Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: The Kiss That Dyed His Hair
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"......"
"Eeee~ They kissed~"
Kara covered her face with her palms, humming shyly in a singsong voice.
Nihil had already slumped back down like a marionette with its strings cut.
Karus quickly scooped up Kara, who was scampering around Evan while chanting her little tune, and waved a hand in front of the knight's blank stare.
"Sir Evan, are you alright?"
"......"
"Muah!"
"Uh-huh, our Kara loves her kisses. Sir Evan, their lips didn't touch. I saw it myself! Your virtue's intact, so quit looking like the world's ending."
"...Damn it."
"???"
Karus flinched back from his suddenly foul-mouthed secret friend.
"Why the sudden cursing? Even if you don't like your friend..."
"Hey, you damn feral cat bastard! Get up right now?!"
"...?! Sir Evan, c-calm down...!"
Evan shook Nihil roughly. But as if the brief flicker of his eyes had been pure coincidence, the guy went limp again without a twitch.
In that split-second glimpse, a torrent of emotions flashed through: bewilderment, anger, guilt, and...
Powerlessness.
It was a familiar ache, yet one he never expected to feel right here, right now.
Evan huffed for a long moment before dropping Nihil onto the bed like discarded trash.
"Your Highness, I'll step into my room for a bit."
Evan returned to his own quarters and downed the medicine Nihil had given him yesterday. He desperately wanted to yell for his "fruit" back, but leaking the guy's ability to the outside world would do no good. And even if Nihil woke up, he probably wouldn't hand it over willingly anyway. So all Evan could do was dull the pain himself.
But with the "fruit" already transferred, the medicine barely made a dent—he couldn't even tell if it was working.
'Should've just taken the damn meds quietly from the start.'
Evan raked a rough hand over his face, frustration churning. He couldn't let on that he was hurting in front of the guy, at least.
What's the condition? Forehead...? The forehead? Does pressing foreheads transfer the fruit? Or does any contact work?
As Evan pondered the activation condition for Nihil's ability and headed back to Lianus's bedroom, he spotted the maids hauling in trays of food. With so many surprise guests, they must have been flustered, yet the maids were chattering and giggling cheerfully.
Instead of the maids, he announced the food's arrival and opened the door. A bright, bubbly girl's laughter burst out—"Kyaaaha~!"—and even the maids dissolved into giggles at the infectious energy.
"Sir Evan got hurt sparring, but why's your friend injured too? Did he spar as well?"
Karus dipped a grilled mushroom in sauce and offered it to Kara as he asked. She whined, "I don't like mushroooms~," but he cooed back, "But our Kara loves mushrooms~," and popped it right into her protesting mouth.
There was a muffled "'Big bro's the worst!'" amid the fussing, but Karus ignored his baby sister's flailing and spotted the kitten-like prince trying to nudge his carrots aside.
"Your Highness can't be picky either~"
Lianus hurriedly swallowed the mushy, overcooked carrot and opened his mouth.
"Uh... no, Nil is..."
Lianus started to explain Nihil's injury but glanced at Noah and racked his brain. If he said it happened fighting a monster and damaged his hearing, the timid Noah might freak out.
Noah, already eating cautiously amid the unfamiliar company of royal guards, picked up on the hesitation despite not being fragile. Her face drained of color.
"Don't tell me... it's because of me?"
"N-no? It's just... he must be tired."
"H-he got hurt fighting that monster, right? Don't say he's under some eternal sleep curse...!"
"No, no! Nil's always like that—once he's out, even poking him won't wake him. He's just a bit tired. He'll be fine by tonight, he said."
"I-I'll contact Father right now for potions...!"
Despite Lianus's protests, Noah bolted up mid-bite, hounding her guard until he finally sent word to the merchant guild.
And an hour later, Lianus truly grasped the might of the Allie Merchant Guild, said to be the kingdom's largest.
"Wh-what in the...?"
Butler Paul gaped at the lobby piled high with herb bundles and potion crates. The servants gathered, murmuring in awe.
Potions were strictly rationed for emergencies like battle due to production limits, but the Allie Guild sent an entire crate of high-grade ones as if regulations were a joke.
Considering even King Sedes's secretly smuggled low-grade potions to Nihil were a treasure, this was insane.
"N-Noah, th-this is too much..."
"I asked for plenty, but they only sent one crate...!"
"N-no, this is already a lot..."
"Your Highness, sorry. Potions are so restricted, they couldn't source more. But there's a good haul of rare herbs too, so please accept even if it's short!"
"......"
Lianus flapped his mouth a few times before meeting Noah's blazing eyes and finally murmured thanks.
"Butler, these are valuables—handle them with extra care."
"No worries, Your Highness."
The butler smiled warmly while meticulously cross-checking the inventory list against the porters. He'd managed the staff himself, yet some had skimmed gold—that shock lingered.
He'd let the gold issue slide at young master Nil's insistence, but anyone caught filching even a single item this time would lose a hand.
"Heh heh..."
"......"
Evan sensed an inexplicable chill from the butler's wrinkled smile and quietly scooped up the kitten.
The kitten peeked at the potions and whispered softly.
"Sir Evan, think potions will wake Nil?"
"...Doubt he'd like it much."
"Oh?"
Lianus tilted his head, then nodded as if it made sense and summoned the head maid with a "Lots and lots of meat." She looked puzzled, but after he stressed "meat" a few times, she nodded and scurried to the kitchen.
For some reason, Lianus felt smug. His friend would surely praise him the moment he woke.
But that pride was short-lived.
"Kyahaha! Kara the prince defeated the Demon King!"
