How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 40

While Evan was lost in his own troubled thoughts, the conversation moved on to another topic.

“…We’ve apprehended everyone involved with the Rabbit’s Den, and we’ve also been making steady progress in recovering the list of nobles who participated in the auction.”

“Then all that remains is to punish them.”

“Actually, there’s one more problem. Contrary to our expectations, the cause of the collapse wasn’t a simple physical impact. We discovered that the protective magic circle supporting the den had been dismantled.”

“The magic circle? Was there some sort of internal dispute?”

“That remains to be investigated. A few mages claimed they had dismantled the magic circle in an attempt to have their sentences reduced, but those same mages had absolutely no idea how it had been dismantled. However, the method used to dismantle it was…”

Abel stopped mid-sentence and pressed his lips together. It was a habit of his whenever he got stuck trying to explain something.

“…utterly crude.”

“…?”

“When dismantling a magic circle, we usually work backward through its calculations for safety reasons, since mana can flow backward if the circle is tampered with incorrectly. But this method was entirely different. It was simply… a matter of poking its weak point and snapping it, quite literally.”

“What does that matter?”

At Sedes’s ignorant remark, which made it clear he hadn’t understood a thing, Abel narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

…If the princes weren’t here, I’d give you an earful about how you’re not even a mage, so what could you possibly know?

Abel barely managed to relax his furrowed brow before continuing.

“…Of course, Your Majesty wouldn’t know much about this, since you’re not a mage. But the larger a magic circle is, the more mana it requires. That also makes it easier to sustain fatal injuries if the mana flows backward. Moreover, the large-scale magic circle at the Rabbit’s Den had two layers of reinforcement spells alone. On top of that, it had concealment, illusion, protection, and counterattack spells inscribed over one another, for a total of five different types of spells.”

“Sounds like whoever made it was quite skilled.”

“Y-Your Majesty! This is not something you should be talking about so casually!”

Sedes’s unruffled reaction made Abel feel as though his insides were about to burst. If the princes’ attention hadn’t suddenly turned toward him, he would undoubtedly have rushed over and grabbed his friend by the collar.

“Your Majesty, please listen carefully. To begin with, we don’t even know how anyone discovered a magic circle that had been concealed. But let’s put that aside for now… Even if a magic circle appears stationary on the surface, mana is constantly circulating and swirling inside it according to the inscribed magical formulas. If you tamper with even one of the overlapping circles incorrectly, you could suffer more than just internal injuries. You could lose your mana heart at the very least, or even die!”

“…I see.”

Sedes wasn’t particularly convinced, but he suspected that if he continued like this, he would end up being lectured in front of the princes. So he stiffened his expression and pretended to take the matter very seriously, as though he had finally understood.

Abel shot the King a disrespectful look before continuing his explanation.

“Even with a simple magic circle, abruptly stopping the flow of mana like that without causing any other changes is by no means easy. The way this one was dismantled was almost like…”

He bit his lower lip and pondered how to explain it so that Sedes would understand immediately.

If I want to get through to this sword fanatic, I suppose I have to compare it to a sword.

“…It was like smashing a sword enveloped in an aura with an iron rod that had absolutely no aura on it.”

Only then did Sedes’s eyes widen. It was obvious that he hadn’t understood the explanation until that moment, and Abel quietly clenched his fists.

Forcing a smile, Abel mouthed the words without making a sound.

‘Sedi, see me after lunch.’

Sedes would now have to prepare himself not only for a mountain of work but also for a mountain of lectures.

 

***

 

Inside the carriage returning to the Second Prince’s palace.

Rianus looked a little unwell. His older brother had kept watching him throughout the meal at the main palace, making him so nervous that he had forced himself to shovel food into his stomach while pretending to concentrate on eating. As a result, he was feeling rather queasy.

“Do you think Neil has… eaten yet?”

“……”

“Sir Evan?”

“……”

“Sir Evan!”

“…Huh? Y-Yes?”

