How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 123

Evan’s mind went blank for a moment. Rianus seemed just as confused, merely tilting his head as he listened. Meanwhile, the conversation continued.

“When did I ever kiss and fuss over him?”

“You did!”

“I didn’t.”

“I saw it with my own two eyes!”

“You saw wrong.”

“Stop pretending you don’t know!”

“I said I didn’t do it. Don’t spread strange misunderstandings.”

“Do it for this old man, too! Give me one and I won’t eat you~ Raaawr!”

As he spoke, Frederick suddenly scooped Nihil up and brought his face close. Nihil, who rarely reacted strongly to anything, recoiled in horror and shoved Frederick’s face away.

“No! Get away!”

“Ah, why?! You’re being so stingy! It’s not like you’ll wear out!”

“Let go! Get away from me!”

“I want one of those cute little kisses, too!”

“Kiss…?”

At the word, Evan and Rianus both stared blankly at Nihil. But Nihil was in such a desperate predicament that he had no time to answer their questions.

He frantically smacked Frederick’s face as the man kept pressing closer.

“Are you out of your mind?! Get that mouth away from me!”

“Wahahaha! My lord, give me a little smooch!”

“Ugh! Y-you damn… Doggy, what are you just standing there for?!”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Evan snap out of it. He hurriedly snatched Nihil away and held him in his arms. Rianus also stepped forward to shield him, eyeing Frederick warily.

“Sir, please stop joking around. Can’t you see if the child doesn’t like it?”

“That’s right! Don’t bully Neil! Y-you…! I’ll send you back!”

The little kitten shouted indignantly. Seeing Rianus’s reaction, Frederick dramatically dropped to his knees.

“Ah! Your Highness, I’ve done wrong. Please spare me from being sent back. I’ll work hard!”

Rianus glared at Frederick like a thoroughly wary little kitten, then abruptly turned toward Evan.

“S-so… did he… do it to Neil…?”

He looked utterly betrayed, as though he couldn’t believe that a grown adult, not even a little child, would molest Nihil.

Evan was so flustered that he tried to explain himself, but Rianus climbed down from his arms and stood protectively in front of Nihil.

“Neil! From now on, you have to say, ‘No, I don’t want that. Stop!’”

“……”

“…Your Highness, I’m the one who was molested.”

Evan protested indignantly, while Nihil wondered who was responsible for teaching the prince about sexual harassment.

If saying, ‘No, I don’t want that. Stop!’ were enough to prevent sexual assault, there would be no sex offenders in the world. As a very fresh example, Frederick had just refused to back down even after being told to get lost.

“Rian, if anyone tries to molest you, just kick them between the legs.”

“H-huh?”

“Hard. Hard enough to make them burst. Or strike their Adam’s apple, or poke their eyes out.”

“Uh… um…”

“Answer me.”

“…Okay.”

The seaweed drooped dejectedly after being scolded instead. Nihil repeatedly warned him that people close to him could be the most dangerous, then stroked the soft, fluffy seaweed to his heart’s content.

Watching this, Evan grumbled in displeasure.

“…You’re the one who shouldn’t molest our prince.”

“When did I ever molest him?”

“You’re stroking his head right now!”

“…This is… a tactile activity.”

“……”

“What? Doesn’t everyone do this when they’re little?”

After saying that, Nihil stroked Rianus’s head even more enthusiastically. It was so soft and pleasant to the touch.

Besides, his kisses weren’t acts of affection in the first place. They were simply a way of taking on Rianus’s kwa, so they didn’t count as molestation.

‘Wait. Does that count as molestation?’

Nihil tilted his head slightly as he looked at the seaweed, who was smiling brightly.

In fact, all he needed to do was exchange breath within a certain distance. The reason he deliberately made physical contact was to conceal the fact that the condition for taking on the kwa was exchanging breath.

Rianus was too oblivious to notice anything, no matter what Nihil did. But the same couldn’t be said for the doggy, who was rather perceptive. He was still just a youngster of twenty, so it was easy enough to fool him. Once he grew a little older, however, deceiving him wouldn’t be so simple.

Just like Frederick, who wore a sly smile but never let his guard down.

Evan was staring at the shameless wildcat who insisted that it was merely a “tactile activity” with utter disbelief. Then, when he met the eyes of His Little Kitten, who was looking at him with narrowed eyes, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

For His Little Kitten to look at him like that! This had to be that wildcat bastard’s scheme.

