TPNSIA-02

CHAPTER-02

Chapter 2: Me, a Nanny?! A Nanny?! (2)

I had lived my entire life without having anything to do with children.

With so much confusion swirling through my head, I was beginning to feel dizzy.

Anyway, if she was accepted here through someone’s recommendation, does that mean she’s the daughter of a noble family?

I formed my first theory about Rachel Brown, only to discard it almost immediately.

As far as I knew, there were no nobles in the empire with the surname Brown.

In the first place, wasn’t “Brown” the sort of surname commoners used?

A noble family name was supposed to sound elegant and carry some grand meaning.

Unless she’s the daughter of some insignificant family that’s fallen on hard times.

That was probably more likely.

Even if she was working as a maid, the daughter of a prestigious noble family wouldn’t be wearing clothes this worn.

Just then, a sharp headache struck me.

A horrifyingly familiar voice echoed in my ears.

—Then use this opportunity to think carefully about why I’m doing this.

The existence of him, whom I had momentarily forgotten, returned vividly to my mind.

—In the afterlife.

The center of my chest began burning as though I had swallowed a piece of hot charcoal.

It felt as though those damned flames that had greedily consumed my body were now burning my heart.

“…Ian.”

I shouldn’t have said it.

I shouldn’t have allowed the name of the bastard who killed me to leave my lips.

The flames burning inside my chest seemed to spread all the way to my eyes.

Tears spilled from them.

“Nanny, are you crying? Does it hurt?”

At that moment, the furball—or rather, the child who had been addressed as Her Highness Emilia—wrapped her arms around my knees.

“Nanny, don’t hurt! Waaah!”

“Wait, no….”

Before I knew it, the princess had begun sobbing uncontrollably.

Seeing her cry simply because I was crying left me at a loss.

With no other choice, I carefully placed my hand on Emilia’s tangled, fluffy hair.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d comforted a child this young, so I had no idea what I was doing.

“…Please stop crying.”

I gently stroked her soft, downy hair.

I wasn’t sure whether it would work, but fortunately, it did.

As soon as I stroked her head, Emilia stopped crying.

“Mmm… then Nanny won’t cry anymore either?”

“Yes. I won’t cry anymore.”

“Then Lia won’t cry either!”

The princess bravely wiped away her tears and pressed her lips together.

Watching her somehow cleared my mind.

That’s right.

Now that I had died and somehow returned to life, petty emotions weren’t important.

I clenched both fists and remembered Ian’s command.

—Burn her. Don’t leave even ashes behind.

Ian had wanted nothing of me to remain.

But contrary to his wishes, my soul had returned to life in someone else’s body.

Just wait, Ian.

I gritted my teeth as I remembered the face of the lover who had stabbed me in the back.

Whatever your reason was…

There was only one punishment for a traitor:

Death.

Remembering the iron rule of my organization, I clenched my jaw.

I will never forgive you.

On the day I awakened not as the leader of the continent’s greatest assassin guild, but in the body of an imperial nanny, I made a decision.

I would devote this second life I had been given to one thing alone.

Revenge.

“Nanny, Nanny.”

As I silently burned with thoughts of revenge, Emilia tugged at my skirt.

“Brother ran away. Find him.”

Brother?

Ah. Come to think of it, the head maid had told me to find His Highness Edwin.

“Do you mean… His Highness Edwin?”

Now that I knew the child was a princess, I corrected myself and spoke more respectfully.

“Yeah! My brother’s name is Edwin!”

I nodded, then frowned.

Wait. Do I even have a reason to stay here?

Escaping the Imperial Palace wouldn’t be difficult for me.

Even now, I knew more than five secret passages leading in and out of the palace.

But even if I leave immediately, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to find Ian.

I didn’t even know how much time had passed since my death, and I didn’t have a single coin.

Leaving blindly under these circumstances would be foolish.

And this body isn’t trained like my old one. If I act recklessly, I might actually manage to die twice.

I looked at the little princess standing before me and made my decision.

For the time being, I would remain here and play this ridiculous role of nanny.

With an expression of grim determination, I threw open the door.

It was the moment my new life truly began.

Finding the prince turned out to be easier than expected.

Emilia knew where he was.

“Are you certain he’s over there?”

“Yeah! Brother Ed always plays over there!”

Emilia’s tiny steps were slowing me down, so I simply picked her up with one arm and began walking quickly.

Why is she so light?

The princess was so light she seemed as though a strong breeze could carry her away. A faint, sweet scent of baby powder came from the top of her head.

