How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 168



Only Noblemtl

Episode 168

Raymond continued talking, whether Jane was inwardly horrified or not.

“That guy, he carries a pouch……”

“Oh, your pocket?”

“Yes. There’s money and jewels in there, in addition to junk. I think he’s trying to keep them because they’re valuable, but he doesn’t seem to know their value. I heard he used to hide gold coins here and there.”

Raymond giggled and bragged about how many gold coins he had picked up that day.

“…Sir, did you take my money out of my pocket that week?”

“What did you take away? In the past, you would run away so often that it was hard to see your face, but these days, you don’t run away much. If you take good care of them and treat them kindly, they give you gifts. Sometimes, they exchange them for things like cookies.”

“Did you, did you, just get it?”

“So what? I just received it because it was given to me.”

Raymond confidently showed off what he had received. Jane’s expression became subtle as she didn’t know what to say.

“Wouldn’t it be better for me to tell the butler?”

“What? Is there anything I can do to take everything away?”

“…….”

“What, you? I told you something good… You’re not going to tell on me, are you?”

Raymond glared at her with narrowed eyes. He seemed to know that it was wrong to seduce such an innocent child.

In fact, he wasn’t a naive kid, he was just pretending to be naive.

“Oh, no. I won’t say that.”

Even if you don’t say anything, everything will be taken away and you will be cut off soon.

Suddenly, I started to worry a little about Yvonne. If it was Yvonne, I might have just accepted it as it was, thinking that the master was taking special care of it for me.

I opened the door, thinking I should tell Yvonne too, but Raymond grabbed my shoulder, looking annoyed.

“Hey, hey! Are you going to tell me?”

“Oh, no. Chi, tell your friend, ah, tell him…….”

“Your Majesty, you shouldn’t hand out things like this so carelessly.”

“……?”

As I was making excuses, I heard a familiar voice from the hallway. I popped my head out to check and saw a familiar head crouching down, talking to someone.

“Your Majesty, did you share it with everyone else?”

Nod nod.

“I appreciate your kindness, but I cannot accept such a precious thing.”

Gyah.

“Let’s explain the situation to the butler and go get the items quickly.”

Yvonne hugged the little white girl and stroked her hair while holding her gently. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like she was praising her for doing a good job.

“Hahaha, so cute.”

Yvonne… , who are you calling cute right now… … .

Jane called Yvonne a little nervously.

“Hey, Yvonne.”

“Huh? Jane!”

Yvonne turned around happily at the call.

“Wh, what are you doing?”

“Ah, I’m going to go to the butler with you, Young Master.”

The white-haired gentleman who met her eyes waved lightly. Jane waved back, but then suddenly came to her senses and awkwardly greeted him politely.

‘By the way, why is Yvonne acting like she doesn’t know Neil…?’

“Then I’ll be back.”

“Uh, uh uh…….”

Yvonne disappeared with the white prince in her arms, and soon the order to assemble was given.

“Hey, it’s all ruined because of that nosy guy.”

Raymond returned ‘some’ of the wealth he had been bragging about while grumbling beside me. Then he glanced at me and forcefully put a silver coin in my hand, shouting.

“Inma, keep your mouth shut. Okay?”

“Oh, I won’t accept it. Ma, I won’t say anything.”

Jane stubbornly refused the silver coin, but he became irritated and took out another coin.

“Oh, you really don’t know how to bargain. Take it.”

“Oh, I told you I’m not accepting it.”

“Inflexible brat.”

“Father, if you’re worried, just return it all.”

“Hey, how much is all this….”

As he spoke, he looked around, quickly put the silver coins in his pocket, and ran away.

I was really embarrassed, but I was worried about what to do with the silver coin right away. I had no obligation to hide it in the first place, so I could just tell the butler right away… … .

“…….”

There were too many servants at the moment. Yvonne wouldn’t have cared about what other people thought, but she was a coward and wanted to avoid being the center of attention in this situation.

I should tell the butler later, I promised myself, but time passed by in a blur as I forgot.

***

“Your Majesty, I told you not to enter here without permission.”

“…….”

Jane realized this when she saw Yvonne nagging Nihil, who was trying to enter the greenhouse.

He doesn’t know that Ner’s older brother and the master are the same person.

Come to think of it, Yvonne might not have seen the master’s face in Shaton because she was wearing her hood the whole time.

Of course, he would have heard the voice, but for some reason, the young master was not allowed to speak in the palace, so he would not have heard the voice.

Moreover, unlike his brother, Nere, who was always smart and witty, Baedong was a young master who was a bit lacking and ignorant of the ways of the world.

‘… No matter what, how can you not know this… … ?’

I wondered if it was okay to be so clueless…, but the white master seemed to like it and started stroking Yvonne’s hair again.

‘Should I tell you?’

The thought occurred to me for a moment, but it soon became meaningless, because the greenhouse door swung open and a head of dark green curly hair popped out.

“Neil, did you get what you need?”

“…Prince?”

“Oh, Yvonne and Jane are here too! Do you want to have tea together?”

“Uh…, uh…?”

The stupid voice was dragged straight into the greenhouse.

***

Rianus, who had just moved his pawn, burst into laughter when he heard Yvonne’s story.

