How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 15

“So.”

“Mm-hmm!”

“You bought every kind of snack you could find…”

“Mm-hmm!”

Rianus had returned to his bedroom, changed into light indoor clothes, and finished preparing for snack time.

Nihil was at a loss for words as he looked at the assortment of snacks overflowing across the tea table. They had filled the three-tier dessert stand to capacity, and there were still more treats piled around it.

He shot a look at the large guard dog standing beside him, as if asking, What on earth were you doing instead of stopping him? But Evan knew this whole mess had started with his own suggestion, so he silently turned his head and pretended not to notice.

“Rian.”

“Hmm?”

“We can’t eat all of this. Leave a few things out and give the rest to the palace servants.”

“But we won’t know which ones taste better unless we try them all.”

“Once you’re full, even delicious things stop tasting good. We’ll keep having snacks together from now on, so there’s no need to eat this much all at once.”

“Oh, that’s right! You’ll be staying here from now on!”

“Exactly. So hurry up and send the rest back.”

“Okay!”

Listening to the two children talk, Evan thought Nihil was surprisingly good at handling kids. He usually spoke in short, blunt sentences, but when coaxing a child, he explained things patiently and calmly. He even slipped in exactly the words the other person wanted to hear, making it practically impossible to argue against him.

Rianus pulled the cord connected to the chime bell all the way down. Now that he no longer needed to hide Nihil, the bell rang just as loudly as his newfound confidence had grown.

Before long, a maid knocked on the bedroom door. It was the girl with twin braids who had brought them juice the previous night.

“You called for me, Your Highness? Oh!”

The twin-tailed maid’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the unfamiliar outsider sitting right there in the bedroom.

She was already astonished that there was an outsider in the room, but his appearance was even more shocking.

Snow-white hair, as white as fresh snow, and colorful black eyes that seemed to reflect the Milky Way in the night sky. His white eyelashes, gently veiling those eyes, resembled a crescent moon hanging in the darkness.

And despite his almost nonexistent expression, he was incredibly beautiful.

Watching Anna stare at Nihil in a daze, Rianus thought, I was just like that, too, and graciously overlooked her rudeness.

“Anna, this is my friend, Neil. He’ll be staying in my palace from now on.”

Knowing that Nihil disliked his own name, Rianus introduced him as Neil right from the start.

Anna was brought back to reality by Rianus’s voice and startled, hurriedly bowing.

“Ah! Y-yes! Hello, Young Master Neil. My name is Anna! Um, well, you’re really… I mean, very…”

“……?”

“…beautiful.”

“……”

Silence fell.

After blurting out that he was beautiful, Anna continued staring at Nihil as though she were under a spell.

As was often the case with children around the prince’s age, it was difficult to tell whether he was a boy or a girl.

The ends of his white hair stuck out unevenly, as though someone had hacked at them with scissors. Even so, he was beautiful, like a doll crafted from only the rarest and loveliest things in the world.

At the maid’s audacious remark, Evan let out a muffled snort. The sound brought Anna back to her senses, and as she replayed her own words in her head, she shuddered.

“I-I’m sorry!”

Rianus made a thoughtful little sound, glanced at his friend, and murmured, “He is pretty, isn’t he?” before nodding.

However, it would be a problem if the maid continued staring at Nihil in a daze, so he finally got to the point.

“Anna, take some of these snacks and share them with the other servants.”

“C-can I really take them?”

“Of course. Oh, wait. Neil, which ones do you want?”

Nihil was about to answer, “Anything,” but he glanced at the maid and vaguely pointed at the nearest bundle of cookies instead.

Rianus assumed he was unfamiliar with fancy snacks, so he pointed out that bundle and a few other items, then had the maid pack up the rest.

“Anna, take the remaining snacks with you, and bring us some tea.”

“Yes, Your Highness! Is there anything else you need?”

“Bring the butler and the head maid here.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Anna bowed deeply, gathered up the snacks, and left the room, her neatly braided pigtails bouncing behind her.

It wasn’t long before another maid arrived with the tea.

It wasn’t Anna. After hearing from her about the prince’s friend, the other maids had competed fiercely for the chance to come, and this girl had been selected because she was the best at making tea.

She had come out of curiosity after hearing Anna make such a fuss about his beauty, but seeing him in person made her realize that Anna’s excitement hadn’t even begun to do him justice.

The maid kept sneaking glances at Nihil as she poured the tea, nearly letting it overflow. Rianus quickly dismissed her, telling her that was enough.

“Neil, you can’t keep bewitching the maids like that.”

Rianus sounded genuinely troubled, but Nihil merely shrugged.

“An unfamiliar person who appeared out of nowhere is sitting in a prince’s bedroom, wearing the prince’s pajamas and enjoying tea with him. How could anyone not look?”

Evan narrowed his eyes as though he found Nihil’s explanation unconvincing.

Of course, the boy wasn’t wrong. Still, his irresistible beauty undoubtedly had something to do with the attention he attracted.

Evan sighed deeply, thinking that this appearance of Nihil’s would continue causing trouble in the future, and took a sip of the tea in front of him.

Rianus tilted his head as though considering Nihil’s point. Then he poured milk into his own black tea and dropped in no fewer than seven sugar cubes.

He added milk and sugar to Nihil’s cup as well.

“This is called milk tea. You can drink it as plain black tea, too, but it tastes better this way. Do you want more sugar?”

Nihil took a sip of the tea Rianus had sweetened for him, then shook his head to indicate that he didn’t need any more sugar.

