How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 53

Feeling a little uneasy, Evan cautiously asked, “What happens when you awaken?”

“You’ll go berserk like a rabid fucking dog.”

“…Watch your language.”

Evan flinched at Nihil’s crude choice of words and glanced at Rianus.

But even after Evan gave him an unmistakable look of warning, Nihil merely shrugged and turned to Rianus.

“Rian, be careful. That guy might sink his teeth into your delicate little neck.”

“What? He’ll bite me?”

“Yep. Why not put a muzzle on him, just in case?”

“…….”

A muzzle?

Nihil’s attitude made it painfully obvious that he regarded Evan as a damn dog. Evan frowned, but Carus seemed to think it was a joke and decided to take things a step further.

“My dear friend, what about a leash? Shall I have a sturdy one custom-made?”

“Meowww!”

“…….”

Unlike Evan, whose expression had gone cold, everyone else gathered together and chattered away merrily.

Carus insisted that black would make the dog look intimidating, so the collar had to be black. Then he glanced at Evan and reconsidered, suggesting that perhaps there was no need to make him look any more intimidating. Why not attach an adorable yellow ribbon instead?

Nihil went even further, pompously declaring that they would need a doghouse to keep Evan confined in, too. But then he seemed to fall into thought and gradually stopped paying attention, merely nodding along without really listening.

Rianus, who had been watching Evan’s expression, finally joined the conversation when Bella transformed back into a human and declared that they should give the dog a red ribbon and a bell.

“I don’t like red! Since he’s my knight, I’m going to choose dark green! Right, Sir Evan? You like dark green better than red, too, don’t you? Right? Right?”

Evan’s eyes widened at Rianus’s sudden outburst. Then, understanding what the boy meant, he smiled faintly.

Red was the symbol of the ducal house. In other words, it was also associated with the queen and her son, the First Prince.

As the escort knight of the Second Prince, red was absolutely out of the question for him.

Having completely forgotten that he himself had been treating his knight like a dog, Rianus stared at Evan with fierce, desperate determination.

Evan was secretly pleased by the possessiveness of the little kitten he served. He smiled with satisfaction and nodded, agreeing that dark green was his favorite.

“I knew you liked dark green better, Sir Evan!”

Apparently delighted with his answer, Rianus scurried over with a radiant smile and hugged Evan tightly.

Evan stroked the round, dark green head nestled against him and smiled fondly. If this was what being treated like a dog meant, perhaps it wasn’t so bad after all.

What was the big deal about wearing a leash, anyway?

Although he would now be stuck with the name puppy whenever that wildcat felt like calling him, Evan decided to let it slide. After all, he called the brat a wildcat himself.

Soon afterward, Carus announced that he had unfinished business at the academy and left. Before going, he made sure to repeatedly remind Bella to behave herself and obey orders.

“So, what am I supposed to do?”

Having been caught up in one thing after another since arriving at the Second Prince’s palace, Bella had yet to receive any explanation. She finally asked the question.

Nihil briefly explained the situation and asked her to provide escort duty for the field trip to Sharton Street the following day. He also laid down a few conditions.

“Don’t intervene unless Rian’s life is in immediate danger. Whenever possible, don’t transform in front of other people, and don’t transform back, either. Always prioritize protecting Rian. If Rian and I get separated, stay with him in your cat form. And don’t deliberately manipulate the situation in advance.”

“I have a question!”

Bella had been listening obediently, but she raised her hand with exaggerated enthusiasm, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Go ahead.”

“What do you mean by not deliberately manipulating the situation in advance?”

“Even if a dangerous person approaches, don’t eliminate them beforehand.”

“But what if our adorable little prince gets hurt?!”

“That’s why we’re assigning him another escort knight in the first place. We’re not going on a leisurely outing. It would be a problem if you kept interfering every time something happened under the pretext of protecting him.”

“I see!”

Bella nodded solemnly, as though she finally understood. Rianus, sitting beside Nihil, pressed his lips together with an equally grave expression.

To ensure Rianus’s safety during the field trip to Sharton Street, Nihil made sure to review all the precautions with him once more.

“Rian, you must never leave my side.”

“Okay.”

“If you get separated from me…”

“I stay with the cat.”

“Even if circumstances prevent the kitty from approaching you, the puppy will be protecting you from somewhere you can’t see. So don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

“If you feel tired or sick…”

“I’ll tell you right away instead of hiding it.”

“Food?”

“Only what you give me, Neil.”

“Signals?”

“One means do as you please, two means yes, and three means no.”

“Good.”

Nihil smiled at Rianus, who answered every question diligently, and stroked his head. Then he told the boy they would have to get up early the next morning, tucked him into bed, and pretended to practice reading with him by reading a fairy tale aloud.

Bella transformed into a cat, claimed a spot in front of the fireplace, and volunteered to stand guard throughout the night.

Evan was a little suspicious and had planned to keep watch secretly outside. But their oblivious yet impossibly adorable prince had beamed at him and said, “Sir Evan, you can finally get some proper rest tonight!” He was so genuinely happy on Evan’s behalf that the knight had no choice but to return to his own room.

It was a slightly unsettling and rather eventful night, but it was peaceful.

At least, that was what Evan thought.

Until he discovered the wildcat sneaking into his room in the dead of night, holding a dagger.

