How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 201



Only Noblemtl

Episode 201

Nihil, who returned from training with his father and the knights early in the morning, heard a strange sound as soon as he entered the room.

“Neil! You didn’t get eaten!”

“…hmm?”

For some reason, there were children huddled together in Lianus’ room. No, to be exact, they were tied up.

“Hey! Where have you been!”

“Uh-huh-huh-huh!”

“We’re alive now!”

“Friend, friend, save Kara!”

“…No, I knew it was a joke, you know…….”

Even the older Sergio sighed in relief, so something must have happened. Nihil turned his gaze to the boy he had asked to guard the children.

“Dia.”

The boy didn’t respond, but the corners of his mouth went up slightly, so it seemed he had done something.

“The baby ate all the adults! Please tell your friend to spit it out!”

“When I woke up, everyone was here!”

“Ugh, the door, the door won’t open. I tried to run away… ”

“They tied us up to make the baby behave!”

“We’ll fatten them up and eat them too!”

“hmm…….”

Nihil, who roughly understood the children’s situation, nodded.

“Dia, it’s no use teasing children.”

Those words brought a smile to the children’s faces.

“Right? You’re just kidding, right?”

“Kara, are you alive now?”

“But where are the adults? Sir Michael is gone too.”

“Did you go to the bathroom as a group?”

“There’s no Kara, no older brother, no younger brother, and no cat.”

Questions immediately poured in. It seemed that someone had woken up in the middle of the night, noticed the strange situation, and woke up the other children. It was strange to see children who had been sleeping in separate rooms sleeping together.

Of course, that strange phenomenon could be the fault of the little boy who was bothered by the extensive escort.

“Neil!”

The seaweed that had come closer before he knew it clung to him. Perhaps because he knew that the little boy was the one he was looking for, Rianus was comparatively less wary of the little boy.

“Have you seen Sir Evan? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“I ate it.”

“……?”

Lianus paused for a moment as if he had lost consciousness at my joke that came out like a habit.

“The puppy didn’t taste good. It was too thick and chewy.”

In fact, Mongmongi was currently busy taking care of the other knights who had fallen due to mana exhaustion.

Still, I was secretly proud of myself for enduring the training better than the other guys, even though I had been training relatively consistently.

“…Are you lying?”

The kids looked suspicious at my joke, but when I slightly raised the corners of their lips, they slowly backed away.

“It doesn’t taste good either!”

“No, Kara. Young ones are delicious. They’re soft.”

“No! …Then, eat the baby first! The baby is softer!”

“I wonder.”

Nihil quickly picked up the little boy, but before he could open his mouth, his hair was grabbed.

“Ugh, Dia, your speech and hand gestures have both gotten worse.”

“What are you talking about? It was originally my job to grab this hair.”

The little girl said something like that and then skillfully braided her hair and tied it to one side.

“Wow! Baby, tie your hair nicely too!”

“…….”

The little girl couldn’t shake off Kara’s advance, even though her face was crumpled, and eventually picked up the ribbon.

Karus, who returned after supporting a collapsed Karum, was startled to see Kara with her hair held in the little girl’s hands, but Kara seemed quite satisfied with the result, as she held her braided hair in each hand and jumped around.

“Kara has become prettier!”

Perhaps because of the positive response, the little boy’s expression relaxed a little. However, in his next words, he became stiff again.

“Since the baby made Kara’s hair pretty, Kara will also make the baby pretty!”

“…….”

“Ka, Kara…!”

Whether my older brother was terrified or not, Kara stubbornly grabbed the little girl’s hair and tied it up. Nihil raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at the little girl with her hair tied up into seven messy pigtails.

“It suits you well, Dia.”

At those words, the little girl frowned and tried to take off her hair accessories in annoyance.

“Baby, are you going to take that off?”

“…….”

“Kara did it for me…?”

The boy got up from his seat without responding.

“[…I’m going.]”

“[Are you itching already?]”

“[Do you think the Grand Duke has no time to himself?]”

