How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 99

“AAAAAAAH!”

An unexpected scream rang through the bedroom. Without showing any mercy, Nihil climbed onto Rianus, who was lying face down, and pressed down on him with all his strength.

“Be gentle!”

Watching Rianus squirm and struggle from the pain, Nihil merely chuckled softly and continued the massage.

Rianus himself might not have realized it, but his body had been stiff with tension the entire time they were in Sharton. To keep him from suffering through muscle soreness later, Nihil needed to loosen those muscles in advance.

“…You’re hurting him quite a lot.”

Watching Rianus writhe in pain, Evan hesitated over whether he should intervene before finally voicing a timid protest.

Nihil nodded in acknowledgment of the timid objection, then helped Rianus sit up.

“Are you done?”

Thinking the ordeal was finally over, Rianus asked with a bright smile. Nihil merely gave him a meaningful smile before pushing him back down.

The screams continued for quite some time, only finally stopping when it was time to eat.

“That was… so exhausting.”

Rianus grumbled as he repeatedly prodded an asparagus spear with his fork. He was so tired that he wasn’t even hungry, but Nihil had shoved his medicine in his face, leaving him no choice but to sit at the table.

There wasn’t a single spot on his body that hadn’t been massaged from head to toe. His muscles felt so thoroughly relaxed that he could barely muster any strength in his arms and legs.

Rianus shot Nihil a resentful look, but his friend merely chuckled softly and continued dipping bread into his soup.

With a mountain of work to sort through, Rianus hurriedly finished his meal and headed to the study, taking a seat at the desk. In truth, he’d fled there to avoid taking his medicine, but it was no use. Nihil immediately chased after him with the medicine in hand.

“…Do I really… have to take it?”

Nihil silently smiled at him and held out the pill.

“I’m not sick yet…”

“……”

“I’ll take it when I get sick. Or tomorrow. Please? Just let me off the hook today. I don’t want to take it today.”

Nihil hesitated briefly at Rianus’s whining, then checked his pulse. Apparently deciding that he would be fine, he patted Rianus’s head and left with the medicine bottle.

Evan was pleased to see Rianus, who had rarely ever complained before, finally beginning to act spoiled. Still, he couldn’t help feeling uneasy about Nihil’s painstaking efforts going to waste, so he spoke up.

“What will you do if you fall ill again?”

“But… I really don’t want to take it today. I’m not even sick yet.”

“He said your fever would rise once the tension wore off.”

“I don’t want to take bitter medicine on days when I’m not sick, either…”

He just couldn’t seem to get used to the bitter taste. His body fell ill at every opportunity, yet even when he forced himself to swallow the bitter medicine, nothing improved. The futility of it all always wore him down.

Still, if Neil insists one more time, I’ll take it.

With that thought, Rianus focused on revising the proposal. The revisions were so extensive that it was practically like writing the entire thing from scratch.

He hadn’t even touched the budget yet, but after concentrating on outlining the proposal’s overall structure, he realized it was already almost midnight.

“Sir Evan, tomorrow, let’s stop by the library after swordsmanship class. What about Neil?”

“He fell asleep earlier.”

“He must have been tired.”

“Of course he was.”

Nihil had spent almost two entire nights preparing for their outing, and he’d barely managed to sleep for a few hours even while they were in Sharton. It would have been strange if he weren’t exhausted.

“It’s late, Your Highness. You should go to sleep, too.”

With that, Evan scooped Rianus into his arms and carried him to bed. Nihil occupied one corner of Rianus’s bed, sleeping in a surprisingly proper, humanlike position instead of his usual corpse-like pose.

Seeing the small boy curled up like a shrimp in such an enormous bed, Evan couldn’t help finding him both pitiful and adorable. He chuckled under his breath.

On the bedside table lay the bottle of medicine Rianus had refused to take, along with a neatly written note.

—Be sure to take this after breakfast. Skip class if possible.

Rianus’s eyes curved into a smile as he read the tidy note. Then he glanced at the medicine bottle and rubbed his lips with a slightly uneasy expression.

The medicine that had once been a pill had now become a liquid.

…I should’ve just taken it when it was still a pill.

But Nihil’s intention to look after him was so obvious that Rianus decided he would take his medicine tomorrow without complaining. He lay down snugly beside Nihil.

Rianus was just as exhausted, and he soon fell asleep.

Evan stayed by his master’s side until he was asleep. Worried that Rianus might become ill during the night, he squeezed himself onto the sofa closest to the bed and drifted into a light slumber.

Had he seen Nihil open his eyes and kiss the bridge of Rianus’s nose while he slept, he would never have been able to fall asleep again. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Evan missed it.

After waking early at dawn and returning from swordsmanship training, Evan lay back down on the sofa, hoping to catch a little more sleep. However, he opened his eyes when he felt a heavy weight on his chest, only to find a head of white hair. His brows furrowed.

What the hell is this brat doing instead of sleeping?

“Get down, you ill-mannered little wildcat.”

“Woof, woof.”

“…What?”

Despite grumbling irritably, Evan sat up. The little wildcat wouldn’t have woken him without a reason.

“There should be a bird on the terrace of my bedroom. I’d like you to chase it away.”

“A bird? You’re not afraid of birds, so…”

He wouldn’t have been able to catch pigeons if he were afraid of birds.

Evan sighed and got to his feet. Nihil continued speaking.

“If it doesn’t fly away, you can kill it.”

“What kind of bird is it?”

“I sensed mana, so I didn’t bother checking properly.”

At the mention of mana, Evan’s expression grew slightly serious.

“Stay with His Highness.”

Evan headed straight for Nihil’s bedroom.

Unlike the prince’s bedroom, where the fireplace had been kept burning all day, Nihil’s room was filled with a chill.

