How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 173



Only Noblemtl

Episode 173

“Neil! This is a big problem!”

Lianus, who had rushed to see the maid’s baby who had been born not long ago, came in, noisily opening the study door.

Before leaving my study, Rianus had insisted that ‘now that I have a baby, I will act more dignified and respectable than anyone else’, but now he seemed to have completely forgotten that promise.

“Neil, I’m not going to feed Robert rice!”

“Ugh…, yeah, but shouldn’t I feed the baby?”

“Beep-.”

Evan II also thought that he had to take care of his own food bowl, so he lifted his head from his plate and cried. Judging from the sound of his crying that was a little louder, it seemed that he was growing well.

“Uh…, uh, right. You have to eat. Robbie, I’m sorry for interrupting your meal.”

Rianus quickly apologized, patting Robert on the head. Robert, who had secured his bowl of rice, buried his nose in his plate again and began to eat slurp-slurp.

Yeah, when you’re growing up, you have to eat well. Of course, that’s true.

“Ah, okay. Lian.”

“ah-.”

Well well.

“delicious?”

“cellar!”

Shrimp is always delicious. It’s good that shrimp is often served these days. But I feel like I’ve forgotten something…

“ah……!”

“what’s the matter?”

“Neil, you’re not just sitting around eating rice right now! Do you even know what kind of Mushun Shomunni you’re talking about?!”

Nihil asked, holding back another burst of laughter.

“What are you talking about?”

“You ate the child!”

“I like meat, but I’m not a cannibal.”

“No, that’s not it!”

The frustrated Rianus stretched Nihil’s cheek. However, Nihil just laughed it off and replied.

“Is it because of me that something went wrong with the child?”

“…Did you know?”

“I reported it to Lima.”

“…Awww!”

I worried for nothing!

Lianus stuck out his lips and put a shrimp in his mouth. He felt like one wasn’t enough, so he put another one in. The garlicky oil sauce went really well with it.

‘Still, we have to cut off all the guys who spread strange rumors!’

As I was diligently munching on shrimp, I heard Nihil and Sir Evan talking.

“…Knight.”

“…Why is the name like that?”

“Use correct and polite language.”

“…I get it.”

One of Lianus’ eyebrows rose slightly.

What the heck is that conversation?

***

‘Neil is too kind, it’s a problem. I have to step up!’

Lianus wanted to summon all the courtiers. He would cut down all those who spread bad rumors about his friend.

But the court ladies were already gathered together and arguing among themselves.

“There must be something, right? Otherwise, there’s no way that the picky butler and the head maid would let it slide! That talisman is suspicious, too!”

“That’s definitely true.”

“What are you talking about! It’s supposed to be a talisman to ward off evil! What did you do to make me say such bad things about you?”

“You made it out of hair and blood! It gives me the creeps just thinking about it! What do you think you like about that young master?”

“Isn’t it pretty?”

“…….”

The man looked at the maid with his mouth wide open as if he was at a loss for words for a moment, then shouted again.

“Look, I told you you’re possessed. You have that gold coin too, right? Tom said so. That gold coin is suspicious too! You guys, spit it all out!”

The man’s argument was this. The ‘Baedong’ that the prince brought was strangely popular with the servants, and the strict butler and the head maid were also overly lenient. Above all, the fact that the prince brought her was very suspicious.

“And did you see that greenhouse? The glass greenhouse that was once so clear was suddenly covered in vines! We definitely need to check that out too! For the sake of our prince….”

‘You’re telling me to leave my best friend alone for my sake!’

Lianus couldn’t listen any longer, so he walked over and blocked his path.

“you!”

“Wow, Prince? And……”

“You’re fired…!?”

Just as I was about to confidently shout out that I was fired, my body suddenly lifted up.

“Hey, Neil, when did you get here?”

“…….”

“Now, wait a minute, Neil! Let go of this!”

“…….”

Lianus struggled with his limbs to escape from Nihil’s embrace. However, no matter how much he struggled, his friend turned around and continued to walk away without wavering an inch.

“Neil, wait a minute! I have something to do…!”

