Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: A Much-Needed Nap
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Sir Evan strode up to the fifth floor where Lianus's bedroom was located, Nihil tucked firmly under his arm, and said,
"Little fox, take a look at His Highness's condition. He went to the royal library and was so exhausted that I just brought him straight back, and he dozed off in the carriage."
"……."
"He seems to have a slight fever too……."
"……."
"He took his medicine in the carriage this morning, but… maybe it was too late?"
"……."
"……Why aren't you answering?"
"……."
Hearing no response, Evan stopped in his tracks and adjusted Nihil under his arm to check his face.
In truth, Nihil had been nodding along the whole time, but being tucked under Evan's arm like that, he hadn't noticed. With servants still around, Nihil kept his mouth shut and nodded again for good measure.
Evan raised one eyebrow at Nihil's gesture, but since His Highness had gone first, he resumed walking.
The bedside table in the bedroom was piled high with thick stacks of books borrowed from the library. Evan skirted past the table and brought Nihil right up to the bed where Lianus lay sleeping, shoving him forward.
"Hurry up."
"……."
Dangling in midair, Nihil stared at Lianus's face right in front of him and thought,
If the kid wakes up like this, how embarrassed would he be?
Prioritizing the dimwit who couldn't think straight, Nihil first checked the sleeping Lianus's pulse. As expected, he was just asleep.
There was a mild fever, but nothing serious. The fatigue from experiential learning hadn't fully worn off, and with the medicine adding to it, he simply couldn't fight the drowsiness.
'Come to think of it, the fruit I brought this morning is about due to wear off.'
Nihil figured Lianus might notice his own condition once he woke up, so he tapped Evan's hand to signal him to put him down.
"Is His Highness in a lot of pain?"
Nihil shook his head at Evan's question, then clambered up onto the bed. He wriggled under the covers, lay down beside Lianus, and hugged him tight.
"……What are you doing?"
"……."
Ignoring Evan, Nihil closed his eyes. He planned to catch a nap himself while he was at it. The mutt would handle skipping afternoon lessons. Sleep was the best medicine when you were under the weather, after all.
"……Little fox?"
"……."
"Hey."
"……."
"You asleep……?"
Evan poked at Nihil cautiously as he called out. The fragile little body merely twitched under his touch, showing no other sign of life. He must really be asleep.
Evan let out a baffled chuckle. He'd brought the guy to check on His Highness, and here he was crawling in to nap beside him… Still, if the fox thought it was fine, then His Highness must be okay. That eased his mind a bit.
Evan informed the butler that His Highness would skip afternoon lessons, then stood watching the two soundly sleeping youngsters.
When Nihil opened his eyes, a large hand that had been about to pinch his cheek flinched back. His cheek already stung a little from previous pinches.
Nihil rubbed his slightly reddened cheek a few times, then opened his mouth as if it were no big deal.
"What time is it?"
"2:45."
Afternoon lessons would be wrapping up right about now if they'd gone ahead as planned. Feeling a swell of pride at successfully getting Lianus out of them, Nihil skimmed through the books and materials Lianus had borrowed en masse from the royal library.
To spare Lianus from overthinking, Nihil read through the borrowed books and materials, bookmarking the useful sections.
Not long after, Lianus woke up, rubbing his eyes, and asked what time it was.
"3:20."
"What? Then afternoon lessons?"
The seaweed head jolted upright in surprise.
"I notified them."
"Why didn't you wake me!"
"This one said so."
Evan stretched Nihil's cheek as he spoke. Nihil flashed an innocent grin at Lianus's wide-eyed stare, pretending he knew nothing, and hugged him tightly. The pure little kitten beamed back happily.
"They said you'd make it up on a day you have free."
"Yeah."
"Not hungry?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"Then……."
As Evan was about to say he'd have dinner brought up early, Nihil quickly shook his head.
The fox hadn't eaten, so this was probably to get His Highness to eat.
Evan made another excuse for him.
"This one skipped lunch too. How about eating together?"
"Huh? Nil, you didn't eat lunch?"
Nihil nodded vigorously.
"I specifically told the butler to make sure you ate!"
"The butler did nothing wrong. He was sleeping through it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I was too sleepy."
Sleep when you're sleepy. Obviously.
Lianus, who had vowed to make sure his dear friend ate properly, quickly summoned the butler for some light snacks and climbed out of bed to skim the materials from the library. He'd slept through lessons, so he had to tackle his homework diligently.
As he flipped through the materials, Lianus spotted unfamiliar bookmarks and turned to Nihil.