There was firewood in the fireplace, but it retained its original color, as though no fire had ever been lit there. The room was tidy, yet it didn’t feel like anyone actually lived in it.

Looking around the room, which bore no trace of its owner’s presence, Evan felt a faint pang of bitterness. He approached the terrace and sharply drew back the curtains.

Beyond the transparent glass, he spotted a sparrow perched on the railing, peering curiously inside. Since sparrows were so common, Evan didn’t act rashly. Instead, he carefully stepped onto the terrace and released a faint trace of killing intent.

It isn’t running away.

The other birds nearby had been startled and flapped away, but the sparrow in front of him merely tilted its head and stared straight at him.

Evan casually waved his hand, and the sparrow fluttered into the air before settling back onto the railing.

The bird’s behavior was suspicious, to say the least. No longer hesitating, Evan drew his sword. The sparrow had been peering into the room, but when it saw Evan unsheathing his weapon, it startled and flapped its wings.

However, Evan had no intention of letting a suspicious sparrow that was likely a familiar escape. He swung his sword.

It was a rather gruesome sight, but Evan stared coldly down at the sparrow’s severed body.

How dare it.

Whatever its intentions, he couldn’t forgive an intruder who had infiltrated the prince’s palace in this manner.

Without mercy, Evan nudged the two halves of the corpse with his foot, sending them tumbling over the edge. He then wiped away the bloodstains and closed the terrace doors.

What an ominous start to the morning.

When Evan returned to Rianus’s bedroom after dealing with the bird, the little wildcat had already fallen asleep again beside His Little Kitten.

Evan thought it was impressive that the little wildcat could detect suspicious movements even in the room across the hall. Yet seeing him unable to get proper rest even after returning to the palace made Evan feel strangely concerned, so he carefully tucked the blanket around him.

At least he’ll be able to rest through the morning, since he has swordsmanship class today.

After getting ready for class, Rianus told the butler that he might be a little late and asked him to make sure his friend had lunch. Then he climbed into the carriage.

As he absentmindedly watched the scenery outside the window, mentally listing the books he needed and the plans related to the relief project, he suddenly remembered the little note on his bedside table.

“Ah! I forgot to take my medicine!”

He’d deliberately prepared as far away from the bed as possible so he wouldn’t wake his friend, and in the process, he’d completely forgotten about the medicine.

“What should I do? Should I go back?”

However, the carriage was already approaching the main palace. If he turned back now, he’d probably be late for class.

Thinking that Nihil might be disappointed when he woke up and saw that the medicine bottle was still completely full, Rianus grew a little gloomy.

“I brought it with me, just in case.”

“Huh?”

Evan pulled the medicine bottle from his clothes and handed it to Rianus. He’d brought it along because he couldn’t bear the thought of the medicine Nihil had personally made for the prince going to waste.

“Thank you, Sir Evan!”

“He seems to put quite a bit of thought into making it, so please take it now if you can.”

“Did Neil make this medicine? He knows how to make medicine, too?”

His friend really was amazing!

“Ah, I forgot to tell you. I’m truly… sorry. There was so much going on that it slipped my mind. The palace apothecary who used to make your medicine has probably been fired by now. Everything you’ve taken recently was made by that brat himself. If you don’t trust it, you don’t have to take it.”

“No, I’ll take it!”

Rianus quickly uncapped the bottle and gulped down its contents. He knew that the longer he hesitated, the harder it would be to drink. But once he had swallowed it, his eyes widened in surprise.

“It smells like apples!”

“…Did I accidentally bring the wrong bottle?”

“No, I don’t think so. It seems like medicine, but it smells like apples and tastes a little sweet, too. I wish all medicine tasted like this!”

Rianus smacked his lips at the sweet, syrupy flavor and even licked the mouth of the bottle.

Realizing that Nihil had paid considerable attention to the taste of the medicine, Evan smiled gently.

I’ll praise him for doing a good job when we get back to the palace. Though I wonder if he’ll even be awake.

Meanwhile, as soon as Rianus had left the bedroom, Nihil had gotten up and begun recording Rianus’s pulse and body temperature in his diary. He’d discreetly checked them that morning while pretending to mumble in his sleep.

Rianus might not have realized it because Nihil had taken on his consequences, but his body had already started developing a fever during the night.

That was why Nihil had wanted him to take his medicine immediately after breakfast. But whether Rianus hadn’t wanted to take it or had simply forgotten, he’d left without drinking it.

Still, that big dog took it along, so he’ll make sure Rian takes it.

Thinking of Evan sneaking the medicine bottle away, Nihil meticulously recorded the medicine’s ingredients and expected effects in his diary.

Since Rianus seemed to have some sort of trauma related to medicine, Nihil had hurriedly added various ingredients to it the previous night. He also carefully documented the effects he expected from the changes.

He’d brewed a strong infusion of chamomile, which wouldn’t conflict with the medicine’s ingredients or cause side effects, then added a little honey to make it sweet. The pill had consequently become a liquid medicine, but he’d already minimized its bitterness from the beginning, so he thought Rianus would be able to take it without much resistance.

He might get a little sleepy, though.

He was a little concerned that he’d brewed the chamomile especially strong to give the medicine an apple scent. However, sleep was the best medicine, so he decided not to worry about it. Perhaps it would be better if Rianus dozed off during class and returned to the palace early.

Since Rianus had asked the butler to prepare his lunch, he seemed to be planning to return a little later than usual. Nihil intended to get as much work done as possible before his return.

I should check the gold coins I’ve hidden away and make a list of things to assign to the kid’s dad.

At that very moment, the “kid’s dad,” completely unaware that his workload was increasing somewhere beyond his knowledge, sat surrounded by piles of paperwork.