How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 96

It might have seemed ridiculous to change their names themselves, but Nihil gave the matter serious thought.

The twins waited for their new names with a mixture of worry and anticipation. Of course, when they heard about “Jjaerong,” they stared at him as though they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

After pondering for quite some time, Nihil turned to Ella.

“Your name is Edgar.”

“…Edgar?”

Ella’s eyes widened at the name. The children who heard it seemed a little taken aback and tried to dissuade Nihil.

“Doesn’t that sound too much like a boy’s name?”

It wasn’t merely a boy’s name; it sounded downright strong and masculine. No matter how they looked at it, the name didn’t seem particularly suited to Ella’s pretty features.

Nevertheless, Nihil paid no heed to their objections and turned to Ellen.

“Your name is Elena.”

“…Elena…”

Everyone fell silent upon hearing the twins’ new names. They wondered whether Nihil was deliberately doing this because the twins had been so troublesome. They had been rather… no, very prickly.

“‘Edgar’ means someone who protects a family and creates happiness. You said you wanted a name that sounded strong, so I modified it a little. ‘Elena’ means someone who shines brightly on their own. It can also mean being the central pillar of something. Since you gave each other these names, cherish them.”

After hearing the meanings behind their names, the twins stared at each other blankly. Then, when they were told they no longer had to live in hiding, their faces crumpled. They clung to each other and burst into tears.

Watching them, Nihil muttered awkwardly, “…I really do make children cry a lot.”

“Well, why did you give them names like—”

Evan began to question why Nihil had chosen those particular names, but then tilted his head in confusion. There was no way that a wildcat would give someone a random name just to be mischievous.

After thinking for a while, Evan let out a small exclamation.

“…So the one with the long hair was the boy.”

“What?!”

The children cried out in surprise at Evan’s realization and turned to look at the twins. The twins, delighted that they had successfully fooled everyone, giggled even as their voices remained thick with tears.

“Why on earth did you switch places and live like that?”

Yvonne asked, unable to understand their behavior. However, the twins didn’t answer her question. The one who answered was none other than Dave.

“To protect each other, I guess.”

“Protect each other…?”

“…If I could go back to the past and take my sister’s place, even though it’s already too late for me… I’d gladly do it.”

Dave and his sister had been too far apart in age for him to do that even if he could return to the past. Still, Yvonne guessed that Dave had his own reasons for saying such a thing, so she simply nodded.

“Edgar. It suits you.”

“Thank you.”

“Elena suits you, too.”

“Yeah.”

Just then, Rianus woke up and slowly lifted his head.

“…Neil.”

“Yeah. I’m right here.”

Hearing his friend’s reply made Rianus feel a little better, and he was about to smile sweetly when he remembered how he’d been tricked. Pouting, he grumbled,

“Neil is a liar.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Big Brother and the cat were mean, too.”

“……”

“Eeeh~ The pretty young master told me to do it.”

“Hmph!”

“Nerr, you should say goodbye.”

“…Okay.”

Rianus quickly climbed down from Evan’s arms and hugged the children one by one. He told each of them that they would meet again.

Little Dan toddled over and spread his arms wide. Even then, Rianus was clinging tightly to his friend, and he looked displeased at Dan, who had come over last of all.

But soon, he gave a small chuckle and hugged him tightly.

“Dan, let’s meet again next time.”

“Okay! Fairy big brother, and Fairy big brother’s little brother big brother… Huh?”

Dan was the only child shorter than Rianus. When he caught sight of the eyes hidden beneath Rianus’s hood, his own eyes widened in astonishment.

“Big brother’s eyes are—Mmph!”

Just as Dan was about to blurt out, His eyes are different colors!, Nihil quickly covered his mouth, pulled him away from Rianus, and murmured softly,

“Little one.”

“Mmff?”

“Shall we keep what you saw a secret just between us?”

“Mmmph…”

“If you promise, I’ll let you go.”

“……”

With his mouth covered, Dan rolled his eyes back and forth before cautiously nodding.

Seeing this, the children merely assumed that something was wrong with one of Rianus’s eyes and decided to pretend they hadn’t noticed. Since he had been wearing bandages over it the whole time, perhaps he had a terrible scar.

When Nihil released him, Dan dashed over to Yvonne.

Rianus awkwardly pressed his hood down and waved goodbye to the children.

“Bye.”

Once the little ones had left, Dan immediately tugged at Yvonne’s clothes.

“Big brother, big brother.”

“Dan, we promised to keep it a secret, so you mustn’t tell anyone. And you shouldn’t speak carelessly about other people’s appearances, either.”

“Mm-hmm… Fairy big brother’s little brother’s big brother is pretty, too.”

“I see.”

Yvonne patted Dan’s head, looking proud of him. She thought he was growing up so well to be able to tell such a lie out of consideration for someone else’s feelings.

“But it’s true…”

Dan muttered in a disgruntled voice, feeling as though Yvonne didn’t believe him. However, he soon brushed it off as if he no longer cared.

He simply thought that, since they were brothers—Fairy big brother and his little brother—Fairy big brother’s little brother must have special eyes, too.

Dave chuckled at Dan before looking around the warehouse, which had become a little more comfortable. The children had quarreled a bit over who got to use the leaf beds Nihil had made and Nerr had slept on, but even that felt peaceful.

