How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 103



Only Noblemtl

Episode 103

Sedes was dumbfounded by Abel’s words telling him to improve his expressiveness.

“You were depressed because I didn’t want to see you, but you’re back to life again…….”

“She’s really pretty. Should I take her in as my disciple or adopt her as well? She seems to have a gentle personality.”

“……Get married. How can you raise a child on your own? Above all, you’re not that… gentle.”

Sedes couldn’t forget the strong first impression. Even if he didn’t care at all even though he knew he was the king, his first words were, ‘I didn’t know that your father would appear in person so quickly.’

Even after saying those words to the king, I roughly dried my wet hair with a towel.

“Abel, don’t be fooled by appearances. And no matter how much you like that child, it would be better not to think about adopting him. If it is said that the prime minister taught magic to the second prince’s close friend and adopted him, what would the first prince’s forces think?”

“The rumor that Marquis Abel Bridget supports the Second Prince will become established fact.”

“If that happens, it will be the Second Prince and his child who will be put in danger. Even if you are thinking of teaching him magic, be careful not to let it show.”

“Yeah, I got it. Oh, this kid’s room looks a little cold… ”

Abel said, scanning Nihil’s bedroom with a bird’s eye view. It was getting dark soon, as the ground spider was getting darker, but the lights were not on and there was no fire in the fireplace, so it looked very chilly.

“Don’t the servants take care of it?”

Sedes spoke for Abel, who was worried that he might be being harassed by his servants.

“I heard that you don’t live in your own room, but rather in the prince’s room.”

Sedes looked at her cold teacup, called her maid over and had her reheat the tea, then continued speaking.

“Moreover, they say that he runs away when he sees servants.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Sedes, who had been responding indifferently, suddenly stopped reading the document and asked the prince.

“What is the second prince doing?”

“Well, there’s no prince around, and the child is just watching birds in a dark room. I guess she likes the ribbon. It was a good job decorating her so nicely.”

Abel smiled proudly as he watched the child fiddle with the ribbon tied around the bird’s neck. In fact, Nihil had been pleased with the bird that had come with the dark green ribbon, so Abel’s goal had been achieved.

The child just stared at the bird for a long time without doing anything.

“Huh? Sadie, the kid picked up a pen.”

The child took a piece of paper and began to write something.

“I guess she learned to read and write, and also studied herbal medicine. I heard she even read fairy tales to the prince at night.”

“Really? A fairy tale book? How cute. Uh…, are you asking me why I came here…?”

Abel was troubled by the paper that only had the word ‘why’ written on it. However, even if he were asked why he had come, it would be difficult to explain because he had come simply because he was curious about the child’s appearance. In the first place, it was not possible to communicate through birds.

“Can a child understand Morse code?”

“Wish for what you wish for.”

Abel muttered that he wished there was a dice board, then tapped the table with his beak just in case.

Sedes looked at his friend, who was honestly typing the word ‘face’ in Morse code, with a pitiful look.

“Saddie, does your child understand Morse code?”

“How do you know that?”

“The child’s expression is exactly like yours.”

“…My expression?”

“He’s looking at me like I’m really pathetic.”

“…….”

Sedes was once again speechless. It felt strange to think that my expression and the child’s expression were the same.

“Oh, I’m writing. Um…, but does ‘father’ mean my father? He passed away quite a while ago….”

“Phew!”

Sedes spurted out his tea at the sudden sound of his father’s voice. Abel opened his eyes wide and quickly held out a handkerchief.

“What’s wrong? Did you hear something?”

“Kooluk, big, what did that kid write?”

“They asked if I was with my father?”

“…….”

“How do I tell my father that he has passed away? Can I write ‘death’ in Morse code?”

“…When that child talks about his father, he means me.”

“What? Why are you my father?”

Abel said with a frown. Sedes also frowned.

“No, what, that’s not it. I’m talking about the prince’s father.”

“Who the hell calls the king ‘father’?”

“……Isn’t that kid like that?”

“Sedi, you didn’t take me in as your daughter-in-law without me knowing, did you?”

“That’s ridiculous…!”

Sedes was about to deny it vehemently, but then he remembered the prince’s attitude and froze. The gentle attitude that he had when he took care of his best friend. His face that had brightened after meeting that child. His mouth that had been babbling cutely when he bragged about his best friend.

It would be a big problem if a prince who lacks interaction with his peers were to mistake friendship for camaraderie!

“…Is she perhaps a girl?”

“Huh? That kid? Judging from the way you’re dressed, you don’t seem like a girl.”

“…I see.”

While Sethe was feeling slightly disappointed without realizing it, Abel, unaware of the situation, struggled to communicate with the child.

The child frowned, perhaps feeling a little frustrated at the lack of conversation, then drew something on a blank piece of paper, folded it neatly, and tied it around the bird’s ankle.

“Huh, huh?”

Sedes looked at Abel, who was acting dumbfounded, wondering how he should react if the prince really wanted to marry his close friend.

“But why again?”

“Oh, I got kicked out.”

