How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 240



Only Noblemtl

Episode 240

The mountains and fields burned.

It started out as a small town, an old shack where a witch lived.

‘The fire, the fire won’t go out!’

‘Bring me more water! Quickly!’

Despite people’s efforts, the fire did not go out and continued to spread. What was clearly a good harvest ended up becoming a bad harvest.

And Requies only realized that fact after the entire village had burned down.

‘…Dia.’

‘… … .’

‘Why did you do that?’

‘… … .’

The boy did not answer, but instead kept his lips tightly shut.

Requies didn’t scold or blame the kids, probably because he was a little angry with them himself.

Aren’t they the ones who started the fire anyway? In the end, they just brought the fire upon themselves. While making excuses like that.

‘Shall we go?’

… I should have properly told him back then that he shouldn’t do that.

* * *

father.

“……Dia?”

Nihil opened his eyes. It seemed as if he had heard the voice of a teenage boy calling him from his dream.

But when I opened my eyes, the world was pitch black. And fluffy.

“…Somsom, why are you on my face?”

“Kuya.”

Nihil lifted Somnus, who had settled on his face, and put it in his bosom. The rabbit doll Popo next to him had disappeared somewhere, as if Somnus had pushed it away.

‘…That’s not a very good sign.’

Nihil roughly wiped his face.

He himself does not dream.

Unlike most living things who sleep to recover mentally, for him, sleep was another activity focused on absorbing mana.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t sleep at all during normal sleep. However, since dreams occur during light sleep, this didn’t apply to him, who was awake to the limit and then fell into deep sleep right away.

This habit was born out of my reluctance to dream, because my dreams always just repeat the past.

Moreover, since it happens to be the Rotten Moon, if you are not careful, you will end up seeing the past that was erased by them.

‘I guess this is what happens when you don’t sleep well, Duke.’

Of course, I don’t regret taking Ariel’s place. It was more of a guilt-ridden act than a pity-based one, thinking that I might have to end the child’s life.

Nihil glanced to the side.

“Ugh……”

“…….”

The kitten who woke up early in the morning to take care of my older brother was so tired that he fell into a deep sleep.

The baby snake had fallen asleep while eating a snack during tea time, perhaps because it had not slept all night, and it seemed like it would wake up soon, even though it was late at night.

“hmm.”

Nihil, whose thoughts were growing deep, called Somnus.

“Soft and fluffy.”

“Kuya?”

The Somnus in my arms peeked its head out.

“Is the little one sleeping?”

* * *

“Huk, ugh…….”

Even though I wasn’t running, my breathing became ragged. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my mouth.

Tick, tick, tick.

Lawrence tried to untie the tight rope several times, but the more he tried, the tighter the knot became around his ankle.

His fingertips began to tingle, his fingernails began to ooze blood, but Lawrence couldn’t stop.

‘I’m going to be killed.’

If I run out of mana like this and my secret gets revealed, I’ll definitely be killed. And my mother will be killed too.

“Turn it off, ugh…….”

I know that Your Majesty doesn’t love your mother. I’ve never seen them affectionate. In the first place, they were rarely together unless it was official business.

Besides, doesn’t His Majesty still miss his concubine Natura?

Lawrence had seen His Majesty caressing the tassel on his sword, made from the hair of Natura’s concubine, with a hazy expression on his face several times.

Yet Lawrence never doubted that he was the child of His Majesty, that he was of royal blood. No, he never thought that he might not be of royal blood.

That’s why, when he took out his earrings out of curiosity from under the blanket and the dark blue hair he thought he had inherited from Her Majesty changed color like water, Lawrence just thought it was strange and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

So Lawrence tried to tell his mother about it.

‘Mother, Mother, you said that if I took my earrings off, I would be in big trouble. But, I took them off, and just,’

match-!

Only the hair color changed… … .

The words didn’t end. Lawrence slowly turned his head back and placed his hand on my cheek.

For a moment, I couldn’t understand my situation. I stood there blankly for a while, unable to believe it, rubbing my cheeks that were getting hotter and hotter.

‘…mother?’

I wonder if I just got hit by my mother. I was so shocked that I didn’t even think it hurt.

