How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 232



Only Noblemtl

Episode 232

Nihil would wander around the duke’s townhouse at night. That was why he slept during the day.

Because Nihil had cast a welcoming spell throughout the mansion, the servants had no idea he was passing by. And the same was true for the duke, who had no sense of his presence.

‘You have a strange relationship with the Holy Empire.’

Nihil, who was searching through every nook and cranny of the Duke’s study, found a strange document and took in its contents. He would remember it, as he would find a place to use it later.

Surprisingly, there was nothing remarkable in the Duke’s study. It was just the usual corruption that could be found anywhere.

If you say it’s a practice, you can see it as a practice, and if you want to ask about a crime, you can ask about it as much as you want, it’s just at that level.

Nihil continued his investigation, going down floor by floor, starting from the top floor where important documents were stored.

‘It’s not as bad as I thought.’

It seemed that the important documents were in the Duchy of Tesaurus.

“Ugh, ugh…….”

“……?”

As he was going down to the third floor, thoroughly cleaning every nook and cranny of the mansion, Nihil heard a faint sob coming from somewhere.

Although it was a sound that no human could hear, Nihil walked blindly in the direction of the sound.

And on the first floor, in a corner room that could be used as a storage room, they found a girl.

“…….”

The child was about 10 years old. Even in the strong sleeping scent, the child struggled in pain and had difficulty falling asleep.

‘…a familiar smell.’

There was no way I didn’t know. This was a sleeping scent that I had created myself.

Nihil also approached slowly, deliberately making noise for the child who was also under his illusionary spell.

“Ugh, who, uh, who are you?”

“…….”

The child who discovered Nihil opened his eyes wide and soon started to cry and grabbed the hem of Nihil’s clothes.

“Oh, Angel, please, please take me. Oh, it hurts so, so much.”

“…….”

“Uh, no, not today. Oh, I have to say hello to my brother.”

“…….”

“Oppa, when I say hello to you, then… then take me with you.”

“…….”

Nihil silently kissed the child’s small nose, and the child immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Nihil slumped down in pain as the burning pain surged towards him, then slowly sat up, taking a deep breath.

He opened the window to ventilate the room filled with the strong scent of sleep, and rolled up his sleeve to check on the child’s condition, revealing a familiar-looking bracelet. It was the bracelet that Nihil had given to the puppy, complete with a pretty flower decoration.

“…….”

I couldn’t deny it any longer. This child was Ariel.

‘It’s divine punishment.’

Nihil clicked his tongue. When he learned that the Wolang tribe had been exterminated by divine punishment, he thought that if he hid the awakening of the dog well, he could avoid divine punishment.

In the first place, we judged that there was a higher possibility that divine punishment would not be handed down.

‘I never thought I’d have a younger sibling who was being punished.’

Nihil was troubled. Even though he knew that Evan was hiding something, he did not question him because Evan himself did not want to reveal it, and that was Nihil’s consideration.

So if it wasn’t directly related to Rianus’ safety, Nihil would have continued to pretend not to know.

‘By the way, you managed to not die.’

The punishment was nothing but pain, but pain was mentally exhausting. Even sleep was interrupted, so it would have been normal if he had died at a younger age… … .

The child was not in good condition, but he was not in a condition that was close to death.

Nihil placed the large doll next to him into the child’s arms and looked around the room.

On the table was a cute little teapot shaped like a bird and an empty glass bottle with a familiar tag.

‘You packed it very carefully.’

It was originally made to be taken with you, but it was surprisingly easy to bring.

Of course, this also meant that the pup was that desperate.

“…….”

Nihil thought of the holy water that was lying in the corner of his bedroom.

A holy water of such high purity that even commoners would not dare to look down on it. Perhaps it was obtained with such difficulty, thinking that divine punishment was a kind of curse… … .

It would have been useless.

It was fortunate that the divine punishment did not become more powerful when the holy water was poured.

Nihil couldn’t help but worry. This wasn’t something that could be fixed. It was literally ‘God’s domain’.

The easiest way to get rid of the punishment was to just let it go without any pain. And if this kid was the weak point of the puppy, it could be easily finished by just dealing with it.

“…….”

Nihil carefully raised his hand and stroked the small neck. If he applied just a little force, the delicate neck would break in an instant.

But in the end I put my hand down.

“…I’ll think about it later.”

Now that my body was aching from the fruit, there was no need to worry about my head hurting as well.

A week passed while I was just worrying like that.

“Aryl.”

“Yes, angel.”

“Would you like to eat it?”

Nihil handed Aryl the cake Lawrence had left behind.

“Hey, can I eat that?”

“Yeah. …Oh, before that.”

Nihil approached Aril and extended his hand. He had to bring the fruit before the moon rose.

“Come here.”

“ah…….”

Aril blushed and hesitated, then knelt down and closed his eyes. Nihil looked at Aril, who was holding her hands tightly, smiled lowly, and lightly kissed her on the bridge of her nose.

“Thank you for your blessing, angel.”

“…okay.”

Nihil was not an angel and had never blessed her, but he did not correct Aril’s thinking.

If you think you’re an angel, you might find it easier to accept death.

“Wow, it’s so pretty I’d hate to eat it.”

Even as she said that, Aril took a big bite of the cake without hesitation.

‘…I forgot to bring a fork.’

If I had stopped by the kitchen, I would have brought it with me, but I ended up skipping it without realizing it because I thought there was something to eat.

