How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 159



Only Noblemtl

Episode 159

Again. The sharp expression made my pupils widen even more.

Abel couldn’t hold back his laughter at the change in the little prince’s expression and let out a huff. Then he continued to speak, urging him never to be too early.

“His Majesty saw a beautiful woman in the forest and fell in love at first sight.”

Love at first sight!

At the romantic beginning, Rianus’ eyes sparkled.

“But… at that time, Your Majesty… was 7 years old.”

“……?”

Her curly, dark green hair tilted sideways.

What, isn’t this a love story between a mother and a child?

“You are right, Lady Natura. She was Your Majesty’s first and last love.”

“Then… Your Majesty, have you continued to love your mother since you were seven years old?”

Your Majesty has loved only your mother since you were seven years old! Is this what they call pure love, innocent love?!

I thought of His Majesty and my mother when they were young. They must have been so cute walking through the forest, holding hands.

“Yes, but she was twenty.”

“……yes?”

“Well…, you don’t feel it when you just hear it, do you? Just think of it as the prince confessing to a woman of Evan’s age.”

Bam-.

The cookie in Lianus’ hand rolled across the floor, soiling the rug.

It was a forbidden love… …?

Abel, who found it extremely amusing to ruin his friend’s image, continued to speak stubbornly.

“Of course, she looked younger than her actual age, being a half-elf…, but there was no denying that Your Majesty’s tastes were very…, mature for her age.”

And instead of a sweet love story, complaints followed.

“I was 9 years old at the time. Can you imagine how I felt, having to follow a 7-year-old boy with a blunt face who was supposed to be taken care of with all his heart, behind a mature girl?”

“…….”

“I thought that Sedi… wouldn’t be able to become king. To be honest, I thought it was fortunate that he didn’t run away from home to date Natura… but rather, he didn’t leave the palace.”

“Ah…, um….”

Lianus rolled his eyes. I had only recently learned that His Majesty loved his mother very much, but it seemed to be more severe than I had thought.

“Even back then, half-elves were treated so poorly that His Majesty even gave her a knight escort. Oh, and who was that knight escort?…”

“Stop talking nonsense and continue speaking.”

“Oh, Neil was curious about love stories too!”

Abel was so pleased that even Nihil was interested in his story that he cleared his throat and opened his mouth again.

“Your Majesty did not assign me a young and strong knight, but a middle-aged knight who was soon to be in his fifties. Of course, his skills were not bad, but at the time, I had my doubts. Based on Your Majesty’s actions at the time, I thought You would assign me the strongest knight.”

“So did you ask why?”

“Yes, I did. I can’t help being curious. But the answer was really amazing.”

“What did you say?”

Abel’s eyes became hazy as he recalled those days.

“I heard that Natura might have other thoughts when she sees young and cool knights.”

“……?”

The innocent kitten, who didn’t understand, tilted its head again. Thinking back to that time, Abel’s clothes burst and he spat out a word.

“Ha, isn’t that really creepy? At the time, I didn’t even understand what that meant. I asked my mother and got in big trouble. Then I realized what it meant and was so shocked! Is that something a 7-year-old would think of? A little kid who hasn’t even lost any baby fat said with a blunt face, ‘Natura is in his prime…’ Ouch.”

“Don’t say weird things to the child.”

Nihil quickly slapped Abel’s snout.

“No, Neil, Sadie was seven at that time too?”

Abel complained, then glanced at Rianus, who was wide-eyed, and said, “Neil must be so gentle. He must be fun to raise.” He sounded like a woman envious of another’s child.

“Well…, Natura-sama didn’t seem to dislike it that much either…….”

It was equally strange to Cedesna, who proposed to her as soon as she turned 15, the legal age for marriage, and Natura and Abel, who were genuinely shy about the boy’s confession.

“Ah, that middle-aged knight is in the palace right now…, ugh….”

The woman’s chatter suddenly stopped.

“Relax. Don’t relax.”

“…I’m sorry. I was in pain so I didn’t realize it…….”

Abel grimaced at the sudden onset of pain.

“Once some of the tangles are loosened, the pain will lessen.”

“Are you done today?”

“I don’t mind doing more, but I don’t think I’ll be able to become prime minister.”

“Why me?”

Nihil nodded to the shadow knight who had suddenly appeared on the terrace.

“I came to catch you.”

“Your Majesty, I have come to fetch you.”

***

Knock-. Knock, crack! Knock, crack.

I thought it was a little bit uncomfortable when I hit it, but in the end, the wooden sword broke.

Lianus swung the broken wooden sword a few more times before throwing it away and picking up another one.

“You can’t be like Neil. Even if Neil’s wooden sword breaks, he immediately counterattacks.”

“The guy swings it expecting it to break. Maybe he breaks it on purpose. The weight and length are different, so how can he adapt right away? By the way, Your Highness, you’ve gotten quite used to the dual swords.”

“Does Evan think so too?”

Lianus straightened his shoulders, feeling secretly proud.