After all, Evan hadn’t intended anything himself, and he had been unconscious the entire time. He couldn’t even be sure whether that damn wildcat had actually kissed him. It was downright unfair!

“Y-Your Highness! Why are you looking at me like that?! I’m innocent! And this fellow has already kissed Your Highness twice…!”

“Three times.”

“You bastard! When did you do it again?!”

Evan shook Nihil furiously, cursing him as a damned thieving wildcat. He threatened that he would never let Nihil have the prince and that he would report everything to His Majesty.

“Besides! Why would you sneak a kiss like a thief when someone isn’t in their right mind…?”

Evan trailed off mid-sentence, tilting his head as something struck him as strange. If it was an act of affection, why had Nihil deliberately chosen moments when the other person wouldn’t remember it?

When the prince was drunk and Nihil had kissed the bridge of his nose, claiming he was giving him a stamp, Evan had let it slide.

The second time, Nihil had stubbornly stayed awake until just before the prince fell asleep, then kissed him. And the other time, although Evan hadn’t witnessed it himself, the prince didn’t remember it either, so it must have happened under similar circumstances.

And now, if Nihil had kissed Evan while he was lying unconscious…

As Evan tried to piece together the clues, Nihil thought, ‘This is why I hate perceptive doggies.’

He quickly slipped out of Evan’s grasp and approached Rianus.

“Rian, would you like a kiss?”

“Huh…?”

“Argh! Get the hell away from him!”

That damned thieving wildcat! He wouldn’t let him get away with this!

 

***

 

When night fell, Evan tried to kick the thieving wildcat out of his room, but the little kitten looked so upset that he eventually gave up.

“…What do you find so appealing about that brat…?”

“Wahahaha! This place is quite entertaining.”

Frederick laughed heartily at Evan’s pronounced pout. Evan was fairly famous among the royal knights. As an arrogant, ill-mannered brat.

That rumor must have originated from the jealousy of those consumed by their own inferiority complexes. Of course, Evan’s competitive nature probably contributed to it, too. But seeing him like this, he was actually quite an adorable junior.

Frederick laughed, saying how much fun he was having, and gave Evan’s broad back a series of hearty slaps.

“Wahahaha! Sir, you really seem to be enjoying yourse—Ugh!”

Frederick stopped mid-slap and dropped to the floor, clutching his shin.

“Ugh… That hurts terribly.”

Frederick complained with a miserable expression, but Nihil, who had kicked him in the shin, glared at him with deeply furrowed brows.

“Don’t hit the doggy.”

“I-I didn’t hit him that hard! And slapping a back that’s practically all muscle hurts my hand more than it hurts him!”

“I said don’t hit him.”

Evan narrowed his eyes at Nihil’s more intense reaction than he had expected.

“…I’m the one who got hit. Why are you the one getting so worked up?”

“……”

“That’s right! This is discrimination! I’m going to be one of the doggies here for fifteen days, too, so please treat me nicely!”

“No.”

“You only like the young ones. It’s hard enough being old!”

“……”

Ignoring the old man’s complaints, Nihil went to his bedroom and returned with two medicine bottles. Rianus flinched when he spotted them in Nihil’s hands.

“I already took my medicine after dinner… Do I have to take it again?”

“This is for the doggy. Take off your shirt, doggy. Drink this first.”

Without the slightest suspicion, Evan drank the potion Nihil handed him and rolled up his shirt.

Rianus was horrified when he saw Evan’s back, which had turned completely black, but Evan reassured the little kitten that it didn’t hurt.

Nihil stood before Evan’s broad back and scooped up so much ointment that it looked as though he intended to empty the entire jar onto him. He then smeared it on generously.

“Put on a reasonable amount.”

“Then make your back smaller before saying that.”

“You really never let a single remark go unanswered.”

“You have another escort now, so focus on recovering. Come see me if the pain gets worse during the night.”

“Why would I come see you? Just give me the medicine.”

“What medicine? You can’t even reach your own back.”

“What nonsense are you—”

Evan stopped mid-sentence and tried reaching behind himself, just to see if Nihil was right.

…He couldn’t reach.

“Stop fooling around and move your hand. I’m applying the medicine.”

