How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 223



Only Noblemtl

Episode 223

Abel changed his clothes and prepared to go out. Looking at the date, it was still vacation, but it was all thanks to His Majesty, a close friend who was like a shit cat, that he was able to tie up the 6th circle, so he wanted to be the first to tell you the good news.

‘Shall we have a drink to celebrate?’

Bam!

“……!?”

But Abel was startled as soon as he opened the door.

“dismissal!”

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

“…Abel.”

At my bedroom door stood a servant, a knight, and… His Majesty the Shit Cat.

“…What are you all doing in front of my room?”

“Abel, are you finished?”

“Your Majesty… what happened?”

“Are you done?”

Sedes asked with a serious expression. It was obvious that there was something very serious and urgent, but it seemed as if he would just turn back if he answered that he wasn’t finished.

Abel answered without much thought.

“It’s over.”

“Help me.”

“yes.”

I don’t think it’s time to brag.

* * *

“The second prince has gone missing.”

Abel, who had been listening to the explanation of the situation on the way to the Palace of Wernus, understood why Sedes’ expression was so stiff.

“Neil, where is the prince’s tummy?”

“They say he went out yesterday morning. Only some employees knew about it.”

“ah…….”

Now that I think about it, I think you told me you were going out too. You said you were going to get the prince a birthday present.

Abel asked back, pretending not to know.

“…I see. Then what I have to do is….”

“You just need to find the magic tools installed here and there.”

“All right.”

‘The prince disappeared after Neil went out… Isn’t the timing too perfect?’

Abel thought it was strange, but he quickened his pace. If he continued like this, Neil might be accused of being a kidnapper.

“Why were you wandering around the palace in the middle of the night?”

“…I just did what the master told me to do.”

But before Abel could take action, the investigation was already heading in a strange direction.

“So you’re asking what exactly that belly button did?”

“I can’t tell you that. I have a magical contract to keep it a secret.”

“…What’s going on?”

Abel approached the cowering pharmacist and the knight who was interrogating him.

“Oh, Your Majesty, you have come.”

“I heard the magic alarm went off.”

“The alarm will go off soon. More importantly, can you confirm if this pharmacist’s statement is true? He claims he cannot testify because of a magical contract……”

“It is true that there is a contract. I wrote the magic contract.”

“Yes? Your Majesty himself…?”

“He is an apothecary hired directly by His Majesty. He is under contract to not harm the prince, so he cannot be the culprit who took the prince away.”

Abel, while defending himself, couldn’t shake off the strangeness. Why did he insist on mentioning Neil when he claimed he couldn’t say anything because of the confidentiality clause?

At that moment, someone’s shout was heard from behind.

“Sir! A poisonous plant has been found in the glass greenhouse!”

“…Poison weed?”

“There are many unknown plants, so I haven’t been able to identify them all.”

“Who is the greenhouse manager?”

“It is said that Baedong manages it directly. It is also said that the prince gave orders not to enter without permission.”

“…Wait a minute, wait a minute. Don’t touch anything.”

The Knight Commander roughly wiped his face. He seemed confused by the traces of the corpses popping out here and there. However, before he could calm his confusion, another report came up.

“Sir, the study in that room won’t open. Should I break it?”

“……after.”

A lot was contained in that short breath.

Evidence of the prince’s suspicious behavior kept popping up here and there. It was as if they had hidden it until now.

However, the investigation made no progress. The evidence that Baedong was suspicious could not be used as evidence that the prince had been taken away.

Of course, there were other reasons for the lack of progress.

“…heartbreak.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“…Have you ever talked to Neil?”

“…….”

Abel realized this when he saw the silent Commander. The progress of the investigation, no, the fact that the suspicious Neil was not being framed as the culprit and was holding on was all thanks to the Commander.

“…Finding the prince is more urgent than finding Baedong.”

Abel nodded in agreement.

“I think so too.”

* * *

‘I’m sorry, Your Majesty.’

At first glance, I thought I heard something like that. What was there to be sorry about? I wanted to ask, but I suddenly felt drowsy and fell asleep. I thought I should ask tomorrow.

“…….”

Lianus opened his eyes. No, he tried to open them, but his eyes didn’t open well. His body was not moving properly, so he thought that he had been pressed by scissors, and then something cold touched the back of his neck, startling him and making him open his eyes.

‘what……?’

I couldn’t see ahead. Was it because I hadn’t opened my eyes yet, or because it was night and I couldn’t see?

No, it seemed like something was blocking my view. I raised my hand to try to move it away, but something suddenly caught my hand and I couldn’t pull it out.

My senses began to return little by little. The places on my body that I touched were cold and hard. My limbs were numb.

‘What is this situation?’

Lianus tried to assess the situation. No matter how oblivious he was, he could quickly tell that this was not his bedroom.

I tried to twist my body, but it was difficult to move as I was tied tightly to something like a chair.

Lianus took a slow, deep breath.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. Calm down.’

Lianus felt his breathing quicken slightly, but he brainwashed himself into thinking it was okay.

‘You played escape games with Neil a lot. It’s okay. This is just a game.’

Rianus felt his wrist as he thought about it. The thread bracelet that my friend had given me as a gift was hanging on my fingertips. I never thought I would use it in real life, but maybe it was my friend’s arrangement.

‘No, isn’t this actually Neil’s plan? That’s why Sir Evan said sorry!’

Well then! Sir Evan has nothing to be sorry about to me!

Lianus boasted that he had become much more perceptive. Surely his friend would be very surprised to learn that he had figured out that he was playing a game.

By the way, I think my real bracelet got untied because I fiddled with it too much, so I left it on the nightstand. The fact that it was still tied tightly around my wrist must mean that someone had re-tied it. I was even wearing shoes, although they were indoor slippers, and I was also wearing an outer garment.

