How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 136



Only Noblemtl

Episode 136

“I… don’t you hate me?”

The voice of the child asking that question was trembling greatly.

Miunyanni…, what did this little thing do wrong?

Sedes lifted Lianus up and turned him around so that he could face him. His lips were pursed and his large, round, odd eyes were slightly sunken and moist.

Sedes gently wiped the moisture away with his rough, rough hands and then stared at the small, round face for a long time.

Natura, the face that she thought resembled her surprisingly resembled her own a lot.

He was lost in thought for a while, staring at her in silence, when suddenly her chubby cheeks caught his eye.

Sedes asked, a little dazed, as something came to mind.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Huh? Cool, what kind of…?”

Before Rianus could finish speaking, Sedes lifted Rianus up into his arms again and bit his cheek.

“……!?”

My child suddenly stopped moving like a broken doll.

It was a little salty, like salt bread. The sweet, creamy flavor that somehow didn’t go with it was a bonus.

Sedes bit the soft cheek with a little force. When Rianus flinched in surprise, he eventually couldn’t hold back his laughter and let go.

Rianus looked up at Sedes with wide eyes as if he had no idea what was going on. Sedes smiled again at the clear bite marks on his chubby cheek and gently stroked his cheek.

“Ahahaha, that kid didn’t ask for nothing. He’s really soft.”

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty?”

“That’s what the kid said. If not now, then ask when you get the chance.”

“That…, that….”

“So I asked him. He’s the one who likes to drink, so why shouldn’t I, as his father, drink it? But it tastes like whipped cream.”

Lianus blushed and lowered his head at the mention of the taste of whipped cream. Thinking back, Nihil had wiped some of the strawberry shortcake off his face with a handkerchief.

“Oh, I ate the cake… I guess I ate it messily.”

“Did you eat the strawberry shortcake?”

“…That, that wasn’t buried that much…!”

Rianus covered his face with both hands in embarrassment after seeing Sedes accurately guess the type of dessert he had eaten. Sedes found it so cute that he burst out laughing again and said,

“Hahaha, I added that on purpose because the kid said he wanted to eat it.”

“Neil… said he wanted to eat it himself?”

“okay.”

Sedes wanted to tell Lianus that she had also prepared shrimp, which he liked, but decided not to tell him because the dish ended up being grilled squid, which was difficult to eat. She had already been nagged by her son’s friend.

Next time, I have to make a shrimp dish that is easy to eat and delicious.

Lianus tilted his head, wondering if his friend liked strawberry shortcake. Considering his preference, he gave most of his cake and the strawberries on top to me. Of course, he fed his cake to Nihil.

Sedes felt a little bitter as he saw Lianus, who was thinking of something else right in front of him, being pushed aside by the pure white kid. However, he was also lovable with that tilted head, so he decided to be content with it while carefully stroking it.

“Rian.”

“yes yes?”

When Sedes called him by his nickname, Lianus opened his eyes wide again in surprise. Just hearing his name was enough to make him incredibly surprised, but now he was being called by his nickname. He was happy, but at the same time, he was also anxious about what was going on.

“You like hearing it as a nickname, right?”

“Neil… is that so?”

“Okay. I’ll try to call you like that in private.”

Rianus nodded timidly, feeling both embarrassed and happy, and then fell into Sedes’ arms. Sedes carefully stroked Rianus’ back.

“You have good friends.”

“That’s right. Neil is really strong, cool, capable. And very…”

“Affectionate.”

At the word affectionate, Lianus nodded repeatedly with a bashful smile. Sedes stroked his curly hair and slowly opened his mouth as if reminiscing about the past.

“Your mother… was very good with an archery. She had good eyesight and could easily hunt birds from far away.”

“……?”

“Aside from having a good eye, I didn’t have much of a knack for perceptiveness.”

“…….”

“I’m not good at lying or hiding my expressions, so I’m terrible at deceiving others.”

Rianus looked at Sedes with wide eyes, not expecting to hear something like this about his mother.

My father’s expression as he reminisced about my mother seemed very happy, but at the same time he also looked lonely.

Sedes continued speaking slowly, as if reminiscing about the past.

“Everyone says your mother is a concubine, but what is a concubine? Everyone treated her as a simple government official. She was neither elf nor human, so she was not welcome in the forest or in human society, and was eventually looked down upon here as well.”

A bitter smile appeared on his face. Nevertheless, the conversation continued.

“I offered the food first as if it were a favor. I was afraid that she would leave me due to my growing opposition. In the end, I obtained the position of a concubine. However, to me, she was the first queen. That is right. Which king of a country would take a concubine before taking a queen?”

Lianus’ small hand tightened a little. I never knew that my father thought of my mother this much.

Sedes took a small key from his bosom, opened a locked drawer, and showed a small portrait. It was of a woman with brilliant blond hair, emerald eyes, and a lovely smiling face.

Although it was his first time seeing her face, Rianus instinctively knew that she was his mother.

“Would you like to take it?”

“……!”

Lianus’ eyes widened. Can I accept this?

“You can take it. I have more.”

There are quite a few things I have secretly hidden away. My father said this while laughing mischievously like a child.

