Chapter 13
Something felt off.
The sharp glares from the maids pouring in the moment I entered the Prince’s Palace.
The somehow subdued atmosphere.
‘What is it?’
I frowned, scanning my surroundings.
Edwin looked at me with puzzled eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“The atmosphere feels a bit off.”
“Atmosphere?”
Edwin blinked as if he had no idea what I was talking about.
Just then, the maid who had brought the prince’s wash water that morning caught my eye.
Even after what had happened that morning, she somehow looked pleased.
As if something good had happened to her.
“You there.”
“N-Nanny?”
At my call, the maid startled, her face jumping in surprise.
“Why are you so startled?”
“W-When did I say I was startled?”
The maid seemed to gauge my reaction, then her attitude suddenly shifted.
“But why did you call me? I’m a bit busy.”
Her subtly condescending tone made my brow furrow involuntarily.
“Did something happen while I was away?”
“What do you mean, something happened?”
“The atmosphere doesn’t seem great.”
“Ah.”
The maid let out a short exclamation at my question, then smiled awkwardly as if troubled.
“Well, one of the annex maids disobeyed the head maid’s orders in a most insolent way.”
Annex maid?
A bad premonition stirred.
As my expression changed, the maid smirked with her eyes.
But her mouth wasn’t smiling.
“That lowly thing dared to bring food to Your Highness without permission. The kitchen says they knew nothing about it.”
At the maid’s continuing words, Edwin’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.
“What does that mean?”
That was exactly what I wanted to say.
“What happened to that maid?”
“What do you think? The head maid punished her personally.”
The maid snickered repeatedly, looking smug.
“She’s probably locked in the food storage room by now? Anyway, I have a lot to do, so I’ll be going.”
She gave Edwin a haughty nod and left.
The moment the maid disappeared, Edwin turned to me accusingly.
“What was that about? She brought me food and got punished?”
For some reason, Edwin’s voice was sharply edged.
I didn’t know why, but he looked anxious.
“Why won’t you answer?”
Only then did I realize that Edwin had been clutching my skirt the whole time.
The prince’s small hand was pale white.
His tiny face had also filled with fear before I knew it.
Instead of answering, I slowly pried Edwin’s hand away.
“…It’s nothing. Your Highness, go up to the room with Princess Emilia first.”
“What? What about you?”
“I have somewhere to stop by briefly.”
“Hey, wait! Hey!”
After handing Emilia to the prince, I hurried away.
Edwin’s gaze clung stubbornly to my back, but I ignored it as best I could.
* * *
The food storage room, found after questioning the kitchen maids.
The storage room door was firmly locked.
“Catherine, are you in there?”
“…Nanny?”
After a brief silence, a small voice came from inside the door.
It had to be Catherine.
“What happened?”
“Well, the head maid found out I brought food to Your Highness separately.”
“……”
When no reply came, Catherine added in a forced bright voice, as if worried.
“But the head maid let it go. She said she’d let me out after I reflect here for just one day. It’s a relief, right?”
I grimaced at her trembling voice.
I was the one who had asked her to break the head maid’s orders.
So, this was my responsibility.
“Nanny?”
“Wait just a moment.”
“Yes?”
Clunk, clunk, clank—
The padlock on the storage room door fell with a loud noise.
I flung the door open, and Catherine stared at me blankly, bound with rope.
Her hair half-undone, lips burst and bleeding.
From her disheveled state, it looked like she’d been slapped at least.
“Nanny…?”
Catherine still looked dazed and stupid.
“Nanny, h-how?”
She muttered in shock, looking at the chain and padlock sprawled on the floor.
“The key should be with the head maid…”
“You don’t necessarily need a key to open a padlock.”
I tossed the bent hairpin to the floor, and Catherine gasped in horror.
“W-Wait! Nanny, if you do something like this, even you’ll…!”
“Stay still.”
“N-No, agh!”
Ignoring her protests, I untied the rope, and a pain-mixed groan escaped her.
“Why are you…”
I couldn’t finish the question and frowned.
Bloodstains were visible on her slender back.
‘This…’
Peeking through the torn fabric were countless long scar marks—whip lashes.
In that instant, my mind went cold, as if doused with ice water.
“…Isn’t this strange?”
“Yes?”