Beaming, Rianus pushed a fondant au chocolat toward him. It still retained a little warmth.

Nihil took the dessert and split it in half, intending to offer some to Rianus. But when his spoon sank into the cake and melted chocolate oozed out, he decided to eat it himself.

“That’s called a fondant au chocolat. You’re supposed to eat it when it’s warmer, but I think it’s cooled down quite a bit. How is it? Does it taste good?”

Rianus asked with sparkling eyes.

Nihil gave a casual nod and took another bite. The chocolate had a rich flavor, but it didn’t seem to contain too much sugar, and he liked its slight bitterness.

The milk tea Rianus had prepared for him was too rich and sweet for his taste.

Watching Nihil eat so well, Rianus smiled brightly.

“Should I ask them to bring more?”

“Your dog is drooling.”

“Pfft—cough, cough!”

Evan, who had been quietly drinking his tea, spat it out after the unexpected attack. He swore he had only glanced at the dessert once, but the wildcat had read his expression anyway.

Does this guy have eyes in the back of his head?

Seeing Evan continue to cough, Rianus sprang to his feet and hurried over to pat him on the back, asking if he was all right.

Evan said he was fine, but in truth, he wasn’t. If that wildcat had used even slightly more refined language, Evan wouldn’t have been so startled.

“Sir Evan, it wasn’t poison or anything, was it?”

“No, Your Highness…”

“You startled me. Neil, we don’t keep dogs in our palace. Where did you see one?”

“……”

“……”

“Didn’t you say at lunch that the only people you knew here were one dog and me?”

A brief silence followed.

Evan couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was the dog Nihil had been talking about. Nihil, meanwhile, was silent because he was wondering whether this kind of language might be bad for a child’s emotional development.

Nihil quickly changed the subject.

“Rian, I think your knight wants some fondant au chocolat.”

“What? Sir Evan, do you like this? Should I have them make one for you right away?”

Rianus stared up at his knight with wide eyes, having interpreted the same topic in a completely different way. He was genuinely surprised because Evan had never once shown any sign of liking sweets.

“N-no! I’m fine, really!”

“You don’t like it…?”

The little kitten’s eyes drooped sadly. Rianus murmured, “But it’s delicious,” looking rather dejected.

Right in front of him, Nihil took an especially large spoonful of fondant au chocolat. His expressionless face was somehow even more infuriating than an outright smirk.

Evan wanted to demand that Nihil stop making unnecessary remarks, but he glanced at Rianus’s drooping eyes and opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally letting out a long sigh.

“Perhaps… you could save one for me next time.”

“Okay! I’ll make sure not to forget!”

Rianus was delighted to have discovered something his knight liked. He still had no idea what the conversation about dogs had been about, but he was very, very satisfied.

The butler and the head maid arrived a little later than expected. Quite some time had passed since Rianus had summoned them, but the Second Prince’s palace was understaffed, leaving the two of them responsible for most important matters. As a result, the maid had struggled to find them.

Both looked a little surprised to see an unfamiliar child in the prince’s bedroom, but perhaps thanks to their accumulated experience, they managed to greet him professionally without behaving rudely like the other maids.

The butler was an elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, while the head maid was younger than expected, seemingly in her mid-to-late twenties.

“Butler, Head Maid, come in. You must be very busy.”

“I apologize, Your Highness. It seems we crossed paths with the maid while going about our duties.”

The butler stepped forward to answer Rianus. A kindly smile rested on the old man’s face.

“It’s all right. I know how busy you are. I suppose it’s about time we hired some more servants.”

“We’re managing just fine, Your Highness. Please don’t overexert yourself.”

“You’re the ones overexerting yourselves. I’m sorry for being so stubborn. Assess how many additional staff we need and post a recruitment notice as soon as tomorrow. But I’ll personally conduct the final selection.”

“…As you wish, Your Highness.”

The butler seemed a little surprised by Rianus’s sudden order to hire more staff, but soon his eyes crinkled, and he nodded with a smile.

He didn’t know what had brought about this change in the prince’s attitude toward outsiders, but it was a good thing.

“I called you here because there’s someone I want to introduce. This is my friend, Neil. He’ll be staying in this palace with us from now on.”

Rianus turned slightly and pointed to Nihil beside him, smiling brightly. The butler returned the smile and bowed toward Nihil.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Young Master Neil. My name is Paul, and I am the butler.”

“I’m Perry, the head maid.”

Nihil didn’t answer. He merely dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment, his white hair swaying gently with the movement.

Perhaps it was his appearance, or perhaps it was the air of detachment in his expression. Whatever the reason, his mysterious aura made the butler and the head maid wonder whether the prince had brought home some sort of divine beast.

Watching his wonderful friend, Rianus smiled bashfully for reasons known only to himself. It was finally sinking in that he had a friend he could introduce to other people. His heart felt ticklish with excitement.

His cheeks were faintly flushed, and his eyes curved into bright crescents as he smiled. The sight was so adorable that Perry, who was watching alongside them, couldn’t help smiling, too.

It was the first time Perry had ever seen the prince smile like that, and the first time in two years for the butler.

“Which room should we prepare for the young master?”

The head maid, Perry, asked politely.

Her gaze naturally shifted toward Nihil, who was wearing the prince’s pajamas.

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to have already spent the night here. And since all the servants had been dismissed the previous evening, she suspected that the prince had already given his friend a bedroom.

A competent head maid would know to discreetly overlook that detail and simply arrange a room without making a fuss…

“Hmm…? Neil’s going to sleep in my room with me…”

…Pardon?