How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 125

Evan looked utterly miserable as he watched his little master, who had tossed him to the wildcat as a plaything, become a plaything himself.

On the other hand, he was relieved that the prince seemed to be doing well. He had been so startled when Rianus woke from a nightmare in the middle of the night and sobbed uncontrollably.

The butler, unaware of what had happened, seemed pleased by the warm atmosphere. He smiled contentedly as he neatly tied a cravat around Nihil’s neck, then nodded as though his work were complete.

“It suits you very well, my lord.”

“The spare clothes.”

“I prepared them as you instructed.”

“The rumors.”

“Would you be satisfied with something along the lines of: ‘The young lord was so reluctant to attend the luncheon that he rolled around on the palace floor until it was thoroughly cleaned’?”

“Pfft.”

At that, Evan openly sneered, pretending to hold back his laughter.

Nihil glared at him, then sighed as he looked at Evan’s hair, which was sticking up like a bird’s nest.

“Doggy, come here and lower your head.”

“…Why?”

“You’re not planning to go looking like that, are you?”

“……”

Evan stopped laughing and approached hesitantly before crouching down in front of him. He had come because Nihil had called, but he was worried the child might make his hair look even worse.

“…You’re not going to take revenge just because I laughed a little, are you?”

“Even if I did, it would still look better than that bird’s nest.”

“…Is it really that bad?”

“Did you leave without even looking in a mirror?”

“It’s because you burned that sleeping incense, isn’t it—Ow! Why are you hitting me?”

Nihil tapped Evan’s head with the comb while he rambled on with his excuses, then repeatedly tugged his hair downward.

“My arms are getting tired. Just sit down.”

Evan had no choice but to sit on the rug. But even then, he was still too tall, so Nihil took off his slippers and stepped onto Evan’s thigh.

Nihil combed Evan’s hair back several times, then scooped a little wax into his palm, rubbed his hands together, and roughly smoothed Evan’s hair back. Judging by the occasional forceful tugs, he clearly had some grievances to settle.

Still, the result was surprisingly presentable.

Evan stared at his neatly and naturally styled hair in the mirror, then spoke with a somewhat bewildered expression.

“You know how to style hair, too?”

“Short hair, more or less.”

After replying, Nihil casually combed his own hair and tied it back with a ribbon.

“Why do you tie your hair so carelessly?”

Seeing the crookedly tied ribbon, Evan untied it, held it between his lips, and pulled Nihil into the space between his legs. He then carefully combed the child’s hair with his fingers.

Following the direction of Evan’s fingers, Nihil relaxed into his touch. His eyes closed at the familiar yet long-missed sensation, and he slowly spoke.

“…It’s different, tending to someone else’s hair and tending to your own. Just like how you know how to tie my hair neatly, yet walk around with a bird’s nest on your own head.”

“……”

A brief silence fell between them. Evan tied the silk ribbon neatly and only then spoke, a little belatedly.

“…All done.”

The silence had been too brief to become awkward, but both of them understood that they were seeing someone else in each other. They also understood that neither wanted to mention that person aloud.

Rianus, who hadn’t noticed the atmosphere between them, cheerfully tapped Nihil’s thick ponytail and asked,

“Neil, why don’t you try growing your hair out? I’m sure it would look just like pure white silk.”

“Who knows? These days… there’s no one to take care of my hair.”

“I’ll comb it beautifully for you!”

“Then… shall I grow it out?”

“Yes!”

Once they were completely ready, the little ones climbed into the carriage and sat side by side. Evan glanced back and forth between Rianus in his training clothes and Nihil in his formal attire before cautiously speaking.

“…The wildcat looks more like a noble than the prince.”

Evan narrowed his eyes at Nihil’s dazzling appearance. His clothes didn’t seem particularly extravagant, but the child himself was simply too striking. With his mouth closed and his eyes slightly lowered, he looked every bit the refined young noble.

“If only he would keep that mouth shut, he’d be perfect.”

“Stop barking, doggy.”

“Good grief, that damned mouth.”

“Hmph.”

Nihil snorted and took out the black gauze he had brought with him, covering his face. He had originally intended to use an ordinary piece of cloth to cover only his eyes, but the butler had insisted on packing the gauze, warning that it would be disastrous if Nihil couldn’t see where he was going.

“Why did you bring that?”

“I can’t wear my hood.”

“Just show your face. It’s not like anyone could put a price on it anyway.”

“I tend to open my eyes from time to time in unfamiliar places. People would notice if I kept them closed, so it’s better to cover them.”

“…I see.”

Evan groaned, apparently having completely forgotten that Nihil’s eye color changed whenever he looked at mana. Rianus stared intently at the gauze, then nodded with satisfaction, saying that it seemed difficult to see through.

“Rian, let’s say I injured my throat and can’t speak.”

“Uh… You’re not going to talk?”

“Yes.”

“That’s an excellent idea, wildcat. If you open that mouth of yours, this luncheon will become your last meal, and you’ll spend the rest of your life rotting in prison.”

Evan enthusiastically agreed that it was a wonderful idea. Rianus was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to talk properly with his friend, but he knew Nihil’s way of speaking wasn’t suitable for the royal palace, so he eventually nodded.

“Your reputation might suffer because of me today.”

“It’s fine. There’s not much reputation left for me to lose anyway. Ah, that building over there is the Royal Library.”

“All right. I’ll be back.”

“Uh… Huh?”

Nihil promptly jumped out through the carriage window. He could hear the doggy and the little kitten gasping in shock, but if he attracted attention, there would have been no point in jumping out. So he immediately concealed his presence and hid himself.