Then, I made eye contact with the servants whose eyes were wide open.

My face suddenly turned red.

“Ugh! Neil is an idiot!”

***

Nihil read the report to the still chubby Lianus, who seemed to be unhappy with being carried around like a baby in front of the servants.

“…So instead of firing these guys, I’m thinking of making them rewrite their magic contracts.”

“Can’t you just cut it off?”

“Rian, you shouldn’t be fooled by what you see. After all, from their perspective, I am suspicious.”

“but……!”

“And among them, there are some that you stamped your seal on earlier.”

Nihil was trusting Lianus’s intuition, which was surprisingly accurate.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Although I am not very perceptive… … .

“Lian, livers don’t come forward so easily. Especially not when a large number of livers have already been cut out in a large-scale reshuffle.”

Nihil continued speaking, caressing the soft, swaying seaweed.

“That guy Tom is probably a thief. He’s been secretly instigating the old man and the maid without their knowledge.”

And you’re one of those guys who never gave a shit about what happened.

“Then let’s cut it off!”

“Calm down, Lian. The Queen is planning. That’s why I have to remain ‘something vague and not properly understood’. Something suspicious, but not certain. So that ‘I’ can always twist the plan even if it involves ‘me’.”

Lianus still pouts and stares blankly at Nihil. He still doesn’t know what he wants to say.

“We can extract the liver, but we must not tell the other side that fact. That too can be a kind of information. Since we cannot extract the other side’s information, all we can do now is to prevent our side’s information from leaking as much as possible and create confusion with false information.”

“So you’re just going to leave the liver alone?”

“I’m not just leaving it. I’m binding it with a magic contract.”

Nihil showed me the contract in front of him, waving it around.

“If there are people who are scared by the words ‘magic contract’ and quit, just leave them alone.”

“But Neil… wasn’t that fake?”

Even Lianus, who had no mana and had nothing to do with magic, knew that magic contracts were rare. And that they were incredibly expensive.

However, when I checked with the butler, he said that he had never purchased a magic contract with the budget allocated to my palace.

“Rian.”

Nihil smiled lazily and swept away the waving seaweed.

“Where do you think all the magic stones I worked so hard to refine went?”

***

Clink, a shard of ceramic was crushed under my shoe.

Kenneth scanned the room. The floor was soaked with water from broken vases, and the beautiful flowers in the vases were already trampled and looked pitiful.

“Wasn’t it only ten days?”

“Are you saying that!”

Helia felt her true anger beginning to well up again as she looked at her stupid brother’s face.

“So you sent the nanny who raised you away like that?”

“If you were that pitiful, why didn’t you take it out?”

“Well, I didn’t have that much affection for him.”

As Kenneth spoke, he secretly cursed Helia, calling her poisonous.

Sarette committed suicide while being held for questioning. It was not Helia’s direct order.

Of course, I would have tried to deal with it if the investigation took longer… … .

Thanks to that, I was able to return earlier than expected.

‘With this, no one except the wizard knows the prince’s secret.’

Helia took a deep breath, remembering the only comforting fact in the worst of circumstances.

“So, how is life in the cold palace?”

“You call that a question? Should I send it to you?”

My teeth ground at my brother’s sarcasm. My past life in the cold palace wasn’t that important.

The problem was the disconnect. When he returned to the palace, everything was over.

I tried to plant a few more people because they were recruiting servants for the 2nd prince’s palace, but somehow they found out and filtered them all out, and before I could stop them, they all ended up entering the palace.

Even the few remaining thugs ran away in fear of the magic contract and reported it just before. One of them, who had been later persuaded, was taken away for the crime of touching the prince’s property.

‘You idiots! You should’ve brought a magic contract… … !’

At this rate, we can’t even be sure if the magic contract is real or fake. It would have been better if at least one person had written their name on the magic contract and died.

“Thanks to you, I was able to come back early.”

“Ha, can’t you see these petitions?”

Helia slammed a wad of papers on the table with a loud thud.

As soon as he returned to politics, the first thing he encountered was a petition sent by the top brass with whom he had promised to make deals behind the scenes.