‘Isn’t that too obvious?’

Rianus, who had regained his composure, smirked at the thought of nagging his weak-hearted friend.

If you do this, you should definitely tell them that you’ll get caught. Which kidnapper provides escape tools, shoes, and coats for their victims?

Rianus paused for a moment, his hands struggling to cut the rope, and began to focus on his surroundings. Nihil had always told him to always check his surroundings before making an escape.

“…Because…, it’s just…go…ah.”

“That… escape… is… your… responsibility.”

“Baedong… when… ”

When I listened closely, I thought I could hear human voices a little bit. They were too far away to make out what they were saying, but since they were also talking about my friend, I thought they were people who had been hired temporarily for this game.

‘It’s definitely Neil’s plan!’

I felt a little relieved. Rianus wiggled and picked up the bracelet. The moment had finally come when the bracelet my friend had given me would do its job.

If you cut the rope, the bracelet will be slightly damaged, but it looks like you escaped properly and I’m sure my friend will praise you. I should ask if there are any prizes!

Lianus cut the rope and untied the cloth covering his eyes. The place where he had been tied up was a small warehouse. Through the old, cracked boards, a beam of light came in and he could see dust floating around.

There was only one entrance. Just as I was about to pull the doorknob, the humming voices came closer and closer, and I could hear the contents.

“Is this really okay?”

“Oh, I said it’s okay! Are you asking because you don’t know who ordered this?”

“I know that, but even so, he’s the second prince…….”

“You’ll just keep sleeping since you’ve burned the incense anyway, so why are you so nervous? I heard you’ll be asleep for four days.”

“Well, he didn’t wake up last night and kept sleeping.”

The footsteps were getting closer.

When you say yesterday, are you talking about last night? Or rather, if you get caught like this, will you fail?

Lianus quickly picked up the rope he had cut off and wrapped it around the chair and his body. Judging from the fact that he had burned incense, it seemed like he was being told that he would be spared if he pretended to faint.

Then, after my body was tied up, I realized that I wasn’t wearing a blindfold.

‘Oh, what should I do?’

The sound of footsteps was getting closer. If I continued to move like this, I might get caught.

Lianus had no choice but to hastily place the cloth just a stone’s throw away from his face and close his eyes. After a while, the door opened with a loud creaking sound on its hinges.

“Look, you’re still sleeping.”

“That’s right. But why was this solved?”

One of the men picked up a blindfold.

“It’s not broken?”

The man said that and slapped Rianus’ cheek repeatedly. Rianus’ cheeks felt hot and he felt like crying, but he held back.

“Hey, stop it. What if he really wakes up? He must have been sleeping. Just tie him up again.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

The man thought that the motionless Lianus was really asleep, so he roughly put the blindfold back on and left.

The door slammed shut with a squeak of hinges, and the sound of footsteps grew distant.

Lianus didn’t move right away, but counted in his head.

‘Rian, when you can’t see ahead, you must move very carefully. Count to ten slowly in your head and then move.’

1… 2… 3… 4… , … ., 8… 9… … .

“…I guess you’re really asleep.”

“……!”

The voice suddenly broke the silence, and Lianus almost screamed out of his counting. It was fortunate that the man had covered his eyes again. Otherwise, he would have met eyes that were so round that they looked like they were going to pop out.

Although her body stiffened slightly, the man seemed oblivious and left the room.

Just in case, Rianus counted to ten again after the sound of footsteps had completely disappeared, and then slowly got up.

My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of my mouth.

***

“Does this make sense right now!”

Queen Helia screamed.

“How could a prince be kidnapped in the castle? And without a trace, without anyone knowing!”

“Enough, enough, Your Majesty.”

Sedes’s eyes were sunken. They had already released the knights and started searching since yesterday, but they had not found any clues.

“Your Majesty, this is clearly the child’s doing! Otherwise, how could he disappear so quietly?”

“Why on earth would that child kidnap the prince!”

“But if the prince didn’t follow him himself, there wouldn’t be any traces left! How could I not be suspicious when something like this happened so blatantly the day after that spirit child went out?”

Sedes gritted his teeth.

‘Since when have you been treating that kid like a prince!’

bang-!

Finally, Sedes, unable to control his anger, slammed the desk.

“Enough! Your Majesty, what are we going to do now? Are we going to look for that child? Do you think that if we change the target of our search to that child, anything will change?!”

“I will release the Duke’s private soldiers.”

“Huh, are you saying that you’re going to release the Duke’s people into my palace right now?”

“Your Majesty, is now the time to be discussing such things? Shouldn’t we increase the search party and find the prince as soon as possible?”

“…….”

Sedes glared at Helia as if he was going to kill her.

This whole thing must be that snake-like woman’s plan. She’ll kidnap the second prince and then after some time, she’ll bring him back from somewhere as if she found him.

It may be that he found out that his friend was away and wanted to clean up after him.

‘…we have to find evidence.’

But how?

If the second prince dies, I will have to bring in another child for the crown prince exam, so I will not kill him. I will not be able to handle the new child as I please.

However, it was uncertain whether the second prince would return safely.

‘If something goes wrong with that child… … !’

Sedes clenched his fists. Wouldn’t it be better to let the private soldiers go and quickly find the prince?

If you get Ruth back, you can add more knights to your escort. It was absurd from the beginning for a young knight to escort a prince alone. How could a knight protect a prince without leaving his seat?

“……I will allow it.”

Sedes eventually decided to let go of some of his authority. If only the second prince could return safely, he would be willing to put aside his pride.

“…Is that true?”

“Instead, it should show meaningful results.”

“Yes, I will try, Your Majesty.”

Red lips secretly drew a line.