It’s been a long time since I went to the Duke’s swordsmanship lessons. Instead, I went to the royal knights’ dawn training to build up my physical strength, and during the regular swordsmanship lessons, I trained with Nihil in my training hall.

In fact, it was nothing more than an empty lot with scarecrows set up, but my close friend, who could do anything, specially cast a concealment spell on me.

They say you can’t see the inside unless you come within a certain range.

Then someone approached.

It was Vice-Captain Sir Aaron Carter who had been dragged to Nihil several times for being a capable dual sword wielder, but now he had come to him on his own accord.

Aaron looked around and tilted his head.

“Your Majesty, why are you alone today?”

“Ah, Sir Carter, welcome. My friend is……”

Lianus kept quiet, looked around, and then whispered softly.

“He went out to spy.”

“…yes……?”

A question appeared on Aaron’s face. Where on earth did he go to spy on the palace? No, before that, could he just ignore the fact that he was spying?

“Isn’t the quarterly evaluation coming up soon? It seems like the swordsmanship class will be evaluated through sparring… My friend said he’d go spy on your swordsmanship.”

“ah…….”

1. Did you go to analyze the prince’s swordsmanship?

Aaron didn’t complain, saying how could a kid who hadn’t even learned swordsmanship analyze swordsmanship? The kid might not be good at swordsmanship, but he was good at ‘following’.

No, can we just dismiss it as ‘following along’?

No matter how talented you are, is it even possible to imitate the movements of trained knights when your body is not properly built?

At first, I actually thought that maybe the kid had learned swordsmanship.

But the boy had no theoretical knowledge whatsoever. He simply followed along without distinguishing between good and bad.

Of course, they followed suit, but they couldn’t keep up with the speed of the knights whose bodies were strengthened by aura.

However, if there was one thing that was better than the knights, it was that he could reproduce all of the swordsmanship moves without missing a single one, and if you pointed out a bad habit, he would correct it right away.

As simple as tearing off a piece of bread.

As soon as the boy became somewhat familiar with swordsmanship, he immediately started applying it and became the prince’s sparring partner.

He used swords of different lengths, changing them from time to time, and even mixed various sword techniques, without the sword’s trajectory becoming tangled.

That kid… was literally a monster.

but…….

“Wouldn’t it be a problem for His Highness the Duke? No matter how talented a child may be, he is a sword master.”

“Well… my friend has good eyesight, so he’ll be able to see from far away….”

As he said that, Lianus had no idea that Nihil would fall for the duke.

“Um, um…, I believe my close friend will know how to do it…, aaaah!”

Lianus was thrown over. Something suddenly fell from the sky.

“Neil! You surprised me!”

A low laugh could be heard from beneath the cotton. My friend seemed to be having a lot of fun teasing me. For some reason, Sir Carter’s face was set in stone.

“Sir Carter, why are you doing this?”

“Does it usually appear like this all of a sudden?”

“Yeah. Evan also curses often… I’m surprised. Why?”

“…Nothing…, that’s it.”

“okay?

Nihil emptied everything he had in his bag and fell to the floor. He placed a T-shaped wooden board on the bottom of his shoe and wrapped it tightly with a rope to secure it.

“…? Neil, what are you doing?”

When I asked with a puzzled look, Nihil stretched out both arms while firmly attaching the wooden board to his shoes.

Rianus automatically tried to hug the outstretched arms, but he quickly came to his senses at the sound of a “yes” and grabbed Nihil’s hand to help him up.

“…Don’t laugh. It’s because Neil always carries me around.”

Laughter was heard again.

I’m not a baby… … . It’s all Neil’s fault.

Still, I couldn’t refuse. I thought Nihil would be very disappointed. Still, I promised that if I grew a span taller, it wouldn’t be flashy anymore.

Nihil, standing on the wooden board, was so tall that he had to look up at it. It was a height that felt very familiar.

“Is this a newly developed game?”

It seemed like a really novel game to learn balance.

But Nihil shook his head and walked around while holding my hand. At first he staggered like a girl wearing high heels for the first time, but soon he let go and jogged lightly.

Later, he nodded slightly as if he was satisfied with doing a somersault on the spot.

It was truly an astonishing adaptability.

Nihil picked up the sword he had brought with him along with the planks and began to assemble it. It was a longsword, slightly longer than the one Rian had used before.

Yeah, my brother has a longsword that is exactly that length… … .

Then Sir Evan frowned and opened his mouth.

“Are you planning on swinging your sword like that?”

Nod nod.

“What? Neil, what if you get hurt? I’m not skilled enough to control a sword with as much force as you do.”

Dori dori.

Nihil shook his head slightly and gestured to the two knights.

Evan said, a little nervously.

“If it’s dangerous, we’ll stop it. Don’t worry.”

“…but…….”

Lianus looked at him with concern, but Nihil instead flicked the tip of his sword as if to provoke him.

ah…….

Who dares worry about whom?

The corners of Lianus’ mouth slightly went up.