
"They what?"
It struck like a thunderbolt from an unclouded sky.
"Big Brother, the butterfly can't fly."
"A butterfly?"
Edwin peered down at Emilia's words. Crouched low on her heels, his sister wasn't staring at an insect at all, but a blossom. "Is it hurt?"
Emilia gazed at the petal with deeply worried eyes. Edwin couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle. "Lia, that's not a butterfly. It's a flower."
"A flower?"
"Yeah. It's called a pansy. But just like you said, it really does look like a butterfly."
"It was a flower! It's so pretty!"
Emilia gasped in wonder and reached her tiny hand toward the blossom. Before she could pluck it from the earth, Edwin caught her wrist.
"You shouldn't pick it, Emilia. It'll hurt the flower."
"Huh? Why does the flower get an ouchie? Did the flower tell you it hurts?"
Her innocent yet razor-sharp inquiry left the young prince momentarily tongue-tied. The only reason he had said it in the first place was because Emma had taught him never to pluck flowers when he was little. "W-Well, no, not exactly."
"Then Lia wants to take it with me. I'm gonna be its friend."
"Wait a second!"
"Mmh?"
Edwin took hold of his sister's soft little hand and knelt before her. "Emilia, you like living in our palace, don't you?"
"Yeah! I like it because Big Brother is there, and Rachel is there, and Catherin is there too!"
"Don't you think it's the same for this flower? All its friends are right here, and it lives here because it likes it. If Lia takes it away all of a sudden, it won't be happy about it."
"Oh... really?"
"And you know, Lia, once you pick a flower, it withers away and dies. Wouldn't you be sad if something this pretty dried up and disappeared?"
Faced with Edwin's persistent reasoning, Emilia's face fell into a gentle pout. "Later on, I'll ask them to plant some in our garden too. So let's let these ones live here in peace, okay?"
At Edwin's soothing coaxing, Emilia finally nodded her golden head. "Mmh. Okay."
"Good girl."
Edwin beamed, gently ruffling his sister's hair. Matching his broad smile, Emilia let out a small giggle, followed immediately by an enormous yawn.
"Hwaaaah."
"Are you sleepy, Lia?"
"Mmh. When you pet my hair, it makes me sleepy."
Now that he thought about it, this was around the time Emilia usually took her afternoon nap. "Then do you want to sleep for a little bit before we go back?"
"Mmh."
"Come here."
Edwin slipped off his jacket and draped it over his sister as she curled up on the grass beside him. Watching her drift off, a wave of drowsiness began washing over him as well. He stretched his arms high into the air with another wide yawn and lay down right beside Emilia.
By now, Catherine was probably running around in sheer pandemonium after discovering they were gone. Just imagining her horrified expression made him chuckle softly.
Cradling the back of his head in his interlaced hands, Edwin gazed up into the open sky. This secluded glade where Emma had so often brought him in the past remained his one true sanctuary. Tucked into the deepest corner of the Central Garden, no one ever ventured here except for the occasional patrolling imperial guard. Whenever he missed Emma, he would slip away from his attendants and hide out in this very spot. He hadn't been able to visit recently because that strange new nanny had kept his hands so full, but lying here now, a serene calm settled over his chest. Before long, the young prince's eyelids fluttered shut.
A sweet, peaceful afternoon slumber drifted by.
The first to wake was Emilia.
"Mmh..."
Rubbing her groggy eyes, Emilia sat up. She glanced at Edwin, who was still fast asleep, and looked curiously around the clearing. It was then that something caught the little princess's eye: a cat boasting pure white fur accented by vibrant ginger-yellow stripes.
As if beckoning her to follow, the creature flicked its tail gently and vanished into the thicket.
"A kitty!"
Emilia's eyes sparkled with unbridled delight. To a little girl who adored cats more than anything in the world, this was an opportunity she simply could not pass up.
"Kitty! Wait, kitty—!"
Emilia scrambled to her feet and darted headlong into the dense brush. It all happened in the blink of an eye.
By the time Edwin stirred from his slumber and opened his eyes to find the space beside him empty, the little princess was already nowhere to be seen.
"...Emilia?"
Edwin called his sister's name in a daze, but only silence answered him.
"Lia? Emilia!"
A sickening dread seized his heart, jolting him upright. "Emilia—! Where are you—?!"
The young prince's desperate cries echoed through the trees, laced with raw, terrified urgency.
"Kitty, where are you?"
Emilia was crawling through the dirt on all fours. That a creature could bring the First Princess of the Ventrum Empire to her knees was a testament to the supreme majesty of felines. "Come out, kitty. Play with Lia."
She kept her voice down to a soft whisper as she called, but no purr came in return. "I'm sure it went this way..."
Pouting with disappointment, the little princess pushed herself up. Just then—
"Hissss—!"
A sharp, distressed feline screech tore through the air from somewhere nearby.
"The kitty!"
Excitement surging within her at the thought of finally meeting her new friend, Emilia sprinted toward the sound. But when she parted the dense undergrowth and tumbled out into the open, the cat was not alone.
"Kitty...!"
The radiant joy on Emilia's face slowly withered away.
Gathered in the clearing stood a group of finely dressed noble boys.
"Hahahaha! You idiot, how could you miss from that close?"
"Shut up! It won't stop thrashing around, that's why!"
Snapping in frustration, an orange-haired boy stooped down and snatched up a jagged rock from the dirt. His cruel gaze was fixed on a tree branch just above him, where a cat hung suspended upside down—the very same cat Emilia had been chasing.