“She was always bright and honest, even in her harsh life. I… fell in love with that.”

Lianus nodded slightly. Not because she was his mother, but because she was really likable in the portrait.

Enough…, enough to make me fall in love with it.

“So at first… I thought I was being punished.”

“……?”

“I thought that because I brought her, who was so free, to the palace and bound her, I was being punished for it.”

Sedes took a deep breath. Then, feeling his eyes meet with the portrait, he carefully swept it over. The rough yet warm texture of the paper felt strangely pleasant.

“Even after getting married, she didn’t have a child for five years. So everyone started to belittle her and say there was something wrong with her.”

“…….”

“Actually, there was a problem. I found out that half-elves are originally sterile. When she confessed that fact to me, she cried and said she was sorry.”

“…….”

“She… cheated on me.”

At those words, Rianus’ body stiffened slightly. Sedes held Rianus close to his body and continued speaking.

“I was really… surprised that she lied to me. She knew that she couldn’t lie, so she didn’t lie much.”

“…….”

Lianus wanted to ask, “So you hated her?” But he was afraid of the answer and couldn’t ask.

“She confessed that she was sorry for telling me late and that she wanted to stay with me.”

“…….”

“Do you know what I was thinking when I heard her confession back then?”

“…Do you resent being deceived?”

As he answered, Lianus’ face hardened slightly and his eyes trembled slightly as if he was anxious.

Sedes laughed softly and shook his head.

“No. I was very happy that she wanted to stay by my side even if it meant deceiving me. I could never shake the feeling that I had locked her up in a palace when she was free.”

Sedes said that and raised the corners of his eyes as if he was truly happy.

“Rianus.”

“Yes, yes.”

“I loved your mother that much.”

“…….”

“But when that fact became known, the nobles began to pressure me even harder. I had no choice but to ask for her understanding and take a second queen. But then… a miracle happened.”

“……?”

“Natura… her belly is starting to swell.”

Her once thin waist gradually became rounder. Her body swelled, she had trouble sleeping, and she suffered from morning sickness. But she seemed happier than ever.

‘Seddie, my child.’

‘Yes. That’s our child.’

“So I was happy too.”

A deep smile appeared.

“Of course I wanted to divorce the daughter of the Tesaurus family. It would not be easy to deal with the dukedom, but I wanted to show her my true feelings by doing so. However…, it was later discovered that the daughter of the Tesaurus family was also pregnant.”

“…….”

“That was the time I regretted it the most.”

Just a little bit… I should have held on a little bit longer.

“Thanks to you, the divorce went through. What can I do? It’s all my fault.”

“…….”

“Besides, your mother said so. There is a high chance that the baby will be stillborn, so leave her alone.”

“…….”

“Maybe your mother knew from the beginning that she might die giving birth to the child. But your mother always said that it was a miracle that she got pregnant.”

“…….”

“She kept repeating the word miracle to me as if she was brainwashing me. She kept repeating that I would never have another chance like this, dozens, hundreds of times. She stroked my bulging belly and called me ‘Ruth.’”

Rianus flinched when he heard his given name, ‘Rus’. Nihil had said that his name was a compound word of the words Rian and Rus.

Sedes lifted his teacup without saying a word, as if his throat was burning. However, when he saw that the cup was empty, he put it down again.

Normally, one of the knights would have appeared and filled the teacups with water, but perhaps because they judged that it was not a situation in which they could interfere, they quietly hid and did not reveal themselves.

Sedes felt his hands tremble slightly. He tried to act as if nothing had happened and slightly changed the subject, fearing that he would spill his emotions in front of his knights and son.

“Natura made a teddy bear while she was pregnant… Do you still have it?”

“Poo-poo-yo?”

“…you gave it a name.”

“Because Pupu is my friend.”

At those words, Sedes’ face distorted again.

By the way, when I planned to run away with my friend, I said I would take ‘Pupu’ with me too.

Should I be happy that I still have that doll, or should I feel sorry that that doll was my only friend?

Sedes quickly shook off his thoughts, not wanting his emotions to deepen.

“That… that’s the teddy bear’s right eye….”

“Ah…, phew, your right eye is a little crooked. I think your mother made a mistake while sewing.”

“…That’s…, something I made.”

“……?”

“…I… sewed it myself.”

“……!”

The two-colored eyes widened as if they were about to roll away at any moment. Sedes burst into laughter without realizing it.

They say that holding something cute makes you feel good, and it’s true.

“Natura insisted on doing it, so I picked up the needle. That was the first and last time. It was so small and thin that I missed it several times. In fact… that was the result of several attempts.”

“Ah…, um…, Pupu’s charm lies in her twinkling eyes.”

“Phew…!”

Sedes couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her son console her poor sewing skills.

“Oh, yes…, you’re attractive. Your eyes are also very attractive.”

“……!”

“Now that I think about it, the right eye is golden. Maybe it’s because I put the right eye on the teddy bear. Maybe Natura knew something and had me sew it.”

As he spoke, Sedes gently brushed the child’s eyes, which had the same color as his own. He felt much better.

It seemed like I could talk about her calmly now.