Evan, who had been preoccupied with figuring out the wildcat’s true identity, belatedly jumped at Rianus’s voice before turning his attention back to the question.

“Ah, don’t worry too much about that wildcat. Surely the servants have taken care of him, haven’t they?”

“I hope so, but… what if he hasn’t eaten because he’s waiting for me? I should’ve sent him a message.”

“Why are you worrying so much? If he hasn’t eaten, just have him eat now.”

“Is that so?”

Still, eating alone is a little lonely.

Thinking this, Rianus grabbed a maid as soon as he arrived at the palace and first asked whether his friend had eaten.

“Lord Neil? I don’t think he’s eaten yet. He was a little late today. Have you already eaten, Your Highness?”

“Huh? No, no, I haven’t. Please prepare a meal.”

“Pardon? But, Your Highness…!”

Evan was about to point out that they had just finished eating, but Rianus tugged at his clothes as though telling him to keep quiet, leaving him unable to finish his sentence.

Evan let out a deep sigh.

What on earth is so lovable about that wildcat that His Highness would go this far for him…?

“Where’s Neil now?”

“Hmm, he should be in his bedroom… Oh, there he comes. He must have known Your Highness was back and came out right away. He must have been waiting for you. It’s difficult to catch a glimpse of Lord Neil, you see. Whenever the servants approach him, he just runs away…”

“…Really?”

Rianus felt a little guilty. It was almost as though he had done something terribly wrong to Nihil.

“Neil, I’m sorry. It took a little longer than expected, didn’t I? You must be hungry. Come on, let’s go!”

Rianus hurried over to Nihil, took his hand, and led him toward the dining room.

Nihil realized that Rianus was hiding something from him, but he pretended not to notice and obediently followed along.

What finally brought Evan back to his senses was a voice that was low and calm for a child.

“Rian.”

Hearing his name, Rianus paused just as he was cutting his second piece of steak and bringing it to his mouth. He turned to look at his friend.

“Hmm?”

“I’m done eating.”

Nihil’s sudden announcement that he was stopping his meal made Rianus’s eyes widen.

They had only just started eating. Was Nihil feeling sick?

“Neil, are you feeling unwell?”

At Rianus’s worried question, Nihil hesitated for a moment before cautiously answering.

“…Actually, you seemed to be taking a while, so I had a snack. Now I’m full.”

“Oh… Is that so?”

“I’m sorry I ate a snack by myself.”

“Huh? No, no! You don’t need to apologize. I’m fine, too.”

Rianus’s expression brightened a little. His stomach had already been feeling uncomfortably full, so this had worked out rather well.

Evan wondered where on earth the wildcat, who ran away whenever he saw the servants, had managed to find a snack. Still, he felt somewhat relieved that the prince wouldn’t have to force himself to eat more than he could manage.

Nihil spoke up.

“Rian, the weather is nice. Shall we have some tea outside?”

“…Huh? Yes, yes! I’d love to! That sounds wonderful!”

Rianus, who had been momentarily stunned, broke into a bright smile and hopped down from his chair.

Now that I have a friend, I can have tea whenever I want! I don’t have to wait for my older brother to invite me anymore!

I really, really made the right choice by making a friend!

Rianus immediately ran over and grabbed Nihil by the wrist.

“There’s a greenhouse. Let’s go there!”

“All right.”

Evan watched the little boys scurry out of the dining room and told them to wait a moment while he fetched something, but Rianus was already too excited to hear him. Of course, Nihil heard him perfectly well. He simply ignored him.

Nihil casually stroked the swaying seaweed. Just as they were leaving the palace, he spotted the puppy running toward them, but he boldly shut the door in his face. He heard a curse from the other side—“You damn wildcat!”—but ignored that, too.

They had barely taken a couple of steps outside when the door burst open again and Evan caught up with them.

“I told you to wait a moment! How can you leave your only escort knight behind like this?”