“……”

 

***

 

After washing up and getting all nice and fluffy, the little ones crawled beneath the blankets and lay down side by side. The day’s final activity was listening to one of Nihil’s scary old stories.

“…But it turned out that the person was actually an evil witch!”

“What? Then what happened to the villagers?”

Seeing how engrossed Rianus was, Nihil lowered his voice even further.

“They were in danger of becoming the witch’s slaves.”

“T-then…?”

“The villagers gathered together to discuss what to do. If things continued like this, the entire village would end up in the witch’s hands.”

“……!”

“After discussing it, they decided to sneak into the witch’s house while she was asleep and set it on fire. The witch was so powerful that she couldn’t be killed unless she was burned.”

“F-fire?”

“That’s right. But it wasn’t easy. The evil witch tried to escape.”

“T-then what? Did she get away?”

“That was when a brave young man stepped forward. He threw himself at the witch and held her down. Then he jumped into the blazing flames with her!”

At those words, Rianus’s face crumpled as though he were about to cry.

“…Did that person… sacrifice himself…?”

“That’s right. The young man sacrificed himself to save the village. The village seemed to have finally regained its peace, but…”

“But…?”

Unable to bear the suspense, Rianus hugged his teddy bear, Pupu, tightly. Its already crooked right eye looked even more crooked now.

“No matter how thoroughly they searched the house after it had burned down and collapsed, they couldn’t find the witch’s body. The only body there was the young man’s…”

“……?”

“Strangely enough, the young man’s body was lying very peacefully. As if he hadn’t felt any pain at all in those flames.”

“……!”

Pupu’s face was squashed a little further. Rianus stared up at Nihil tensely.

“Then… what happened to the witch?”

“Well, she might already have died. But perhaps the witch survived and…”

“And…?”

“Went after soft, plump, adorable little children…”

“……?”

“Raaawr!”

At that moment, Nihil lunged forward and bit Rianus’s soft, chubby cheek.

“Eeeeeek!”

“What the hell are you doing, you damned wildcat?!”

Evan reached out in alarm and lifted Nihil right off the bed. But it was already too late. Nihil’s bite marks were clearly visible on Rianus’s plump, round cheek.

“Whimper…”

Rianus rubbed his cheek with a tearful expression. But Nihil’s mischief wasn’t over yet. Dangling in the air, he waved his arms and growled like a tiger.

“…Since when did the witch turn into a tiger? Stop fooling around and go to sleep. Or do I have to kick you out into your own room?”

“Ah! I don’t want that. I’ll just let him bite me!”

Rianus shook his head vigorously, refusing. Evan let out a deep sigh and lowered the wildcat back down.

“Your Highness, you keep indulging him, and that’s why he gets so carried away.”

“But…”

As if determined not to let anyone take him away again, Rianus wrapped both arms tightly around Nihil.

Nihil glanced at Rianus’s cheek and spoke seriously.

“It’s natural to put things in your mouth when you’re little.”

“What do you mean, put things in your mouth?! Are you a baby or something?!”

Babies didn’t put people in their mouths, either!

“When you grow up, all those chubby cheeks will disappear. I have to bite them while I still can.”

“……Just go to sleep.”

Evan let out an incredulous laugh at Nihil’s miraculous logic. Still, he couldn’t help glancing at Rianus’s plump cheeks.

It was true that once the prince grew up, those adorable chubby cheeks would be gone.

Thinking that the wildcat might not be entirely wrong, Evan tucked the blankets carefully around them again.

“Good night, Your Highness.”

“Okay. You get some good rest, too, Sir Evan.”

“And you, wildcat. Don’t pull any tricks. Just go to sleep.”

“What do you mean, tricks?”

“I’m saying that no matter how cute you think His Highness is, you’re not to bite or kiss him!”

“…Hmph.”

Nihil didn’t answer. He simply slipped beneath the blankets, wrapped his arms around Rianus, and closed his eyes.

Evan shook his head helplessly, turned off the lights, and left the bedroom.

“Neil, are you asleep?”

In the quiet room, Rianus, who had been blinking in the dark, cautiously spoke up.

“What is it? Can’t sleep?”

“I just got curious.”

“About what?”

“That witch…”

“Rian, she’s just a character in a story. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Mhm…”

“Now go to sleep, Rian.”

“Okay. Good night, Neil.”