TPNSIA-07

Chapter 7. The Prince and the Nanny (1)

“Childcare really is hard labor.”

I sighed as I closed the door behind me.

“Or maybe that little brat is just exceptionally difficult.”

Just thinking about that irritating prince made me feel like my blood pressure was rising.

Instead of chasing after Edwin when he ran off with my bracelet, I had decided to leave him alone.

And, naturally, that was when the head maid caught me leaving Emilia unattended.

The trouble had started when the head maid found Emilia sneaking into the kitchen and stealing food because she couldn’t bear her hunger any longer.

—If I catch you neglecting your duties one more time, your wages will be docked. Do you understand?

Damn it.

To think that I, of all people, would be threatened with money by an ordinary civilian.

It wounded my pride, but there was nothing I could do.

I needed funds to escape this place, and in my current situation, every last coin mattered.

In the end, I had no choice but to spend the entire day following the imperial siblings around.

Of course, whenever Edwin saw me, he would make a sour face and immediately run away.

I let out a deep sigh.

“Never thought I’d live to see the day when I’d have to make a living as a nanny.”

The word nanny suddenly brought back an old memory.

I—Kyla Angel—had been an orphan.

I had simply been unlucky enough to be born in an era when attacks by monsters and barbarians meant there was hardly a day without bloodshed.

Abandoned as soon as I was born, I spent the first seven years of my life in an orphanage attached to a temple.

That was where I met a woman.

She had taken it upon herself to become a mother to children who, like me, had lost their parents.

We called one another family.

But our peaceful life there did not last long.

Not even the temple could escape the barbarians’ attacks.

The temple burned, and the children were scattered in every direction. We didn’t even know who had survived.

I barely managed to escape with my life, only to be captured by a strange slave trader.

The slave trader sold me for a hefty sum to an assassination organization called Angel’s Breath.

He had convinced the former commander to buy me because, despite growing up half-starved, I was sturdier than other children my age.

My earliest memory of that place was the face of an instructor ordering me to kill a puppy that hadn’t even opened its eyes yet.

Only after spending five years with the assassins was I able to step into the outside world again.

And then, by sheer coincidence, I met the woman who had raised me once more.

She was still doing an admirable job of being a mother to homeless, parentless children.

Unlike me, who was too stunned by our sudden reunion to say anything, the moment she saw me, she pulled me into her arms and wept bitterly.

—Thank goodness you’re alive. Thank goodness, Kyla. Truly.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what I did for a living.

After reuniting with someone from my past, I continued to visit her whenever I could.

Whenever I was with her, it felt as though I had returned home.

Not that an orphan with no family in the world had any real home to return to.

But the former commander, who had already marked me as a candidate to become his successor, did not tolerate my meetings with her.

—What good is exceptional talent when you’re defective in here?

When I returned to the organization, the former commander clicked his tongue as he pressed the tip of his blade against my chest.

—You killed every member I sent to kill that woman. What is she, your real flesh and blood?

Instead of answering him, I lowered my gaze and made a vow.

—I won’t meet that woman again. So leave her alone.

—And you think she’ll understand you just because you do that? You, now that you’ve become a murderer?

He looked at me, drenched in the blood of my fellow assassins, with genuine pity in his eyes.

—This is why girls are no good. Far too sentimental.

The former commander continued to regard me with pity.

—Kyla, that weakness of yours will kill you someday.

What had I said to him back then?

I couldn’t remember.

Still, I crossed paths with that woman several more times afterward.

Coincidences that were anything but coincidental.

In the haze of my memories, I saw her smiling among the children.

Emma.

I silently repeated her name.

By now, she was probably back in her hometown, living out the rest of her life happily with her real family.

She deserved that kind of happiness.

Sometimes, even the faint outline of an old memory could bring comfort.

With that thought, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

For the first time in ages, it was a truly deep sleep.

“…Damn it.”

Dawn was beginning to break outside the window.

“So it really wasn’t a dream.”

I sat up, staring at the still-unfamiliar ceiling.

When I threw open the window, cold air rushed inside.

Looking out, I saw servants already bustling about despite the early hour.

Watching such an utterly ordinary scene made something inside me stir.

I had lived my entire life as an assassin and died as one.

Any guilt I felt over killing had faded long ago, and I had never once taken pride in the life I lived.

