Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: The Nightmare Witch
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Lianus had a dream.
A dream about a very, very scary witch.
The terrifying witch, with snow-white hair trailing all the way to the ground, was silently gazing down at a charred black corpse.
It was so, so frightening that Lianus felt tears welling up for some reason.
Bored while standing guard, Frederick idly followed a beam of moonlight slipping through the curtains with his eyes until he spotted a pair of small feet. He jerked his head up in surprise.
At some point, a pair of serene eyes like the night sky had been watching him.
'...How long has he been watching?'
Having sensed no presence at all, Frederick couldn't help but tense up.
"H-ha... going to the bathroom, sir?"
"Be right back. Keep a good watch."
"Y-yes, sir. ...Young master? The bathroom's that way. Where are you going?"
"To the puppy."
"Ah......"
Nihil glanced at the clock before adding,
"It's about time for the pain to hit."
With that, Nihil slipped out of the bedroom. Frederick stared at the now-closed door and muttered quietly.
"......This house is raising two kids."
Sir Evan woke to the sound of groaning somewhere. At the same instant, a sharp pain surged through his back.
No, that wasn't right. The pain had been there from the start; he'd only just realized it. And the groaning was coming from his own mouth.
Sir Evan struggled to roll over, trying to minimize the contact on his back. Or at least, he tried—but his body wouldn't move properly. His back was the only injured part, yet it felt like his whole body was being torn apart.
After much exertion, he finally managed to flip over, but the pain didn't improve much. He wondered if he really ought to call for the wildcat, but doubted he could even drag this body out of the room properly.
Just then, the bedroom door swung open without warning, and a small white figure entered.
The small figure spoke.
"If that's your first roll-over, should I congratulate you?"
"......Why are you here."
Nihil smirked, nudging the door shut with his toe before setting down the items he'd brought on the bedside table.
"Why do you think? Knew you wouldn't be able to move, so I came myself."
"And yet you said to come find you if I couldn't bear it......"
Nihil chuckled lowly at Sir Evan's grumpy retort, lit some incense, then clambered awkwardly onto the bed and yanked up Sir Evan's shirt.
"Good thing you managed to roll over, at least. If you'd still been lying there, I'd have been wondering how to flip this big lump of yours."
"......You, I'll crush you flat—argh! It hurts! Can't you be gentle, you damn wildcat?!"
Nihil grinned mischievously, ignoring Sir Evan's flailing, and began slathering on the ointment with rough pats. Once it was applied and the shirt pulled back down, Sir Evan—face buried in the pillow—turned his head slightly and spoke.
"Wildcat......"
"What."
"Did you get it all?"
"Yeah."
"The pain... it's not going away, though......"
Sir Evan asked timidly, the pain still unrelenting. He'd been pretending it was fine, but his whole body was slick with cold sweat from enduring it.
"Figured as much. It's just ointment, after all. Here, drink this."
"Damn it, shouldn't you start with the anesthetic?"
Sir Evan scowled as he snatched the vial from Nihil and downed it straight away. Hoping the anesthetic would kick in soon.
But of course, it wouldn't. What Sir Evan had drunk wasn't an anesthetic—it was just a recovery potion Nihil had made.
"The pain'll fade soon. Lie back comfortably."
"Won't matter if it stains the clothes?"
"Won't."
With that reassurance, Sir Evan painfully rolled over again to straighten out. Nihil patted the broad chest of the successfully flipped 240-month-old puppy and promptly began dispensing 'pats'.
Sir Evan grumbled that he wasn't a baby, but as the pain began to ebb, he muttered in wonder.
"...Your potions work pretty well, at least."
"Who made 'em?"
Nihil planned to swap breaths and flee with the 'fruit' once Sir Evan fell asleep. But even after a while, the baby puppy showed no signs of dozing off—instead, he grabbed Nihil's hand.
"Stop patting and go to bed."
"......Not sleepy?"
Nihil tilted his head when Sir Evan stubbornly refused to sleep. He'd lit incense strong enough to knock out an elephant, but it seemed to have little effect on the big baby puppy.
"I'm sleepy, so you go to bed too."
"I'll go once you're asleep."
"What am I, a kid? Go on—wait, I'll walk you back."
Saying so, Sir Evan pushed himself up to sit. On second thought, it didn't feel right just sending off the guy who'd come to treat him in the dead of night.
Nihil was a bit flustered that his carefully prepared sleeping incense hadn't fully taken hold. The moment contact with the puppy broke, the 'fruit' would surely revert.
His plan had been to wait for sleep, mix breaths, and escape...
Keeping a straight face, Nihil tried pressing down on the risen puppy body to lay it back.
"...What're you doing?"
Sir Evan eyed the tiny figure struggling to flatten him with a strange look.
"Sleep."
"I said I'll walk you."
"No need."
"Why refuse?"
"Go to sleep."
"......"