The children didn’t believe in empty promises about meeting again someday, thinking such words were nothing but cruelly dangling hope in front of them. Dave, however, believed they would meet again. Somehow, he felt that no matter where he went, that mysterious little boy would come looking for him.

He was a little startled when the cat lady suddenly returned and dragged Yvonne and Jane away, insisting that they needed to get identification documents. Still, he supposed this was how they would gradually return to their ordinary lives.

“Your hero has arrived!”

“Pan? I told you not to go home. Where on earth have you been—”

Dave hadn’t even realized Pan was missing. He was about to scold him when he saw Pan returning with his arms full of things. Then he noticed the armored figures following behind him and froze in surprise.

“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. These people came to deliver relief supplies. But… where are the big brothers?”

“They… had something to take care of, so they went out for a while.”

“Both of them?”

“Yeah. They’ll be back soon. What about you…? Did something happen?”

“Oh, it was nothing much. Just… the old geezer being an old geezer. Now… no, never mind. I feel so relieved right now.”

Pan grinned as he spoke. Just then, the twins came scampering over.

“But are these ours?”

“Wow! This is exciting!”

Walter, the captain of the Royal Knights, handed the supplies to the twins and asked in a hushed voice,

“Do you happen to know anything about that boy’s father?”

“Pan’s dad?”

“He’s a really bad man. He beat Pan all the time, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. He was really mean. Why? Did something happen to him?”

“Ah, no. Never mind.”

Walter couldn’t bring himself to tell them that the awful man had sold his own son, been caught, and was now in prison, so his words trailed off.

The boy himself didn’t seem particularly eager for the others to find out, either. Therefore, Walter decided not to say anything further about Pan’s temporary protection.

“Are there any other children here?”

“U-Um…”

Ella, who now went by Elena, glanced nervously at the guards behind Walter before lowering her head and speaking with difficulty.

“The other kids… yesterday, they were caught stealing by the guards…”

“No, no. I’m not talking about those children. I’m not going to blame you, either.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

“Then there’s no one else except the two big brothers who went out.”

“I see.”

Walter nodded, deciding that the twins didn’t seem to be lying.

Meanwhile, the other children were amazed by how smoothly the twins acted their way through the conversation. Those who had spent their lives switching places and pretending to be each other really were different from ordinary people.

“Then, have you perhaps seen a very tall man passing by?”

“How tall does he have to be?”

“Our Jane big brother is tall!”

“That’s right. Brother Jane is the tallest among us.”

“Is that so?”

The twins didn’t hesitate to throw Jane under the bus to conceal the existence of their “big brother.”

Unaware of their intentions, Walter asked various questions about the boy named Jane. The twins smiled triumphantly and told him everything about Jane without leaving anything out.

“…And then, Brother Jane did this… Oh, there he is!”

Elena was running out of things to say and was just about to bring up another embarrassing story from Jane’s past when she spotted Jane returning to the hideout with Yvonne.

As soon as Jane arrived, he noticed everyone staring at him. He flinched and hid behind Yvonne. Of course, since Yvonne was even shorter than Jane, hiding behind her was completely pointless.

Wary of the two armored men, Yvonne spoke on behalf of her shy friend.

“…What’s going on? Who are these people?”

“Big brothers, you’re back! These men are curious about Brother Jane.”

“M-M-Me? W-Why?”

Jane stammered even more than usual, unable to conceal his bewilderment.

Had they discovered that he had sold the children at the Rabbit-Selling Inn? Of course, he had only done what he was told…

“W-What… d-do you… want?”

“Ah, no. It seems the children have misunderstood. You’re not the person we’re looking for.”

Walter glanced at Jane, who was tall but so skinny that he looked as though he would snap like a dry twig if someone gave him a light tap. He was certain he had made a mistake.

The boy was fairly tall, but smaller than Walter had expected. According to eyewitness accounts, the man they were looking for was at least 190 centimeters tall and had a muscular, sturdy build. The boy standing before him simply didn’t fit the description.

Besides, someone strong enough to smash through a basement ceiling and escape could hardly be expected to be hiding among a group of wandering orphans.

Could he be someone pretending to sell children while actually swindling people out of their money…?

If the man who had supposedly sold the children and the man who had taken them away were one and the same, that was certainly possible. He had been described as an aura user, so he must have been quite skilled. Moreover, the fact that he had evaded the Royal Knights’ pursuit meant he was no ordinary man.

“Captain!”

At that moment, someone called out to Walter from behind. One of his subordinate knights approached, escorting a boy and the owner of the Rabbit-Selling Inn, both bound with ropes.

“What is it, Sir Alec?”

“Captain! This boy says he knows where the people who sold the children are. I’ve brought him here. The innkeeper said he saw their faces, so we should be able to identify them.”

“…Is that true?”

At those words, Jane, Dave, and Pan’s faces stiffened. Pan had just come back from the guard station after stubbornly insisting that he knew nothing.

Kelvin, who was bound with ropes, swept his gaze over the children in the hideout and grinned. He was clearly planning to drag everyone else down with him rather than go down alone.

Jane and Dave gritted their teeth and glared at Kelvin, but it was useless.

After looking over the children, the innkeeper recognized two familiar faces and pointed at Jane and Dave.

“T-Those two! T-The tall one and the freckled one!”