There weren’t many people visiting the library in the morning. Avoiding every presence he sensed, Nihil headed straight up the stairs. The information he wanted to find today concerned the beastkin.

More specifically, he was looking for information about the Moonfang Clan, which might be among the ancestors of the doggy.

A very long time ago, long before the War Between Heaven and Demons, Nihil had once subdued a group of Moonfang beastkin who had gone berserk during their awakening ritual and attacked him. After that, he had been entangled with their clan and harassed by them for quite some time.

Although wolves as a species weren’t particularly aggressive, the Moonfang Clan was exceptionally so. They were, quite literally, a race built for battle.

Their population wasn’t particularly large, but among all the beastkin Nihil had encountered, they were probably the strongest.

‘If I’d known I’d get involved with them again like this, I should’ve looked into them back then.’

At the time, he had been too busy avoiding the wolves who kept picking fights with him, and he hadn’t been particularly curious about them anyway. As a result, he knew almost nothing about their clan.

Above all, Dia hadn’t been particularly fond of wolves, either.

Nihil searched the entire second floor and only stopped when he reached the third.

‘Found it.’

The Evolution of Species, Everything About Beastkin, Are They Animals or People?, A Fox-like Wife and a Rabbit-like Daughter, Beastkin and Divine Beasts, A Guide to Animal-Type Monsters, On Having a Wolf for a Husband, Legendary Animals, The Relationship Between Beastkin and Animals, The Night of the Wolf…

“……”

Some rather strange titles seemed to be mixed in, but he had definitely found the shelves containing books about beastkin and related subjects. The only problem was that there were easily several hundred volumes, so reading them all would take some time.

Nihil let out a small sigh and took the first book from the shelf.

 

***

 

The training grounds, where only the sound of labored breathing had ever been heard, were now filled with the laughter of children—sounds that had never been heard there before.

One particularly small child couldn’t join the group and was practicing with a wooden sword all by himself.

“What greater honor could there be than being allowed to observe the lessons of the duke, the kingdom’s one and only Master!”

“We are deeply grateful for His Highness’s thoughtful consideration.”

“I hear both young masters of the Thesaurus family are also excellent swordsmen. I suppose the bloodline of the kingdom’s foremost martial family really is something special.”

“Your Highness, the First Prince, you seem to have tremendous stamina. What kind of training do you usually do? I get out of breath after just one lap around the training grounds.”

A group of children had gathered around the First Prince and the two young masters. And this was happening even though it was supposed to be time for swordsmanship practice.

Evan bit down on his lip. He hadn’t received any notice that the swordsmanship lesson would be opened to other children like this.

‘We should’ve brought that wildcat bastard along after all…’

Looking at the prince standing all alone and striking a practice dummy, Evan felt his insides burn with frustration.

Just then, the First Prince quieted the children and approached Rianus.

“Rianus.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

At the First Prince’s call, Rianus flinched and turned his head.

The First Prince looked down at his younger brother, who was considerably shorter despite being the same age, and smiled gently.

“It’s been a while. I heard your companion would be coming today, so I invited some children around your age. After all… wouldn’t it be more enjoyable if you had more friends your own age?”

“…Is that… so?”

Rianus met Lawrence’s eyes, then lowered his head again. The gazes directed at him felt overwhelming. Even so, he gathered his courage and spoke once more.

“…Still, I wish you had told me beforehand. My friend… isn’t very comfortable around strangers.”

My friend is coming today. If he showed any weakness, his friend might be bullied, too.

Even Sir Evan, who was strong and impressive, couldn’t protect him from the sharp tongues of noble children. So Rianus had to do it himself.

Rianus, who would normally have silently lowered his head without managing to say a word, stubbornly talked back. Lawrence’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

He quickly relaxed his expression and smiled as though he found his younger brother adorable.

“Ah, I heard you threw a tantrum because you didn’t want to attend the luncheon.”

“Pardon? Your Highness, is that true? Even if he is an uneducated commoner, how could he refuse an invitation from the Queen…?”

“Indeed. I heard he has a rather twisted personality and even slapped the maid who gave him a doll as a gift…”

“My goodness! Something like that happened? I heard he was gloomy and timid, always pulling his hood down over his face.”

“I also heard he’s so stupid that he has no sense of money.”

“What would a commoner know about the value of currency?”

“Your Highness, Second Prince, I understand that you needed a companion, but how could you pick up such a lowly thing…?”

“Haha, everyone, please don’t say that. If you speak like that, the Second Prince will… It’s rather pitiful, isn’t it?”

“Pitiful? His Highness went out of his way to take in a poor child and show him kindness. Shouldn’t we praise him instead?”

“That’s right! Ahahahaha!”

“……”

As the children continued talking, Rianus’s expression grew increasingly stiff.

How on earth had rumors about his friend spread like this? The story about throwing a tantrum was fine; the butler had deliberately spread that rumor. But the claim that he had slapped a maid…

‘No, I expected something like this.’

It was only natural that there would be one or two spies in the palace. Nihil knew that, too. That was probably why he had been avoiding the servants.

More importantly, his friend wasn’t twisted or gloomy. He was smarter than anyone, and he had a much better grasp of money than Rianus himself.

So… all of this had to be part of his friend’s carefully laid plan.

Having reached that conclusion, Rianus lifted his head slightly and looked straight at the children who were running their mouths.

If this was his friend’s scheme, then there was no reason for him to hold back.