Translator: Nox

Chapter 23

“What are you doing? Hurry up and take it.”

Emilia looked back and forth between the teacup and Lloyd with displeased eyes.

Impatient Edwin began to coax Emilia.

“Emilia, Second Brother is apologizing to you. Take it quickly.”

“No!”

“Emilia! Hurry!”

“No—!”

“Emilia—! Listen to me!”

“Ugh!”

Emilia let out a groan as if she were utterly frustrated.

The princess hated this second brother standing before her with a passion.

After all, he was the one who had just told them to hang her, and he was the one who had shot the arrow.

But with Edwin pressing her, she had no choice.

Reluctantly, the princess extended her hand.

Seeing that, Lloyd grinned.

“Yes, gifts should be received by hand.”

Drip—

Lloyd tilted the teacup and poured the tea straight onto Emilia’s hand.

“Waaah—!”

“Emilia!”

Startled, Edwin snatched Emilia’s hand and quickly pulled her into his arms.

Fortunately, the tea had cooled, so it hadn’t scalded her.

“Hahaha!”

Lloyd burst into laughter at the sight.

“Could it be you’re scared? Afraid I might do something to that worthless little girl?”

He was more than capable of it.

The Lloyd that Edwin knew was a man with exactly that kind of temperament.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. She’s not hurt. Emilia is safe.’

It was then, as Edwin hugged his little sister tight and panted roughly.

Drip—

A lukewarm liquid poured down over his head.

“Didn’t I tell you? Don’t let me see your face.”

Lloyd, now gripping the teapot upside down, continued speaking.

“I just can’t understand how a wretch like you gets to hold the rights of an imperial prince equal to mine.”

Edwin—a guy whose only saving grace was his pretty shell.

Half-brothers connected solely by the emperor’s blood.

‘But.’

Lloyd furrowed his brow.

He recalled the old nanny who had once raised her voice to defend that wretched boy right in front of him.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

What did that penniless nobody have going for him, especially now with no maternal family left to back him?

‘Why on earth did she protect a scum like that?’

Watching Edwin sob pitifully while the old nanny held him and comforted him tenderly made bile rise in his throat.

Even if he couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason.

“This is your only warning. Remember it.”

Lloyd tossed the empty teapot to the servant and turned to leave.

But he hadn’t taken two steps.

“You villain—! Apologize to my brother!”

Because Emilia sank her teeth into his calf with all her might.

“Ugh! You filthy little—!”

Lloyd finally lost his temper and kicked at Emilia, dangling from his left leg, with his other foot.

The instant his little sister was kicked right before his eyes, Edwin’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.

It felt like the thin thread in his mind had snapped.

At the same time, Emma’s face floated up—smiling as she closed her eyes.

Edwin let out a primal scream and lunged at Lloyd.

“Raaah—!”

“Ugh!”

In a flash, Edwin knocked the Second Prince down and straddled him.

Then he rained down wild punches.

It was a full-on brawl.

Tears streaming down his face, Edwin screamed.

“What have I ever done so wrong—!”

“You bastard—!”

“My sister didn’t do anything wrong! Why touch her—! Why!”

As if unleashing all his pent-up rage, Edwin’s fists flew without restraint.

He even seemed to overpower Lloyd, who was a full head taller than him.

But it was only for a moment.

He couldn’t defeat the Second Prince, honed from childhood under master trainers.

Lloyd seized Edwin’s arm and flipped their positions in an instant.

Without hesitation, he smashed his fist into Edwin’s face.

Blood beaded on the Third Prince’s lips.

“You idiot.”

Lloyd glared down at his thrashing younger brother with wild eyes.

“Fine, I’ll teach you. Just how hopeless and pathetic you are.”

Grabbing Edwin by the collar, he reared back his right fist high.

“One or two won’t cut it.”

It was then, as his fist plunged down amid the chilling threat.

“Stop it.”

Lloyd scowled at his arm, caught mid-air.

The one barring his way was a woman he’d never seen before.

Judging by her clothes, she seemed like a palace maid.

And yet she dared block a prince.

“Let…… go.”

Lloyd tried to shake off her hand in irritation.

But for some reason, his arm wouldn’t budge in her grip.

‘What the—this strength?’

Lloyd panicked.

Young as he was, he’d trained long and hard, making him far stronger than his peers.

He certainly wasn’t weak enough to be held back by some frail maid.

