How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 127

“…?”

The children stared blankly at Nihil, who had raised both hands high.

Just as they began wondering whether he was about to threaten them—

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

“Huh? Wha—?”

Nihil suddenly started chasing one of the children, who instinctively turned and ran in fright.

“W-What’s going on?!”

“……”

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

“……”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

“Waaaaah~ I said don’t come any closer~!”

The child fleeing from Nihil eventually burst into tears. Even so, he kept running as fast as he could, terrified of being caught.

Rianus watched with a bemused expression. Nihil’s back looked positively delighted as he chased the child. As expected, his friend really did seem to enjoy teasing other children.

Thump! Crash!

“Waaaaah!”

In the end, the child being chased by Nihil tripped over his own feet and fell.

Nihil paused when he saw the child sprawled on the floor, crying and sniffling. Then, instead of chasing him any further, he turned around and dashed toward the other children gathered nearby.

“Waaaaah!”

The children scattered in every direction.

“Pfft, hahahahaha~!”

Unable to hold back any longer at the sight of the children scattering and Nihil chasing after them, Rianus burst out laughing. His friend really was amazing in so many ways.

“Hahahaha! Neil, stop teasing them and let’s go.”

“……”

At the suggestion to leave, Nihil immediately scampered over, abandoning his pursuit of the children. The ones who had been chased were panting for breath, but Nihil’s veil hadn’t so much as fluttered. He looked perfectly composed.

“Did you have fun?”

Nod, nod.

Nihil nodded with obvious satisfaction. Lawrence, the only one who hadn’t run away, looked down at him with an incredulous expression.

As if trying to frighten Lawrence, Nihil raised both arms again. But Lawrence already knew what Nihil looked like beneath that veil, so all he could offer was a rather awkward response.

“…I know you aren’t sick.”

Lawrence stared intently at the veil. He remembered thinking Nihil’s face was extraordinarily mysterious, and he wanted to remove the veil and take another look. But he wasn’t about to act as foolishly as the others.

Nihil tilted his head slightly, then lowered the hands he’d raised to frighten him.

The children who had fled gradually approached, their faces flushed. The child who had fallen glared at Nihil, breathing heavily with frustration.

Should I do it one more time?

Unfortunately, Nihil’s wish didn’t come true. Evan grabbed him firmly by the scruff of his neck.

The children who had merely come to observe the lesson were fine, but the princes needed to wash off the dust and change their clothes, so they couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

Even after arriving at the reception room in the main palace, Rianus was so anxious that something might happen to his friend that he couldn’t bring himself to leave easily.

“Can’t Sir Evan stay with Neil, after all?”

“…I’m afraid not.”

In truth, Frederick was secretly guarding them, so Evan could have stayed by Nihil’s side. However, Evan was publicly known as the Second Prince’s sole escort knight. It wouldn’t look good if he appeared to be guarding the prince’s page instead of the prince himself.

“…This brat can take care of himself, so don’t worry too much.”

“Mm… Neil, I’ll be back after washing up, so if anything happens… Um…”

Rianus looked around, wondering whom he should ask for help. But no one seemed suitable, and his eyes wandered uncertainly. There were a few palace servants nearby, but he didn’t think they could protect Nihil from the children’s bullying.

Aware of the servants watching, Rianus leaned closer and whispered so that only Nihil could hear.

“Just… knock them down and run to my palace.”

“……”

“Poke them in the eyes or hit their Adam’s apple. Got it?”

“……”

For a moment, Nihil wondered whether his approach to raising the boy had been wrong. But then he gave a small nod. The little seaweed seemed to be growing strong.

Rianus fidgeted anxiously, like a parent leaving a young child unattended near water. When Evan urged him to hurry, he finally left the reception room, his face full of worry.

The moment Rianus was gone, the children began whispering among themselves. Every now and then, they glanced at Nihil and giggled.

But when Nihil continued to give them no reaction, something came flying toward him. It was refreshments prepared for the children.

The children giggled.

