Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: His Majesty's First Crush
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"Jealousy? Really."
Abel's sharp words made Lianus's heterochromatic eyes widen impossibly further.
Unable to hold back his laughter at the young prince's changing expression, Abel let out a "Pfft." He earnestly warned that this absolutely must not get out before continuing.
"His Majesty spotted a beautiful woman in the forest and fell for her at first sight."
Love at first sight!
Lianus's eyes sparkled at the romantic beginning.
"But... His Majesty was... seven years old at the time."
"...?"
His curly dark green hair tilted to the side.
What? Isn't this a love story about Mother?
"I'm talking about Lady Natura, yes. She was His Majesty's first love... and his last."
"So... His Majesty has loved Mother ever since he was seven?"
His Majesty loved only Mother from the age of seven! Is this what they call pure, unwavering love—true devotion?!
He pictured His Majesty and Mother as children his own age. The image of them holding hands and strolling through the forest seemed utterly adorable.
"Yes. But she was twenty."
"...Pardon?"
"Hmm... It's hard to grasp just from words, isn't it? Think of the prince confessing to a woman Sir Evan's age."
Thud.
The cookie in Lianus's hand tumbled to the floor, dirtying the rug.
A forbidden love...?
Abel, who found great amusement in shattering his friend's image of the king, steadfastly pressed on.
"Of course, being a half-elf, she looked younger than her actual age... but no one could deny that His Majesty's tastes ran toward the... mature, even at that age."
And so the "fresh romance" devolved into complaints.
"I was nine at the time. Can you imagine how I felt, having to dutifully trail after a sullen-faced seven-year-old who was doggedly following a mature young girl...?"
"..."
"I thought Sedes would never make it as king. Honestly, I was just relieved he ran off from the palace—er, left on an excursion—instead of eloping with Lady Natura."
"Ah... Um..."
Lianus rolled his eyes. He'd recently learned how deeply His Majesty loved Mother, but this was even more intense than he'd imagined.
"Half-elves were treated terribly back then, so His Majesty even assigned her a guard knight. Oh, and that knight was..."
"Don't add useless details. Get on with it."
"Oh, Nil's interested in the love story too!"
Abel, thrilled that even Nihil was hooked on his tale, cleared his throat and continued.
"His Majesty assigned her a knight pushing fifty—not some young, strong one. His skills weren't bad, of course, but I wondered about it at the time. I figured he'd give her the strongest knight available."
"Did you ask why?"
"Yes, I did. I can't stand not knowing things. And his answer? It was something else."
"What did he say?"
Abel's eyes narrowed as he recalled the moment.
"He said Lady Natura might get ideas if she saw young, handsome knights."
"...?"
The innocent kitten's head tilted again in confusion. Thinking back, Abel burst out in a torrent of words.
"Ha, doesn't it give you chills? I didn't even understand what he meant back then. I asked Mother and got an earful. When I finally figured it out later, I was shocked! Can you believe a seven-year-old thought of that? A milk-toothed brat with a straight face saying, 'Natura's in her prime, so...' Ow!"
"Don't say weird stuff to the kid."
Nihil swiftly smacked Abel's mouth.
"But Nil, Sedes was seven too, you know?"
Abel protested his innocence, then glanced at the wide-eyed Lianus and muttered like a jealous housewife, "Nil's got it good with such an innocent kid. Must be fun raising him."
"Well... Lady Natura didn't seem entirely displeased, but..."
To Abel, whether it was Sedes proposing the instant she turned fifteen—the legal marriage age—or Natura shyly accepting a boy's confession, both were equally bizarre.
"Ah, that middle-aged knight's still in the palace... Guh..."
The gossip cut off abruptly.
"Relax. It won't pop out."
"...Sorry. The pain just snuck up on me."
Sudden agony twisted Abel's face.
"Once the tangle loosens a bit, the pain will ease."
"Is it... over for today?"
"I could keep going, but the prime minister might not make it."
"Why me?"
Nihil jerked his chin toward the shadow knight who'd appeared on the terrace.
"He's here to get you."
"My lord, I've come... to escort you."
Crack. Thwack, smack! Crunch, snap.
He'd felt it was a bit off during the strikes, and sure enough, the wooden sword shattered.
Lianus swung the half-broken blade a few more times before tossing it aside and grabbing another.
"Not like Nil. He counters right away even if his breaks."
"He swings expecting it to break from the start. Maybe even breaks it on purpose. How could anyone adapt instantly when the weight and length change? Anyway, Your Highness, you've gotten quite comfortable with dual swords."
