How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 153

“Gasp—!”

When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling.

“What… what the hell kind of dream was that…?”

A stupid dream… No, a wildcat dream, perhaps? They said dreaming of a white beast was a good omen, but there had been nothing good about it.

Evan sat up and rubbed his face with both hands. His fingers were trembling slightly. For some reason, the sensation of snapping that slender neck was still terribly vivid.

Did I really do something to the wildcat while I was drunk?

But if he had done something, the wildcat had certainly seemed to enjoy the footage of him the following day. He had even slept with his head resting on Evan’s forearm that morning.

Surely, someone wouldn’t sleep beside a person who had tried to strangle them…?

Besides that, the wildcat had brought him medicine and chocolate, and lately, he had even been waking up at dawn to help him train. His insolent behavior and way of speaking had also remained exactly the same as usual.

Evan mulled over one thing after another in an attempt to reassure himself. Then he remembered how the wildcat’s clothes had changed recently. He abruptly threw off his blanket and jumped to his feet.

He was covering his neck…!

That was right. It had started after that day. He had begun dressing up, using the quarterly evaluation as an excuse.

And even after dressing up, he had been bundled up in a robe from head to toe because of his ears and tail, so there had hardly been any point. That woman, Mrs. Sacare or whatever her name was, had even kept pointing out his robe.

Of course, every time she did, the robe simply became more luxurious.

Evan dashed upstairs. The sun hadn’t risen yet, so the wildcat should still be asleep. The boy never woke up no matter how much someone shook him until he was called, so Evan could take a quick look without being caught.

After hurriedly entering the prince’s bedroom, Evan took a deep breath and approached the wildcat, who was sprawled out fast asleep.

As expected, the first thing that caught his eye was the ribbon and frills reaching all the way up to the boy’s neck.

But what was he going to do after checking? It would be a relief if there was nothing wrong, but what if he found the marks of his own fingers? What would he do then?

Evan hesitated. Wouldn’t it be better to pretend he knew nothing? Perhaps it really had been just a stupid dream. No, a wildcat dream.

No.

He soon shook his head. This wasn’t something he could simply ignore. At the very least, he had to find out whether the wildcat knew and was pretending not to, or whether he genuinely had no idea.

Thinking that any further hesitation would be a waste of time, Evan reached out. Watching his fingertips tremble, he was almost worried that the wildcat would wake up before he could finish.

Click, click—

Were his hands too big, or were the boy’s buttons too small?

He was so nervous that the wildcat might wake up, but those damn buttons kept slipping out of his fingers.

“Junior.”

“WAAAH!”

“……!”

Evan was startled by the sudden call, while Frederick was startled by Evan’s violent reaction and practically jumped out of his skin.

The two stared at each other with wide eyes before turning their gazes toward the bed. Fortunately, the little ones hadn’t woken up.

Frederick raised one eyebrow and whispered accusingly.

“Good grief, why did you scream like that?”

“…I-I’m sorry, Sir.”

“So, why have you suddenly come here at dawn to undress the young master?”

“W-What? N-No, it’s not like that…”

“Junior, I never took you for that sort of person… How shameless.”

Having said that, Frederick narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Evan.

“That’s not it! I just had something I needed to check…”

“Did you really have to come at dawn and check by undressing the young master while he was asleep?”

“No, why do you have to put it like that?! Anyone who heard you would get the wrong idea—Ugh!”

Evan was in the middle of explaining himself when he noticed the wildcat sitting up and staring at him. Startled, he nearly screamed again before clapping a hand over his own mouth.

“Y-You’re awake…”

“Explain yourself.”

“…Explain what?”

“Why are you trying to take my clothes off.”

“No, it wasn’t like that!”

“Keep your voice down. You’ll wake the child.”

“…….”

This was so damn unfair!

“To think you were into children…”

“Hey! Don’t make me out to be a piece of trash!”

That bastard! He was saying something truly outrageous!

“Then surely…”

“…Surely what?”

The wildcat’s pupils trembled unusually. Seeing those eyes made a creeping sense of unease rise inside Evan as well.

Something must definitely have happened that day. Otherwise, there was no reason for the boy to be this flustered…!

“…You’re… into cats, perhaps…?”

…What?

“I should have realized when you kept calling your master a little kitten…”

Muttering that, the wildcat pressed down on the ears sticking up from his head. He also tucked his tail, which had somehow slipped out, back under the blanket.

As Evan opened and closed his mouth at this absurd conclusion, Frederick delivered the final blow.

“Cats, you say… Well, I suppose every man has his fantasies. I had a phase like that myself… Ahem. But, Junior, the young master is far too young…”

“No! That’s not it! I swear!”

“Pardon? You dislike cats?”

“N-No, it’s not that I dislike cats…”

“…As I thought. You really are trash…”

“AAARGH!”

The puppy thrashed about, clutching at his hair and pulling at it. Watching Evan, Nihil discreetly checked the front of his own clothes. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t been found out.

“…Still, rather than pouncing on a child, I suppose I’d be the better choice…”

“AAAH! No! That’s not it! You crazy bastard, don’t unbutton your clothes!”

“But…”

“I-I was wrong…! I said I was wrong! I’m the one at fault! I’m trash, okay? I’m trash!”

The innocent puppy wailed before bolting out of the bedroom.

Frederick grumbled that Evan was leaving without even taking over his shift, but then turned his gaze back to Nihil and stared at him intently.

“Has something happened, young master?”

“…Why are you asking me?”

“There’s no way Junior would suddenly show up at dawn with his face pale as a sheet and do something like that for no reason.”

“That’s what I should be asking you. Go and casually ask him.”