Eyes wide with alarm, Lloyd bellowed.

“Who the hell do you think you are, laying hands on me!”

But the woman simply stared him down with icy eyes unchanged.

Her grip on his wrist only tightened further.

* * *

“Princess Emilia! Oh my god—!”

Catherine screamed at the sight of Emilia sprawled on the grass.

I watched her scoop up the princess, then shifted my gaze.

The Second Prince was glaring daggers at me, like he wanted to rip me apart.

I took my time sizing him up.

‘Second Prince, Lloyd Cataonian Ventrum.’

Thanks to Catherine’s heads-up, I knew exactly who he was the moment I laid eyes on him.

He was the only child of the current emperor and Second Imperial Consort Helena Redcliffe.

Maybe it was the backing of the empire’s richest house, the Redcliffe Marquis Family.

The guy acted like nothing could touch him.

‘He doesn’t take after the emperor at all, aside from the hair and eye color.’

With the Second Consort being a renowned beauty, that was probably a stroke of luck for Lloyd.

It was then, as I mulled over his looks.

“Your Highness—!”

Just then, two knights who looked like the Second Prince’s guards came sprinting from afar.

They must have been standing watch so no one would catch the prince at his cruel games.

The knight drew his sword the instant he spotted me.

“You bitch! Let go of that hand right now? How dare you touch His Highness!”

The moment the knight finished, I flung Lloyd’s wrist away.

He stumbled back toward the knights, staggering.

“Wh-what insolence!”

“Your Highness, are you alright!”

“That, just now…….”

Ignoring the enraged Second Prince, I helped Edwin to his feet.

“Are you alright?”

“H-how?”

Edwin’s eyes went wide like a startled rabbit’s—he clearly hadn’t expected me to show up.

He was a total mess.

Dirty clothes smeared with grass and soil were one thing, but his tear-streaked face and split lip made him look like some street urchin, not a prince.

“You insolent wretch! What are you waiting for—kneel before His Highness and beg forgiveness!”

One of the guard knights bellowed at me then.

He was still thrusting his blade my way.

Menacing a weaponless commoner like that—a knight with no sense of honor.

‘Ah, right. Knights were always just for show anyway, a bunch of petty, small-minded lot.’

I clicked my tongue to myself and bowed my head calmly.

“I apologize. As the Third Prince’s nanny, I couldn’t just stand by and watch what was happening before my eyes. Please forgive me.”

“Hah! Spouting forgiveness like it’s nothing!”

The knight looked thrown off by how readily I apologized.

“Nanny?”

Lloyd arched a brow, like he’d just heard something entertaining.

“So you’re the one who took over for that arrogant old hag?”

I met Lloyd’s gaze steadily, saying nothing.

“How amusing. The master’s a penniless mutt with nothing to his name, yet every nanny you get struts around like they own the place.”

He raked his eyes over me and smirked derisively.

“Edwin, if you needed a dog to bark for you, why not pick a tougher, smarter one? Not some brainless mutt that can’t tell dirt from sky. The first was a fluke, but this second one…….”

Lloyd glanced at Edwin, trembling at my side.

“It’s got to be the master’s doing, right?”

“B-Brother…….”

“But I can’t punish the master himself, so the dog pays for it.”

In a flat voice, the Second Prince summoned his guard knight at his side.

“Not only did this mere nanny touch a prince without leave, she shoved him too—a grave crime. Cut off her hand for insulting the imperial family.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The knight advanced on me without a second thought.

“Nanny!”

Catherine cried out in horror from behind.

But the knight didn’t slow.

“No! Stop!”

Edwin snapped to and threw himself in the knight’s path, but it did no good.

The man brushed him aside with one arm like he was nothing and planted himself in front of me.

“Now, give me your arm…….”

Just as he reached for it.

I dropped to the ground in a flash and pulled the shoved Edwin into my arms.

“Insolent fool—!”

My shout left stunned confusion and bewilderment on every face around.

“Prince Lloyd! This mere knight didn’t just touch a prince without permission—he shoved him too. The crime is grave. Cut off his hand for insulting the imperial family!”

“W-what?”

The knight whipped his head around, face ashen.

He glanced between me and the toppled Edwin, then turned blankly to his young master.

Dazed, he seemed to ask what now.

‘Perfect.’

All the while, I smirked at the approaching presence.

Beyond the bushes behind them.

The emperor’s flag fluttered closer on the breeze.