Chapter 46: Objective (1)
“You give an old man such hard work...”
“Didn't you just say that you are still young?”
“Because I am a ‘boy’, is it permissible for me to be enslaved? “Narrow mentality of a little girl… The future of this country is really dark.”
Saj gritted his teeth as he dug the pick into the dirt. He stopped planting seedlings, then suddenly turned to me:
“It's called elder abuse, you got it!”
"Didn't you just a few minutes ago call it 'job fraud'?"
“But both!”
I shrugged at Saj, who was shouting from the shadows of the tree:
“Technically it's not a scam... let's say 'disguised recruitment'.”
I was the one who was tricked into taking this job in the first place.
Sage raised his eyebrows: “Wow, your words are so elegant.” How similar you are to that other...same biting tongue.” Then he came back muttering and complaining, yet he was taking care of the garden with unprecedented diligence.
“Grandpa, what is this?”
«Heh! You little puppy! Don't touch it! This is a poisonous plant!”
"Yes? “Poisonous” means edible?
Sage lifted Emilia—who was crouching near him—up, snatched the little sapling from her hand, and threw it to the ground.
“What kind of nanny leaves a child unattended! Carry it or put it on your back!
I said quietly: “Without supervision?” "I'm watching her."
I didn't want to let Emilia run around like this, but she herself insisted on playing with this fickle old man, so what could I do?
“It seems that Her Highness favors you over me, so I have no choice but to step aside.”
«Huh? Wow.”
Sag finally sighed and carried Emilia onto his back.
“Those who do not know how to take care of children try to take care of them... Tess Tess. "Little pup, I'll carry you, so stop picking anything up to put it in your mouth, okay?"
“Leah loves “Grandpa Cloud”!”
“Ahh...what a mess this is in my old age...my back will be broken.”
He supported the princess's back with one hand, and with the other he arranged the scattered seedlings.
I said: “In thirty minutes, His Highness’s lesson time.” “Finish your work before then.”
“Yes, yes! You don't do anything to yourself except complain!
I raised my head to the sky, watching Sage complain. It has been four days since we returned from Locsen Village. On the surface everything was as it was, but many things happened in secret.
The most surprising thing is that the King of Adamant sent a man to us.
The king and his imperial guards only left yesterday, but two days before that, he sent one of his knights to the Third Prince's palace.
His name was Oliver.
I remember the face of that innocent-looking knight; He suddenly appeared, smiling nervously and apologizing:
“I heard that His Highness the Third Prince was ill for a few days. Are you recovered now?
What is their business if a foreign prince ascends? He is not even the first or second—but the third, and out of the succession race to begin with.
“His Majesty apologizes for not being able to visit him in person.” Then he handed over a large box, a “healing gift,” and left.
What was in the box was a bow and arrows.
I thought, since they were knights, that they would give me a sword. I never expected an arc.
See...was that intentional?
Edwin never learned the sword arts. Perhaps the King of Adamant knew this, so he sent a bow on purpose. Although Edwin did not learn to shoot either.
weirdo…
I remembered his golden eyes, his bright smile, and the familiar scent of soap—a king more like a mercenary leader than a crowned king. I pushed his image out of my head and returned my attention.
Hmm, unexpected. Reinforcements?
The ghostly presence that had always watched us from behind the wall increased in number—from one to several.
One is always there. Who sent the others?
If I want to drag them by the ears and question them, I can't do it now. I am not a leader of assassins; I am the prince's governess.
As long as they don't move, we watch and wait.
I furrowed my brow and got up.
“Thirty minutes are up!”
“Well, well!”
Sage threw on his gloves wearily. I received Emilia from him as he passed by, gloating, and I saw him with my eyes. Another day flies by at the Third Prince's Palace.
Knock!
Sage closed the Rules of Empire and Creation book with a loud bang. An easy book that princes usually finished by the age of five or six—but not Edwin. Part of the blame goes to the lackadaisical previous teacher, and part to Edwin, who showed no real desire to learn. However, within one week of taking up teaching, Sage succeeded in breaking years of stagnation, an achievement befitting the reputation of the “Great Sage.”
“Edwin,” he asked, propping his chin, “what do you want to be?”
The prince raised his head. The little pen in his hand stopped.
“…What do I want to become?”
A question he had never been asked. His eyes were confused.
“Why?”
“…Because I don’t know.”
“You don't know?”
“I never thought about it before.”
A simple answer to a simple question, but the little prince did not find it easily. After a long silence, the response was disappointing in the teacher's eyes.
“Why didn't you think?”
“Emma—my former governess—wanted me to leave for the Holy Kingdom as soon as I came of age,” Edwin said hesitantly. She said that it would be better for me to become a consecrated person there than to stay here...”
Then Sage's eyes widened in faint astonishment. He was not unaware of the Third Prince's position in the palace; Rachel had alerted him, and the look at the servants entering and exiting the prince's suite was enough to form an idea.
I don't blame the thinking itself.
When a crown prince is appointed, the rest of the princes are either bestowed with the titles of their fathers, or they are “quietly” erased. That's the custom of the empire. For the sake of a third prince without a back or a maternal home, the only way to escape was to give up his name and money, and become a devotee in the Holy Kingdom.
But I was hoping for an answer like: “I want to become an emperor, or a grand duke, or—at least—a knight.”
Whatever a "destitute prince" he was, he was born into the imperial line—Sage expected a measure of ambition.
What a dull boy...
Teaching without a purpose for the student has no joy or return. He thought for a moment and then asked: “Is this what you want too?”
Raising the sacred law document from the corner of the office:
“If you become consecrated there, you will give up your name and position. You have no friends, no lovers, and family is banished from your life. Do you want this way?
The path of holiness is noble...and lonely. Few people can be patient with him until the end. Moreover, even as an adult, Edwin would only be a boy in his early teens; To order a boy who has not lived half his life to follow this path... is a cruelty that people will record.
“You'll be alone until you die. "You still want it?"
It wasn't a threat, it was a reality. However, the prince's face turned pale:
“N-no, I don’t want it.”
“Good,” Sage laughed dryly. Do not underestimate the consecrated. “It’s nobody’s business.”
The prince muttered resentfully: “…Then what can I do?”
“It depends on what you think,” Saj replied, resting his cheek on his palm. A person is born a beggar and lives rich, and is born rich and ends up a beggar. "That's how life is."
What do you think? Edwin furrowed his eyebrows. Does that mean if I thought about it, it would happen?
Memories he didn't want surfaced: a father turning away, two brothers competing to hurt him, and Emma—the nanny he tried to save but couldn't. In twelve years, not once did life go the way he wanted. Then he says to me: Life depends on your thoughts?
Bitterness and anger almost surfaced, but Edwin turned the equation around; Remember the one time everything went his way:
“Rachel!” He called her when he wished for her presence—and she truly came to him like magic. The image of her taking down a massive monster alone… she was stronger than everyone.
He hesitated a little, then said: “But... I thought about what kind of person I want to be.”
Sage raised his eyebrows: “Oh really?” What kind of person do you want to be?
He answered confidently: “A person who can help others.” The strongest person in the world.”
Just like my nanny.
His blue eyes were shining brighter than ever.