How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 263
Only Noblemtl
Episode 263
“Pink, where are you!”
“Pinkie! Come out!”
“…….”
Returning to the palace, Nihil was a little dazed by the voices desperately searching for Pinkie. They say that children learn quickly by watching, and it was true.
‘I called her here on purpose to get used to it because she seemed to be very concerned about her hair color… … .’
At this point, it’s become so familiar that the pink hair is the main character. I can’t even imagine what Pinkie is thinking when she hears this.
But apart from that, there must be a reason why it doesn’t come out even though you’re looking for it like that. Unless you’re playing hide-and-seek.
Instead of informing Rianus that he had returned, Nihil walked towards where he had sensed Pinkie’s presence.
“What’s pink?”
“Oh, I’m talking about the first one.”
“…….”
The little boy opened his eyes half-asleep after hearing my explanation, but Nihil pretended not to know anything and patted the boy on the back before opening the door to his room.
“Pink.”
The pile of blankets flinched at my call. But the blankets only shrank further, and Pinkie did not come out from under them.
Instead, it was Frederick, who was in charge of his escort, who looked at me and gave me a look.
“…sorry.”
“…….”
As soon as Nihil heard his apology, he immediately realized what was going on. The feeling that had been relieved thanks to the little boy sank back into the abyss.
“I told you to guard me, so why are you acting like that?”
“…….”
“It’s not good for shadows to talk too much.”
“……!”
Frederick fell to his knees as the pressure squeezed his heart. He couldn’t breathe.
“…Father, calm down.”
Dios hurriedly tried to comfort his father. Normally, he wouldn’t have noticed, but when he was in such poor condition, he couldn’t control his strength and might end up crushing his opponent and making him explode.
“father.”
Dios lightly slapped his cheek. Soon, his eyes, which had been black with anger, began to reflect himself.
“I’m sorry, Dia. Are you surprised?”
“It’s not me who’s surprised, it’s that guy.”
Dios nodded at the pink head that had suddenly emerged from the blanket. Little Rex’s face turned pale, as if he was surprised by his father’s fierce attitude.
Little Rex met his father’s eyes and opened his mouth in surprise.
“Neil, don’t say anything to the knight. I asked. I just…, I was curious about your mother’s current situation…”
Lawrence bowed his head again without saying a word.
My mother fainted and collapsed. And she saw a corpse that looked just like mine… … .
Even when told that it might not be his body, he insisted that it was him, saying that he could not possibly not recognize the prince.
‘Is it possible that the Queen has forgotten the color of the Prince’s hair?’
The knight of Lianus must have asked such a stupid question after seeing that sight. That’s why he left him here, even making up excuses.
‘No, this is not a prince.’
Suddenly, my mother’s voice denying my existence echoed in my head.
And before I knew it, tears were falling.
“…Pink?”
“Oh, I’ve served my purpose. Oh, Mother, I think it’s better to kill me.”
Maybe he himself was just one of many substitutes. Who knows, the real prince might have already died when his mother cut open his belly.
Lawrence didn’t want to cry, but the tears kept pouring down.
“Pink, calm down. Why do you think so?”
“I, Hippo, I can never go back.”
If I go back and cause controversy, my mother will not leave me alone. And above all… … .
‘If it really is denied… … .’
If my imaginary mother reacted the same way, if she heard directly that she was a mere consumable, I thought it would be unbearable.
“Pink, your father approved of you. Why are you so worried?”
“Neil, Neil doesn’t know anything. Hep, how much influence the Duke has in this kingdom.”
“But your father is the king…….”
“But Your Majesty, Hippo, I have no strength!”
“…….”
“Ughhhhhhhhh!”
Nihil was speechless. He had never thought that his father would be this untrustworthy. No, rather than untrustworthy, it was closer to blindly trusting the Duke’s influence… … .
At that moment, the little boy who had been watching opened his mouth softly.
“Little Rex, even though she is the queen, she cannot just arbitrarily banish a royal family member recognized by the Grand Duke.”
“That’s true. But if His Highness finds out that I’m an illegitimate child, he certainly won’t let it go.”
At those words, Dios raised an eyebrow. It was the first time he had heard it.
“…? Why are you an illegitimate child? You are not an illegitimate child.”
“If you don’t know anything, then keep quiet! How can you be so sure you know something when you’re a baby!”