I continued as if talking to myself.
“Who do you think is the master of this palace?”
“Of course, His Highness Edwin…”
“But didn’t you get whipped and locked in here just for preparing food for His Highness Edwin?”
At my words, Catherine clamped her mouth shut, speechless.
She must know it too.
How utterly unreasonable this situation was.
Preparing food for the palace’s master and getting punished for it instead.
It was truly absurd.
‘Yeah, it doesn’t make sense.’
Unless Edwin was some mangy stray prince.
I slowly stood up.
“Just one question.”
Catherine lifted her head at my words.
“You knew you’d get something like this if you were caught—why did you help me anyway?”
Catherine tried to smile as if it were a joke.
“I didn’t help you because of the nanny…”
“I’m asking sincerely.”
At my serious tone, she hesitated, then lowered her eyes.
“…Because.”
“What?”
“Because I’m grateful.”
My piercing gaze seemed burdensome, so she continued with her head bowed.
“I’ve been bullied by the main building maids all along, but you’re the only one who’s ever stepped in to help me directly. So, so…”
I stood there silently for a long while.
“Catherine.”
“Yes.”
“I really hate troublesome things.”
“I-I’m sorry. I was so sure the head maid wouldn’t find out…”
Mistaking it for a scolding, Catherine made a tearful face.
I added flatly, looking at her.
“But there’s something I hate even more.”
“Yes?”
“Something that doesn’t make sense no matter how rationally I think about it.”
I turned my back on the dazed Catherine.
“Go back to the annex dorms first.”
“Nanny! Wait, agh!”
Just then, Catherine, trying to follow me, stood halfway and collapsed back down.
“What’s wrong?”
“M-My legs are numb…”
What a handful.
But it was my fault she ended up like this in the first place.
Frowning, I went to her and helped her up.
She looked at me with a moved expression.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Yes?”
“It’s my fault things turned out this way, so of course I’m helping you.”
Catherine stared at me blankly.
She seemed not to understand what I was saying.
I sighed and added one more thing.
“I mean, don’t thank me.”
At that, Catherine let out a small laugh.
Whip lashes and all, and she was laughing?
“Why are you laughing?”
When I asked as if baffled, she grinned mischievously instead.
“Just because. Does laughter need a reason?”
“If you have the energy to laugh, hurry up and walk.”
“Nanny.”
With her arm around my shoulder as she stood, Catherine suddenly called me.
“You’re really unique, Nanny.”
Hearing that made me recall what Edwin had once said to me.
- You’re really weird.
Suddenly, I was weird and unique.
“Lately, I’ve been hearing that a lot.”
“And you seem like a good person.”
A good person.
A chuckle escaped me somehow.
“Nanny?”
Finding my reaction odd, Catherine looked puzzled.
“Looks like all the good people are dead.”
Calling an assassin a good person.
It was the funniest thing I’d ever heard.
Meanwhile, Catherine seemed to take my words as a mere joke.
“Nanny, really!”
She was still smiling innocently.
* * *
As Catherine and I entered the annex, the annex maids rushed out in shocked faces.
“Catherine!”
“Oh my god, what happened!”
“Are you okay?”
“Did the head maid let you out?”
They all wore genuinely worried expressions for Catherine.
“No, the nanny let me out.”
“What?”
At Catherine’s words, the maids’ gazes turned to me all at once.
I gave them an awkward nod.
The annex maids seemed awkward too.
They eyed ‘Rachel Brown’ warily, as if seeing her for the first time.
“This is the new nanny?”
It seemed the real Lady Rachel Brown hadn’t even set foot in the annex.
Ignoring their curious stares, I spoke up.
“Catherine’s wounds are serious. We need to move her somewhere.”
“Ah, this way—!”
Only then did the annex maids snap to attention.
Supporting Catherine, I entered the dorms.
The moment I laid her on the shabby bed, the maids bustled about.
‘They resemble them.’
The way they scurried around just to tend to Catherine alone reminded me of my old subordinates who followed me.
Captain! Covered in wounds again today!
Want me to apply ointment? You say no? You think I like this? I’m doing it because if the captain dies, the organization will fall apart!
Recalling the voices of my long-time comrades, I quietly lowered my gaze.
Somehow, my mouth tasted bitter.