“[okay.]”

Nihil nodded. If you’re busy, you should let him go. I thought he was just taking up space, but it looks like he has a lot of work to do.

“[When are you coming again?]”

“[He won’t come.]”

At the sharp retort, Nihil unconsciously grabbed the hem of the child’s clothes.

“[…I can’t find it.]”

If it had been before he lost his power, he wouldn’t be able to use magic as he pleases. No, to be exact, he shouldn’t use it. The way he handles mana is a bit special.

You’ll get caught by those guys as soon as you use it.

It was okay to use magic stones or parts of my body, but magic stones had become too precious and using my body was extremely inefficient, and if I continued to use them indiscriminately, my height would gradually decrease.

Nihil glanced at Rianus and then looked down at the boy again.

“[You will come to see me, right?]”

The little boy didn’t answer right away, but just stared at me for a long time, then pretended to take something out of his bosom and made something.

I’ve seen this look somewhere before.

“[Black Pine?]”

It was a black but soft-looking fur ball that was made by suppressing magic as much as possible.

“[Song Songi, what is that?]”

The little boy raised his eyebrows slightly, telling me not to give it a weird name, and held out the fur ball to me. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the fur ball had barely any ears and what appeared to be a tail attached to it.

As I was looking between the hairs, wondering if there were eyes, a nose, and a mouth, I heard the little one sigh.

“[…Call me if anything happens.]”

“[Thank you, Dia.]”

I could feel the flow of mana. It really seemed to be going away. The boy glanced at Rianus and then opened his mouth softly again.

“[…Requies, I have not given up. Do not forget my words.]”

“[Even if you say it seriously like that…]”

“[…….]”

The boy frowned and disappeared.

“It’s gone!”

“what!”

“Friend, the baby is missing!”

There was an uproar among the children watching, but Nihil just shrugged his shoulders and gave a short reply.

“That’s because she’s a fairy.”

“…! fairy!”

“Yeah. Next time you come, call me Fairy.”

“Yes! Kara, I will do that!”

Baby Fairy! Nihil’s lips curled upwards at the cheerful answer. He could already picture the expression the little girl would make when she heard the name Fairy.

“Neil, the baby is gone… are you okay?”

At that moment, Lian asked hesitantly. He looked very embarrassed.

“Yeah. He said he’s coming to play again.”

I guess he was worried that I would go look for the little one.

Nihil tried to calm the child down by telling him not to worry and then started stroking the black fur ball. The black bean-like eyes that he had thought were nonexistent sparkled in the light, appealing to his presence.

Soon, a bunch of kids came running towards me, curious about the fur ball, but I was afraid that if I handed the fur ball over to them, the little boy would really get upset, so I quickly put the fur ball on his head and made an excuse about the grand duke.

“This is a gift from the Grand Duke, so it can’t be damaged.”

“Did the baby go back to the Grand Duke?”

“huh.”

“I wish you would come and play soon!”

“Well, okay.”

What will be the next bet? Nihil just smiled, hiding his true feelings.

“Shall we all go out and play together today?”

I’m sure everyone is curious, so I should show my face.

* * *

Click. Lawrence put down his fountain pen, stopping his writing.

For some reason, I couldn’t concentrate today. No, actually, I think I haven’t been able to concentrate since the last quarterly evaluation.

‘You’ll get caught up in that crappy shit someday, brother.’

How dare you bring up the topic of Rianus… … .

I was angry, but it will be okay now. The Archduke has taken away that insolent behavior of Lianus.

It was a bit disappointing that Lianus didn’t die on the spot because he used up the elixir, but I won’t be seeing him anymore. Maybe Lianus is crying right now because his close friend was taken away.

Thinking about it, the corners of my mouth slowly went up.

‘idiot.’

I don’t know why I can’t give up even though it’s not the first or second time. Of course, it took a little longer this time.

‘Should I go and comfort her?’

