How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 4

“W-Waaahhh!”

Rianus de Harpense was heartbroken.

He had never felt this miserable when people called him the Swamp Prince because his hair was a gloomy, dark green—a messy mixture of His Majesty’s deep navy hair and his mother’s blond locks. Nor had he ever felt this miserable when people mocked him for having mismatched eyes, one golden like His Majesty’s and the other green like his mother’s.

“Waaahhh, hic, waaaahhh!”

“Shut your mouth.”

“W-Waaaaaahhh!”

Sir Evan’s anxious attempts to comfort him were drowned out by his sobs.

But the command to shut up came through loud and clear.

Which only made him feel worse.

I’m a prince, and you’re a beggar. There’s so much I can do for you. I’m the one with a higher status.

You’re the one at fault. You’re the bad one for ignoring me when I, a prince, am going this far for you.

No matter how hard he tried to cover his mouth, the tears wouldn’t stop.

Do you think my dark green hair and mismatched eyes are dirty and disgusting, too?

He remembered the way those scarlet eyes had curved when someone looked at him at the duke’s residence.

His older brother, who had stood nobly surrounded by everyone, while Rianus had been utterly alone.

His brother had said it was all because Rianus was cursed. Because their mother was a half-elf, everyone kept abandoning him.

Then am I the bad one? Is that why you don’t want to be my friend, either?

But it wasn’t as though he had wanted to be born this way.

The tears that had finally begun to subside in his golden and green eyes welled up again, one drop after another. Watching him, the black opal’s expression crumpled once more.

“Stop crying. You’re making my head hurt.”

Drip.

“…Hic, your head hurts?”

“Yeah.”

“Hic, I’m sorry. Hic, I’m sorry.”

The prince desperately tried to hold back his tears. He was the one who had caused the pain, and he couldn’t bear to make the child feel any worse.

He had been crying for so long that his voice had grown slightly hoarse.

The black-opal-eyed child twitched one eyebrow as he watched the prince stop crying. He looked at Rianus as though he were some bizarre creature.

Evan felt rather conflicted watching His Highness, who had been sobbing so miserably, force himself to hold back his tears just because that rude brat had complained of a headache.

The knight handed the prince a water bottle.

“Your Highness, please have some water.”

“Mm… Thank you.”

Evan glared at the culprit behind this whole incident. The wild lynx of a child didn’t even bat an eye.

The kitten’s eyes were so red, swollen, and puffy that they looked pitiful. It seemed as though they might burst into tears again if anyone pressed them.

Evan was a little hurt that the kitten, who had sobbed so desperately as though he couldn’t hear a word Evan said, had responded to the rude lynx’s voice. But he consoled himself by thinking that the child’s obnoxious tone, which had absolutely no manners whatsoever, must have been so grating that the prince couldn’t help reacting.

“Hey.”

The rude lynx opened his mouth.

Evan wanted to smack him upside the head, but he restrained himself, afraid that the startled kitten might burst into tears again.

He couldn’t make the kitten, who had only just managed to stop crying, start all over again. So Evan summoned every last bit of patience he possessed and spoke with as much kindness as he could muster under the circumstances.

“Show His Highness some respect, you beggar.”

“I wasn’t talking to you. Hey, seaweed head.”

Rianus’s eyes widened at the black opal’s question. Well, they couldn’t widen all that much, given how swollen they were.

Having already been rejected twice when he asked the child to be his friend, Rianus didn’t know what seaweed meant. But he realized the child was addressing him, so he was simply delighted. He stopped Evan from stepping forward and hurried to answer.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not a girl.”

“Yeah, I know. I just said the wrong thing earlier. I’m sorry.”

“Whether you’re a prince or a king, I’m not going to use honorifics with you.”

“Huh? O-Okay…”

The child wasn’t using honorifics already, but Rianus had no intention of demanding them in the future, either. So he nodded and told the child that it was fine not to use them.

“I hate having to hold back, too.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I absolutely won’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

“Okay.”

The prince agreed with each statement, but he didn’t understand what was going on. He tilted his head in confusion.

The beggar continued saying whatever he wanted, regardless.

“I hate the sound of crying, too.”

“Okay.”

“I hate being in pain.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t have much, but I have a lot of pride.”

“Okay.”

Listening from the side, Evan found himself nodding unconsciously. At least the little lynx had a decent understanding of himself.

“Even so, do you still want to be my friend?”

“……Huh?”

Only then did Rianus realize that the sudden string of statements had been an introduction.

Right! You’re supposed to introduce yourself before becoming friends!

Rianus began to feel a little excited. Worried that the black-opal-eyed child might change his mind, he hurriedly nodded with all his might.

“Yes, yes! I want to be your friend!”

“Can you get me into the palace?”

“……Huh?”

Into the palace?

Rianus was still wondering what the problem was when the beggar continued.

“Like that knight said, I’m a beggar. I can’t just come and go from the royal palace, so you’ll have to come find me. But…”

“I can’t go out very often.”

“Right. You’re a prince, so you can’t go out much. Then would you be able to meet me about once a month?”

“I don’t like that. It’s too little.”

Meeting only once a month? How were they supposed to become friends that way?

“Then I guess I’ll have to get into the palace. So how are you going to get me in?”

“……”

Good question. How am I going to get him in?

“Let me tell you in advance: I don’t want to be a servant. I already told you I’m not going to use honorifics.”

“Hmm…”

Rianus began to think. He couldn’t give up now, not after finally getting this opportunity.

This child had survived being hit by a carriage moving at full speed, so he must be incredibly tough. He also seemed fearless, judging by how boldly he acted in front of Rianus’s much larger escort knight. And since he had such a strong sense of pride, he probably wouldn’t run away in fear of a curse that couldn’t even spread to him.