‘Prince, why do you do what your mother told you not to do?’

‘Oh, Mom, that’s not it… … .’

‘I’m really disappointed.’

‘… … !’

‘This mother works hard for the prince, but the prince doesn’t keep even one promise to her.’

‘Okay, I was wrong, Mom. I won’t do it again.’

Lawrence apologized profusely. His mother soon began to gently caress his cheek and treat him with a precious potion, but from then on, her attitude began to change little by little.

‘Louis, you must become the crown prince. Do you understand?’

‘Oh, Louis, I heard you did well this time. Of course, you shouldn’t do worse than that half-ass who often misses class because of illness.’

‘Poor prince. Don’t be fooled. That half-breed will eventually grow up and use his blade to take the throne for himself. Just do as this mother tells you.’

‘Rianus? Prince, are you still meeting that vulgar thing? It will turn around the moment it catches the prince’s weakness.’

‘Lewis, look at this. What on earth did you do to get grades similar to that half-ass who keeps skipping class?!’

This mother is really disappointing.

“……Sniff.”

Lawrence quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. If his mother had seen this, she would have been furious, saying that it was unbecoming of a prince.

‘I’m the first prince, and I’m the older brother, so I have to do better than my younger brother, Rianus. It’s ridiculous to do worse than my younger brother. Rianus was kidnapped and escaped on his own, so I can do it too.’

Lawrence brainwashed himself. If Rianus could do it, there was no way he couldn’t do it. He was better, and Rianus was only half-baked…

‘… I might not even have that half.’

For a moment, I had that thought, but then I shook my head and looked around. Then I found the bracelet on my wrist.

‘It’s a gift. My child escaped with this. I’ll give you a special chance, too.’

… can I cut the rope with this?

Although he was honestly skeptical, he was in no position to decide right away, so Lawrence decided to give it a try.

Extreme extreme.

“……!”

Surprisingly, the bracelet easily bit through the rope, as if it was meant for that purpose.

As the rope was released, my senses gradually returned. For some reason, I felt like I could do anything.

Lawrence stared down at the pink bracelet that had helped him, then put it tightly in his pocket.

‘… I might use it again later… … .’

It didn’t seem like anyone was around to guard him. He must have thought he was drugged into a deep sleep and wouldn’t wake up.

‘If you go out the door, you might run into Lianus’ escort.’

Even if there is no one watching over him, there will be someone guarding Lianus.

Lawrence decided to avoid the entrance, remembering his knights standing guard outside the door.

‘Then… where should we go?’

Lawrence wandered around for a while and then went out onto the terrace. When he glanced down, he saw that it was so high up that he felt dizzy.

“…….”

But you have to run away. As soon as you leave here, you’ll be able to find at least one guard.

‘If you just go down one floor and exit that room… … .’

The fourth floor was a room for honored guests, so it’s probably mostly empty now. No one will be guarding it.

‘I can go down one floor too.’

Lawrence looked down at the terrace as if he had made up his mind, then quickly brought a blanket.

* * *

Evan looked at the long blanket that stretched all the way to the terrace of his room and was lost in thought.

“…….”

Should I grab the tail of that baby snake that is coming down groaning, or should I not?

I guess I tried to escape by using my own brain, but unfortunately, the room right below the bedroom of the Second Prince where the First Prince was sleeping was Evan’s room, so I was caught a long time ago.

‘Did you really think you could escape?’

Evan decided to just watch for now. He was curious to see when he would notice his presence, and he also wanted to see the first prince’s terrified expression when he noticed his presence.

“ah……!”

“……!”

At that moment, a baby snake slithered down. Evan, who had been watching with his arms crossed, was startled for a moment and instinctively grabbed the falling body.

“…….”

“…….”

A heavy silence flowed. The red eyes that met the ivory ones seemed to grasp the situation for a moment, but soon turned into shock and fear.

“Hey, hey, why are you here?”

“…Well, this is my bedroom.”

“What kind of a knight uses the VIP suite!”

The baby snake squirmed and struggled to escape Evan’s grasp, but of course it was no use.

“profit!”