Only then did Rianus realize that he had abandoned his escort knight. His eyes widened, but he soon giggled and replied.

“You were going to catch up in no time anyway.”

“Even so.”

“Sir Evan, you can take it a little easier sometimes. It must be tiring to guard me all by yourself.”

“It’s not that tiring.”

Normally, he wouldn’t have run after them in such a hurry.

But the thought that the wildcat might be a demon had left him inexplicably anxious. Even though he knew that, even if Nihil really were a demon, he would never harm the prince, he still couldn’t shake the unease.

Evan cautiously followed behind them, fiddling with the bottle of holy water swaying inside his coat.

When they arrived at the greenhouse, Rianus was briefly at a loss for words.

The greenhouse was neat, but too neat. With no one properly maintaining it beyond pulling out the weeds, there wasn’t a single flower in sight.

“Hmm… Should we go somewhere else?”

Rianus looked around the greenhouse, which had none of the atmosphere one would expect for a tea party, and grew a little dejected.

Nihil gently stroked the seaweed that had drooped again and spoke.

“No. It’s still chilly, so this place is nice. Does no one use this greenhouse?”

“No. I’ll see if we can get someone to look after it when we hire more servants.”

“Then, Rian, can you give me this greenhouse?”

“Huh… The greenhouse?”

Rianus asked in surprise, his eyes widening. He was startled because this was the first time Nihil had ever asked him for something.

“Would that be a problem?”

When Rianus took too long to answer, Nihil smiled faintly with his eyes and tilted his head a little.

Evan recoiled in horror at the sight of a fox that seemed to have lived for a hundred years, but Rianus’s eyes sparkled at the thought that he could do something for Nihil. He smiled brightly.

It’s a good thing I’m a prince. A greenhouse is nothing at all!

“I can give it to you as many times as you want! But this greenhouse is small and quite old, so I’ll have a bigger, newer one built for you.”

“No, Rian. This size is perfect. I’d rather have something that doesn’t attract attention.”

Rianus rolled his eyes as he thought about whether there was anything else he could do for his friend.

“Then should I find you some rare flower seeds? Do you like flowers?”

“I don’t dislike flowers, but there are some plants I want to grow. So that’s fine. I’d also like to take care of them myself. Could you make sure the servants aren’t allowed to enter without permission?”

At that, Evan realized that Nihil intended to secretly grow medicinal herbs in the greenhouse.

Rianus, who still knew nothing about it, mistakenly thought that Nihil wanted a private hideaway of his own.

“Of course! I’ll make it a place just for you! And you don’t have to tell me every little thing. You can give orders directly to the palace staff. Oh, once the greenhouse is ready, can I come visit sometimes, too?”

“There’s nowhere in my space that you can’t go, Rian. You don’t have to ask my permission every time.”

Evan could only marvel at Nihil, who made such an extraordinary declaration with a perfectly indifferent expression. Whether he knew what he was saying or not, once the brat grew up a little, he was sure to break the hearts of plenty of women.

Is this brat really a demon? I heard there are demons who seduce humans and steal their souls…

Just as Evan’s suspicions about Nihil were gradually leaning toward the demon theory, a maid arrived with tea.

Rianus now understood that Nihil was uncomfortable around the servants, so he had her set down the tea and promptly sent her away.

That left Evan in charge of serving it.

“Honestly, that wildcat is no help at all.”

Grumbling, Evan poured the tea. A sweet and sour aroma soon filled the greenhouse.

“Plum tea?”

Evan was puzzled by the unexpected choice. It wasn’t that the prince disliked plum tea, but he had never specifically requested it before. Moreover, he preferred it cold, with ice floating in it, rather than served warm.

“Neil said he wanted it!”

Rianus smiled brightly and took a sip of the warm plum tea.

Evan narrowed his eyes at Nihil. The brat had somehow managed to take hold of one of the prince’s hands and was now idly fiddling with it.

“You little… Haaah…”

Having finally realized what was going on, Evan let out a deep sigh.