How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 49

“…As you can see, the Eastern Empire frequently uses expressions that compare things to nature, even in everyday conversation. That makes their language particularly difficult to understand. Now, if we were to interpret this sentence…”

Carus’s voice filled the small sitting room. Today’s lesson was in Manean, the language spoken in the Eastern Empire. To an outside observer, it looked like a lesson between an intellectual tutor and a diligent student. In reality, both Carus and Rianus were busy thinking about anything but their Imperial language lesson.

Rianus was excited at the thought of playing with Nihil as soon as class ended, so he failed to notice that Carus’s voice sounded unusually subdued. Evan, who was standing guard nearby, was the one who noticed something was wrong and quietly grew concerned.

In truth, Carus was feeling a little down.

He had been positively thrilled right up until he arrived at the Second Prince’s Palace. But the moment he saw Rianus sitting there all alone, his mood plummeted.

Why didn’t my dear friend come? Could it be that he’s avoiding me because I bothered him too much yesterday?

Carus even began to wonder whether the whole thing had been a figment of his imagination. He must have gone mad after spending more than five years searching for that language!

It was an absurd thought, of course. But there was a reason he was doubting his own mind so much: he couldn’t clearly remember the face of his beautiful friend.

It was like seeing someone in a dream and forgetting what they looked like upon waking.

Carus wanted to ask about his friend, but he was afraid Rianus might respond with something like, Huh? Your friend? Who’s that? So he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

He debated silently with himself over and over, wondering whether he should ask, until it was time to end the lesson. Since another appointment was scheduled immediately afterward, there was no way to prolong it.

“…That concludes today’s lesson. Well done, Your Highness.”

“Yeah! Good job, too, Carus!”

Carus was visibly dejected, but Rianus smiled brightly at the thought of finally getting to play with his friend.

“Um, Your Highness…”

Just as Carus cautiously tried to ask about his dear friend, Rianus suddenly spoke as though he had remembered something, forcing Carus to close his mouth once more.

The little, adorable prince rummaged through his pocket as if searching for something, then hopped down from his chair and hurried over to Carus.

“…?”

Puzzled by Rianus’s behavior, Carus nevertheless crouched down to meet him at eye level.

“What is it?”

“Shhh.”

Rianus raised his index finger to his lips in a gesture for silence, then handed Carus the note in his hand.

He had a secret mission from Nihil to carry out, after all!

Carus accepted the note and asked what it was, but Rianus leaned close and whispered that it was a secret.

Carus raised his own index finger to signal that he would stay quiet, then carefully unfolded the note as though he were about to uncover some highly confidential information.

Rianus was curious about the contents of the note Nihil had given him, too, so he pressed his forehead against Carus’s and waited for him to open it.

The message was very short.

One knight. By tonight.

“???”

After reading the brief message, the two of them stared at each other with wide eyes.

Seeing Rianus react exactly as he had—no, about ten times more adorably—Carus leaned closer and whispered.

“Was this from your dear friend?”

Vigorous nodding.

That tiny nod made Carus realize that his dear friend wasn’t a figment of his imagination after all. His face lit up with a broad smile, and he whispered again.

“Why didn’t your dear friend come today?”

“He said he was busy.”

“Is it possible that he’s avoiding me?”

“That… I’m not sure.”

Rianus didn’t think Nihil would go out of his way to avoid Carus, but he had no idea what his friend was actually thinking, so he evaded the question.

After all, Carus had been a little bothersome the last time they met.

Carus thought he would be rather sad if his dear friend really was avoiding him. Still, he was delighted simply to discover that the person who could finally fulfill his long-held wish wasn’t a product of his imagination. Without even asking why, he promised to send a knight that very night and then departed.

Meanwhile, Rianus had been eagerly looking forward to playing with Nihil once all his lessons were over. But a little while later, he sat motionless in his chair, looking utterly dazed.

Or rather, he had no choice but to sit still.

He couldn’t move.

“…Neil?”

Rianus looked back and forth between his own hands and feet, which were tied to the chair, and Nihil, who was now wrapping a rope around his entire body as well.

“Rian, I’m going to teach you how to escape when you’ve been kidnapped.”

And so began Nihil’s intensive crash course.

 

***

 

“My heart’s pounding.”

Having received a crash course in escape techniques from Nihil, Rianus said this as he reviewed the plan one more time.

At first, he had been terribly startled when Nihil tied him up with rope, but the escape game had turned out to be incredibly fun.

I should ask him to do it again sometime!

“Rian, when we get to Sharton Street, keep your ears open as much as possible. It might be a little tiring, but it’ll be good training.”

“Okay!”

“In case we can’t communicate with each other, let’s establish some simple hand signals. If I touch you once or make a sound, it means you can do whatever you want.”

Rianus tilted his head. The explanation was too vague.

“What kind of sound?”

“Any sound. It could be a knock against a wall or a snap of the fingers. One sound means ‘do as you please,’ two consecutive sounds mean ‘yes,’ and three consecutive sounds mean ‘no.’”

“Hmm, got it.”