Maybe that was why.

Sometimes, I found myself imagining what it might have been like to live an ordinary life.

—You’re more romantic than you look, Kyla.

Ian’s words surfaced in my mind instinctively.

That bastard who killed me often called me romantic.

He also frequently said that I, the commander, didn’t seem suited to being an assassin.

That was why I liked him.

When everyone else told me I had been born to become an assassin,

he alone told me that being an assassin didn’t suit me.

I liked that about Ian.

Probably.

Not that any of it matters anymore.

Shaking off those useless memories, I turned around.

A modest dress hung neatly against the wall, almost as if it had been waiting for me.

By eavesdropping on the people here yesterday, I had learned several things.

First, I came back to life one year after my death.

I had no idea why there was a one-year gap.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how I had come back to life in the first place.

There had to be a reason, but for now, I had no way to uncover it.

Second, the real Rachel Brown was hired on the recommendation of the previous nanny.

No matter how much I asked, no one would tell me what had happened to the former nanny.

The moment I so much as mentioned Mrs. Conrad, everyone changed the subject.

There was nothing I could do about that.

All I had managed to learn was that the real Rachel Brown had been particularly close to the previous nanny.

Third, security was twice as strict as usual because a foreign king and his delegation were visiting.

I had planned to secretly slip outside and gather information about the organization and Ian, but it looked like I would have to postpone that.

Apparently, the king of some newly founded kingdom had arrived with an order of knights.

Why did it have to happen now of all times?

The timing couldn’t possibly be worse.

If I were caught climbing over a wall while the king of another country was visiting, I might end up accused of all sorts of crimes and meet a gruesome death.

This body wasn’t completely lacking in athletic ability, but compared to my old body, it was pathetic.

I had no intention of getting myself executed after being caught during some clumsy escape attempt.

I’ll have to keep my head down for a while.

I stared at the dress hanging on the wall.

Right. This isn’t childcare. It’s a mission.

My assigned role was that of a nanny.

And I didn’t have one client, but two.

A hot-tempered prince and a troublemaking princess.

Even if it’s hard, endure it. This is only a means of earning money.

Once I had saved enough funds and strengthened this body, I would escape immediately.

Looking forward to the day I could finally leave this place, I straightened the skirt of the dress I had put on.

“Time to go.”

Once I had finished getting ready, I threw open the door with determination.

And so began my second day as a nanny in the Prince’s Palace.

Perhaps chasing the imperial siblings around all day yesterday had paid off.

Fortunately, I avoided the disaster of getting lost on my way to the prince’s room.

When I entered carrying a still half-asleep Emilia in my arms, Edwin stared at me in surprise.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

He looked as though he had never imagined I would show up this early just to torment him.

It wasn’t as if I had expected a warm welcome, but seeing him so openly displeased somehow irritated me.

“Isn’t it only natural for me, as Your Highness’s nanny, to come wake you?”

“That’s unusual. You haven’t come at this hour even once in the last two weeks.”

The maid who had just entered carrying a basin of water also glanced at me curiously.

Judging by their reactions, it seems the real Rachel Brown wasn’t exactly suited to being a nanny either.

I lowered my head to hide my embarrassment.

“My apologies. I was adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings and have been discourteous to Your Highness until now. From this point forward, I will correct—”

“Forget it.”

He yawned lazily and obediently climbed out of bed.

It seemed he had given up on running away from me like he had yesterday.

“I’ll wash my face.”

Still looking half-asleep, Edwin stood in front of the basin.

Then he began doing something I simply couldn’t understand.

What is he doing?

Edwin dipped only the tips of his fingers into the water and rubbed his eyes.

He repeated the process several times before staring straight at me.

“I’m done.”

Done?

What exactly had he washed?

His eyeballs?

I quietly sighed.

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I would have to teach an imperial prince how to wash himself.

“You need to wash behind your ears as well.”

Despite my helpful advice, Edwin shook his head irritably.

“Ah, I washed properly!”

What part of that was proper?

I forced myself to smile at him.

“Your Highness, the places you can’t easily see are usually the dirtiest. Behind your ears, your neck—”

“I’m not dirty!”

“And what makes you so certain?”

At my question, Edwin declared with absolute confidence,

“Because I’m a prince!”