“…….”
Baby Dios kept his mouth shut.
The lump of flesh, about six centuries younger than the baby, continued speaking.
“Me too, I looked it up. I wonder if one of my distant ancestors had pink hair!”
But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find any such record!
Lawrence screamed and started sobbing again. Dios looked at him and laughed in disbelief.
“That’s ridiculous. Do you think the Archduke didn’t notice your magic tool in the first place?”
“Sniff… You probably didn’t notice so you just left me alone. Do you know how scary the Grand Duke is?”
“…I don’t think the Archduke has ever threatened the children.”
“What does a baby know when he’s never even seen the Grand Duke!”
“…….”
The baby closed his mouth again. With this look on his face, no matter what he said, he would never be trusted.
Nihil, who had a hard time holding back laughter despite the seriousness of the situation, bit his lip. And then, the children’s voices rang out from the hallway.
“Pink, come out!”
“Pinkie!”
“…….”
“…….”
Lawrence’s cries suddenly stopped as he desperately searched for Pinkie. Then they burst out again, sadly.
“Ugh! Even Ruth calls me pink because of Neil!”
“Oh, Pinkie. That’s some kind of code name.”
“Where is there a code name that is so uncipherable!”
“Who would think of the First Prince when they hear the code name Pink? Lian! Over here!”
“Oh my! Don’t call me!”
“Rian! Pink is here!”
“I told you not to call me!”
“…….”
Dios opened his eyes squintingly. Let whatever happens happen.
* * *
‘Brother, where are you!’
‘Prince! I can’t find it!’
Lawrence looked at Lianus and Aril, who were looking for him, and laughed quietly. It seemed that he had won this game of hide-and-seek.
‘Huh? Brother, I found it!’
‘… … ?’
Am I here?
Lawrence turned his head, puzzled by the news. And then he was surprised. A child who looked exactly like him was standing next to Lianus.
‘Brother, let’s go get a snack now.’
‘okay.’
…?! Ruth, I’m here!
‘Thank you for the gift, Prince.’
‘If you need anything, just let me know, Ariel.’
Aryl, that’s not me!
I shouted urgently, but neither Rian nor Aril heard me and just left.
And at that moment, the background changed.
Before I knew it, there were children who looked like me all around me.
The children insisted that they were real, and although they looked very similar to each other, they were not identical. Some had brown eyes instead of red, some had dimples in their faces, and some had black hair instead of blue-black.
Lawrence also got involved with those kids. He couldn’t stand the injustice.
‘I’m real!’
I, I am real. I am the first prince. I am none other than Laurence de Harpens!
‘But you have pink hair?’
‘Well, what’s wrong with that?’
‘The first prince must have red eyes and dark blue hair.’
‘Who, who decided that?’
‘Who decided it? Everyone knows that, right?’
So, that’s how it should be. When the child said that, the other children nodded as well.
‘Ha, but none of you have red eyes or blue-black hair!’
‘Right. What should I do?’
‘I have dark blue hair and hazel eyes. I think I’m the most similar.’
‘No, but it’s different.’
‘Then wouldn’t it be okay to gouge out my eyes?’
‘……what?’
Before Lawrence could react, the child’s eyes popped out.
‘!!!’
A child with hollow eyes came to me with bloody tears in his eyes and asked,
.
‘Now you’re like Lawrence?’
‘Oh, don’t come!!!’
Lawrence pushed him away and ran. He didn’t know where to go, but he just kept moving his feet. But no matter how much he ran, he couldn’t get away from the kids who looked like him.
Chin, chin!
Eventually, I tripped over something and fell. When I looked, I saw that the kid whose eyes had burst out was holding onto my ankle.
Lawrence tried to shake them off again and run away, but the children surrounded him and gradually closed the distance between them, making it impossible for him to do so.
A child opened his mouth.
‘But you look the most alike.’
‘… … !’
Lawrence was surprised at the mention of resemblance, but then became angry again.
‘You are just like me! I am me! I am the real one!’
But the children didn’t listen to me and started muttering among themselves.
‘Should we make him a prince?’
‘But the hair color is different.’
‘I put out my eyes. Now just peel off his scalp.’
‘That’s right.’
‘what?!’