Sir Evan narrowed his eyes. This suspicious wildcat was plotting something again.
"Puppies who sleep early are good puppies."
Sir Evan glanced at the clock. It was already past 3 a.m.
"What nonsense. It's already dawn."
"...Bad puppies sleep at dawn."
"......"
"Sleep."
"No."
The wildcat's eyes narrowed.
What, so what! What're you gonna do, staring like that! You scrawny wildcat...
Thwack—!
"Gah! You... you lunatic...!"
Sir Evan clutched his forehead, trembling from the sudden headbutt. It was so absurd he just glared up at the guy, who also seemed to be in pain, rubbing his own forehead and muttering.
"...No good, huh."
"No good? What wouldn't be?!"
"......"
The wildcat averted his eyes. Sir Evan asked carefully, half-suspecting.
"...Don't tell me you were trying to knock me out?"
"......"
"...With a headbutt?"
"......"
No, really?
"...Thought it'd work."
"As if!"
"...Wouldn't have happened if you'd slept like a good boy."
"Ha, so it's my fault?"
This guy—was he clever or just brute? Who knocks someone out with a headbutt? It was a miracle his tiny skull didn't crack.
"Not sleeping, so give up and behave."
Sir Evan said, scooping Nihil up into his arms. In the dark, he hadn't noticed, but up close, the guy's forehead was bright red.
"...Such a brute......"
Sir Evan rubbed Nihil's forehead as he headed for the prince's bedroom. Opening the door, Frederick approached from where he'd been leaning against the wall on guard.
"Young master, welcome back. Sir Evan, go rest. I'll take over."
"Ah, yes. Please keep a close eye on His Highness."
Sir Evan added a plea to watch so the wildcat didn't pull any stunts, then handed Nihil to Frederick. Nihil, having succeeded in fetching the 'fruit' under the pretense of headbutting, went obediently.
Nihil's smug satisfaction at his own scheme lasted only a moment. He felt the breathing of the soundly sleeping little one quicken.
Rushing to Lianus, he saw the boy's eyelids fluttering as he opened his eyes.
"Rian."
"Ni, Nil......"
"Yeah, I'm right here, Rian."
"Hic, hng... wi, witch... hng......"
"Did the witch bother you? It's okay. There's no witch."
Nihil quickly soothed Lianus. He must've had a nightmare; the boy kept repeating 'witch' while clutching at his chest.
"Rian, it's fine. Just a dream. Did the witch chase you?"
"The witch, hng, the witch... black corpse......"
"It's okay. Puppy'll chase her off."
"Waaah......"
"It's okay. Okay, Rian."
"Hng......"
Lianus's chest hurt, his throat choked; his voice wouldn't come out properly.
Nil, the witch... the witch is crying.
The next morning. Sir Evan jolted awake in a panic, realizing he'd overslept. He'd thought his troubled mind would keep him up, but the moment he hit his bed back in his room, he'd passed out cold and slept like a rock.
"Insane."
Sir Evan threw on his clothes haphazardly and hurried to Lianus's bedroom. The kids were in the middle of changing under the butler and head maid's care.
"Sir Evan, come on in."
"Sorry I'm late."
"No worries. Nil said he might not wake up, so I figured he was really sick."
"......?"
Sir Evan shot Nihil a puzzled look, as if to say what's that supposed to mean? Nihil dodged the gaze and explained casually.
"Forgot I lit some sleeping incense."
"......"
"It's strong stuff. Meant to burn it for like five minutes......"
"......"
"Good thing you didn't sleep forever."
Damn wildcat. That explained the overwhelming drowsiness...
Narrowing his eyes at the guy, Sir Evan glared—only for the wildcat to shrug nonchalantly.
"Hey, you slept great because of it."
"What if I hadn't woken up?!"
"Nothing to be done then."
"Hey, you...!"
"Should've fallen asleep during the pats instead of throwing a fit."
"Argh, seriously!"
Sir Evan ruffled his already messy bedhead even more. All that vigorous chest-patting—he'd been trying to put him to sleep for real...
"But Nil, didn't you go to Sir Evan's early this morning?"
Lianus tilted his head, recalling how Nihil had mumbled something about visiting the puppy while half-asleep and rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah. Lit some neutralizing incense before I left."
"Neutralizing incense...?"
Sir Evan raised one eyebrow at the term.
"You think I'd use medicine without an antidote or neutralizer?"
Nihil smirked. At the blatant mockery, Sir Evan realized he'd fallen for it again and tore at his hair once more.
Damn wildcat. He was a master at leaving you speechless. When would he ever win an argument against this guy?
"I don't think you'll ever beat Nil in a war of words."
"......Did you read my mind?"
"Huh? No, talking about myself. Easier to just give up."
"Rian, don't give up. That'd be no fun."
"He says so. Sir Evan, I'll keep trying, so don't you give up either."
"......"
...Me, the wildcat's plaything.