“Hey, commoner. Pick that up and eat it.”

“……”

Nihil glanced at the chocolate that had fallen beside him, then picked it up. He lifted his veil and pretended to eat it.

“Eww, disgusting!”

The children cried out in horror. Soon, they began giggling among themselves and threw a few more pieces of chocolate and cookies at him.

But when Nihil still didn’t react, they quickly lost interest. After the thirteenth cookie had flown through the air, the little show finally came to an end with a crisp crunch.

The maids waiting in the reception room secretly sighed and quietly began picking up the refreshments scattered across the floor.

“Hey! Why are you cleaning that up?! He’s supposed to eat it!”

Annoyed by Nihil’s refusal to react, Aiden took out his frustration on a maid who was sweeping up the cookie crumbs, grabbing her by the hair.

“Ah! S-Sorry. M-My lord, that hurts!”

“That’s what you get for forgetting your place and sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“I-I’m sorry, my lord. P-Please forgive me—Aaaah!”

Unable to stand by and watch the maid being bullied, Nihil scampered over to Aiden.

“W-What?”

“……”

“Y-You insolent commoner!”

“……”

Nihil wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to being called insolent, so he simply nodded as though agreeing with him.

“Y-You! You seem to think that your veil is made of iron or something, but…”

At those words, Nihil took hold of the edge of his veil and lifted it just a tiny bit. That small movement made not only Aiden and the other children, but even the servants in the reception room, stare at him with wide eyes.

Nihil secretly curled the corners of his mouth upward. Then he pretended to wipe his face beneath the veil.

After that, he suddenly spread open his hand, revealing the chocolate he’d been holding without eating. It had completely melted in his palm.

“AAAH! What is that?!”

Aiden recoiled in horror, retreating about ten steps from the sticky, melted chocolate. He moved remarkably fast.

The children began whispering again as they stared at Nihil’s chocolate-covered palm.

Ew, disgusting.

What is that?

Could it be pus?

He really must be sick!

Good heavens, why would the Second Prince pick up something like that?

Nihil listened to their whispers and stared intently at his palm. Then he raised his chocolate-covered hand high.

The children flinched and watched him warily.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

“AAAAAH!”

As soon as Nihil started running, the children shrieked and scattered in every direction. Some of them tripped over the rugs or tea tables as they desperately tried to escape.

Nihil considered which of the scattered children to chase. Then he abruptly turned toward the child who had fallen during the lesson that morning.

“…!”

Realizing he had become the target again, the child stiffened and immediately turned to run.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

“Waaaaah!”

After chasing the crying child around the reception room two or three times, Nihil finally caught up with him. The boy, who had been running as fast as he could, tripped and fell once again.

This time, Nihil showed no mercy. He approached the child and cheerfully smeared chocolate all over his face.

“Waaaaaaaah~!”

The child burst into loud sobs. He wailed so loudly that the entire reception room echoed, crying that he was going to catch the disease, too. Yet the other children merely stared at him as though the chocolate were filthy and repulsive, making no effort to comfort him.

Having thoroughly enjoyed his prank, Nihil approached the maid and held out his chocolate-covered hand.

The maid flinched and stepped back, but then seemed to summon her professional composure. She dampened a handkerchief with water and carefully wiped Nihil’s hand.

Then she caught the sweet, slightly bitter scent of chocolate and looked at Nihil with a peculiar expression.

Nihil tilted his head as though he knew nothing about it. The maid secretly curled her lips into a smile and carefully cleaned his chocolate-covered hand.

“My lord, you shouldn’t play around with chocolate like this.”

At her words, the child’s chocolate-covered face turned bright red. He had been too busy crying to notice, but his own face was giving off a strong chocolate scent.

After finishing with Nihil’s hand, the maid approached the child sitting on the floor and gently helped him up.

“That young lord certainly has a mischievous way of playing. I suppose he wanted to play with you.”

The maid did her best to defend Nihil, who had helped her, while wiping the child’s face.

