Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: A Secret Shared
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The moment Nihil opened his eyes, he came face-to-face with a pair of sparkling eyes waiting right in front of his nose. He didn't snap even once at being woken up—instead, he curved the corners of his eyes in a gentle smile. Then, without changing his position, he scooped Lianus up blanket and all, bundling him up tight.
"Rian, you shouldn't climb on top of someone who's sleeping."
"Eeeek! Save me!"
Lianus wriggled around inside the blanket, but he burst into merry giggles all the while. He was simply thrilled that someone was playing pranks on him.
Once Nihil saw Lianus starting to tire from all the squirming, he released the hold and checked his pulse.
"How's it feel?"
Lianus, who had been out of breath from laughing, caught his breath and asked.
Nihil waited until Lianus had calmed down a bit before examining his condition. It would take a few more days for a full recovery, but compared to the fever that had spiked and dropped all night long, his state wasn't bad at all.
"Much better. But you need to keep taking the medicine for a few more days."
"Okay!"
"What about swordsmanship class? If it's not too much, it should be fine."
"Mmm, no. I wanna play with Nil today."
"Sounds good."
After a quick wash-up, as Lianus emerged, Nihil—who had come out first—approached with a dry towel in hand.
"Come here, Rian. Let's dry your hair."
"Okay!"
Lianus trotted over eagerly and entrusted his head to those hands. Sir Evan, watching Nihil act as normal as ever, muttered to himself.
"...Good thing he's back to his usual self today."
At those words, Nihil averted his eyes from Evan's gaze and murmured softly.
"...Sorry about yesterday."
"So you do remember."
"Eh, more or less. No hair loss yet?"
"......"
Evan's brow furrowed sharply. He never imagined his own teasing would come back to bite him like this.
"There's no cure for that."
Ulcer rising.
"If there's no cure, you shouldn't have yanked it out!"
"...I'll take responsibility and make you a wig. White hair could work...?"
"I don't need it! And stop talking like baldness is a given!"
Nihil offered some half-hearted consolation along the lines of "you're still young, so it'll be fine," then made an excuse.
"Last night, my judgment was a bit off."
"...I see."
Evan's lukewarm response left him suspicious, but recalling that Nihil hadn't properly apologized yesterday, he cautiously broached the subject.
"Yesterday, uh, about the blood."
"Blood? Need some?"
"No, I don't need that!"
Why the hell would he offer blood!?
"Then what?"
"...Weren't you mad yesterday?"
"When was I mad?"
"...When I brought up the blood......"
Nihil pondered last night's events at Evan's words. When did blood come up?
"No matter how I think about it, I never got mad."
"Your face stiffened the moment blood was mentioned!"
"Ah, that was because I suddenly felt nauseous......"
"......"
Evan's face crumpled as he began pounding a cushion furiously.
Nihil waved away the dust rising from the cushion and continued indifferently.
"Didn't know you had such delicate sensibilities. I'll be more careful from now on."
"Hey, you mangy... lynx bastard!"
"Lynx, huh? So I'm not a dog anymore?"
"Aaaargh!!!"
So frustrating!
Evan ran his hands through his neatly combed hair, messing it up again as he vented his rage.
Tasting the fun of teasing the puppy, Nihil smirked at Evan's flailing, but when breakfast arrived, he scooped Lianus up and set him down at the table.
"But Nil, was I really that bad yesterday? I apparently woke up midway, ate, and took medicine, but I don't remember."
"Hmm. Intense headache from the fever, foggy mind, stomach churning non-stop, bitter medicine stench turning your gut, forcing it down but no improvement. Muscles all limp and stinging like they've given out, body aching all over like you've been beaten, and nightmares on top of it......"
"What? Is it still like that!?"
Lianus paled and quickly asked for his pulse to be checked again. But Nihil calmly spooned up some soup and continued.
"I'm not saying it's like that for me—I'm saying that's what it was like for you. Just explaining since you don't remember. That's how it's always been so far, right?"
"Yeah... you're right. But I'll try not to get sick anymore."
"Avoiding sickness entirely will be tough. The root cause is your weak body from the shattered mana vessel."
"Mana vessel?"
Lianus, who had just dunked bread into his soup and popped it into his mouth, tilted his head quizzically.
"Precisely, the stage before it develops into a mana heart. Rian, your weakness stems from your mana vessel being shattered from birth. That thing idiots call the Mana Curse."
"W-What? You knew I couldn't use mana?"
Hearing about his 'Mana Curse' from Nihil for the first time, Lianus stared at him in stunned silence.
Sir Evan, already in the know, just rolled his eyes awkwardly before stuffing his mouth full of bread to seal his lips.
"I see all sorts of things."
"So the lack of mana in my body isn't a curse—it's because the mana vessel is broken?"
"Yeah. Like a knight or mage losing their mana heart. In your case, it broke too early, so your body's immune system never properly developed. Plus, being only a quarter-blood throws the balance off too. You'll grow out of getting sick so often soon enough."
"So... it's not a curse?"
"No traces of a curse on you."
"You can see that too?"
