How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 17

The Second Prince’s Palace was in a state of commotion for the first time in a long while.

The cause was a little boy named Neil, whom the prince had brought home and introduced as his friend.

His hair was pure white, as though it had been covered in snow, and his eyes were so inhumanly black that they looked like a night sky adorned with colorful auroras or a galaxy flowing across the heavens.

No one had heard the child’s voice yet, but they were certain it must be as beautiful as his appearance.

The staff began gathering in small groups, speculating about the mysterious child’s true identity.

Perhaps he was a sacred divine beast that had transformed into a human. Maybe he was actually a fox beastkin. Perhaps the prince had been so captivated by his appearance that he had brought him home. He might be the secret illegitimate child of another kingdom’s royal family, a demon who bewitched people and stole their souls, or even a magical doll the prince had acquired because he was so terribly lonely.

All kinds of rumors spread from one staff member to another, growing more outrageous with every retelling.

Meanwhile, completely oblivious to the commotion, Rianus was busy playing with his doll.

The doll spoke.

“Rian.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m tired.”

Tired, indeed.

Rianus had already taken care of food and shelter, two of the basic necessities of life, and decided it was time to take care of clothing. He had dragged Nihil into his dressing room for that very purpose.

He had actually summoned the royal designer to have new clothes made for his friend, but the designer, whose pride was easily wounded, had refused, declaring that he would not make clothes for anyone who wasn’t royalty.

Rianus had been furious that his friend had been looked down upon because of his social status. However, instead of throwing the designer out, he had given Nihil every single outfit the man had made for him, then ordered him to make new clothes for Rianus.

Of course, most of those new clothes were also intended for his friend.

Nihil was so annoyed that he had decided to grit his teeth and play the role of a doll just to appease the seaweed-haired prince, who was now puffed up with anger. Even then, he would never have agreed if Rianus hadn’t dismissed all the servants.

Evan had initially mocked Nihil mercilessly for obediently turning himself into a doll. But when Nihil casually remarked that he wanted to see what the knights looked like in their armor, Evan had been forced to change into his heavy, cumbersome armor as well. He quickly apologized and withdrew from the situation.

If he hadn’t apologized so promptly, he would have ended up modeling everything from the knights’ formal uniforms to their ceremonial attire and training clothes.

“Sorry, Neil. I guess I got a little carried away because everything looks good on you.”

“It’s fine. Let’s eat.”

Before they knew it, it was dinnertime. Rianus had enjoyed playing with his doll so much that he had completely forgotten about the royal designer. Still in high spirits, he headed for the dining room.

As soon as they entered, the food was served. There was more than usual, but Rianus, unaware that the butler had arranged a celebratory feast to mark the prince’s decision to separate his lessons from his older brother’s, simply assumed it was because there was now one more person at the table.

Rather than sitting at the head of the table, Rianus sat opposite his friend and ate with him as an equal.

Nihil didn’t know the finer points of aristocratic dining etiquette, but when he saw Rianus eating quietly, unlike the previous day, he finally realized that the prince’s atrocious table manners had been an act of consideration for a commoner child who might not be familiar with proper dining etiquette.

It was a rather pointless gesture for someone like Nihil, who never cared what others thought of him. Still, realizing that Rianus had been trying to accommodate him left Nihil feeling strangely unsettled.

He had thought Rianus was far too clueless for a prince and had no chance of becoming the Crown Prince. But now, seeing that Rianus understood the hierarchy, took care of his own people, and possessed a certain authority befitting royalty, Nihil felt relieved.

He speared a piece of meat with his knife and popped it into his mouth.

The meat had been cut so carelessly that the piece was enormous. Nihil’s cheeks bulged roundly as he stuffed them full of meat.

Since the head chef and several other staff members were waiting in the dining room, they all had an unobstructed view of Nihil’s appearance. It wouldn’t be long before the sight spread throughout the palace through their gossip.

But Nihil didn’t care about their stares in the slightest, and Rianus didn’t criticize his table manners, either.

“Oh, Neil. There was something I wanted to tell you…”

At Rianus’s call, Nihil raised his head and met his gaze while still chewing on his meat. His eyes briefly flicked toward Evan, who was standing guard behind Rianus.

Evan looked at Nihil’s stuffed cheeks, which seemed ready to burst if anyone pressed them, and silently signaled for him to eat a little more properly.

Nihil pretended not to notice and simply continued chewing.

“Her Majesty wants to meet you. You can refuse if you don’t want to. I’ll find a way to stop her.”

At Rianus’s words, Nihil tilted his head while continuing to chew. Since he had no idea what kind of person the queen was, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react.

Rianus didn’t want to interrupt his friend’s meal, but he gathered every last bit of social awareness he possessed and somehow managed to recognize the meaning behind Nihil’s expression. He continued explaining.

“The First Prince—that is, my older brother—is her son. She’s the eldest daughter of the Duke of Thesaurus. As is often the case with royals competing for the throne, my brother and I don’t get along very well, and the queen dislikes me, too. She might summon you just to hurt you.”

