The Emperor's Invitation (1)
Ever since the day I resolved to stay here as their nanny, I made a point of consistently slipping minute traces of poison into Edwin's and Emilia's meals.
It was to build their tolerance against lethal toxins.
Poisoning attempts can occur at any given moment.
A few days ago, I had increased both the variety and the dosage of poisons in Edwin’s food.
Clutching at his chest, Edwin looked at me with resentful eyes. My heart ached for him a little, but this was necessary.
This is about the only thing I can teach him myself.
I could not teach an imperial prince the craft of murder, but I could teach him how to survive it. It was one of the very few protections I could offer him.
"Scorpion venom attacks the nervous system. A lethal dose will kill a robust adult male within two hours." I inquired calmly, as if asking after the flavor of a soup. "How do you feel right now?"
Wheezing slightly, Edwin forced himself to speak. "...It's... hard to breathe."
Compared to his terrified silence the first time I dosed him, this was tremendous progress.
"That is normal."
Because the dosage was miniscule, the effects were short-lived.
As Edwin's breathing gradually stabilized, I made sure to impress the lesson upon him. "Commit the taste of the poison and the sensation of being poisoned to memory. One day, that knowledge may save Your Highness's life."
Tears clung to the corners of Edwin's eyes as he made a miserable face. He hurriedly grabbed the cup of water from the desk and gulped it down.
"How can it taste like nothing at all, yet hurt this much?"
"That is the nature of poison. If it tasted bitter, who wouldn't realize they were being poisoned?"
Indeed. Slipping it down someone's throat without their knowledge was precisely why poison was so terrifyingly effective.
—You are like sweet poison, Kyla.
Completely out of the blue, the whisper of the man who had murdered me surfaced in my mind.
Back then, I had taken it for nothing more than a trite romantic metaphor. But looking back now, he had merely spoken the literal truth. Just as I had been a sweet poison to him, that bastard Ian had ended up becoming a fatal poison to me.
"Hey, are you all right?"
Edwin called out to me while I lingered in the remnants of the past. He was watching me with worried eyes.
"Are you okay?"
"Pardon? About what?"
"Your expression looked awful."
"Did it?"
"Yeah." Edwin knitted his brow. "You're not sick or anything, are you?"
Did I look unwell?
Forcing away the image of Ian's face that kept rising to the surface, I nodded. "Not in the least. I was merely thinking about something else."
"About what?"
"...About a bas—no, a certain person who stabbed me in the back and fled."
To be exact, a bastard who drove a blade straight through my spine and ran off.
Come to think of it, I had temporarily forgotten my ultimate goal.
Devoting myself entirely to nanny duties to honor my promise to Emma had made me completely lose sight of the reason I was brought back to life in the first place.
I'll need to head outside the palace before long.
It was high time I gathered intelligence on the guild and tracked Ian down.
Just as I stepped out into the hallway carrying Edwin's empty dishes, a voice called out:
"Nanny! Nanny!"
Catherine came running from the distance. Behind her trailed Sage, carrying Emilia on his back with a thoroughly disgruntled scowl.
"Have you heard the news?"
"What news?"
"They say the King of Adamant is visiting the Imperial Palace again next month!"
Next month would be the Founding Day Festival.
Kayden Ram.
I recalled the young King of Adamant and that enigmatic smile of his.
He truly is a shady fellow.
The way he smiled at me, how he reeked of the exact soap scent I used before my death, and how he had abruptly sent Edwin a bow and arrows as a get-well gift... Every single detail was deeply suspicious.
"By the King of Adamant, you mean Kayden Ram Adamant, yes?" Sage chimed in, bouncing the whining Emilia haphazardly on his back. "The man responsible for wiping out the Lionel royal family and founding the Adamant Kingdom."
"Do you know anything about him?"
"No, nothing personally. But he is rather famous across the continent."
Catherine nodded vigorously in agreement. "That's right! They say a storybook adapting his heroic exploits is selling like hotcakes even here in the empire!"
A storybook? Making someone like him the protagonist of a children's book? What in the world was that author thinking?
"Storybook? Lia loves storybooks!" Emilia squealed, tugging at Sage’s hair. "Lia wants to read the storybook too! Hero fairy tale!"
"Your Highness, it is heroic exploits, not a hero fairy tale."
"Uungh! I wanna read it anyway! Wanna read it!"
As Emilia began throwing a tantrum, Catherine wore a flustered expression.
"Oh dear, what should we do? That book isn't in the Prince's Palace library."
"Would it be in the other imperial libraries?"