“…….”

‘Why does it look so insignificant?’

Evan furrowed his eyebrows slightly. It was a blow to his pride that he had been manipulated by something like this.

In fact, aside from his status as a prince and the support of a queen, he is really nothing, just an ordinary child.

“…….”

“Why, why do you look like that!”

The cornered baby snake hissed.

Suddenly, Evan felt a desire for revenge. So he took the baby snake and hugged the terrace railing.

“Wh, what are you trying to do…….”

“Shrimp~”

“Ugh, euaaaah!”

As I pretended to drop it over the terrace railing, the baby snake flapped its wings.

I thought it was a little childish, but since both I and our prince have been bullied so far, this little snake should suffer too.

“Evie, Evie~”

“Hey, let go of this….”

“Should I let it go?”

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Lawrence was so frightened that he held on tightly to the knight’s forearm and hung on, too scared to look down at the floor.

“If you apologize properly to our prince, I will lower you to the ground safely.”

“…….”

Lawrence’s mind raced with thoughts of all the things he had done so far.

‘Mom, I want to raise a bird too.’

‘Louis, why do you suddenly want to raise a bird?’

‘Ryanus keeps a bird and it’s really cute.’

‘okay.’

And then the next day, news came that the bird had flown away.

‘Look, Lewis. Animals don’t know the grace of being fed and sheltered. Don’t try to give them that kind of attention.’

‘…yes.’

“I… I did nothing wrong.”

He just wanted to enjoy the same things that Lianus enjoyed.

That was really all… … .

“You’re so stubborn. If I let go of your hand, you might die.”

“If you kill me, won’t you be safe?”

Lawrence’s eyes widened. At times like this, he couldn’t possibly look weak.

But the knight who held my lifeline responded with a bitter laugh.

“Still, anyone who harasses our prince will disappear.”

“……!”

“Even a queen without children will be a little quieter.”

Isn’t that so? The voice asking back was incredibly cold.

Lawrence realized then that his anger toward him was not light at all, and that he could kill him if he wanted to.

‘Brother, it’s time to say goodbye now.’

‘… Lee, Lianus… … .’

‘hi.’

“…….”

At that moment, I remembered Lianus, who had said goodbye with a smiling face in my dream and stabbed me with his sword.

Was that just a dream? Was that really my future?

“…Your Majesty, King…”

“…….”

“hey.”

“……!”

Lawrence looked up in surprise at the casual address he had never heard before.

“What, what is it?”

“Your earrings are shiny.”

Knock knock.

“…! Don’t touch me!”

Lawrence, startled, unconsciously swung his arms and legs wildly in an attempt to escape his grasp.

puck!

And at that moment, my body floated up.

“sleep……!”

The knight who had been holding his face at my kick stretched out his hand in surprise.

Lawrence also reached out.

It was an instinct. Not a survival instinct to want to live, but a simple instinct to escape an uncontrollable situation.

But it didn’t reach me right away.

‘ah…….’

The body that had been floating in the air began to slowly fall.

Even so, the knight’s expression of astonishment was so plain that Lawrence thought he would save him.

“……!”

But the astonished knight soon relaxed his expression and withdrew his hand. He decided that it would be better for him to die.

‘I see. It would be more beneficial for that knight if I disappeared.’

The fact that someone wanted me dead was so shocking that I couldn’t even feel fear of death.

As the body, unable to overcome gravity, sank, the hair flew out. The mana in the earrings seemed to have run out, as the color began to fade from the tips of the hair.

‘When I first saw it, I thought it was a really pretty color.’

So I’m finally getting caught like this. What will people think?

My body will be hidden deep in the mountains somewhere. Maybe it will be discovered after everyone has forgotten about me.

I wonder how my mother will react.

‘No, this is not our prince.’

“…….”

Lawrence unconsciously shut his eyes tightly at the harsh voice echoing in his head.

Yeah. You needed a prince, not me.

Are you sick? I hope you’re not sick.

“this.”

“……?”

But what came was not pain, but a plain voice. Lawrence’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

“Escape is a failure, Pinkie.”

Eyes more mysterious than the universe were looking down at him.