Besides, the child spoke his mind even in front of royalty. He didn’t seem like someone who would be intimidated by Rianus’s older brother, either.

Finally, his instincts were telling him something.

If he didn’t hold on to this child now, he would regret it for the rest of his life. He absolutely had to become friends with him!

What should I do?

Rianus racked his brain, but no matter how long he thought, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

He glanced at his escort knight, who seemed increasingly tense about what might come out of the prince’s mouth, then looked at those mysterious eyes still gazing languidly from the carriage. Finally, he cautiously opened his mouth.

“Should we sneak you in first and figure out the rest later?”

“……”

“Your Highness!”

Thanks to the knight’s horrified leap, the carriage jolted violently.

Sneak him in? This wasn’t an empty house. It was the royal palace!

Rianus thought the languid black opal’s eyes had grown cloudy with exasperation, so he hurriedly began making excuses.

“My bedroom is big. There are lots of places to hide.”

“……”

“I’ll give you lots of delicious food, too.”

“……”

“I have plenty of money, too… Don’t you want to?”

“……”

“Waaah…”

When the child didn’t answer, the seaweed head drooped.

Haaah…

The child thought to himself.

Where on earth did this idiot come from?

Evan began trying to comfort the kitten he served.

The real problem was that the prince wanted to make that rude little lynx his friend in the first place. But Evan couldn’t bring himself to blame the kitten for being lonely.

He took a deep breath and began explaining the situation in a calm, gentle voice, hoping to make Rianus understand.

“Your Highness, there are eyes and ears everywhere in the palace. To put it bluntly, we would first have to find a bedroom for this beggar. As you know, most of the servants share rooms with another person. Even if he stays cooped up in your room all day, we would still need at least one person to cooperate with us. And you yourself said that he couldn’t become a servant because he’s too young. People would certainly start paying attention.”

“I’m not becoming a servant.”

Evan wanted to punch the wild lynx when he heard him growl, but the child was already covered in blood and bruises, so he gritted his teeth and continued.

“Even if you don’t like the idea, you’ll still need some sort of cover story. Anyway, Your Highness, you really need to think this through…”

“Ah!”

Before Evan could finish, the kitten suddenly sprang to his feet as though he had just thought of something and grabbed the lynx’s hand.

Watching the prince’s once-clean little hand become dirty again, Evan pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

“Your Highness, grabbing that filthy brat’s hand like that…”

“Do you want to stay in my bedroom?”

“……Pardon?”

For a moment, Evan wondered if he had misheard. He even poked at his ears to make sure.

He blinked several times, but his innocent little kitten was still holding the lynx’s hand, beaming brightly with sparkling eyes.

“Sure.”

The arrogant wild lynx gave a careless nod as he looked at the prince’s sparkling odd-colored eyes. Evan’s jaw dropped at the child’s utterly ridiculous answer.

What the hell is this brat talking about?!

“What do you mean, ‘sure’?! Do you think a royal bedroom is that easy to get into?! And what’s with that half-hearted attitude?! Absolutely not, Your Highness! What on earth makes you trust him enough to let him into your bedroom?!”

“By the way, how old are you?”

“……”

Ignoring the knight’s desperate protests, the kitten began trying to charm the wild lynx.

Evan was horrified. How could they possibly let that beggar into the prince’s bedroom? If an outsider were staying there, Evan wouldn’t be able to guard the prince from a proper distance. Who knew what the brat might do? If they let him in, Evan threatened—though it was hardly an empty threat—that he would hole up in the prince’s bedroom as well.

But the adorable little kitten simply smiled brightly and said that sounded wonderful, too. They could all live together!

“My bedroom is going to be so lively!”

“Your Highness! No matter what, your bedroom is absolutely, positively off-limits!”

“Hm? How old are you? Are you around my age?”

“Your Highness!”

“Sir Evan! Please be quiet for a moment. I’m trying to talk to my friend.”

Evan was so overcome with emotion that he momentarily lost his ability to speak.

How long has it even been since they met? And he’s already calling that brat his friend…! How can he take the side of that filthy little thing over the one and only escort knight who’s been with him for five years?!

Evan wanted to rattle off a string of complaints, but eventually he pressed his lips together.

Looking at the prince, who was beaming as he held the dirty hand and swung it up and down, Evan could no longer bring himself to say anything.

How long has it been since I last saw him smile like that?

He hadn’t even been able to properly comfort His Highness when he cried. Perhaps the right thing to do was to step aside for now.

Evan couldn’t understand why the prince, who was usually so wary of outsiders, was going to such lengths for this child. Still, he decided to remain quiet and observe.

Even if the brat managed to sneak into the palace for now, he would eventually need official permission to stay. Surely, it wouldn’t be long before he was forced to leave.

Will His Highness be upset again when that happens?

Evan glanced at the kitten, who had started chattering away as he introduced himself, then stared at the child who was covered in blood and bruises.

If the little lynx in front of him didn’t pose a threat to the prince, keeping him nearby might not be such a bad idea. But a prince befriending a commoner would certainly invite gossip.

Worse still would be keeping the child close only to be betrayed by him.

Evan watched the child, who remained seated with an infuriatingly calm and insolent air despite knowing that the person before him was a prince, occasionally blinking those eyes of his. The uneasy feeling wouldn’t go away.

They had only just met. There was no reason to believe the brat had any sense of loyalty. Even if he managed to enter the palace, he would surely flee under pressure, allow himself to be bribed into turning against the prince, or keep acting so rudely that he would eventually be executed for insulting royalty.

Was bringing this child into the palace really a good choice?