How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 5

“My name is Rianus de Harpense. I’m the Second Prince of this kingdom, and I’ll turn eight this summer. Call me Rian. What about you? What’s your name? How old are you?”

Rianus introduced himself once again, but the child seemed only vaguely interested and gave a careless reply.

“…I’m older than you. And you can call me whatever you want.”

“You don’t have a name?”

“I do, but I don’t particularly like it.”

The black-opal-eyed child glanced at the knight beside them before answering slowly. Rianus began to worry that the child might have been frightened by Sir Evan shouting earlier.

Sir Evan was his only escort knight, so they would have to spend a lot of time together. What if things were already awkward between them? He might be a little big and look stern, but he was a genuinely good person.

Wondering if the child felt uncomfortable around his knight, Rianus subtly shifted his body to block the child’s view of Evan.

He couldn’t possibly hide someone several times larger than himself, but when those beautiful opal eyes turned toward him instead, he felt inexplicably pleased.

“It’s okay! Even if you have a strange name, I won’t laugh at you.”

The child remained silent for a little longer before barely moving his lips to utter a word.

“Nihil.”

His voice was so quiet that even Rianus, who had excellent hearing, could hardly make it out.

“Nihil?”

“Yeah.”

After hearing the name, Rianus tilted his head again and blinked.

It was an unfamiliar name, but there was nothing strange about it. Why had the child hesitated? If anything…

“I don’t know what it means, but I think it suits you.”

“…You have good instincts.”

As the words suit you, Nihil’s face stiffened for a moment before he let out a faint, bitter laugh.

He muttered that nothing could suit him better than that word, then gazed out the window as though resigned to his fate. He looked terribly lonely.

He really must hate his name. Its meaning must be awful.

Realizing he might have said the wrong thing, Rianus racked his brain, desperately trying to salvage the situation.

“Th-Then, can I call you Neil? F-Friends give each other nicknames, you know… And you’re my first friend, so… if you don’t mind…”

The pair of differently colored eyes rolled nervously as Rianus watched Nihil’s reaction.

Fortunately, Nihil had returned to his usual expressionless face. He simply nodded and told him to go ahead.

Determined never to make that mistake again, Rianus repeated the short name to himself over and over.

“Neil.”

“Yeah.”

“Neil.”

“What?”

He called, and the child answered. It was perhaps the most ordinary thing in the world, but Rianus felt his heart swell with joy.

“Neil, I want you to… to call me by my name, too.”

“…Rianus.”

Nihil quietly murmured Rianus’s name. His voice held no emotion, but the sound of it left a distinct impression.

Rianus was a little disappointed that Nihil hadn’t called him Rian, but he smiled brightly anyway.

He’ll call me Rian once we get closer. It’s probably too soon for that.

“Neil, my bed is really big, so we can sleep together without any problems! I can send all the servants away, and then we can be comfortable. If I ask them to bring plenty of food, we’ll have more than enough. We’re about the same height, so I can lend you my clothes. And also…”

“Your Highness, Your Highness, please calm down for a moment.”

Rianus was happily rattling off his plans when Sir Evan stepped in and interrupted him.

Worried that Sir Evan might start shouting at his new friend again, Rianus hurried to add something, but this time Evan was faster.

“Your Highness, are you saying that you intend not only to hide a beggar in your bedroom, but also to share your bed and meals with him and lend him your clothes?”

“…Neil is my friend now, so don’t call him a beggar.”

Displeased by Evan’s choice of words, Rianus puffed out his cheeks and pouted. Then, worried that his new friend might have been hurt by the remark, he quickly checked the child’s expression.

“Why?”

Rianus smiled brightly. Thankfully, those eyes resembling black opals still gleamed with their usual pride.

“Sir Evan, we’re going to see each other every day from now on, so please get along with my friend.”

“How am I supposed to get along with that—? No, what will you do if someone finds out?”

“I’ll sneak him in today, then ask His Majesty for permission.”

“Do you really think His Majesty will grant it?”

“He doesn’t pay much attention to me, so he might actually agree more easily than you’d expect.”

“Even so, what will you do if rumors spread that Your Highness has befriended a commoner?”

“They’ll probably say that the prince everyone avoids wanted a friend so badly that he picked one up off the street. Besides, everyone around me is a commoner anyway.”

“You still have to consider your reputation.”

“What reputation do I even have left to lose?”

“……”

Evan, a knight of common birth himself, was at a loss for words. He had been a commoner number one, after all, and it was true that his reputation couldn’t get much worse.

He clutched his head and let out a deep sigh.

“Your Highness, even if I concede everything else, this little lynx has absolutely no manners. If he behaves like this toward you, he’ll be even worse in front of other nobles and members of the royal family. I’m telling you, he’ll be arrested for insulting the nobility and have his head chopped off.”

“……”

Evan swept the edge of his hand across his neck, mimicking the act of having his head cut off.

At a loss for words, Rianus looked at Nihil.

Sir Evan was right. Rianus thought Nihil’s fearlessness was rather admirable, but other nobles and royals certainly wouldn’t see it that way.

All sorts of worries began swirling through Rianus’s mind, yet Nihil’s eyes remained mysterious and proud. Unlike Rianus, who was always fidgeting and fussing, the child simply sat there, glowing with quiet composure.

“I don’t use honorifics.”

The proud black opal, who had been listening in silence, drove the point home once more.

Evan glared at Nihil as though he were about to hit him, but Rianus merely nodded.