 

***

 

The first thing Evan saw when he opened his eyes at the faintest sign of a presence was a pair of snow-white eyelashes and opal-like eyes illuminated by a long shaft of moonlight slipping through the gap beside his window.

For a moment, the boy’s inhuman beauty and strange aura made Evan wonder if he was dreaming. He stared blankly until the moonlight glinted off the blade of a small dagger, snapping him fully awake.

“…You’re awake.”

“Huh…?”

You’re awake…?

At Nihil’s utterly flat tone, Evan found himself at a loss for words. He crooked one corner of his mouth into a lopsided smile and let out a hollow laugh.

The wildcat’s shameless composure was so astonishing that Evan couldn’t even bring himself to get angry.

More than anything, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t sensed a thing while the brat had crept into his room and approached him until he was practically right in front of his face.

Nihil stared at the dagger in his hand for a moment, then discreetly hid it behind his back.

It was pointless to hide it after Evan had already seen everything, but Nihil even went so far as to pretend he was watching Evan’s reaction nervously.

Evan ran a hand through his hair, his expression complicated.

“Aren’t you a little late to start hiding it?”

“Go back to sleep. I’m leaving.”

“…….”

How could anyone be so shameless?

Just as Nihil casually tried to slip out of the room, Evan sat up, grabbed him by the nape, and lifted him off the floor.

Nihil dangled obediently like a cat being held by the scruff. He gazed at Evan for a moment before lowering his eyes and looking away.

“Why are you avoiding my gaze?”

“…….”

“You know you did something wrong, don’t you?”

“…….”

The suspicious intruder, a wildcat, remained silent. When Evan held out his hand, Nihil even obediently handed over the dagger.

Evan couldn’t see any sign that Nihil had broken in intending to harm him, so he decided to give the brat a chance to explain himself.

“Why are you here?”

“…I was bored.”

“You were bored, so you sneaked into my room in the middle of the night and pointed a blade at me? Is that it?”

Evan deliberately crooked his mouth into a mocking smile and shook Nihil, who was still dangling from his hand.

Nihil’s tiny, featherlight body fluttered back and forth like a paper doll, but he still offered no resistance.

After remaining silent for a moment, Nihil finally spoke in a quiet voice.

“…There’s something I need.”

Evan didn’t understand why Nihil had come to him for whatever he needed. However, he knew the boy wouldn’t answer if he pressed him with a barrage of questions, so he decided to take his time and coax the answer out of him.

“What do you need?”

“…….”

“Is it so difficult to obtain that you have to threaten me for it?”

“…….”

Nihil considered the question for a moment, then shook his head. But after thinking about it a little longer, he seemed to reconsider and tilted his head.

Evan sighed, set Nihil down on the bed, and searched for a candle to light.

The room, which had been illuminated by only a narrow strip of moonlight, took on a warm glow from the small flame.

“What is it you need?”

Evan dragged over a chair and sat on it backward, resting his chin on the backrest as he studied Nihil.

Nihil hesitated for a moment, but apparently decided that the situation made it impossible to keep hiding the truth. He finally muttered a single word, so softly that Evan could barely hear it.

“Blood.”

“…Blood?”

When Evan repeated the word, Nihil gave a tiny nod.

“Did you find another Sirenthea somewhere?”

Evan tilted his head and glanced at Nihil’s forearm, wondering if the boy had discovered another rare medicinal plant.

Blood wasn’t usually necessary when gathering herbs, but Nihil had already shredded his own forearm while digging up the Sirenthea. It was certainly possible he’d done something similar again.

But contrary to Evan’s expectations, Nihil shook his head firmly.

“If I were digging up Sirenthea, I’d use my own blood.”

“…Then you need my blood?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m going to drink it.”

“Ah, I see. You’re going to drink it… Wait, what?”

Evan had replied sulkily before the meaning of those words finally caught up with him. He abruptly lifted his gaze and stared at Nihil.

Nihil’s black eyes remained perfectly calm, making Evan briefly wonder if he’d misheard. But there was no way he had.

Evan’s mind raced.

Could the brat be a vampire?

They were a nonhuman race believed to have been exterminated by humans long ago, but it wouldn’t be impossible for a few to have survived by hiding somewhere in the world.

If Nihil had finally become so desperate that he’d sneaked into Evan’s room to drink his blood, how was he supposed to react?

Evan stared at the little intruder before him, wondering whether he should give him blood or refuse.

There was no murderous intent or hostility in Nihil’s expression. Nor could Evan sense any obvious hunger from him. However, Nihil rarely showed much emotion in the first place, so perhaps his hunger simply wasn’t apparent.

Had this become an extension of the problem Nihil had mentioned before, when he said that hunger wouldn’t simply go away?

By this point, Evan was almost inclined to praise the boy for coming to him instead of going after the prince.

A long silence settled between them.

Nihil had been avoiding Evan’s gaze, keeping his eyes lowered, but at some point he began staring at him with such intense persistence that it was almost frightening, as though he wanted to study Evan’s reaction.

As the candle flame flickered, Nihil’s eyes seemed to tremble ever so slightly.

After a long period of deliberation, Evan finally decided to share his blood.

If he refused now and Nihil later lost control and sank his teeth into the prince’s neck, they would have a serious problem on their hands.

With a complicated expression, Evan looked at the young vampire—presumably—who had gone hungry for who knew how long, and rolled up his sleeve.

“…Are you very hungry?”