How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 29

The game continued until dinner. At Nihil’s request to eat comfortably while chatting, all the servants were dismissed. Thanks to that, Evan was also able to sit down and enjoy the meal with them.

Satisfied with the games they had played, Rianus scooped up some mashed potatoes and asked, “What should we play tonight?”

At the question, Nihil paused his knife work and considered it.

Rianus was a prince, after all. Was it really all right for him to spend so much time playing? He had plenty of things he needed to do. Surely he wasn’t setting aside time to play just because of Nihil.

“Rian, what did you usually do after dinner?”

“Hmm…”

Rianus tried to remember how he had spent his evenings until now, but nothing came to mind immediately.

He often missed lessons because he was sick, so he would fall behind and stay up all night studying to catch up, only to develop a fever again. Sometimes he read books or practiced swordsmanship.

On days when something upset him, he would shut himself in his room all day, doing nothing but sleep.

Thinking about it now, none of those activities had been particularly enjoyable. He was also a little embarrassed to admit the truth, so he gave a vague answer instead.

“I just… didn’t do much.”

“You haven’t been putting off things you need to do because of me, have you?”

“N-no, I haven’t!”

Rianus shook his head vigorously.

There was nothing he absolutely had to do. Of course, studying and practicing swordsmanship would help him if he worked hard at them, but for now, he wanted to enjoy spending time with Nihil without any worries.

Rianus knew that he had changed considerably since meeting Nihil. He no longer obsessed over his studies or swordsmanship, and he had stopped feeling nervous when talking to his older brother. Somehow, whenever Nihil was beside him, he felt as though he could accomplish anything.

Just by being there, his friend gave him confidence and a sense of security.

“Meeting you was the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Rianus smiled shyly as he spoke. Rather than being touched, however, Nihil raised one eyebrow.

“Rian, you don’t trust just anyone that easily, do you?”

Evan, who had just been cutting into his food, raised his eyebrows at Nihil’s heartless remark and shot him a look that clearly said, Read the room, will you?

But Nihil continued.

“Don’t trust anyone that easily except me.”

Nihil scolded Rianus firmly. It would be a problem if the prince kept picking up random strays and becoming attached to them.

“Rian, always stay on your guard. Don’t blindly accept food just because someone offers it, and don’t pick up random things, either.”

Beside them, Evan muttered that he wanted to know why Nihil was allowed to be trusted when he himself had already been picked up like a stray and it was too late to undo it. But no one responded.

The guard dog felt lonely.

Rianus glanced at the slightly dejected Evan before continuing.

“Neil, does that mean I shouldn’t eat anything you give me, either…?”

“You can eat what I give you. You don’t need to suspect me. I won’t do anything to hurt you.”

“Okay!”

“But you should question whether the person in front of you really is me.”

“…Huh?”

Rianus tilted his head. He didn’t understand what Nihil meant.

He didn’t need to suspect Nihil, but he had to question whether Nihil was really Nihil? Did that mean someone might disguise themselves as Nihil? What if they looked exactly alike and Rianus couldn’t tell them apart?

“How can I tell the difference?”

“It’s not difficult. You just need to get to know me better. If we keep spending time together, you’ll naturally learn to tell the difference. But first, there are a few things you should know about me. I’m much more proud, experienced, and suspicious than you think.”

“Hmm…”

“And, well… to borrow your knight’s words, I’m pretty ill-mannered.”

Evan chewed and swallowed a piece of steak, then nodded. The wildcat certainly seemed to have a good grasp of himself.

Rianus poked his knight in the side for nodding so readily, then replied, “Neil, I know you have your reasons for acting that way, so it’s fine. Besides, anyone who spends time with you will quickly realize that you’re a good person.”

Nihil fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

“Rian, we’ve only known each other for three days. I’m genuinely worried about you, so don’t get attached to people so easily.”

“Okay! You’re the only one who’s special.”

Rianus smiled brightly as he dipped a torn piece of bread into his soup.

Nihil really was the only exception. Rianus was normally extremely wary of outsiders. In fact, that was why he kept the palace staffed with only a small number of servants instead of hiring more.

“All right, Rian. What did I tell you earlier?”

“Not to doubt you, but to doubt whether someone really is you.”

“That’s right. Suppose a maid came to you with some medicine and said I had sent it. What would you do?”

“Hmm… I’d thank her.”

“……”

Nihil realized that his point had completely failed to get through to Rianus and quietly lowered the water glass he had lifted to his lips.

A brief silence followed. Rianus blinked his large, round eyes repeatedly and tilted his head, wondering whether he had said something wrong.

Nihil decided that perhaps his explanation hadn’t been clear enough. He opened his mouth again, intending to explain things carefully at Rianus’s eye level.

“Rian, what kind of person am I?”

“Umm… someone who’s proud, experienced, and suspicious?”

Nihil nodded as he mashed a well-cooked bean with his fork, then looked Rianus straight in the eye. It was a relief that the boy’s memory was good, even if his ability to apply what he learned left something to be desired.

“Rian, because I’m so suspicious, I don’t trust people easily. Especially me. If something important like medicine were involved, I would never send it through someone else. I wouldn’t even entrust something as simple as a dessert to another person while using my name. So the me that maid claims to represent wouldn’t actually be me.”

“Oh!”

Rianus’s eyes widened with sudden understanding, and he nodded rapidly. His dark green, seaweed-like curls bounced along with his head.

Seeing that Rianus seemed to have grasped at least some of the lesson, Nihil continued.