Yes, now that he has no friends to comfort him, he should go and comfort him himself. Of course, since he is at his level, he should deal with Rianus. Who would deal with someone who is stupid, greedy, and cursed?

I feel a little better now. It feels like everything is finally falling into place.

“Where are you going, Prince?”

As soon as he got up from his seat, the servants followed him. Lawrence hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I’m thinking of having a cup of tea with my mother to clear my head.”

Before going to Lianus, it would be better to check with my mother first. By the way, I think you may have gotten a new wizard. I should start filling my earrings with mana.

I heard that the wizard I was interacting with before went mad after his mana heart was shattered while attempting a dangerous summoning circle.

I couldn’t find out the details because the conversation wasn’t smooth, but since they said they were sending him back to the empire, they probably had hired a new wizard.

Lawrence unconsciously played with his earrings and frowned slightly.

‘I have to kill the wizard before he returns to the empire.’

If you come to your senses later and reveal my secret, it will be very embarrassing.

‘I should ask my mother about the treatment of wizards… … .’

bang-!

Just as I was about to knock on the door of the living room where my mother was, a loud noise, as if something was being struck hard, rang out.

“So, why is the child that the Grand Duke took away still alive in the Second Prince’s palace? And how can he be so peaceful with all the children gathered there?”

Lawrence froze as he heard the unexpected conversation that followed.

“Your Majesty, it seems His Majesty is busy.”

“…….”

The attendant approached quietly and signaled for them to turn back, but Lawrence pretended not to hear and stood still for a moment, listening to the conversation.

“Maybe they took him there to check on the child’s physical condition…….”

“Why on earth would someone like him, who doesn’t even treat people who aren’t royalty, come and personally examine the body of a commoner’s child?”

“We’re good at that too…”

“Your Majesty.”

Lawrence had no choice but to back off after hearing the servant’s subtle urging once more. In fact, it didn’t seem like he would be able to find out the inside story even if he listened more.

Yeah, the important thing is that the belly button is back.

“Where are you going, Prince?”

As he walked away in silence, the servant spoke again. Lawrence smiled faintly as he watched the servants following him.

“I can’t bother my busy mother. Since the weather is nice today, I think I’ll take a look around the garden.”

“Yes, yes, should I get ready?”

“It’s okay. I’m just going to take a quick walk.”

The garden full of colorful roses literally seemed to be shining with a rainbow of colors. The maids who followed them kept exclaiming in admiration as they looked at the splendid and luxurious garden.

“Wow, it’s really beautiful.”

“Oh my goodness, look over there. There’s a blue rose. How magical is that?”

“If there’s anything you want, just tell me. I’ll give it to you, who always work hard.”

The maids chattered away as they showed a little kindness. Lawrence smiled habitually at the sight.

It’s very efficient to gain their favor by giving them a few withered and rotten flowers. This will raise my reputation among the maids.

“My mother likes roses too…….”

Lawrence muttered, picking a red rose right in front of him.

“It seems like you have no time to spare because you are worried about that child.”

At those words, the servants looked at me and continued speaking cautiously.

“Now that I think about it, why did Your Highness take that boy with him? I was surprised that he forgave me so easily for my rudeness.”

“Maybe it’s a young demon.”

“Oh, by the way, I heard that he seemed to understand the unknown language that the Grand Duke was speaking during the state council meeting.”

The young demon was a more believable story than other strange rumors, such as a spirit or a doll. If the child was a demon, then his inhuman appearance and flashy military power would be explained.

“But if they are demons, there would be no reason for the Grand Duke to release them, right?”

“That’s true. Do you think it’s not dangerous?”

The servants couldn’t control their curiosity and chattered among themselves, but Lawrence wasn’t curious about the Archduke’s intentions.

It’s just that the reappearance of the belly button is a little annoying.

“Anyway, I can’t help but be thankful that the child returned safely. Come to think of it, there probably aren’t many flower trees like this in my younger brother’s palace….”

“So said Lawrence, plucked another flower, and smiled shyly.

“…Would Rian like it if I gave him this as a gift?”