How the Prince Makes Friends – Chapter 145

Author: isuzuuy

“Your Highness, you need to concentrate.”

“You’re not concentrating either, Teach—er. You got that letter wrong over there.”

When Carus pointed out that Rianus was somewhat distracted, Rianus immediately pointed out Carus’s mistake in return.

Carus hurriedly corrected the letter, then approached Rianus, crouched down in front of him, and rested his chin on the desk.

“Your Highness, are you worried about our dear friend?”

“…What if Lady Sarete bullies Neil?”

Rianus’s eyebrows drooped as he recalled the old woman’s furious shouting echoing from the reception room. The Queen had undoubtedly sent over some nasty, overbearing old hag.

“Our dear friend will… be fine. It’s not as though he’s someone who would simply let himself be pushed around, is it?”

“…That’s true, but…”

“Or would you like to sneak a peek? If she’s bullying our friend, we’ll rescue him!”

“All right!”

Rianus jumped to his feet. Carus promptly scooped him up and carried him downstairs.

Several young servants had gathered in front of the reception room where Nihil was, giggling among themselves.

When Rianus approached, the servants were startled and tried to say something, but he quickly pressed a finger to his lips and crept up to the open reception room door.

“Ahem. You must also pay attention to your posture when walking in the palace. Place this book on your head and walk around. Every time you drop it, you’ll receive one strike with the switch.”

At the mention of a switch, Rianus nearly lost his temper. But Nihil simply nodded, placed the book on his head, and began walking steadily.

When Nihil made a full circuit of the reception room with the book balanced on his head, Countess Sarete’s expression twisted slightly.

“Ahem. At that pace, you’ll never get anywhere! Walk faster.”

At the countess’s ridiculous nitpicking, Rianus had to force himself to resist the urge to fling the reception room door wide open.

Unlike him, who had a rather short temper, his friend possessed an almost excessive amount of patience.

He didn’t complain at all.

Instead, he enthusiastically accepted her suggestion and…

Dash-dash-dash!

Started running.

“……?!”

Nihil literally raced around the reception room with the book stuck to his head. In fact, Rianus wasn’t even sure whether stuck was the right word to describe it, but he couldn’t think of a better one.

Carus, who was watching alongside him, whispered cautiously.

“…Our dear friend certainly has many talents. He can even stick a book to his head.”

“…….”

“How on earth does it not fall off?”

“…I wonder.”

“You! Y-You little brat! Stop right there!”

The old woman’s furious voice rang out. It seemed worrying about his friend had been a waste of time after all.

“An elderly person getting that worked up could suffer a stroke from high blood pressure…”

At Carus’s not-quite-serious concern, Rianus giggled.

The countess, who had been chasing Nihil, soon collapsed onto the sofa, panting heavily.

At the sight, Nihil removed the book from his head, approached her, and offered her a hand.

It was perhaps… an act of respect for the elderly.

Or perhaps not.

The old woman, already furious after everything she’d endured, seemed to become even more enraged by Nihil’s gesture. She reached out to grab his hood.

Oh, oh no! She can’t pull that off!

Just as Rianus was about to rush in, a shrill scream rang out.

“Y-You vulgar little brat! L-Let go of this at once!”

Nihil had grabbed her by the hair.

Since she was dealing with someone considerably shorter than herself, the old woman couldn’t even straighten her back as she struggled desperately.

Nihil was doing nothing more than holding onto her hair, yet her frantic thrashing quickly turned her previously neat hairstyle into a complete mess.

Rianus’s mouth fell open.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one impressed by the sight. Sir Ernest, who had been standing silently just one step behind them as their escort, also had his mouth hanging open.

“Pfft… What are we supposed to do about that?”

Carus and the servants nearby eventually couldn’t hold back their laughter, either. They all began snickering.

In the end, Countess Sarete fled as though escaping for her life, leaving only after Nihil had thoroughly messed up her hair.

Having enthusiastically shaken the old woman by her hair and driven her away, Nihil looked immensely pleased with himself. He then leisurely enjoyed the snacks Carus had brought, basking in the satisfaction of victory.

“As expected, Neil is amazing!”

Watching his friend, Rianus silently resolved to learn a great deal from him.

***

Sir Evan still hadn’t returned even as midnight approached. However, since Sir Frederick was there, Rianus intended to let Sir Ernest go home.

But the highly responsible knight stubbornly insisted on staying until Sir Evan returned, even after being told he could leave.

As a result, Nihil had no choice but to keep his hood and veil on until late into the night.

Naturally, he couldn’t speak, either, so Rianus had decided to read him a fairy tale himself for a change.

“…The hero and the princess forgave the lonely witch, and they all became friends and lived happily… Huh? Huh? Neil, where are you going?”

Nihil suddenly stood up in the middle of the story. Then he tugged at the hem of Rianus’s pajamas, signaling for him to follow.

“Huh? You want me to come with you?”

Nihil led the way and opened the bedroom door. The pitch-black darkness settled over the hallway, parting slightly as the door swung open.

Nihil glanced between the hallway and Rianus, then seemed to decide that fetching a lantern would be too much trouble. He promptly picked Rianus up.

Rianus let his legs dangle naturally as he asked,

“Neil, where are we going at this hour?”

“…….”

Nihil didn’t answer and simply continued walking.

By the time they reached the stairs, Walter, who had been following behind them, took Rianus from Nihil’s arms and carried him instead.

Nihil paid no attention to this. He tugged insistently at Walter’s trouser leg, signaling for him to follow, then led the way.

Despite the late hour, strangely quite a few servants gathered in the first-floor lobby, huddled together and whispering with candle lanterns in their hands.