“All right, then. Suppose your knight brought you a snack and said I had sent it for you. What would you do?”

“Um, could we eat it together?”

“……”

Nihil was at a loss for words again. His throat suddenly felt dry, so he took a long drink of water.

Evan, who had been listening quietly beside them, burst out laughing. The awkward situation, in which Nihil’s meaning seemed to get through to Rianus but somehow never quite did, was hilarious. And the little kitten asking permission to share a snack with him was simply too adorable.

“Rian. There’s no way I’d send something for you to eat alone with that dog—no, with your knight…”

“Sorry. I’ll eat it by myself…”

For some reason, Rianus felt as though he was being scolded. He lowered his head, looking a little dejected.

Nihil lowered his head, too, and pressed a hand to his forehead. Apparently, Rianus trusted and followed his knight so much that his common sense stopped functioning properly around him.

Watching the two little boys bow their heads for entirely different reasons, Evan snickered for a while before finally taking over the explanation on Nihil’s behalf.

“Your Highness, what he means is that he would never send food through someone else. So even if I, someone you trust without a doubt, brought you a snack while claiming it came from him, you should still be suspicious.”

Evan deliberately emphasized the words someone you trust without a doubt, then looked smugly at Nihil.

Nihil completely ignored him and continued explaining.

“Listen carefully, Rian. Whether it’s food, an object, or a living creature, I’ll hand it to you myself. I won’t let anything pass through someone else’s hands unless I’ve told you in advance. You should accept poison directly from my hand, but never accept a restorative medicine from someone else. If anyone uses my name, always be suspicious first. Understand?”

“Okay!”

It was unclear whether Rianus had even registered the part about being handed poison. He simply nodded cheerfully.

Evan had noticed the extreme word Nihil had used, too, but he didn’t criticize him. Nihil was emphasizing this so strongly because he understood his own position all too well.

A wandering orphan with nothing to his name except being the prince’s friend.

Someone easy to approach and exploit, someone who would be convenient to dispose of once his usefulness had run out. Someone who could be murdered without a trace somewhere in the world, and whose disappearance would go unnoticed by everyone.

As it happened, the books on herbal medicine and medicine that Nihil had requested during their outing had arrived today. Evan couldn’t trust him completely, but keeping a close eye on him would at least reduce the risks.

“And Rian, even if you become suspicious of someone, be careful not to show it. Your expressions are far too honest.”

“I’ll try!”

Rianus answered immediately without giving the matter much thought.

Simply trying wouldn’t make it easy to hide his naturally honest expressions, so Nihil eyed the suddenly overconfident prince with some doubt. But there was no point in trying to teach him how to change something so deeply ingrained, either. Nihil merely nodded and decided to move on to another example.

“Rian, suppose I were kidnapped or taken hostage and begged you to save me. What should you do?”

“You should ask the kidnapper or hostage-taker what they want.”

“……”

Nihil sighed inwardly. It was a perfectly reasonable answer, but not the one he had been looking for.

“I would never beg someone to spare my life.”

“Why not…? What if you got hurt?”

“No. That’s not what I mean. I mean that if I were begging for my life, then that person wouldn’t be me.”

“Then I shouldn’t help you if you ask me for help?”

“That’s right. It could be an illusion spell, or someone might be disguised as me.”

“B-But what if it really is you? What if you’re in real, real danger?”

“Of course, I could genuinely be kidnapped or taken hostage. It might even look dangerous to you… But Rian, think about it carefully. If the real me were kidnapped and locked up somewhere, how do you think I would behave?”

Rianus closed his eyes and furrowed his brows, seriously imagining Nihil being kidnapped. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t conjure up even the slightest sense of urgency.

Even when Nihil had been hit by the carriage and regained consciousness, his first words hadn’t been Save me or Help me. He had asked who they were. Even with his head injured and blood pouring from his wounds, Nihil’s expression had barely changed.

Was it because Rianus lacked imagination? Perhaps it was simply because he had never seen Nihil wear an expression that betrayed his emotions. Either way, no matter how long he thought about it, he couldn’t picture Nihil looking desperate or frightened.

After carefully imagining what Nihil might do if he were kidnapped, Rianus hesitantly opened his mouth.

“If it were you, Neil… I think you’d just lie around and roll about.”

“……”

“Then, when I came to rescue you, you’d ask me why I’d bothered coming and get up.”

“……”

“Then you’d let out a little sigh, slowly get to your feet, pick the lock without even breaking a sweat, and tell me it was time to go home.”

“Ha…”

Nihil couldn’t refute that. He began to wonder whether he was actually much easier to read than he had thought.

Meanwhile, the more Rianus imagined the scene, the more he felt that he had somehow wronged Nihil.

“I mean, I’d feel really relieved. But… I’d also feel like I’d interrupted your plans. I’m sorry for getting in your way.”

“…Please stop imagining things by yourself and then apologizing for them.”

“Pfft—Keh, hahahahahaha!”

Evan, who had been watching the conversation, clutched his stomach and tried to suppress his laughter, but eventually burst out.

If they had been in a bedroom instead of the dining room, he would have rolled around on the floor, laughing at them to his heart’s content.

Rianus and Evan soon forgot why Nihil’s kidnapping had even come up in the first place. Instead, they began planning a rescue operation for Nihil, who hadn’t actually been kidnapped.

Nihil considered where he should even begin objecting, then realized that thinking about it was a waste of time. He mashed the now-cold potatoes and took a bite.

Let’s just eat.