"I can see lots of things beyond just mana."
Lianus gazed intently at Nihil's eyes, inwardly fascinated. They were called black, but countless iridescent colors sparkled within, making 'black' an imprecise description.
Maybe each of those colors lets him see something different.
Nihil gave Lianus, who was staring unabashedly, an eye smile and said,
"Wanna see something amazing?"
"Huh? ...Y-Yeah?"
At that moment, colors began spreading through Nihil's eyes like ink in water.
Sir Evan, noticing belatedly, jumped up in shock, causing his chair to clatter loudly as it toppled backward.
"Y-Your eyes......!"
Evan pointed in astonishment, but Nihil just curved his eyes in a smile.
"Pretty cool, right?"
"How'd you do that?"
Lianus was bewildered yet couldn't tear his gaze from those mysterious pupils. The black irises had turned pure white—like black opal shifting to white opal.
"This is the color when I view mana."
"You're seeing mana right now?"
"Yep."
"Then all the times you closed your eyes before......"
"Right. Had to hide the color change. It's not exactly common."
"I see......"
Nihil blinked once, restoring his eyes to normal—or more accurately, sealing away what he had been viewing.
Sir Evan stood there dumbfounded for a moment before righting his chair and sitting back down at the table, muttering,
"Living long enough to see all kinds of weird shit......"
"You'll see plenty more oddities ahead."
"......"
"Rian, this is our little secret."
"Got it! I won't tell a soul!"
Lianus buzzed with excitement at sharing his best friend's secret. From now on, he'd guard it fiercely.
Nihil smiled faintly at Lianus's enthusiasm, then picked up the grilled vegetables Lianus had pushed aside and fed them to him. Lianus ate whatever was offered without realizing it was veggies.
Sir Evan marveled at the lynx who never missed an opening, then glanced at his own plate, thinking he should eat too.
A lone bunch of untouched asparagus sat there forlornly.
Our little, cute, precious prince needs to eat right while he's growing—but I'm already fully grown, so a little pickiness is fine.
With that thought, Evan nudged the asparagus aside. His eyes met Nihil's.
"......"
Resigned, he shoved it into his mouth.
It tasted awful. Why do people eat grass?
After the puppy's somewhat gloomy breakfast concluded, the kids rolled around on the bed. It was a weekday, but things felt too idle.
Partly because they'd woken at dawn, they'd skipped morning classes too—and to top it off, the afternoon political studies lesson got canceled. Their entire day was now free. Of course, the palace officials seemed swamped with cleanup in Charn District and redevelopment plans.
Lianus spaced out at his suddenly empty schedule, then wandered around looking for things to do. He tidied the greenhouse Nihil wanted, even fed the puppy some milk—but time still dragged.
As Lianus pondered if there was truly nothing left, he suddenly perked up with a small gasp, lifting his head.
"Nil, we need to tell His Majesty about attending the council!"
"It's fine. I already did."
"Huh? When?"
"Yesterday. Your dad said he'd buy the mine too, so he'll handle it."
"Hmm, if things worked out......"
With his best friend saying so, Lianus felt reassured and flopped back onto the pillow. He racked his brain for anything else he should do.
The sunlight streaming through the window and the gentle breeze felt nice, as did the hand stroking his hair—but idling around made him antsy somehow.
Nihil glanced at such a Lianus. Feeling a bit sorry for the kid who couldn't properly enjoy a day off, he suggested going flower viewing. They couldn't leave the palace, so the garden was the best they could do—but with a task in mind, Lianus eagerly prepared to head out.
"Rian, put on a hat."
"Okay!"
"A scarf too."
"Okay!"
"And padded gloves......"
"Enough already, you damn lynx!"
Sir Evan bellowed, snatching the padded gloves away. Their cute baby kitten was turning into a round snowman. These were winter items buried deep in the dressing room—where had he even found them?
Nihil wondered if he'd gone overboard himself and retrieved the fluffy fur scarf and hat. Instead, he wrapped a thin, light knit muffler around Lianus's neck and topped him with a cute yellow beret.
Seeing how well the yellow beret suited Lianus, Nihil nodded in satisfaction.
"Adorable."
"That's not the point—now get your own clothes on properly."
At Evan's nagging, Nihil gave Lianus's outfit a final once-over, then dressed in a matching color scheme. It looked haphazard, but his attire was impeccably noble.
Lianus showered praise on how well Nihil dressed. Unlike with Evan, he showed no curiosity about why Nihil knew noble fashions so thoroughly.
Nihil draped a dark green hooded cloak over himself and pulled the hood down snugly. The short, cute style kept him from looking ominous.
The flower-viewing gear was plentiful, but since the lynx hadn't coordinated with the servants, Evan had to haul it all.
But the real issue was something else entirely: the barren garden.
"......"
Lianus stared at his palace's empty garden, at a loss for words. He'd thought gardens were pointless to maintain—but he now realized a pretty one was essential for flower viewing with his best friend.
With scarcely any flowering trees, the early spring scene—devoid of leaves—was downright bleak.
"Hiiing......"
The baby kitten grew a little glum.
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