At the center of the group was a figure crouching on the floor…

“M-My… my kitty is gone…”

“…Sir Evan?”

His knight was sitting on the floor, looking for some cat.

“Give me back my baby kitty…”

“……?”

Rianus had no idea what on earth was happening, but first he dismissed the servants to preserve Sir Evan’s social standing.

He climbed down from Sir Ernest’s arms and approached his knight, only for a large hand to suddenly grab him and pull him into a tight embrace.

A strong smell of alcohol wafted over him.

“Um… Sir Evan?”

“Hic… My precious baby kitty.”

“…….”

Rianus’s eyes darted around.

His knight was hugging him so tightly that he could hardly breathe, and now he had even started crying while searching for a cat.

Rianus wanted to comfort him right away. But if they actually brought him a cat, Sir Evan would obviously run off after it. He wondered whether he should ask Lady Bella to pretend to be a cat instead.

Just then, he spotted Nihil scurrying off somewhere.

“Huh? Neil? Where are you going?”

Despite Rianus calling after him, his friend hurried up the stairs as though he had something urgent to do.

Since Rianus couldn’t escape Sir Evan’s tight embrace, he decided to focus on calming him down for now.

“Sir Evan, are you all right?”

“I’m sooorry…”

“No, there’s nothing to apologize for. The floor is cold, so let’s go inside.”

“Hic…”

His knight was crying his eyes out, uncharacteristically overwhelmed by some unbearable sorrow.

At this point, Rianus was beginning to wonder whether alcohol was actually some kind of functional beverage that made people produce tears.

As he wiped away the tears rolling down Sir Evan’s cheeks and tried to soothe him, Nihil returned. He was carrying a crystal ball, and he began wandering around Sir Evan.

He seemed strangely excited, which made Rianus feel a little uneasy, but he focused on comforting his knight.

“Sir Evan, let’s go upstairs first.”

At those words, Evan staggered to his feet while still holding Rianus. But he couldn’t keep his balance and continued swaying, so Walter hurried over to support him.

“Sir Evan, be careful!”

“…Commander…?”

“Yes. Good heavens, how much have you had to drink?”

“Hwaaaang! Commander, I’m sooorry…”

“All right. It must have been a rare chance for you to go out, so I understand wanting to stay out late. Still, there are many ears around, so why don’t we get inside first?”

He was right.

Although Rianus had dismissed the servants who had gathered because of the commotion, he couldn’t exactly block out every sound.

“Commander, you know I reaaally respect you, right~?”

“…I’m very grateful to hear that, but first, please try to stand up straight.”

Walter draped one of Evan’s arms over his neck and tried to straighten the enormous man’s body.

Even though he could barely support his own weight, Evan continued holding Rianus tightly in one arm, refusing to let him go.

“Commander… About the gold coins…”

“…? Which gold coins are you talking about?”

“Y’know, those ones… The ones you gave me for the exam…”

“…Ah.”

“Fifty gooold… About those… Actually, I…”

“Sir Evan, that’s enough. How long ago was that? It was more than five years ago.”

“But…”

Despite being told it was all right, Evan continued mumbling apologies.

Walter felt a sudden lump in his throat and gave Evan’s back several affectionate pats. But all he accomplished was hurting his own hand; the giant wouldn’t stand up straight.

“Evan! If you need gold coins, I’ll give you more, so just stand up properly! Your head hasn’t gotten any bigger, but your body certainly has!”

“Hehehe… It’s been five years since you last called me that…”

“What’s so funny?!”

“Ever since I became a knight, you’ve always addressed me formally and called me ‘Sir.’ It made me feel so lonely…”

“…That upset you?”

“Yeees…”

Walter pressed his lips together, feeling inexplicably guilty.

“All right. Let’s go upstairs.”

“We can’t just leave… We have to catch that damn wildcat…”

“…Did you get into a fight with a stray cat outside?”

“That thieving wildcat bastard… How dare it do that to our precious baby kitty…!”

“Evan, I’ll catch the stray cat for you, so hurry inside and get some rest.”

“Huaaang! Commander, I kept calling him a wildcat, a wildcat, and now he’s actually turned into a wildcat…”

“……?”

“And now he’s got fluffy white fur and everything!!”

“…Good grief. I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Walter shook his head at the incomprehensible rambling.

Evan pulled Rianus even closer. Then he began nodding off while standing, eventually collapsing onto the floor.

Trapped in his arms, Rianus couldn’t decide what to do, so he simply hugged him back.

“That damn wildcat… I’ll never forgive him…”

Walter tried to move Evan, who was still muttering about wildcats, but carrying a man who was taller and heavier than himself—especially one who was also holding a child—up the stairs was no easy task.

It would have been better if Evan had simply passed out, but he kept mumbling nonsense about having to catch the wildcat and even struggled with all his strength.

In the end, it took Frederick, who had been hiding in the shadows, joining the struggle before they could finally get Evan to his bedroom.

Frederick, who had now helped carry Evan twice, rolled his shoulders and grumbled.

“Haa… Our junior’s drunken antics are no joke. Your Highness, why did you give your escort knight a bedroom on the fourth floor…?”

“But… it’s better to have him nearby… Ugh, Sir Evan, your beard is prickly.”

“My baby kitty…”

“…Hah. It’s a wonder he even made it back to the palace.”

Frederick shook his head as Evan rubbed his face all over Rianus.

Watching Frederick, Walter asked with a somewhat puzzled expression,

“More importantly, aren’t you His Majesty’s personal escort knight? Why are you here?”

“Yes, well… Due to certain circumstances, I’ve been assigned to be the puppy of this household for fifteen days.”

“……?”

Walter tilted his head slightly, clearly wondering what on earth that meant.