“…If there’s anything you want to eat, just tell me.”

Nihil looked for a handkerchief as he looked at Aril’s face and hands, which were covered in cream.

Aril’s dinner ended relatively early, as he was too sick to do anything after the sun went down.

So, Aril would complain of hunger late at night, so Nihil would always bring him food.

‘… It’s good to eat well, but… … .’

It had only been a week, but Ariel had recovered so quickly that it was scary. It was to the point where I wondered if he would ever die again.

‘Can I kill a child who doesn’t want to die?’

Nihil smiled bitterly and wiped his face.

I couldn’t take the punishment for my entire life. That would be bad for my child, for myself, and for those around me. And… … .

I hated being sick, especially the pain of being burned.

‘Reki, Reki! Where are you! Come out now! Please… … .’

A young man passed by, foolishly jumping into a pit of fire.

“I like summer because the nights are short.”

“…I see.”

Nihil searched for the candlestick, not showing any sign of the pain that was slowly creeping up on him.

Darkness was falling.

* * *

‘I have something to tell the prince… … .’

Evan wanted to bring up the subject of Ariel, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

I thought it would be easy for the prince to take care of Ariel, but thinking back on it, it seemed like such a shameless thing to do.

From the prince’s perspective, isn’t it like the knight who betrayed him is leaving behind his younger sister?

Of course, our innocent prince seemed proud of the fact that he was kidnapped and escaped so wonderfully, but that was because he was young and did not realize the seriousness of the situation.

Doesn’t it seem like you don’t feel a sense of crisis and just keep yourself by your side?

Evan’s daily life hasn’t changed much. Of course, all of his weapons have been taken away and he can’t use his mana.

“Haha, my secret friend Evan Sir, how have you been?”

Even though it was a day off, Karus came to visit.

Evan wanted to distance himself from him, but he approached him without hesitation.

Even though he must have realized that he was suspicious.

“…Is it okay for you to come here like this?”

“What are you talking about? I came to teach.”

“Isn’t today a day without class?”

“I came to give a supplementary lesson!”

Carus said it was class, but he put down the desserts he had been carrying with both hands on the table.

Then, Rianus sat down on the chair and knocked on the seat next to me.

“That’s right! Karus is here to teach! Evan, you too, sit down quickly.”

“Okay, let’s study what this cake tastes like.”

“Yeah! It smells like chocolate, so I’m sure there’s chocolate in it!”

“Hahaha, the prince is so smart!”

Lianus and Karus were talking while looking at a cake decorated with chocolate. Evan stood there dumbfounded, then sat down timidly.

“My secret friend Evan Sir loves chocolate, right?”

“Nothing in particular……”

“Here it is, here it is!”

Karus pushed the chocolate cake in front of Evan and smiled.

In fact, Karus knew what Evan was hiding. And so did the prince, and even His Majesty and His Excellency the Chancellor. They were in constant contact with their close friend, knowingly or unknowingly.

Only Evan was unaware of that fact.

‘I barely managed to stop His Majesty from coming forward… … .’

His Majesty knew the truth and wanted to question the queen right away, but the prince did not want to bring the matter up. That might solve the immediate problem, but he could no longer keep Evan by his side.

‘Carus, Carus is my teacher, right?’

‘Of course, Your Majesty.’

‘Can you give me advice too?’

‘…Do you have any concerns?’

Even though he knew what was bothering him, Karus pretended not to know anything and asked back. He also wanted to just leave it as it was.

‘Yes, Karus. I… I don’t have a younger sibling and I’ve never been responsible for anyone.’

‘Because you’re still young.’

‘So I can’t carelessly pity him, comfort him, or offer to help him.’

‘… … .’

‘But Karus… he has a younger sibling and raised one too.’

‘That’s right… , that’s right… ‘

He inherited the family at the young age of 15. It was nothing more or less than a burden to him, who was completely unprepared for anything.

At the time, the eldest daughter, Cayenne, was 13 years old and the youngest daughter, Kara, had just been born.

It couldn’t have been easy to take care of my younger siblings while being wary of all the siblings who would rush in like hyenas.

‘Yes, could you help Sir Evan bring up the subject of his brother naturally…?

‘…Can I…?’

Karus wasn’t sure. At first glance, Evan’s life and his life seemed similar, but the circumstances they were given were completely different.

In my life, not only have I never had an incurable disease or been short of money, but I have also had many places to turn to for help.

But Evan, what was he like?

Although he became a royal knight at the young age of 15, he had to fend for himself.

‘… If I were in that situation, would I have been able to shake off the Queen’s hand?’

“…Lord Ruth, Lord Karus!”

“……!”

Karus came to his senses suddenly at the sound of someone calling him.

“…Does anything hurt?”

“Oh, I want to eat everything, but I’ve gained weight lately. Would you like me to choose?”

“Am I the one who says…?”

My secret friend looked at the desserts on the table with a puzzled look, then chose carrot cake.

“My secret friend Sir Evan, you don’t think carrot cake will make you fat, do you?”

“…Isn’t it?”

Evan’s eyes widened as if to say, ‘Why am I gaining weight when I’m just a carrot?’

“Whoa, whaaa, whaaa!”

Karus chuckled at his secret friend’s naivety, then picked up his fork and took a bite of the cake.

I had a feeling I would like carrot cake.