"N-No, probably not. It's meant for children, and since it glorifies a foreign king, the palace officials likely barred it from the collections."
At Catherine's explanation, Emilia's face crumpled, on the verge of bursting into tears.
"Lia wants storybooooook...!"
"I will buy it for you, Your Highness."
I intervened before Emilia could start wailing at the top of her lungs like a crow.
"I expect to go out into the city soon. When I do, I shall purchase the storybook Your Highness wishes to read. So please do not cry."
"Uungh, weally?"
"Yes, really."
At my promise, Emilia beamed once more.
"Yay! Lia loves Rayche!"
"Yes, I am fond of Your Highness as well."
"Yay! Must buy storybook fast!"
Catching Emilia in my arms as she reached out toward me, I swallowed a sigh. It seemed I would have to move up my outing sooner than planned.
It's finally today.
Edwin clutched his pounding chest in excitement. Today was the day he was slated to receive his very first private swordsmanship lesson from Sir Philip.
Or rather, that was how it would have unfolded had things gone according to plan.
"You all are as spirited as ever."
"Y-Your Imperial Majesty!"
Before the Third Division Knights, who had just descended from their mountain drill, Emperor Carvelius III made his appearance.
Beside him stood the commander, Duke Jerome Krauner.
"We greet our Sovereign Lord!"
As knights who had sworn fealty directly to the Emperor, their greeting carried exceptional weight. Addressing the Emperor as their sovereign liege, they knelt in unison with military precision.
Amid them all, only a single person stood awkwardly frozen, unsure of what to do.
The Emperor regarded him with an expressionless gaze and offered a mild greeting. "It has been a while, Edwin."
"I greet... Imperial Father."
Edwin bowed his head before the imposing sovereign standing before him. The man was his father, the one who had brought him into this world, yet at the same time, he was the most awkward stranger on earth.
The Emperor's gaze swept over Edwin from head to toe. "You look better than before."
What does he mean by that?
As Edwin bit his lip in uncertainty, the Emperor added smoothly:
"Since we have met after such a long time, shall we have a cup of tea?"
"...Pardon?"
Leaving the bewildered Edwin behind, the Emperor turned to Jerome. "Is there a reception room in the quarters?"
"Please, use my office. I will order tea to be prepared at once."
"Thank you."
The Emperor turned on his heel. Seeing Edwin merely staring in a daze, he glanced back over his shoulder.
"What are you doing standing there? Do you dislike having tea with your father?"
"N-No, not at all!"
Edwin hastily hurried after the Emperor.
Curious gazes washed over the backs of the two as they entered the quarters.
"Who was the one who called the Third Prince 'scruff'?"
"Right? Who was it? Step forward so I can give you an earful."
"Then those rumors were baseless?"
"A father and son having tea together isn't that extraordinary."
"Still, for His Majesty, busy as he is, to go out of his way to come here... shouldn't there be a reason?"
Amid the murmuring knights, Philip stood in silence.
The Emperor was never a man to move without purpose. Even if it was merely having a cup of tea with his own flesh and blood, it was undoubtedly a thoroughly calculated move.
Philip quietly watched Edwin's back as the boy trailed behind the Emperor. It was the back of an ordinary child—far too small and unremarkable to capture an emperor's attention.
And yet...
Regardless, now that the Emperor had personally sought him out, no one could tell. No one knew how the young prince's destiny might shift after today.
"It truly has been a long time since the two of us sat face-to-face like this."
"I-I beg Your Imperial Majesty's forgiveness."
"There is no need for apologies. I did not seek you out either."
Separated by a single table, the conversation between father and son was devoid of warmth.
"How is the training? Tolerable?"
"...It was difficult at first, but I am managing now."
"I see. That is a relief."
The Emperor sipped his tea in silence. After a brief pause, he spoke again.
"What is your reason?"
"Pardon?"
"Your reason for suddenly requesting to attend the knightly order's training."
Toying with the rim of his teacup, he gazed steadily at Edwin.
"You were never a child inclined to such pursuits."
"That is, well..."
How should he answer? Cold sweat beaded on Edwin's neck.
"Did you finally wish to play the part of an imperial prince at this late hour?"
"T-That is... I..."
The Emperor wore an utterly indifferent expression. Watching Edwin struggle to stammer out an answer, he tilted his head slightly.
"I met with your nanny again. Quite an audacious woman."
At the mention of his nanny, Edwin's face turned ashen.
"Your previous nanny also came before me in person to make a request. It seems you have good fortune when it comes to the people around you."
Recalling his late nanny Emma, Edwin grew even paler.
"That woman told me you wished to become stronger. Is that true?"