How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 99



Only Noblemtl

Episode 99

“Eww!”

An unexpected scream filled the bedroom. Nihil did not spare him and climbed onto the prone Rianus, starting to press down on him with all his might.

“Take it easy!”

Nihil just smiled softly and continued massaging Rianus, who was struggling in pain. Rianus himself may not have realized it, but his body was stiff from being tense the whole time he was in Shaton, so he had to loosen it up beforehand so that he wouldn’t suffer from muscle pain.

“…You must be in a lot of pain.”

Evan watched the struggling Rianus, wondering whether he should stop him or not, and then timidly protested. Nihil nodded to his timid protest and raised Rianus from where he was lying down.

“Are you done?”

Rianus asked with a bright smile, as if he thought it was all over, but Nihil just smiled meaningfully and laid Rianus down again. The screams continued for a while longer, and finally ended when it was time for dinner.

“It was so… hard.”

“I’m going to eat,” said Lianus, stabbing the asparagus with his fork. He wasn’t hungry, perhaps because he was too tired, but Nihil had given him some medicine, so he had no choice but to sit down at the table.

There was no place that wasn’t sore from head to toe. His muscles were all relaxed, and he felt like he had no strength in his limbs. Rianus looked at Nihil with resentment, but his friend just smiled lowly and dipped his bread in soup.

Since there was a mountain of things to sort out, Rianus quickly finished his meal and went into the study to sit at his desk. In fact, he ran away right away because he didn’t want to take the medicine, but Nihil came running after him with the medicine, so it was useless.

“…Do I… have to eat it?”

Nihil smiled silently and pushed the potion in.

“I’m not sick yet…….”

“…….”

“I’ll eat if I’m sick. Otherwise, tomorrow. Okay? Just let me go for today. I don’t feel like eating today.”

Nihil was a bit troubled by Lianus’s complaints, but after feeling his pulse, he decided that it would be okay and patted his head before returning with the vial.

Evan opened his mouth, feeling satisfied that Lianus, who rarely complained, was now complaining, but also a little concerned that Nihil’s devotion was being passed down.

“What are you going to do if you get sick again?”

“But… I really don’t feel like eating today. I’m not even sick yet.”

“The guy said that if you relax, your fever will go up.”

“Even on days when I’m not sick, I don’t want to take medicine…….”

I never got used to the bitter taste of the medicine. My body ached whenever I had the chance, but no matter how hard I endured and took the bitter medicine, my condition did not improve at all, and the emptiness always tormented me.

‘But if Neil recommends it one more time, I have to eat it.’

With that in mind, Lianus focused on revising the plan. The revisions were so extensive that it was practically like rewriting it from scratch.

Although I hadn’t even touched the budget, I was concentrating on creating the outline of the plan and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

“Sir Evan, let’s stop by the library after swordsmanship class tomorrow. What about Neil?”

“I fell asleep first.”

“I guess you’re tired.”

“It can’t be helped.”

It seemed like I had stayed up for almost two full nights preparing to go out, and I hadn’t slept for more than a few hours on Shatton Street, so it would have been strange if I wasn’t tired.

“It’s late at night, so your Majesty, you should go to sleep quickly.”

Evan said that and carried Rianus to the bed. Nihil, who had been occupying a corner of Rianus’ bed, was sleeping like a person and not a corpse.

Evan chuckled at the sight of the small boy sleeping curled up like a shrimp on the wide bed, feeling both sorry and cute.

On the nightstand next to the bed was a vial of medicine that had not been administered because Lianus had refused it, along with a neat note.

-Be sure to eat breakfast before you go. If possible, skip class.

Lianus looked at the neat note, then looked at the bottle and wiped his lips slightly in embarrassment. The medicine that had been a pill had turned into a potion.

‘… … I should have just taken it when it was a pill.’

However, since his intention to take care of himself was so clear, he couldn’t miss class, but he thought that he had to take his medicine tomorrow without complaining, and he lay down next to Nihil. Rianus was also tired, so he quickly fell asleep.

Evan watched over his master until he fell asleep, then curled up on the sofa closest to the bed and fell into a light sleep, thinking that he might get sick during the night.

If he had seen Nihil kissing the bridge of Lianus’ nose while his eyes were open, he would never have been able to fall asleep, but fortunately or unfortunately, Evan did not see it.

***

Evan, who had come back after waking up early in the morning and finishing his swordsmanship training, lay down on the sofa again to take a short nap. Then, he opened his eyes to a heavy feeling on his chest, and frowned when he saw a white head.

‘What the hell is this guy doing instead of sleeping?’

“Come down, you naughty little cat.”

“Hey pup.”

“…why.”

Evan sat up, grumbling in displeasure. There was no way a lynx could wake him up for no reason.

“There’s a bird on my bedroom terrace. I wish you could chase it away.”

“Bird? There’s no way you’d be afraid of birds….”

If you were afraid of birds, you wouldn’t have been able to catch pigeons.

As Evan sighed and stood up, Nihil continued.

“If you don’t run away, I don’t mind killing you.”

“But what’s the new thing?”

“I felt the magic, but I didn’t check it properly.”

Evan’s face hardened a little at the mention of magic.

“Wait by the prince’s side.”

Evan headed straight to Nihil’s bedroom.