The bird, or rather Abel, stared blankly at the closed terrace window. Even the pretty dark green ribbon had been snatched away. The child seen through the window looked at him indifferently and then closed the curtain without any regret.

“Oh, like that.”

Sedes laughed and comforted his friend.

“But since you’ve seen my face, hasn’t your goal been achieved? Now get to work.”

I had thrown him a carrot to get him to do the work in the first place, so now I had to whip him again. There was still a mountain of paperwork piling up in the office that needed to be processed.

“But the child drew something.”

“what?”

“Well. It happened so quickly and it was so dark that I couldn’t see it properly…….”

“What were you doing without even seeing that?”

“No, I thought you’d show it to me after you finished drawing it. And the bird you sent me this time wasn’t nocturnal.”

“Get the bird back.”

“huh.”

Abel waited for the bird with an excited heart, curious about the picture the child had drawn. The bird soon arrived at Sedes’ office.

Abel lamented his own state as he gave the bird water and food and released the shared vision magic to show that he had worked hard. It would be nice if he could raise a proper servant horse. There was not much he could do as a mere 3rd circle.

Abel untied the paper tied to the bird’s ankle, thinking that if the conversation had gone well, he wouldn’t have been kicked out like this. The paper was crumpled from having been folded so many times. The problem was that the child had folded it before the ink had completely dried, so the drawing was all smudged.

“Saddie, this is…….”

“But why.”

“…It’s all spread out.”

“That’s too bad.”

Sedes gave a vague reply and turned his gaze back to the papers. He couldn’t tell what kind of picture he had drawn, but he wasn’t particularly curious.

“I have to meet that kid right now!”

“No.”

“why!”

“Why are you suddenly like this? Put that down and sit down.”

“but!”

Sedes saw Abel picking up his coat and urged him to quickly sit down and work. However, Abel started pacing around the office, staring at the paper.

Sedes tried to say something to the frantic Abel again, but he couldn’t help but freeze when he saw the writing on the back of the paper.

-The mana flow of the wizard who sent the bird is messed up, so if you plan on feeding Sirentea, you must consult with him first.

“…….”

“Saddie, just let me go this once.”

“……Abel.”

“Huh? Are you going to send it?”

Abel looked at Sedes with anticipation at his call. Sedes looked at his childish friend full of curiosity, wondering whether he should tell him about the mess in the mana flow or not.

My close friend who has been in the 3rd circle for 20 years.

I thought it might hurt, but I decided to just tell the child who saw Mana, thinking that maybe he would feel better if he got some advice.

“They told me to get some counseling.”

“What kind of advice? Whom?”

“That kid.”

Sedes gestured to the paper Abel was holding. Only then did Abel realize that there was something written on the back, and he quickly turned the paper over.

“The mana flow of the wizard who sent the bird is messed up…….”

“…….”

There was a moment of silence. After reading the sentence, Abel opened his mouth a few times with a shocked expression on his face, then muttered a little melancholy.

“Am I that messed up?”

“……It’s late today, so I’ll call that kid over tomorrow.”

“Yeah…, thank you….”

Sedes decided to send Abel home from work, as he was exhausted from overtime. In any case, work efficiency would drop drastically in this state. It would be better to let him rest and start again tomorrow.

If he had known that Abel would lose sleep studying the picture his child sent him after work, he would not have let it go so easily, but Sedes did not know that on that day.

***

Early the next morning, the second prince requested a visit to see what was going on.

Sedes was suspicious of the sudden visit of the second prince, who had not visited the main palace since the division, but as he had done until now, he allowed the prince to visit and headed to the reception room to meet him in person. Although he had not received the message, he also took Abel with him, thinking that the prince’s close friend might have come with him.

As I entered the reception room, a dark green, curly head was seen slightly over the back of the sofa. The second prince, who noticed my appearance, jumped up and greeted me politely.

“Your Majesty, I hope you had a good night. The Prime Minister has arrived as well.”

Her round cheeks, still covered in baby fat, stood out even more when she smiled brightly.

Sedes looked around the drawing room to see if the prince had come with his friend, but the mysterious child was nowhere to be seen.

“Prince, what brings you this morning?”

“Your Majesty, I appreciate you coming here despite your busy schedule. Please take a look at this. I also ask your Excellency.”

The prince looked at him with bright eyes as he handed him a bundle of documents. He was a little startled, having just been buried in a pile of documents, but he managed to keep his composure and asked politely.

“What is this?”

“This is my homework.”

“……homework?”

Sedes frowned at the stack of papers. What kind of teacher would give this much homework to a seven-year-old!

Sedes gritted his teeth and thought about finding the teacher who gave him this kind of homework and giving him a big scolding, then handed over the documents. Although he was busy, he was very happy to accept the prince’s request to look over his homework.

Lianus continued his explanation.

“This year’s finance class assignment was to analyze the reasons for the failure of the ‘Shatton Street Redevelopment and Relief Project’.”

“…Shaton Street?”

Why on earth is that in the kids’ homework?