How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 134

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah——!

A shriek rang out, like fingernails scraping against metal.

At Nihil’s urgent shout, everyone instinctively raised their hands to cover their ears. But the horrifying scream pierced even their palms, making them groan in pain.

Nihil used one hand to cover the ear of Evan, whose hands were occupied with carrying him on his shoulders, while with the other, he tightly tore out the core.

Kyaaaaaah! Kyaaaaaaaaaah——!

“……!”

Even after the core had been separated, the monstrous shrieking did not stop easily.

Nihil forcibly swallowed down the nausea rising in his throat and tightened his grip around the core of the abomination.

Amid the shrieks, a faint clang rang out. The object crumbled in his hand, then scattered into dust.

However, the ringing in his ears and dizziness did not disappear so easily. Nihil first checked on Evan, who had been closest to the abomination.

“Are you all right?”

“…Aside from my ears feeling a little muffled, I’m fine.”

Evan answered while flicking his ears with his fingers. Nihil lifted his chin and made him look at him. His eyes were focused clearly, and his sense of balance seemed unaffected.

“You don’t appear to have any problems.”

“…Do something about those eyes of yours……”

Perhaps the violet color of Nihil’s eyes made him uncomfortable, because Evan quietly averted his gaze.

“Does it bother you?”

“Sorry, but… a little. They’re unsettling.”

“That’s normal.”

Nihil scanned the surroundings once more to make sure no remnants had been left behind, then closed and reopened his eyes.

In the meantime, Evan’s gaze had shifted toward the blanket.

Noticing where he was looking, Nihil silently mouthed, Rian, just a moment.

Then he quickly climbed down from Evan’s shoulders. He wiped the blood from his eyelids and put his veil back on.

“Rian.”

At the quiet call, the blanket fluttered, and a head of seaweed-like hair suddenly poked out.

“Neil! Are you okay? What happened to the monster?”

“I’m fine. I took care of the monster.”

“That’s a relief! I was worried because you took so long to answer when I asked if we could come out from under the blanket!”

“…Sorry. I was concentrating on something else. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, yeah! I’m glad you weren’t hurt!”

Rianus emerged from under the blanket and threw his arms around Nihil, hugging him tightly as he repeated how relieved he was.

You never take good care of yourself, so I always worry about you.

At the heartfelt murmur, Nihil smiled faintly and picked Rianus up.

Warm.

“Neil, aren’t you a little cold?”

“That’s because I came into contact with something over there. The boundary is very cold.”

Rianus tilted his head at that explanation, but soon hugged Nihil even tighter, saying he would share his body heat with him.

Nihil patted Rianus gently, then called out to Noah, who still hadn’t emerged from beneath the blanket.

“Noah.”

The blanket trembled.

“The monster is gone now, so you can come out.”

As he spoke, Nihil slightly lifted the blanket. The straw-colored hair beneath it shrank back a little before slowly rising.

A faint glimmer of moisture shone in the violet eyes looking up at him.

Still wearing the blanket over his head, Noah hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I-I… Thank you, Your Highness.”

When the page had told him to cover his ears, it had actually been the little prince who had covered them for him. Noah had belatedly covered the prince’s ears in return, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been protected.

How could someone so small be so brave?

He couldn’t help feeling ashamed and pathetic by comparison.

Meanwhile, Morris had been completely frozen after hearing the shriek, having assumed that what the child was doing was some sort of psychological treatment.

So the monster was real after all……

Morris felt around his shoulder. Honestly, he was so bewildered that he couldn’t tell whether anything about him had changed.

Just then, something jabbed him in the side, where he felt a dull ache. While he had been sitting there in a daze, the little child had poked him.

Only then did Morris realize what he was supposed to do. He cautiously opened his mouth.

“…Noah.”

“……!”

At the quiet call, the slightly dejected head of straw-colored hair snapped up. Clear eyes looked straight at him.

For some reason, seeing eyes the exact same shade of violet as his own felt incredibly unfamiliar.

Ah… This is the first time.

The first time we’ve made eye contact.

The eyes that had always been filled with anxiety and fixed on his shoes were now looking directly at him.

As he gazed into those clear eyes, he felt something well up inside him.

Why had he never properly asked his son about it until now? If he had paid even the slightest attention to his son’s cries, things might never have gotten this bad.

Until now, he had thought he had endured his son’s illness and accepted him just as he was. Even though the boy called him a monster and had not hesitated to attack him, Morris had always made allowances for him and taken good care of him. He had considered himself a truly devoted father.

But what had the reality been?

What had he done while his son fought the monster all alone? Hadn’t he driven his terrified child so far that he had eventually climbed onto the terrace railing?

Thinking back, even when Noah had fits at the sight of him, it had always been his son who approached him first. If the monster was so frightening, why hadn’t he simply kept his distance?

“Ah… Ah……”

Noah’s face crumpled, and tears welled up in his large, clear violet eyes.

“Noah.”

Morris called his son again, this time more clearly and firmly than before. But he couldn’t find the courage to approach and remained rooted to the spot.

What if his son’s tears meant something else? He was afraid of that possibility.

“…Noah, would it be all right if I came closer?”

“U-Uh, hic, ngh, waaaaaah!”

As though mocking the timid adult, the brave child moved first.

 

***

 

Noah clung to his father and cried for a long, long time.

Even then, when Nihil told him, “Unless you massage his shoulders three times a week, that monster might attach itself to him again,” Noah diligently massaged Morris’s shoulders while tears and snot streamed down his face.

Eventually, Noah exhausted himself and fell asleep in Morris’s arms. Every now and then, his fingers opened and closed, as though he were still giving his father a massage in his dreams.