I was completely caught off guard because I never thought that Sedes would put aside all his other work and do his own work first.

“Ali on top……”

All contracts for the supply of banquet-related items had the trademark at the top of the Ali printed on them.

The fact that Sedes, who is extremely reluctant to give power to one place, is pushing this far must mean that there was some kind of deal.

‘I sent precious potions and herbs to the palace of the Second Prince.’

The only successor to the Baron, Noah Alie, has also been confirmed to be visiting the Second Prince’s palace.

“Oh, that top. Lately, they’ve been really into hot stones and stuff.”

Well, isn’t that just a merchant’s swindle? The stupid brother who didn’t understand the situation said so and snorted.

But Helia couldn’t laugh.

With the appearance of daily necessities made of hot stone, the Alie merchants grew rapidly. Even though there was no merchant comparable to them in the kingdom,

‘Their financial power is already at a level that cannot be ignored, but if that top grows further and supports the second prince… … .’

It is clear that the author of Sedes had some kind of deal with the upper class.

“It’s true that Baron Ali had a great desire to be recognized. He didn’t even realize that the more he struggled, the more he was looked down upon.”

“Brother, this isn’t something that can be easily overlooked!”

How can the author, who is the son of a wealthy family, be so stupid? That is why my father does not retire and holds on.

“Perhaps… the magic employment contract used in the Second Prince’s Palace might be real.”

If Ali had provided the funds for the contract from above, it wouldn’t be impossible. However, Helia was frustrated because she couldn’t be sure.

‘It would be better to send a scapegoat… … .’

Now that the planted nemesis has fallen, it would be easier to send someone to write their name on the contract than to steal it.

dripping-

As I was thinking about who to kill, the sound of the door closing was heard and my thoughts were interrupted.

“Your Majesty, we have a guest from the Magic Tower.”

At those words, Helia looked at her brother.

“Aren’t you going?”

“What do you have to hide from me? If I knew anything, wouldn’t you help me?”

“…Please come in.”

Helia barely managed to hold back the sigh that threatened to burst from deep within her stomach.

Yeah, it’s not enough, but if it inherits the dukedom, it might be useful someday.

Click, the door opened and a man with a hood pulled down low behind the butler came in.

“Butler, the tea is ready, so go out.”

“yes.”

The guest bowed deeply when he saw the door close.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Do I look okay to you?”

“It seems like you still have the strength to throw the vase. Oh, or did you drop it because you didn’t have enough strength in your hands?”

As he spoke, he brushed aside the shards of ceramic that were striking his feet as if to show off.

“You don’t just let a single word pass.”

Helia opened her eyes sharply. However, the talent of a wizard was rare, and most high-ranking wizards above the 5th circle were from the Empire, so they could not be punished.

“So what brings you here? Did you check what I asked you to find out?”

“Yes. First of all, there has been no mass sales of magic contracts in the Magic Tower in the past five years.”

“You could have bought it in parts, right?”

“It’s the same. And you know, the contract has to be written by a wizard.”

Helia’s eyes narrowed. She thought that maybe the price of the magic contract had been paid on Ali’s behalf at the top, but it seemed that was not the case.

So are you saying all those contracts were fake? That they were all just a show to weed out people?

“Isn’t it possible that it was a blank contract?”

“Haha…, you’re not asking because you don’t know, are you?”

“…….”

Helia irritatedly cut him off with her sarcastic remark. The blank contract she had bought from him was by no means cheap, even for her.

The wizard continued his explanation in a soft voice, perhaps even mocking her.

“The price of blank contracts that anyone can use is skyrocketing, and it’s not common for wizards to be able to produce them.”

“…I know that much.”

“Haha, is that so? Don’t worry. Even if it were real, it wouldn’t have worked.”

Basically, a contract takes effect from the time it is signed.

However, the contract for the Second Prince’s Palace presupposes that ‘they are serving another master’, so there is already a contradiction.

A mere contract couldn’t bind the past.

‘But if it’s really true… … .’

The wizard’s eyes sparkled.