Good grief. Maybe she wasn’t a furball after all. Maybe she’s cotton candy.

The little princess, who really did resemble cotton candy, wrapped her arms around my neck and giggled happily.

“Nanny, I’m so high!”

What was she so excited about?

Ignoring Emilia as she played with my hair, I continued walking.

Come to think of it, what kind of child was Edwin again?

I had visited the Imperial Palace countless times before my death, but this was my first time entering the Third Prince’s residence.

Still, for an imperial prince’s palace….

The palace was surrounded by arched corridors.

It was large, but somehow…

there was almost nothing filling the space.

It’s desolate.

That was the perfect word for it.

Ah. I’m starting to remember.

Seeing the empty palace brought back several pieces of information about the Third Prince.

Edwin Anaxinian Ventrum, Third Prince of the Ventrum Empire.

Essentially an abandoned child.

Edwin was the only son born to the current emperor, Cabellius III, and the Third Imperial Consort, Edith Lionel.

But Edith had died three years earlier.

Apparently, she had died from excessive bleeding during childbirth, which probably meant she died shortly after giving birth to Emilia.

She had been unable to leave anything behind for her children.

Not that she could have.

As a foreign-born consort, she had no meaningful political supporters within the empire.

She had practically been sent here as a hostage, so how could she?

And the Kingdom of Lionel was probably too busy dealing with its own problems to care about what happened here.

The Third Prince Edwin and First Princess Emilia had nothing they could use to strengthen their position.

Little by little, their presence within the Imperial Palace had faded.

As though they had never existed in the first place.

That was everything I knew about Edwin.

No wonder my memories of him were so vague. He barely had any presence.

Servants who served powerless masters always suffered the most.

If I stayed here too long, hardship seemed inevitable.

It would probably be best to escape as soon as possible.

While thinking about all of this, we eventually arrived at the rear garden of the annex.

Hmm? Something’s strange.

No matter where I looked, I couldn’t see the prince.

Frowning, I surveyed the area before closing my eyes.

I focused all my attention on my senses so that I wouldn’t miss even the slightest presence.

Then I noticed considerable commotion coming from beyond the wall.

I quickly headed toward it.

“This is….”

In one corner of the annex’s rear garden stood a wall.

There were signs that someone had tried to conceal something with bushes, but they couldn’t fool my eyes.

I moved the bushes aside.

A small hole appeared at the bottom of the wall.

The grass around it had been flattened.

It was clearly being used regularly by either a small animal…

or a child.

If the prince wasn’t in the garden where he was supposed to be, he must have escaped through this hole.

No other choice.

I put Emilia down.

“Nanny?”

“Your Highness, you must stay right here. Do you understand?”

“Stay here?”

Emilia fidgeted with her fingers, looking troubled.

“Lia is hungry.”

Come to think of it, she had been complaining about being hungry ever since we first met.

I felt bad, but there was nothing else I could do.

I couldn’t recklessly take a young princess outside the palace grounds.

And if anyone discovered that a prince had left his own palace without an attendant, there would be an uproar.

I needed to find him quickly.

“I’ll be back soon. Please wait here for just a moment.”

“Mmm, okay. You have to come back quickly, okay?”

Instead of answering, I gave her a small nod and inhaled.

Then I kicked off the ground and vaulted over the wall in a single movement.

“Nanny! Amazing!”

I heard Emilia’s excited voice from the other side.

Fortunately, my new body seemed to have reasonably good athletic ability.

I dusted off my hands and was about to turn around when—

I felt someone watching me.

The gaze was subtle, but persistent.

It didn’t seem malicious.

But it certainly wasn’t pleasant either.

I immediately turned my head.

The presence had already vanished without a trace.

Was I imagining it?

I narrowed my eyes and was about to head toward where I had sensed the gaze when—

“Give it back!”

A scream came from the opposite direction.

It was the voice of a child.

The commotion was coming from the imperial stables near the Third Prince’s palace.

“Give it back! I said give it back!”

About twenty paces away, beneath the wooden roof of one of the stable buildings, a group of large boys had surrounded a smaller child.

“Give it back!”

“Giiive it baaack! I said giiive it baaack!”

The boys seemed to be having a great deal of fun mocking him.

Judging from their clothing, they didn’t appear to be of low status.

They’re big, but their faces are still young. They all look like nobles… Could they be pages?

As I wondered who they were, I caught a glimpse of one child who stood out sharply from the rest.

Found him.

Third Prince Edwin.

He was exactly the boy I had been looking for.