How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 12

At the command to bark some more, Evan momentarily wondered if he’d heard wrong.

But the wildcat’s insolent gaze clearly said, Well? What are you waiting for? Start barking.

He hadn’t even said a word in the first place, yet now he was being told to bark more. Evan felt something bubbling inside him—a mixture of indignation, disbelief, and anger.

He knew that if he didn’t hit the brat at least once right then and there, he’d regret it for the rest of his life. Before he knew it, he’d clenched his fist and swung it toward the wildcat’s white head.

But his fist never connected. It cut through empty air with a sharp whoosh.

The wildcat nimbly dodged the punch, dashed toward the bed where Rianus was sleeping, and leaped onto it.

Seeing the bed bounce violently, Evan panicked and hurried to stop him.

“Hey, hey! What do you think you’re—?!”

He’d only meant to stop the brat from waking the prince, but his voice came out much louder than expected. Evan abruptly fell silent and glanced at Rianus.

Fortunately, His Highness hadn’t woken up. But the damn wildcat couldn’t have cared less whether Evan was watching or not. He approached the sleeping prince and began slapping his small, round forehead with his wicked little palm.

“W-What are you doing?! Stop that instant!”

“Rian, wake up.”

Smack, smack.

Nihil paid no attention to Evan and continued slapping Rianus’s forehead.

Evan hurriedly grabbed Nihil by the scruff of his neck, but the little kitten finally gave in to the commotion and slowly opened his eyes.

“Mmm… uuuuh…”

Evan froze, holding the ill-mannered wildcat dangling by the scruff, as he watched the little kitten rub his eyes upon waking.

Rianus’s eyes widened as he tried to make sense of the strange scene before him. He looked back and forth between Evan and Nihil before asking,

“Neil? Sir Evan? What are you doing?”

“Ah, well, Your Highness, this is… I mean…”

Unlike Evan, who was at a complete loss for words, Nihil answered quite boldly, even while dangling from the scruff of his neck.

“I’m bored.”

Evan pressed his fingers firmly against his temples.

Oh, he was bored.

So this damn wildcat had told Evan to bark more and slapped the forehead of a sick little kitten just because he was bored.

“Neil, you were bored! I slept for too long, didn’t I? I’m sorry!”

Ah…

Evan let out a sigh.

Choose the worst wildcat between these two: the one who noisily woke a sick little kitten because he was bored, or the little kitten who apologized despite being ill because he’d made the wildcat bored.

Evan struggled to find anything to say. In the end, he simply lowered the wildcat in his hand carefully beside the little kitten.

Once his neck was free, the wildcat crawled over to Rianus on his knees. Meanwhile, their little kitten simply beamed with delight.

Evan’s head was spinning.

It wasn’t even noon yet, and he was already so mentally and physically exhausted that he wanted to give up thinking altogether.

“Neil, what should we play?”

“Hand.”

The wildcat had finally begun treating the prince like a pet.

Their innocent, endlessly kind little kitten tilted his head in confusion but obediently held out his hand. Evan, however, was practically boiling with rage.

Nihil gently took hold of Rianus’s wrist. He lowered his gaze slightly and remained that way for several seconds.

“…I woke you a little early. Want to sleep some more?”

“What? No, I don’t. I’m not sleepy anymore.”

Rianus shook his head while Nihil still held his wrist. Watching them, Evan narrowed his eyes and cautiously opened his mouth.

“You little brat, do you know how to take someone’s pulse?”

At Evan’s question, Nihil glanced at him before returning his attention to Rianus’s pulse.

“I can only get a rough idea of someone’s condition. I don’t know enough to tell you anything in detail.”

“Where did you learn that? Do you know anything about medicinal herbs, too?”

“More or less, the ones that grow in the mountains. Why?”

“…Never mind.”

“You’re a bore.”

Rianus, who had been watching the conversation with wide, curious eyes, pressed his own fingers against his wrist in fascination.

He could feel a large blood vessel throbbing beneath his fingers. But that was all. The only thing Rianus could tell was that his heart was beating.

“I can’t really tell. But Neil, don’t you keep changing the way you talk?”

“…Huh? Oh.”

Nihil realized that his speech had been fluctuating again and shot Evan a sharp glare. His expression practically accused the man of being responsible for all of this. Of course, given Nihil’s usual impassive face, the change amounted to little more than a slight furrowing of his brows.

“You. Don’t talk to me.”

Nihil glared at Evan and made what amounted to a declaration of estrangement. Even so, Evan continued staring at him as though he were some fascinating creature.

So he really isn’t consciously changing the way he speaks.

A glimmer of interest appeared in Evan’s eyes.

In that case…

“I’m a little hurt that you’d say that.”

“If you’re hurt, then what am I supposed to— Ah.”

Nihil’s expression twisted in irritation. He seemed to have immediately caught on to Evan’s intentions and couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence. Perhaps his pride had been wounded by falling for such a cheap trick, because a pillow came flying at Evan a moment later.

Evan didn’t even bother dodging. He let the pillow hit him squarely in the face, the corners of his mouth curling into a smug grin.