Why had he suddenly tried to check the back of his neck?

“…Then, before I go, if you could give me one more session of strength training…”

“Are you not going back…?”

Nihil stared pointedly at the borrowed puppy who had been camping out in the Second Prince’s Palace for a full fifteen days now.

“I’ll extend my guard duty by another day, then.”

“If you find out why the puppy acted that way.”

“Haha! I’ll get to the bottom of every last detail!”

Frederick said that and dashed out. Then he went over to Evan, who was crouching beside the bedroom door, and squatted down next to him to have a chat.

There are nothing but fools all around me.

Nihil watched the gap between the doors narrow before they finally clicked shut, then got up to look for a mirror.

This is why I shouldn’t do things differently from usual.

Thinking that, he checked the back of his neck. The bruise had faded so much that only a faint mark remained.

“Tsk.”

Nihil clicked his tongue, recalling the day the puppy had come back dead drunk.

 

***

 

“Evan, His Highness needs to sleep too, so you should stop now…”

“M-My cat. Please don’t take him away from me!”

“Haa… I suppose I’ll have to teach you royal etiquette all over again.”

Walter pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

Not only was he calling a member of the royal family a cat, but he was also behaving so selfishly. It was fortunate that the prince was taking it so well.

Evan hugged Rianus even tighter, his eyes brimming with tears.

“I-I’ll do as I please!”

“Mm-hmm. You can do whatever you want, Sir Evan.”

Rianus, whose face had been squashed against Evan’s chest, quietly gazed at him. Then he wriggled around and wiped the moisture gathering at the corners of Evan’s eyes.

“Sir Ernest, I’m fine, so don’t worry. You may go off duty now. Thank you for your hard work guarding me today.”

“…But, Your Highness.”

“I’m fine. Neil, you should sleep here with us too.”

Nod, nod.

Having obtained some excellent footage, Nihil smiled with satisfaction at the thought of teasing the puppy and readily nodded.

“You wicked wildcat! You sleep on the floor!”

“…….”

Although he wasn’t allowed onto the bed and had been banished to the floor, Nihil was a wildcat who knew how to look after his own sleeping arrangements. He naturally fetched a blanket and spread it out on the floor.

It was already quite late, so the little kitten kept babbling that he should come up and sleep with them, but eventually succumbed to sleepiness.

Only after even Evan, who had been muttering something or other, finally fell silent did that stubborn Captain leave for the night. Judging by the worried look on his face, he seemed to have a deeper connection with the puppy than Nihil had expected.

Nihil wasn’t particularly tired, so he thought he might as well get up and make some hangover medicine for the puppy before going to bed.

“Young master? Where are you going?”

Despite Frederick’s call, Nihil opened the bedroom door. But, for some reason, the puppy had staggered to his feet and was following him, having finally given up on the little kitten.

Nihil let him follow. They said that drunk words were sober thoughts, didn’t they? He must have something he wanted to say.

And besides… there was something that needed to be dealt with, so this was actually for the best.

Nihil narrowed his eyes as he studied Evan, then turned and began walking.

“Wildcat… I have to catch it.”

“…….”

If that was what he truly thought while drunk, then he wasn’t any different from usual.

Nihil watched the puppy for a moment before looking down the corridor, where not a single ray of light could enter because there were no windows.

It was like the throat of some enormous beast, stretching on endlessly.

Just as he was about to start walking again, a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation pricked his skin. It was so faint and disappeared so quickly that he briefly wondered whether he had imagined it, but there was no way he had mistaken it.

Bloodlust.

One of Nihil’s eyebrows tilted upward.

So that’s what he meant by catching me.

Had he mistaken Nihil for something else, or did he truly feel murderous toward him? It wasn’t some side effect of his memories returning. Those kinds of people didn’t hesitate.

Tap, tap.

Thud… thud…

Tap, tap, tap.

Thud… thud… THUMP!

“…….”

The puppy had been following him, but apparently couldn’t control his own body and fell over.

Nihil stood there for a moment, waiting for him to get back up.

But the puppy didn’t immediately rise. Instead, he stared at Nihil for a while before opening his mouth as though he resented him.

“Why… why are you waiting…?”

“…….”

“Just… just go…”

“…….”

“Go. Just… go away. Disappear.”

“…….”

“Please…”

Nihil quietly watched Evan, who had followed him of his own accord only to tell him to leave. Then he took off his veil and hood and walked toward him.

“…….”

“…….”

An unsteady gaze, unable to focus properly and seeming as though it might shatter at any moment, looked up at Nihil.

After his lips had quivered several times, a low, cracked voice finally escaped them.

“…Will you resent me?”

“…….”

Nihil couldn’t understand why the puppy was saying something like that. But seeing how unusually late he’d returned and how thoroughly drunk he’d gotten, it wasn’t difficult to guess that something had happened.

Who was it? The Queen? Or another faction?

The puppy’s loyalty to Rianus was genuine. And Rianus, who had an uncanny instinct for these things, also treated the puppy sincerely. Nihil had no reason to think he would betray them.

Has someone gotten hold of his weakness?

Nihil narrowed his eyes and opened his second sight once more, examining Evan’s mana.

There was a trace of a contract he hadn’t seen before. It was somewhat ambiguous whether Evan was one of the parties to it, but something was definitely binding him…

Forcing a contract to break wasn’t difficult for Nihil. But if someone was being held hostage, breaking the contract wouldn’t solve anything.

After briefly gathering his thoughts, Nihil carefully raised his hand and covered Evan’s eyes.

“This is merely an illusion, so you may do as you wish.”

Still, he couldn’t help feeling a little bitter.