"Nil, did you mark these?"
"Yeah."
"Amazing!"
Lianus skimmed all the marked sections, marveling nonstop. He'd gone through the vast materials in just a couple of hours, neatly separating the useful info from the junk.
My best friend really is a genius.
In reality, Nihil had only looked for about 30 minutes, but Lianus didn't know that.
While the little kitten was deep into his homework, Evan seemed to remember something. He quietly picked up Nihil and set him on a chair by the table, then grabbed paper and pen and started writing.
Evan's Notes:
- The bird from this morning was the Prime Minister's bird, apparently. - His Majesty ordered not to kill the bird. - The target seems to be you, so do whatever you want. - P.S. The Prime Minister is His Majesty's closest confidant.
Nihil read the note, frowned thoughtfully, and wrote back.
Nihil's Reply:
- Didn't get in trouble? ……Why are you worried about that? - If I hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have killed it so easily, right? - I just did my job. So what do you want? - I'll dodge the bird on my own, so just play dumb.
Evan wondered if treating a kingdom's Prime Minister so lightly was wise, but figuring the mild-mannered man wouldn't make a fuss, he nodded and tossed the note paper into the fireplace to burn.
Soon, the butler arrived with food.
Lianus picked at his meal while brainstorming plans, only starting to eat properly after Nihil snatched the materials away. The butler stood by attending him and smiled kindly at the sight.
As soon as the meal ended, Nihil shoved medicine at Lianus.
"Eek……."
Lianus made quite the pitiful face, but Nihil showed no mercy. Skipping rest and medicine in this state could turn into something serious.
Lianus had no real intention of refusing anyway, so he squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed the pill. It tasted bitter at first, but the candy that followed made him grin. Afterward, he threw himself back into drafting plans until sunset.
Nihil checked Lianus's pulse and temperature, then continued his morning journal entry.
"Whatcha writing?"
"Journal."
"…Journal?"
Intrigued by the word, Evan sidled over and peeked. His face twisted.
"What kind of journal is this!"
Evan bellowed at the content, more like patient observations or a prescription chart than a diary. But the fox ignored the scolding, insisting it was his journal as he wrote in detail.
Nihil headed back to his room claiming he needed to make more medicine, and shortly after, a yellow bird adorned with a pretty dark green ribbon at its nape appeared.
The bird circled the palace toward Nihil's room in the back but spotted Evan and landed on the terrace railing of Lianus's bedroom instead. The dark green ribbon fluttered long in the breeze.
Evan was momentarily speechless at the Prime Minister's blatantly obvious approach. It screamed expectations from top to bottom, but the fox wasn't likely to meet him, stirring a twinge of sympathy.
When Evan cautiously extended his hand, the bird hopped right onto his finger. But those sparkling, hopeful eyes soon dimmed with disappointment at Nihil's door.
A large sign with unmistakable letters was posted on Nihil's door.
Evan chuckled in disbelief; he hadn't expected Nihil to snub the Prime Minister so openly.
The Prime Minister's bird pecked glumly at the door with its beak. It seemed full of lingering attachment but didn't insist on forcing entry.
Meanwhile, Nihil watched the bird's actions from right behind the door. If the Prime Minister tried using his position to pressure him, he'd wring its neck without hesitation—but it wasn't aggressive, and the dark green ribbon was a nice touch.
Changing his mind, Nihil slowly opened the door just enough so the persistent little bird wouldn't get hurt.
Through the narrow gap, their eyes met. The bird froze for a long moment, then hopped forward chirp-chirp-chirp, closing the distance bit by bit. When Nihil extended his hand, it hopped on eagerly, rubbing its face against his palm and acting all cute.
Nihil waved Evan off to go away. Evan looked skeptical but turned around after seeing the bird's antics.
'Eh, it'll be fine.'
Click. The door closed.
"Oh, Sedi! The kid opened the door!"
Abel, who had despaired at the 'NO VISITORS' sign, exclaimed excitedly.
Sedes, worried about Abel's work efficiency tanking, nodded vaguely in relief.
"Er……."
But Abel's chattering cut off abruptly, silence falling.
Sedes looked up curiously.
"What's wrong?"
Sharing the bird's vision, Abel had been staring blankly before shooting to his feet.
"Sedi! That's not some gaudy 'motley' color you can describe like that!"
"……What's wrong with 'motley'?"
Sedes frowned; he'd only described what he saw.
"I've thought this before, but maybe work on your vocabulary a bit."
"…Tch."