"You think so too, Sir Evan?"
Lianus puffed out his chest, inwardly pleased.
It had been ages since he'd skipped the duke's sword lessons. Instead, he joined the royal knights' dawn training for stamina building, and during regular lessons, he trained with Nihil in his own practice yard.
It was little more than an open lot with a scarecrow, but his all-talented friend had kindly cast a concealment spell on it.
No one could see inside unless they entered the perimeter.
Someone approached then.
It was Sir Aaron Carter, the vice-captain who'd been dragged along by Nihil a few times as a "decent dual-sword user" and now came on his own.
Aaron glanced around, tilting his head.
"Your Highness, why are you alone today?"
"Ah, Sir Carter, come on in. My friend is..."
Lianus trailed off, scanning the area before whispering.
"Off spying."
"...Pardon...?"
Confusion spread across Aaron's face. Spying where in the palace? And more importantly, was it okay to just let him?
"Quarterly evaluations are soon, right? Looks like sword class will be sparring, so my friend went to scout Older Brother's swordsmanship."
"Ah..."
So he'd gone to analyze the 1st Prince's techniques.
Aaron didn't quibble that a kid who hadn't learned swordsmanship properly couldn't analyze it. The boy might not know sword arts, but he was a natural mimic.
Or was "mimic" even the right word?
No matter how talented, could a child with an untrained body truly replicate a trained knight's movements?
At first, he'd suspected the kid had prior training.
But the boy had zero theoretical knowledge. He didn't distinguish good from bad—he just copied exactly as seen.
Of course, he couldn't match the speed of aura-enhanced knights.
Yet he surpassed them by flawlessly recreating every sword path without missing a beat and instantly correcting any bad habits when pointed out.
As if tearing off a piece of bread—simple as that.
Once somewhat familiar with swordsmanship, the kid jumped straight to variations, serving as the prince's sparring partner.
He handled swords of varying lengths on the fly and even mixed styles without tangling trajectories.
That child... was a monster, plain and simple.
But...
"Won't the duke notice? No matter how skilled the kid is, he's a Swordmaster."
"Hmm... My friend's got sharp eyes, so he can watch from afar..."
Even as Lianus said it, he doubted Nihil would get caught by the duke.
"Yeah, yeah... I trust my friend to handle it... Whoa!"
Lianus toppled over. Something had dropped from the sky.
"Nil! You scared me!"
A low chuckle came from under the cloth mask. His friend clearly enjoyed startling him. Sir Carter's face had gone rigid.
"Sir Carter, what's wrong?"
"Does he... always appear like this out of nowhere?"
"Yeah. Sir Evan gets startled—er, surprised—a lot too. Why?"
"...Nothing... at all."
"Really?"
Nihil dumped the contents from his arms onto the ground and plopped down. He fitted T-shaped wooden planks to his shoe soles and wrapped rope tightly around to secure them.
"...? Nil, what're you doing?"
When Lianus tilted his head curiously, Nihil finished fixing the planks firmly and spread his arms wide.
Lianus reflexively moved to hug him but caught the "Gulp" sound and quickly grabbed Nihil's hand to pull him up instead.
"...Don't laugh. It's 'cause Nil's always carrying me around."
Another chuckle escaped.
I'm not a baby anymore... This is all Nil's fault.
Still, he couldn't refuse. Nihil would be so disappointed. At least he'd promised no more pickups once he grew another handspan taller.
Standing on the planks, Nihil was now tall enough to need looking up at. It felt oddly familiar.
"New game?"
If it was for balance training, it was genius.
But Nihil shook his head, took Lianus's hand, and walked around. He wobbled at first like a girl in high heels, then let go and hopped lightly.
Soon he was doing flips on the spot, nodding in satisfaction when done.
Truly astonishing adaptability.
Nihil picked up the wooden practice sword he'd brought, assembling it into a longsword—a bit longer than the one Lianus had used before.
Right, Older Brother uses one about that length...
Sir Evan frowned and spoke up.
"You plan to swing a sword like that?"
Nihil nodded.
"What? Nil, you'll get hurt. I'm not skilled enough to control a powered-up swing like yours."
Nihil shook his head firmly and nodded at the two knights.
Sir Evan, slightly tense, said,
"If it gets dangerous, we'll block it. Don't worry, Your Highness."
"...But..."
Lianus watched worriedly, but Nihil provocatively flicked his sword tip.
Ah...
Who was worrying about whom, exactly?
Lianus's lips curved into a sly grin.