“……”

Nihil finally swallowed his meat, but even after hearing Rianus’s explanation, he remained expressionless and said nothing.

He then tried to spear a cherry tomato from his salad, but his fork missed. The tomato shot up to the height of his head before falling to the floor.

Thud, roll…

Every servant standing behind Nihil turned to watch the tomato roll away.

From his seat opposite Nihil, Rianus had a clear view of everything. Seeing the servants’ eyes move in unison to follow the tomato left him with an indescribable feeling.

Everyone was focused on Nihil.

Rianus forced himself to look away from the attention his friend was attracting and turned his gaze back to him.

Even amid all those stares, Nihil didn’t spare the tomato he had sent flying so much as a glance. Instead, he speared a piece of grilled pineapple and popped it into his mouth.

Given Nihil’s keen senses, he must have been aware of the servants watching him. Yet his friend carried himself with confidence wherever he went.

Rianus continued his explanation.

“Neil, the queen is very proud and extremely—”

Ding!

Before Rianus could finish, a clear, glassy sound rang through the dining room. Nihil had struck his water glass with his fork.

Everyone turned toward the source of the sound.

Rianus had no idea why Nihil had done that. He blinked and tilted his head.

“What’s wrong, Neil?”

Nihil still didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder and waved his hand, signaling that he wanted the servants dismissed.

Realizing what Nihil meant, Rianus let out a quiet sigh as he recognized that he had nearly made a mistake. He waved toward the servants and ordered them all to leave.

The sound of the door clicking shut echoed through the room. Once the spacious dining room was empty, only Rianus, Neil, and Evan remained.

As soon as the servants were gone, Rianus naturally called Evan over and had him sit beside him.

Apparently, this happened often enough that Evan merely glanced at Nihil before sitting down without a word.

From Evan’s experience, if he refused to take a seat, the prince would stubbornly insist that he wasn’t going to eat another bite.

Since Evan was solely responsible for guarding the prince, the kitchen always prepared a sandwich for him. Today, however, he hadn’t eaten the sandwich he had been given, so it was still safely tucked away in the bag he carried around. If he didn’t eat it now, it would end up being thrown away.

Thinking that it would be a shame to waste the head chef’s kindness, Evan took out the sandwich and began eating it.

Nihil didn’t particularly question the strange sight of a knight sitting beside the prince and casually taking out a sandwich to eat. He seemed to focus on something for a moment before finally speaking.

“Go ahead, Rian.”

“Thanks. Just thinking about the queen made me so worked up that I almost let something slip. I was already annoyed today because she objected when I asked for permission to let you enter the palace. Oh, Sir Evan, don’t just eat your sandwich. Have some of the other food, too.”

Nihil gave a single nod as though it were nothing, while Evan shook his head and said he was fine.

Still sulking over the queen, Rianus resumed his explanation.

“The queen is a very vicious woman. She went so far as to have an unborn child cut out of its mother’s womb before the child had reached full term, all to make sure her son became the First Prince. I know you don’t care about social status or age. I don’t want to force you to observe those distinctions, either. I like how confidently you treat everyone as equals. But the queen is different. If you make even the slightest verbal mistake, she’ll immediately charge you with insulting the royal family and punish you on the spot. It’ll be difficult for me to protect you from the legal consequences. Honestly, even if you use honorifics, she’ll undoubtedly find some excuse to accuse you of insulting the royal family.”

To summarize Rianus’s explanation, unless the queen was in an exceptionally good mood, there was a very high chance that she would have someone’s head chopped off regardless of what they said.

“I don’t use honorifics.”

“……”

Even in the middle of this serious conversation, Nihil remained as brazen as ever.

Rianus blinked, then suddenly burst out laughing.

Beside him, Evan raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“Neil, I really do like you. Can I ask why?”

“There’s only one person I speak politely to.”

“…Huh?”

Rianus blinked at the unexpected answer.

“…Who?”

Nihil didn’t answer immediately. He rested his chin on one hand, seemingly lost in thought, and tapped the table indifferently with his fingers.

“I… used to raise a child…”

“…A child?”

Rianus tilted his head at the unexpected mention of a child.

Evan had heard that Nihil had once cared for a sick child, so he wondered if this was the same child. He continued chewing his sandwich while listening quietly.

“Yeah. They were so small, kind, and lovable…”

Nihil lifted his lowered head slightly and met Rianus’s eyes. A faint smile appeared on his face, as though he were remembering something precious.

“Then one day, that child started imitating the way I spoke.”

“The way you spoke?”

“But even back then, the way I talked wasn’t exactly suitable for fitting into society.”

Evan, who had been listening attentively, nodded to himself despite the circumstances. At least Nihil had a good sense of self-awareness.

Rianus tilted his head slightly, unable to imagine what kind of speech would make it difficult to fit into society. But Nihil continued.

“So, in case the child picked up my bad habits, I started speaking politely.”

Evan cut in with an odd expression.

“Just so you know, adding -yo to your sentences doesn’t automatically make them polite.”

“……I want to beat you up.”