Unfortunately, the wildcat was quick to catch on, but there was hope.

If it meant correcting the wildcat’s atrocious speech habits, Evan was perfectly willing to use polite language as much as necessary.

“If you throw pillows like that, it hurts.”

“I threw it because I wanted it to hurt… Get lost.”

“What’s going on? What’s going on? What game are you playing?”

Evan was secretly impressed by Nihil’s self-restraint in managing not to raise his voice. Meanwhile, Rianus, who had absolutely no idea what was happening, looked between them in confusion.

Not wanting to drag the situation out any longer, Nihil hurriedly changed the subject.

“It’s nothing. Rian, your dog—no, your knight—has been barking nonstop since yesterday without even sleeping… I mean, he’s been taking care of you. Why don’t you let him rest for a while?”

“What? Sir Evan, go get some rest! I’m not leaving the room today, so you don’t need to guard me.”

Evan was bothered by the way Nihil’s words kept getting interrupted, but when he met the little kitten’s wide, expectant eyes, he could only smile back.

“That won’t do, Your Highness. I’ve sent all the palace attendants away, so if I’m gone as well, you’ll have to do things for yourself. And whenever someone comes by, you’ll have to hide that wildcat. You won’t be able to play comfortably. I’ll take care of any little errands for you, so please enjoy yourselves. If you’ll allow me, I can rest perfectly well here, too. Oh, shall I bring you some toys to play with right away?”

“I can hide myself just fine, so just go— Just go.”

A sharp grinding sound came from Nihil’s teeth. His expression barely changed, but Evan could see his jaw tightening.

Evan found this more entertaining than he’d expected and grinned again. He picked up the pillow that had been thrown earlier, dusted it off a few times, and placed it in Nihil’s arms as though presenting him with a gift.

Holding the pillow, Nihil seemed to debate whether to throw it again. Then he glanced at Rianus and quietly set it down.

He kneaded the pillow a few times, rearranging the feathers that had shifted to one side, before placing it neatly by the head of the bed.

“Hmm, I think it would be better if Sir Evan stayed. It might be a little troublesome for you, but could I ask you to do that?”

At Rianus’s hesitant answer, Evan gave a victor’s smile and nodded in agreement. He then announced that he’d fetch some simple toys and opened the bedroom door.

A moment later, he heard what sounded like a pillow being smacked repeatedly behind him, and he couldn’t help smiling again.

His encounter with the queen and the First Prince had already slipped from his mind.

Despite Evan’s efforts, his plan to Make the Wildcat’s Tongue Longer ultimately ended in failure.

The sulking wildcat refused to acknowledge Evan whenever he spoke to him, ignoring him as though he weren’t there.

Worse still, whenever Nihil needed something, he simply jerked his head or chin to order Evan around as though he were a lowly servant. Evan felt as though his own insides would burst before he could ever get the wildcat to speak more politely.

And now, a little kitten, a guard dog, and a wild wildcat were sitting in a circle on the bed, playing Old Maid.

Evan had initially been horrified at the thought of climbing onto the prince’s bed. But he couldn’t resist the adorable, lovable little kitten’s pleading that he wanted them all to play together. In the end, he climbed up and sat down, thinking, If that penniless wildcat can get on the bed, why can’t I?

When the large, heavy Evan climbed onto the bed, the spot where he sat sank noticeably lower than the rest. As a result, Nihil, who had been sitting cross-legged on the bed and shuffling cards with an indifferent expression, tilted sideways and bumped his head against Evan’s elbow.

“……”

The cards in Nihil’s hand scattered across the bed. He furrowed his brows and was about to say something to Evan, but Rianus burst into delighted laughter. Unable to bring himself to complain in front of the prince, Nihil settled for an ambiguous expression and shifted farther away from Evan.

The card game repeatedly produced a strange result: once Nihil had played all the cards in his hand, whoever held the Old Maid—the queen card—was highly likely to lose.

Nihil was skilled at reading other people’s expressions, concealing his own, and even putting on false expressions. That made him exceptionally good at games of psychological strategy.

Rianus, on the other hand, wasn’t very good at hiding his own expressions, but he was remarkably sensitive to the slightest changes in other people’s faces. His problem was that he was so hopelessly oblivious that he noticed the changes without understanding what they meant.

He’d already experienced the same scenario several times: he would notice Nihil’s brows furrow ever so slightly and confidently draw a card from his hand, only to find the Old Maid.

Evan was fairly good at concealing his expressions, and he was perceptive, too. But none of that worked on Nihil.

In the end, he had no choice but to read the expressions of the innocent little kitten, who couldn’t hide his emotions, and make his guesses based on those.

It was absolutely no help.

In the middle of the game, Nihil casually asked Evan,

“Do you need an ace?”

“……”

“You do.”

Nihil moved his hand over Evan’s cards a few times, then plucked out the ace of spades. Without the slightest change in expression, he matched the pair and tossed the two cards aside.

Evan, who had considered himself a master of the poker face, watched in disbelief as Nihil stole his ace with such ease. He grabbed his hair and writhed in frustration.

How many times has this happened now?!