“I’ve taught you a few things, but you won’t actually be in any danger, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, I’m not worried. But it was really fun! Nobody’s ever taught me how to tie someone up without hurting them, or how to cut through rope using something like a thread bracelet! Oh, and the fainting game, too!”

As Rianus spoke cheerfully, Evan let out a hollow laugh of resignation.

Who on earth would teach a prince—or any child, for that matter—such things?

Evan thought Nihil was teaching him some rather outrageous skills. Still, they seemed quite useful, so he hadn’t stopped them. Of course, when Nihil had tied the prince up from head to toe, Evan had made sure to tie Nihil up the exact same way, telling him that he deserved to experience it himself.

Rianus giggled, insisting that it had been fascinating and fun. Then he looked down at the thread bracelet around his wrist, which he had been fiddling with for some time.

It was a gift Nihil had made for him with his own hands.

It was a cheap thread bracelet made from materials that could be found just about anywhere, but it was the first present he had ever received from his dear friend. How could he not be happy?

The bracelet was woven from dark green threads that resembled Rianus’s hair, with just one shimmering white strand like Nihil’s hair. It made him feel as though the bracelet symbolized the two of them, and that thought filled him with happiness.

“This white thread sparkles just like Neil’s hair. It’s so pretty.”

“Rian, I’m very happy you like the bracelet I made you, but don’t fiddle with it too much. You could scratch your skin. I stiffened the white thread with a paste containing finely ground glass so you could use it to cut through rope more easily.”

Evan, who had grown curious, let out an impressed “Oh” and examined Rianus’s bracelet more closely. The dark green threads certainly looked soft, but the white strand appeared a little stiffer.

Rianus held it right in front of his nose and stared at it intently before suddenly looking up.

“Then wouldn’t it have been better to stiffen the whole bracelet?”

“If I did that, it would scratch your delicate wrist.”

At Nihil’s matter-of-fact explanation, Rianus repeatedly exclaimed in amazement, saying he had never thought of that. When he turned the bracelet over to inspect it, he saw that the white thread wasn’t visible on the inside, where it touched his skin.

How can my friend be so clever, so thoughtful, and so considerate?!

“Oh, should I make another one for you with the paste, too?”

As he spoke, Rianus glanced at Nihil’s wrist.

When Rianus had said he wanted to try making a thread bracelet himself, his kind friend had patiently taught him how to weave one. The bracelet Rianus had made was now wrapped around Nihil’s wrist. He had been so proud to see them wearing matching bracelets, as though it proved they had become truly close friends.

But the bracelet he had made was just an ordinary thread bracelet, without any special paste. He wondered whether he should make another one.

Of course, he hadn’t originally made it with the intention of using it to escape from ropes…

“I can cut through rope with my bare hands, so there’s no need to apply anything to mine. Besides, I like it just the way it is.”

Nihil wiggled his little hand. He genuinely liked the thread bracelet that had been made with such care. The braid was uneven in places because he hadn’t been able to control the tension properly, and it had gotten a little dirty from handling. Yet he liked those imperfections, too.

“Oh, I see!”

Rianus silently showered his friend with praise, thinking how strong he was, too.

Nihil really had freed himself from the rope Evan had used to tie him up, and Evan narrowed his eyes at him in an irritated glare.

Even under that stare, Nihil shamelessly addressed Evan.

“Want me to make one for you, too?”

“…No need.”

Evan was admittedly a little tempted by the thought of a thread bracelet carefully woven by their adorable little prince’s tiny hands. But he had no desire to own one made by that damn wildcat.

Nihil merely shrugged at Evan’s cold response, glanced toward the terrace, and spoke.

“Looks like the person your teacher sent has arrived. Can I let her in?”

“Carus?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, that’s fine.”

With Rianus’s permission, Nihil approached the terrace and swept the blackout curtains open.

“Eeeek! You startled me!”

A woman dressed entirely in black from head to toe had been about to knock on the terrace window. The sudden brightness startled her so badly that she let out a strange shriek.

Nihil unlocked the window and opened it.

“Wow, hello there, pretty young master! You must be the prince’s dear friend the marquess told me about, right? You really are unbelievably beautiful. The marquess was absolutely right! This is a beauty beyond words!”

“…Stop talking nonsense and come inside.”

Nihil narrowed his eyes and ushered the woman in black inside. Only her pale purple eyes had been visible before, but now she removed her hood and face covering and greeted Rianus first.

“Greetings, Your Highness. My name is Bella, and I’m an escort knight serving House Francesca. I may not look it, but I’m the finest escort knight around!”

“So Carus really sent you without asking any questions.”

“I was surprised, too! I never expected him to send me somewhere else! He told me not to ask questions, to do as I was told, to behave myself, and, most importantly, never to upset his dear friend! Which brings me to my question, young master. As his dear friend, have you somehow gotten hold of our marquess’s weakness?”

“……”

Nihil let out a deep sigh as he watched Bella chatter away without even pausing for breath.

It seemed that both the master and his knight were cut from the same cloth when it came to talking too much.