The boy’s bedroom was cold, unlike the prince’s bedroom where the fireplace was kept burning all day long. There was firewood in the fireplace, but it had never been lit, so the wood had retained its original color. The room was clean, but it didn’t seem like a place where anyone lived.

Evan felt a little bitter at seeing the room with no trace of its owner, and walked over to the terrace and swung open the curtains.

Beyond the transparent window, a sparrow was seen sitting on the railing and scurrying about. Since it was such a common bird, Evan didn’t act hastily and cautiously went out onto the terrace to let out a little air.

‘You’re not running away.’

The other birds around him fled away in surprise, but the bird in front of him only tilted its head and stared at Evan. When he waved his hand lightly, the sparrow flew up, fluttering, but soon landed on the railing again.

No matter how he looked at it, Evan pulled out his sword without hesitation at the bird’s suspicious behavior. The bird, which had been wandering around the room, was surprised by Evan’s actions of pulling out his sword and flew up.

But Evan had no intention of letting the unidentified sparrow, presumed to be a servant horse, go, so he swung his sword.

Although the scene was a bit gruesome, Evan looked down at the sparrow’s corpse with a cold expression.

‘How dare you.’

Whatever the intention, he could not forgive the intruder who had invaded the prince’s palace in this manner. Evan mercilessly pushed the corpse in two with his foot and dropped it down, then wiped away the blood stains and closed the terrace window.

‘It’s been a very ominous morning.’

When Evan returned to Lianus’ bedroom after dealing with the bird, the lynx was asleep again next to the kitten.

Evan thought it was amazing that the cat could even sense suspicious movements in the room across from him, but when he saw that the cat couldn’t get a proper rest even after returning to the palace, he felt uneasy and covered the blanket carefully.

I have a swordsmanship class today, so I’ll be able to get some rest at least in the morning.

***

After getting ready to go to class, Rianus told his butler to make sure his friend’s lunch was ready in case he was a little late, and then got into the carriage.

As I was blankly gazing out the window at the scenery, mentally listing plans for the relief project and the books I needed, I suddenly remembered the small note on the desk.

“Oh, I forgot to take my medicine!”

What made me completely forget about the existence of the medicine was that I was preparing to get as far away from the bed as possible in case my friend woke up.

“What should I do, should I go back?”

However, since they were almost at the main palace, if they went back now, they might be a little late for class. When Nihil woke up and saw that the vial hadn’t been drained at all, Rianus felt a little depressed.

“If it’s medicine, I brought it.”

“uh?”

Evan, who had brought the vial just in case, took it out of his bosom and handed it to Lianus. It was because he was worried that the medicine he had made for the prince would be thrown away.

“Thank you, Sir Evan!”

“It looks like he put a lot of thought into making it, so eat it right away if possible.”

“Is this the medicine Neil made? Does Neil know how to make medicine?”

As expected, my best friend was amazing!

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I’m really… sorry. I was so out of it. The old palace apothecary would have been fired by now. Everything the prince has eaten recently was made by him. If you don’t trust me, you don’t have to eat it.”

“No, I’m going to eat it!”

Lianus opened the bottle and quickly drank it. He knew that the longer he hesitated, the harder it would be to drink it. However, after drinking it, he couldn’t help but open his eyes wide.

“It smells like apples!”

“…Did I bring the wrong bottle?”

“No, I don’t think so. It’s medicine, but it smells like apples and is a little sweet. If only all medicine tasted like this!”

Lianus licked the bottle’s mouth, relishing the sweet syrupy taste. Evan smiled softly, realizing that Nihil had been paying close attention to the taste of the medicine.

When we get back to the palace, I should at least praise him for his good work. I don’t know if he’ll be awake though.

Meanwhile, Nihil, who had woken up as soon as Rianus left the bedroom, was recording Rianus’ pulse and body temperature, which he had taken while pretending to sleep that morning, in his diary.

Nihil might not have noticed because he had received Rianus’ ‘fruit’ instead, but Rianus’s body had already started to heat up during the night. So Nihil wanted Rianus to take the medicine right after breakfast, but Rianus did not take it, either because he did not want to or because he had forgotten.

‘But since the puppy took it, he’ll know how to feed it.’

Nihil remembered Evan sneaking a bottle of medicine and meticulously wrote down the effects and ingredients of the medicine that Rianus would take in his diary. Since Rianus seemed to have a trauma regarding medicine, he added various things to the medicine in a hurry last night, so he also wrote down the expected effects in detail.

The medicine that had been a pill had been transformed into a liquid potion by brewing chamomile, which did not conflict with the ingredients of the medicine and had no side effects, and mixing in a little honey to make it sweet. However, since it was a medicine that had minimized the bitterness from the beginning, even Lianus would be able to take it without much resistance.

‘I might be a little sleepy.’

It was a bit bothersome that I had brewed the chamomile too strongly to bring out the apple scent, but since sleep was the best medicine, I decided to just let it go, thinking that it would be better to just fall asleep during class and return to the palace.

Judging from the fact that he had asked the butler to prepare his lunch, it seemed that Rianus would be a little late today, so Nihil planned to get as much done as possible before Rianus returned.

‘I need to check the gold coins I’ve hidden and make a list of things to do for my father.’

At that moment, the ‘dad’, unaware that he had more work to do in an unknown place, was surrounded by stacks of papers.