Right. If my friend doesn’t want to do something, I shouldn’t force him. Friends aren’t supposed to make each other do things they don’t want to do.

“If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to! I’ll make sure you don’t have to meet any nobles!”

“……”

At Rianus’s cheerful reply, Evan buried his face in his hands in despair.

“…For now… understood.”

Evan finally got to his feet. It seemed there was no point in trying to persuade the prince any further.

…Perhaps abandoning an injured child was never really an option to begin with.

He comforted himself with that thought, shot Nihil one last glare, and flung open the carriage door. A gust of cold air swept through the interior.

Worried that the warmth inside might dissipate, Evan quickly leaped outside and firmly shut the door before continuing.

“Since you’re so determined, we’ll depart for now. We’re running late, so we’ll be traveling quickly. Please remain seated and behave yourselves.”

“Okay!”

Delighted by his escort knight’s resignation, Rianus smiled brightly and settled back into his seat.

Soon, the clopping of hooves accompanied the carriage as it began moving cautiously. Before long, it jolted and raced forward at a brisk pace.

With an excited heart, Rianus stole a careful glance at his newly made friend.

This was the first time he had ever made a friend this way. It was also the first time he had invited someone to his own palace.

But his excitement lasted only a moment. When he took a closer look at Nihil, Rianus’s expression subtly stiffened.

His new friend was still barefoot. His ragged clothes were stained completely red with blood, and his ash-gray hair was clumped together with dried blood.

Now that he thought about it, everything had happened so quickly. After accidentally knocking Nihil unconscious again, they had hurriedly loaded him into the carriage and set off.

Sir Evan had said there was no need to stop the bleeding, and Nihil had acted with such pride and confidence that Rianus had completely forgotten the child was injured, despite his terrible appearance.

Rianus raised his head slightly to examine Nihil’s wounds. As luck would have it, Nihil seemed to have been looking at him, too, because their eyes met immediately.

“……!”

Rianus flinched.

For some reason, he felt as though he had been caught doing something wrong.

“Hmm…”

An indifferent yet persistent gaze remained fixed on him.

Nihil, who had been leaning crookedly against the carriage wall, continued staring at him for a long time. He seemed to be lost in thought.

“…Wh-Why… are you looking at me like that…?”

“……”

There was no answer.

Rianus fidgeted with his hands, then remembered that he needed to make a good impression on his friend. He quickly straightened his back.

I hope he thinks I’m nice.

Just then, Nihil’s lips curled into a faint smirk.

“Fine. Let’s do it.”

“Huh?”

“Be friends.”

Nihil cleared his complicated thoughts from his mind.

No matter how much he thought about it, the answer was always going to be the same. He had always been weak to small, fragile things.

Especially those who struggled desperately to be loved. Even more so when they were still children.

I’ll worry about what happens later when the time comes.

“Really?!”

“Yeah. But I’ve lost a lot of blood, so I might die soon.”

…In truth, there was no way he was going to die.

Nihil had meant it as a joke, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Would that still be okay with you?”

But contrary to Nihil’s expectations, the seaweed head sitting across from him began getting damp all over again. The child cried at the slightest provocation. At this rate, Nihil wondered if he would eventually lose so much moisture that he would turn into dried seaweed.

The seaweed head let out another ear-splitting wail.

“Waaahhh! Am I putting your life in danger because of me? Waaah, I-I’m sorry! Hic! I didn’t even know… Waaahhh!”

“…Good grief.”

Nihil leaned his head against the carriage wall and sighed quietly. Apparently, the child was too young to take a joke like that.

However, he couldn’t comfort the young prince now that he had burst into tears. Nihil couldn’t even lift a finger at the moment.

His vision blurred, and the sound of the crying gradually faded into the distance. Unlike the sensation of his consciousness floating away, his body was growing heavier and heavier, as though it had soaked up water.

The only reason he had managed to stay conscious this long was probably the fault of that noisy seaweed, who cried at the drop of a hat.

Whenever sleep threatened to overtake him, the child would start crying on his own. It was annoying, but it was undoubtedly something Nihil ought to be grateful for.

As drowsiness washed over him, Nihil called out to the child.

“Hey, seaweed.”

“Waaahhh, I’m sorry. Hic, I’ll stop crying.”

No, stopping wasn’t an option.

“Hic, I’ve been crying too much, I… waaah…”

“Cry more.”

“……?”

At Nihil’s command to cry more, the prince’s mismatched eyes widened again. His sobbing stopped dead.

I told him to cry more. Why did he stop?

Nihil silently complained when the carriage fell quiet despite his intentions. Then he heard the knight sitting on the driver’s bench cursing.

Damn beggar! Don’t bully our prince! Just wait until we finish treating you, and I’ll make you cry your eyes out! Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re small! And so on.

But the knight’s deep, resonant voice did absolutely nothing to help Nihil stay conscious.

Besides, I’ll make you cry your eyes out once we finish treating you? Was the knight as softhearted as his master? He certainly seemed to be.

Just then, Nihil’s vision twisted violently once more.

He couldn’t tell whether it was because the carriage was moving or because his focus was slipping away.

If he passed out again, the young prince in front of him would undoubtedly panic and make a fuss. But Nihil couldn’t hold on any longer.

Just before his vision went completely black, he managed to utter two final sentences to the seaweed head.

“Have food ready. Lots of meat.”

It was very important information, but he wasn’t sure whether the kid had understood him properly.