Once the maid stepped away, Aiden, who had been the quickest to flee and had run the farthest, sauntered over as though nothing had happened.

“Hey, old geezer.”

“……?”

Nihil tilted his head at the new nickname. How had the boy figured out that he was old?

But just as children refused to admit they were young, old people refused to admit they were old, too. So Nihil simply shook his head.

Aiden pressed his forehead with his finger, pushing it back repeatedly.

“Don’t give me that. Your hair is white because you’re so old.”

“……”

“Hey, do you want to play with us?”

“……”

Nihil didn’t particularly want to play. But if he shook his head now, the maid would be put in an awkward position, and he might hurt the fragile children’s pride. So he gave a vague nod as though he agreed.

“Hey, then make a sound.”

“……”

“Even if you’re mute, you can still make noises, can’t you? Repeat after me. Blah blah blah~”

Aiden imitated a speech disorder, making stupid noises, and the children around him giggled.

But when Nihil still refused to react, Aiden scowled and grabbed the little ponytail Evan had tied for him. He pulled so hard that Nihil’s head snapped backward.

“Why are you pretending you can’t hear me?!”

“……”

Without resisting, Nihil fidgeted with his fingers, debating whether he should poke the boy in the eye. The little seaweed would be upset if he just let himself get bullied, but injuring the eldest grandson of a ducal family could cause trouble.

“Hey!”

While Nihil was still deliberating, Aiden, thinking he was being ignored, yanked his ponytail hard once more.

Nihil’s head snapped back again, and his small body rolled across the floor with a loud crash.

“I’m going to teach you some manners, so listen carefully.”

“……”

“That’s where you belong. Whenever you see someone of high status, flatten yourself against the floor. Understand?”

“……”

…Nod, nod.

Nihil thought about it for a moment, then nodded. After that, he did exactly as the boy wanted and flopped onto his back on the floor. The rug was thick and soft, making it a rather pleasant place for a nap.

As he absentmindedly stroked the plush rug, considering whether to take a little nap, he noticed the children staring down at him with foolish expressions. He tilted his head as if to ask what was wrong.

Aiden muttered, looking bewildered.

“…Is there something wrong with this kid’s head?”

Shake, shake.

“Don’t give me that! Get up!”

Aiden grabbed Nihil by the hair again and hauled his body upright. The ribbon barely holding his short ponytail together finally slipped off and fell to the floor, where it was promptly trampled.

I’ll have to ask the puppy to tie it again.

Nihil was thinking vaguely about the fallen ribbon when he suddenly heard the sound of someone running toward them.

It was in Rianus’s footsteps.

Oh, no.

Nihil stiffened and twisted his body, trying to free his hair from Aiden’s grip. If Rianus saw him like this, the fragile little kitten might burst into tears.

“What’s this? Are you resisting?”

As Rianus’s footsteps drew closer to the reception room, Nihil grew increasingly anxious. But Aiden, completely unaware of what was going on, only tightened his grip and swung Nihil around even more roughly.

Left with no choice, Nihil was about to abandon his principle of never hitting children and kick Aiden in the stomach when—

Bang!

“Neil, I’m back so qui—!”

The reception room door flew open with a tremendous crash, and the damp little seaweed appeared.

“—te…?”

Rianus, who had hurried back wearing nothing but a shirt and trousers, had been about to greet them cheerfully. But when he saw the scene inside the reception room, he froze, looking utterly blank.

“……”

“……”

“I told Your Highness to take your time…”

Thud.

Evan, who had been trudging along behind Rianus looking thoroughly exhausted, dropped the coat he was carrying.

Silence filled the reception room.

Taking advantage of Aiden’s loosened grip, Nihil quickly slipped free. Then, pretending nothing had happened, he carefully bent down to pick up the ribbon lying on the floor.

How am I supposed to comfort the child…?

As Nihil straightened up, wondering how to soothe the crying little kitten, he suddenly saw the seaweed dart past him.

“…?”

Just as a question began to form in Nihil’s mind—

“YOU DAMNED BASTARD!!!”