Lawrence was terrified, but the children didn’t care and grabbed his arms and legs. Then they grabbed his hair.
‘…! No! Don’t do that!’
I struggled but couldn’t move an inch. I was so scared that I started crying.
Lawrence cried.
‘I don’t want to be a prince. Don’t do that! Save me!’
…please!
“… Sir, Brother!!”
“Cough!”
Lawrence opened his eyes. His limbs were numb and he couldn’t breathe.
“Brother, it’s okay! Breathe slowly, breathe slowly!”
Lianus’s voice was heard. His voice had a sense of urgency that was too urgent to calm anyone down, but Lawrence was able to regain his senses through that urgency. Perhaps it was a strange result of another compulsion to be more dignified than his brother.
In my slowly brightening vision, I saw swollen, differently colored eyes. It seemed as if the tears that had been welling up in my eyes would pour out at any moment.
“…Ruth.”
“Yes, bro. It’s me. It’s okay.”
As my senses returned, I began to notice the surroundings one by one. It wasn’t just Lianus by my side. Even though it was deep in the night, there was also the butler, the head maid, the shadow knight of His Majesty, and even Aryl and Sergio.
“Are you okay?”
“Prince, are you okay?”
“I’ll put up some tea that will help calm you down.”
“ah…….”
As I carefully got up, Rianus immediately hugged me. I secretly rubbed my face against my pajamas and wiped away my tears, but Lawrence was happy with the wetness right now, so he quietly faced me without saying anything.
Feeling returned to his limbs, and his heart, which had been beating wildly, gradually regained stability. However, it seemed that Rianus could not calm down easily, as he continued to talk in a rambling manner while holding himself tightly.
“Brother. No matter how much I called you, you wouldn’t wake up. I really, sob, really thought something was going to happen… ”
“…….”
“Neil will be here soon. Perry said he’d be out of the office for just a moment. Five minutes, exactly five minutes… ”
“…Ruth.”
“Neil, you’re a great pharmacist, so don’t worry if you get sick…”
“Ruth, I’m okay now. Calm down.”
“Sniff, yes…….”
Lawrence tried to comfort the sobbing Lianus. It felt strange.
Soon Sergio came up with the car and Nihil also showed up.
“What’s that, Pinkie, did the seaweed cry?”
“…I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
In the first place, it was me who had the nightmare, not Rianus. This was just Rianus being a crybaby.
As if what Lianus said about being a great pharmacist wasn’t wrong, Baedong skillfully examined my body and laid me back down on the bed.
Then, naturally, I brought a storybook and read it to them and sang a lullaby to them. Rianus and Aril lay down next to me as if it was natural and listened to it together.
Lawrence lay on the bed and looked at Nihil with amazement. Watching Baedong suddenly appear and act so nonchalantly as if he had been there from the beginning, it felt like a dream.
“But what is seaweed?”
“It’s a seaweed that looks like Ryan’s hair.”
“…! Is that so?!”
Likewise, Lianus, who had no idea what seaweed was, opened his eyes wide.
Lawrence laughed out loud without realizing it. Cotton candy seemed a little better than grass.
“It’s pinker than that.”
“…? What is it?”
“The trial will begin in three days.”
“…….”
I wonder if it’s time to go back. It seemed sudden, and a little late.
“If you’re scared, it’s okay to stay here.”
Baedong said, carefully brushing back the pink hair that had fallen down. Lawrence flinched for a moment as a nightmare came to mind, but soon felt relieved by the careful and gentle touch and answered quietly.
“…It’s my palace. I have no reason to be afraid when I return to my palace.”
“If you want, I’ll change your hair color. You still have a wish.”
“…….”
Lawrence hesitated for a moment at those words. If he had just woken up from a nightmare, he would have asked for that without a moment’s hesitation.
But the afterimages of the nightmare had already dispersed like smoke.
“I’ll just think about it then.”
Maybe it was because the intense emotions had passed. I didn’t have any particular thoughts. I just had the complacent thought that things would be okay the way they were.
“Are you okay?”
“maybe.”
It might not be okay though.
Lawrence thought for a moment, then turned his gaze to Rianus, who was looking at him with wide eyes.
“Ruth.”
“Yes, brother.”
“If I can’t return to my palace, can I live here?”
“I like it.”
“okay.”
For now, I don’t think I’ll starve to death.