"......"
Not Demon King—Lianus thought as he sprawled on the floor. Was this how Nihil felt playing with him?
Still, he was the final boss at least. The fallen foes included Noah's guard and four others—no, four minions plus the Demon King's pet.
The first downed "villain" spoke up from where he lay sprawled.
"Sorry, Your Highness. My baby sister stole your prince role."
"...It's fine."
Lianus had lost to Kara the prince, but promotion from prince to Demon King was a step up, so he was content enough. Plus, his friend had leveled up to princess.
"Oh, Winter Princess, Kara the prince has come to save you!"
Having vanquished all villains, Kara launched into a dramatic performance toward the sleeping princess Nihil.
Lianus imagined Nihil waking amid this chaos—how flustered he'd be?—then grinned and giggled at the thought of him playing along as princess.
"Muah!"
"......?"
What was that sound...?
"Muah!"
"???"
The Demon King sprang back to life at the weird noise. Kara the prince had sidled right up to princess Nihil, recreating a fairy tale scene.
"Gah! K-Kara, you can't do that to someone sleeping...!"
Whether Lianus panicked or not, Kara planted a kiss on Nihil's cheek with a loud smack. Her lips stayed puckered as she pulled away.
"The princess needs a kiss to wake up!"
"N-no, you still need permission..."
"She has to wake up first to give permission, so kiss first to wake her! It's preemptive action! Kara knows big words!"
"Y-yeah, Kara's so smart. B-but still..."
"Kuhuhuhu...!"
The knight found the distressed Demon King adorable and couldn't hold back—unfittingly irreverent, he collapsed on the floor choking with laughter. Beside him, the Demon King's pet curled up tight, quivering.
Karus, inwardly impressed by his sister's vocabulary, hurriedly stood and lifted her.
"Kara, you can't kiss people like that."
"But in fairy tales, that's how they wake up..."
Karus thought maybe it was fine since those characters marry but quickly shook his head. He needed to warn her not to copy storybooks.
"Kara, your friend didn't choose to play princess."
"But... sis and bro said a kiss makes all the pain fly away..."
Kara just wanted to help him not hurt... Karus trailed off, unable to coldly explain kisses were family-only.
Noah, who'd been blankly watching, finally spoke.
"Kara, kisses mean you have to marry."
"Huh? Kara's marrying Nyaang-sis, so can't marry friend."
"What?!"
"Meowmeowmeow!!"
Whether Karus freaked or not, Bella leaped up, bouncing joyfully.
"Kara, you said you'd marry this big bro when you grow up!"
"Nuh-uh, bro. Can't marry family."
Why's that the realistic part?! Karus glared indignantly at the prancing cat.
Bella had been scooped up by Kara after getting hurt in cat form, so the two were thick as thieves.
"Is that why you picked up Bella...!"
"Winter Princess turned into Spring Princess!"
"...Huh?"
Everyone whipped their heads around at Kara's innocent quip—what?—and froze solid.
"She looks like Kara now!"
"......"
"......"
Nihil's snow-white hair had turned a vivid cyan.
"Big bro, why aren't you talking?"
Lianus's bedroom grew chill despite the crowd. No one but Kara could speak.
A shiver ran down Lianus's spine—like secretly playing with a toy you can't replace or fix and breaking it anyway.
"Big brooo!"
"......"
Kara nagged the silent Karus, but he had no mind to reply. Like taking a kid to a museum and sending the world's only priceless artifact to oblivion.
"Mm..."
Karus swallowed hard. How to handle this?
"...I'll take responsibility and fetch a white... wig."
"...Think a wig'll cut it...?"
"Th-then dye..."
"What are you two even saying? This whole situation makes no sense from the start..."
Evan dry-washed his face at the pair treating the mystery artifact—broken or feature?—like something glue could fix.
Noah, eyes darting, timidly raised a hand.
"Why not... just tell the truth? He might understand."
Evan nodded, adding,
"Agreed. Explain the situation, and he'll handle it. For all we know... his hair might have that function. He once cut strands for the butler and head maid to make talismans."
"Talismans...?"
"Yes. He said to burn them if they turned black, so changing color might not be a big deal for him."
"Really?"
Lianus's face visibly brightened at Evan's words.
"So kisses change hair color?!"
Bella blurted, darting to Nihil, scooping him up, and smooching with a smack.
"Kyahaha~ Turn black!"
"B-Bella!"
Karus lunged in panic, but thankfully, no blackening or changes occurred.
The cyan hair remained, of course.
"Why no change?"
Bella tilted her head, and Kara chirped brightly.
"Not a real-deep kiss!"
"I see!"
Bella cackled, peppering him with noisy smack smack smacks.
"Pretty young master, all pain fly away~ Your cute nyaangi's been waiting..."
Bella trailed off mid-giggle. Evan raised a brow, suspecting the feral cat had finally stirred him, and approached.
"Told you to quit messing around."
"N-no, it's nothing~ He must wanna sleep more~"
Bella hastily laid Nihil back, tucking the blanket up to his head meticulously. Her suspicious nape drew Evan to yank the covers—but she blocked desperately.
"It's nothing, I swear~!"
"Like hell it's nothing! What'd you do, you damn cat?!"
"R-really, n-nothing~"
"Move!"
"I swear~ I-I just kissed something pretty..."
"S-Sir Evan...!"
As Bella body-blocked Evan, Lianus hurried over, thinking his friend awake, and peeked under the blanket. He urgently called Evan.
"Did his hair turn black or something?"
"N-no... it's not that, but Nil's head..."
"......?"
"...Ears... grew."