“Hahaha, Yvonne, I didn’t know it was Neil.”

“…yes.”

Yvonne lowered her head, her face flushed bright red. She really felt like she needed to cut down on her noises.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed. Neil probably hid it on purpose.”

“…Did your highness want to test me?”

“I just left it because it was fun.”

Nihil laughed and moved the bishop. Once again, Rianus, who was cornered, let out a ‘Eww~’ sound. While everyone was peaceful, Jane was at a loss and offered an apology to Yvonne.

“I’m, I’m sorry, Yvonne. I, I really don’t know, I didn’t know.”

“No, Jane. I… didn’t notice. I thought Neil… no, the young master was the first prince.”

Yvonne grumbled timidly, saying, “Of course I thought my brother would be a prince too.”

“More than that, two, watch out for the servants of the black badge.”

“Black…, you? Are you a servant of some palace?”

Since they had never heard of a black badge, the two boys naturally tilted their heads.

“Neil sent the queen to the cold palace. We won’t be seeing the maroon drapery for a while.”

Who is sending whom where… … ?

The boys’ faces hardened, but Lianus calmly grabbed Nihil’s queen. He knew it was a trap, but he just wanted to grab her.

“Hey, Lian.”

“What is Escha?, oh, it means check.”

“What if you catch it even though you know it’s a trap?”

At those words, Lianus laughed and quickly evacuated His Majesty. Because our Majesty is precious.

“I knew it was a trap, but I wanted to capture the Queen.”

“…hmm?”

Nihil’s face became delicate at the mention of wanting to capture the queen.

“This is the queen?”

“Huh? Oh, this is the queen.”

“Not the prime minister…?”

“huh?”

“When did you become successful?”

“……?”

A moment of silence followed, with the chessboard in the middle of the conflicting conversations.

Up until now, Nihil had restricted the movements of the chess pieces… but Rianus thought that was just Nihil being considerate of him.

It was only late in life that Rian shared the rules of chess that he knew.

Nihil listened to Lianus’ explanation, then nodded and admitted his mistake.

“I guess I confused it with another game.”

“…But…, Neil was winning…?”

This time, Rianus’ expression became subtle. The two stared at each other for a moment and then quietly put the chessboard away.

Evan, who was nearby, laughed and poured new tea that had gone cold. Of course, it wasn’t his own tea. It was brewed by our cute, lovely, and great kitten.

Our kitten drinks tea well too. It’s really the best.

“Moreover, Countess Talandrus is later than expected……”

Lianus muttered as he looked back at the greenhouse entrance. However, the ceiling and the entrance were obscured by strange trees and vines, making it difficult to see. The interior was also twisted and turned like a maze, making the greenhouse no longer as empty as before.

It feels like a forest straight out of a fairy tale. More like a forest from a fantasy world… yeah, it feels a bit like a dark, witch’s forest.

At night, plants bathed in moonlight drag lost travelers along… … .

“That vine looks like it’s about to come alive.”

“…How did you know…?”

“huh……?”

As I was muttering to myself that my friend’s taste seemed a bit unusual, I heard an unexpected response.

But that embarrassment was short-lived, as a scream echoed from the greenhouse entrance.

“Eww!”

“Whoa! Sergio!”

“Nephew!”

“……?!”

Lianus jumped up at the sudden commotion and ran to the entrance. The two boys, Evan and Shaton, followed right behind.

“Hey, what’s that?”

The sight that unfolded at the entrance to the greenhouse made my mouth drop open. A boy was hanging upside down in the air, wrapped in vines, the vines writhing around him as if they were alive.

Below them, the chancellor and the countess were stamping their feet, while the butler who had guided the guests to the greenhouse calmly looked outside to see if there were any witnesses.

Sling-, Evan drew his sword nervously.

“Stop. I got it by luck. Don’t cut it.”

Nihil, who was walking leisurely from behind, waved his hand and stopped Evan.

Nihil stared at the boy dangling in the air. He could smell a familiar scent. The strong scent of the sleeping pill he had given to the countess.

One eyebrow went up involuntarily, as I never would have guessed that the owner of that potent narcotic painkiller would be a young kid.

“Ugh, this is no, ah!”

The cane the boy was holding fell to the floor with a clatter. There was a ribbon tied to it.

Nihil looked back at the prime minister with a strangely awkward expression. The prime minister smiled awkwardly when he encountered him.

“Haha…, I just wanted to look a little cute….”

“Your Majesty, just because you put on a ribbon doesn’t mean you’ll be cute. And if you were going to put one on, you should have put it on a child.”

“My niece doesn’t want to wear a ribbon in her hair… But Neil, can you please let my niece down for a bit?”

“Next time, make sure to let me know before you bring me.”

“Ugh…, I was wrong….”

As Abel reflected silently, Nihil stroked the vines and whispered something unintelligible.

The vine moved slowly as if it understood what was being said and helped the boy stand upright.

“……?”

But that was it. Sergio’s feet were still dangling in the air.

“Yvonne, Jane, would you mind helping me in the kitchen?”

The quick-witted butler took the two boys out.

The greenhouse door slammed shut.

“It looks like this conversation will be long, so let’s go inside.”