Morris tightly clasped his ten-year-old son’s little hands, which were still making grasping motions, and tucked them securely against his chest. Then he bid Rianus farewell, promising to visit again soon, and left.

Rianus didn’t quite understand why Baron Allier had said he would come to see him again or exactly what had happened, but he smiled proudly, feeling that everything had worked out well.

“Rian.”

“Hmm?”

“Your dad wants you.”

“Huh……?”

At the sudden summons, Rianus widened his eyes. Sedes, who had been hiding with a magical tool, also raised one eyebrow in confusion, having heard this for the first time.

“He said he has something to discuss with you, so he wants you to come after your lessons.”

“Uh… Where?”

“Hmm… His office.”

Nihil casually made something up. The child’s father could figure out the rest himself.

“Really? Then… I’ll go. But stay with Sir Evan.”

“Take the puppy with you.”

“Sir Frederick is there.”

“I don’t need the puppy.”

“Then I won’t go either.”

Rianus stubbornly refused, quite unlike himself.

Nihil was a little taken aback. Was it really all right for a prince to dismiss the king’s summons so casually?

“…Still, your father is calling you. Shouldn’t you go?”

“Hmm……”

The little kitten didn’t seem to have any intention of refusing outright. After thinking for a moment, he turned to Evan and said firmly,

“Sir Evan, stay with Neil.”

“But, Your Highness……”

“That’s an order.”

“……Understood.”

The sight of that wildcat having his hair grabbed had been quite a shock to Evan as well, so he eventually nodded in agreement.

Nihil watched Rianus leave the reception room without his puppy, followed by Sedes hurrying after him. Then he turned toward Evan.

“Your master told you to stay, and you’re actually staying?”

“…If my master tells me to stay, then I stay.”

“Go after him already.”

“Sir Frederick is there.”

“That fellow guards him from hiding.”

“Besides, all His Majesty’s escort knights are following them. What’s the problem?”

“It’s a matter of appearances, not protection.”

“Since when have you cared about that? You’re the one who ruins His Highness’s dignity the most—Where are you going now?!”

Evan broke off mid-sentence and hurried after Nihil, who had suddenly dashed away. It seemed the brat was trying to shake him off.

But perhaps the wildcat had mistaken the door, because he entered the small waiting room attached to the reception room and tried to close the door.

Just as it was about to shut, Evan thrust out his hand and forcibly pulled it open.

“You damn wildcat! You can’t run awa—!”

“U-Ugh……!”

“……?”

“Ueegh!”

The marble floor was instantly covered in red liquid.

 

***

 

“Your Majesty, I heard you summoned me.”

“…Yes.”

No, he hadn’t summoned him at all. This was an audience arranged without so much as a consultation by his son’s willful friend.

Sedes, unsure what he was supposed to say during this entirely unplanned meeting, glanced at the documents in front of him and finally managed to speak.

“Rianus.”

“Yes?”

“This is the final proposal for the Sharton Street Redevelopment and Relief Project. Would you like to look at it?”

“…Am I allowed to?”

“I had it rewritten based on your proposal, so you certainly have the right.”

As he held out the documents, Rianus hurried over and extended both hands.

Sedes stared at those small hands for a moment. When he tightened his grip and didn’t immediately hand over the documents, the little hands hesitated before slowly withdrawing.

Sedes quickly caught those hands just as they were about to retreat. Rianus flinched, but he didn’t pull away.

Sedes thought that perhaps he was better off than Baron Allier, whose son had run away at the sight of his own father. Then he remembered the sight of the Allier father and son leaving while holding each other tightly.

On impulse, he leaned forward slightly, lifted his son, and settled him on his lap.

“……?!”

Rianus didn’t understand what was happening at first. But once he belatedly realized the situation, he began squirming, trying to get off Sedes’s lap.

Sedes caught him and sat him back down on his knees, then gently stroked his soft, curly hair.

“Rianus.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Stay like this for a little while.”

“Pardon? Y-Yes……”

Sedes handed the documents to his son, who was sitting stiffly. Rianus straightened his back, visibly tense, but dutifully began reading through the papers.

For quite some time, the only sound was the rustling of pages as Rianus turned them. By the time he was nearing the end, his formerly rigid posture had relaxed, and he was leaning against Sedes a little more comfortably.

Sedes waited until the final page had been turned. Once it finally was, he quietly spoke.

“Would you like to come up with a name for the plaza that will be built in Sharton Street?”

“I… get to name the plaza?”

“Yes. Is there a name you’d like to give it?”

“…Then……”

Rianus seemed to think for a moment before hesitantly opening his mouth.

“…Would it be all right if I looked in a dictionary?”

“Of course.”

Sedes nodded slightly, then gestured into the air. Soon, a knight appeared and placed several dictionaries, each written in a different language, on the desk.

Rianus picked up whichever dictionary happened to be within reach and flipped it open to a random page. Actually, a word had come to mind as soon as he was asked to name the plaza.

Opharus.

A gemstone that resembled his friend’s eyes.

But it seemed too obvious, so he reconsidered. Anyone who had ever met his friend’s eyes would think of that name.

More importantly, wouldn’t naming the plaza after a gemstone make it sound too luxurious? He wanted the plaza in Sharton Street to be a place where anyone could rest comfortably, regardless of their status.

I want a name that feels a little more welcoming.

Something like his friend, who treated everyone equally and was endlessly kind.

He quickly flipped through the dictionary until one particular word caught his eye. He scanned its meaning.

—Rest, relaxation, peace, sanctuary.

Ah, this seemed like a good one.

“Requies.”