TPNSIA 01

CHAPTER-01

Chapter 1: Me, a Nanny?! A Nanny?! (1)

“Food!”

I had spent twenty years living as an assassin.

My profession had naturally given me nerves of steel, and I had been certain there was nothing left in this world capable of surprising me.

But this time was different.

Very different.

“Nanny! Lia wants food!”

I opened my eyes at the bizarre sound.

The first things I saw were an unfamiliar ceiling…

and a strange lump of golden fur.

“Nanny! Lia is hungry!”

The golden furball had climbed on top of me without permission and was whining incessantly.

…Since when could furballs talk?

More importantly—

Didn’t I definitely die in that field of reeds?

“HUAAAH!”

I shot upright, gasping like someone who had just been pulled from drowning.

“KYAAAA!”

The talking golden furball screamed as well and tumbled toward the corner of the bed.

Instinctively, I touched my face and body.

Breathing—normal.

Pulse—normal.

My skin was still warm.

I was alive.

“Nanny, what’s wrong?”

The little furball tilted its head repeatedly, confused by my behavior.

Unfortunately, I had no time to satisfy its curiosity.

“A mirror. Where’s a mirror?”

“A mirror? It’s over there.”

When I asked urgently, the furball kindly pointed it out.

I rushed toward it.

A stranger stood inside the crudely decorated mirror.

“What the hell…?”

What I saw was so absurd that it made me question even the certainty of my death.

Slowly, I lifted a strand of hair.

The stranger in the mirror did exactly the same.

I lowered it.

So did she.

After staring blankly at the reflection, I slapped both of my cheeks as hard as I could.

Smack!

“Ugh!”

Sharp pain spread across my face.

At this point, I had no choice but to accept it.

I had died…

and awakened as someone else.

Something completely impossible had happened to me.

“Nanny, why are you hitting yourself? Don’t! It hurts!”

The furball ran over and tugged at my skirt, but I was too stunned by reality to pay attention.

I carefully examined my new appearance.

My short red hair, once cut high enough to expose the back of my neck, was completely gone.

Instead, smooth dark-brown hair cascaded below my chest.

And my hair wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

My sharp, intimidating features had become gentle and innocent.

My strong, brutally trained body had become soft and delicate.

“Ha….”

A hollow sigh escaped me.

In short, from head to toe, I had become an entirely different person.

Only one thing remained familiar:

My green eyes, shimmering with a mysterious golden hue.

Finding even that small similarity brought momentary relief, but the unanswered question remained.

I definitely died. So why am I alive?

Why?

For what reason?

Then someone knocked on the door.

“Lady Brown, are you in there?”

My already overwhelmed mind went completely blank.

An unfamiliar body.

An unfamiliar place.

An unfamiliar voice.

My heart began pounding.

Then the furball whispered,

“The old witch! It’s the old witch!”

Old witch?

I looked down.

On closer inspection, it wasn’t actually a furball.

It was a little girl, perhaps four or five years old.

She had messy golden curls, enormous blue eyes, and a golden dress. With so much gold, it was easy to mistake her for a fluffy golden ball at first glance.

Still, the child’s warning wasn’t particularly useful.

I pressed my throbbing temple and closed my eyes.

Calm down, Kaila Angel. Remember who you are.

Self-suggestion had always worked well.

I quickly regained my composure and began analyzing my surroundings out of habit.

The person outside spoke the continent’s common language.

The only country where that language was commonly used in everyday life was the Ventrum Empire.

That meant I was probably somewhere within Ventrum.

Having been born and raised there myself, that was at least somewhat reassuring.

I scanned the room again.

Silk wallpaper everywhere—and high-quality silk at that.

Trade with the Eastern Continent might have lowered silk prices, but silk was still a luxury.

This is probably the residence of a noble ranked count or higher.

Even the furniture looked more like artwork than something ordinary people could ever afford.

But….

Something bothered me.

My clothes.

The dress is made from good fabric, but it’s far too plain.

It certainly didn’t look like something a noble lady or princess would wear.

There are calluses on my hands, and my heels are too low.

Even the cuffs and hem of the dress were slightly worn.

Compared with the child’s clothes, the difference was obvious.

I examined her outfit.

It was made from luxurious silk that only high-ranking nobles would normally wear.

Was the original owner of this body perhaps this child’s maid?

Another knock came from outside.

“Rachel Brown, I know you’re in there! Open this door immediately!”

The voice was irritated.

“Just a moment.”

I deliberately chose the safest possible response.

Then I slowly approached the door.

The moment I turned the handle and opened it, the owner of the voice appeared.

Before the door was even fully open, a middle-aged woman pushed her way inside.

Judging by her clothing, she was a maid—but apparently one of considerable rank.

Head maid, perhaps.

Then came a barrage of scolding fiercer than a rain of arrows.

“If you were accepted here with a recommendation, then at least do your job properly!”

I instinctively frowned at her piercing voice.

“How can someone responsible for caring for Their Highnesses be this lazy?”

I felt somewhat sorry for the woman passionately scolding me, because I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

Nanny? Their Highnesses?

Those troublesome words made my brow twitch.

Wait.

Did she say ‘Their Highnesses’?

Only then did I notice the emblem carved into the doorknob.

A silver stag surrounded by laurel leaves.

It was unmistakably the symbol of the imperial family.

Damn it.

There could be no mistake.

The place where I had awakened…

was the Imperial Palace of the Ventrum Empire.

It felt like a dream.

If my cheeks weren’t still stinging, I might actually have believed it was one.

Coming back to life after dying was unbelievable enough.

But of all places, I had awakened inside the Imperial Palace.

This is going to be troublesome.

The Imperial Palace.

Because of my profession, I had visited it more frequently than my own home.

Yet it was also one of the places I disliked most.

The reason was simple.

The Imperial Palace was the filthiest and most corrupt place in the entire empire.

Meanwhile, the woman seemed to notice something strange about me standing there silently.

“Rachel? Are you listening to me?”

“Ah… my head hurts a little….”

I deliberately trailed off while avoiding her gaze.

She was speaking politely to me, suggesting that her status wasn’t particularly high. Still, I couldn’t be certain.

If I used the wrong level of formality, I might make myself even more suspicious.

At that moment, the golden-haired child hiding behind me suddenly emerged.

“Your Highness Emilia! So this is where you were. You frightened us by disappearing without saying anything.”

“Uh… mm.”

The child gave a vague response and hid behind me again.

I had known from her expensive clothes that she was important.

But I certainly hadn’t expected her to be an imperial princess.

The head maid looked disapprovingly at the child before turning her attention back to me.

“While you were away, His Highness Edwin disappeared. Do you know how much commotion the maids from the annex caused when they came running to me? For someone who entered this palace with Lady Conrad’s recommendation, you can’t even properly handle your own responsibilities….”

She gestured irritably toward the door.

“Go find him and bring him back immediately. Honestly, always troubling people over such ridiculous matters….”

Shaking her head as though she had a headache, she left the room.

Apparently, she didn’t even care enough to wait for my response.

Did she really come all the way here just to scold me? How diligent of her.

I stared blankly at the closed door before rushing back to the mirror.

The unfamiliar woman was still staring back at me.

No.

I supposed that woman was me now.

“…Rachel Brown?”

The head maid had called me Rachel Brown.

She had also said that Rachel Brown had entered the palace with Lady Conrad’s recommendation.

And apparently, I was….

“Nanny? What are you doing?”

The child continued staring at me with wide, innocent eyes.

Looking at the tiny girl who didn’t even reach my waist, I couldn’t stop myself from sighing.

“…I’m a nanny?”