Chapter 214
Chapter 214
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Overzealous Training
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Nil."
Click. As the door to Nihil's bedroom swung open, there lay what looked like a corpse—no, just Rima sprawled out flat.
"Ugh, urk, princ, hack... Your Highness, pl, please save me......"
"...Rima, you okay?"
"The young master is trying to kill me...."
Rima staggered to his feet, only to flop back down with a thud. His entire body was soaked in sweat—and honestly, Nihil was no different.
"Hoo... Rian, class over?"
"Yeah."
Nihil swept his hair back and caught his breath. It was the first time Lianus had seen him sweating or panting like this, so he stared with fresh curiosity.
"Nil, did Rima do something wrong or what?"
"Nah. We were training."
Nihil lowered his wooden sword and pressed firmly on his temple. Staring nonstop at mana that was so faint it barely registered had left his eyes strained and his head throbbing.
"What kind of training?"
"Your mana recognition drills."
"......?"
Lianus tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. Why on earth was Nil doing his training?
"To teach you more efficiently, I figured I'd test it out myself first."
"Oh... I see."
It still didn't make a lick of sense, but Lianus nodded anyway.
"Going well?"
"Not yet. Might take longer than I thought."
"Hm... Anything I can do to help?"
"...How about starting with some tonic?"
"......?"
"Your body's too frail to be much use right now."
"???"
Suddenly reduced to a useless lump of frailty, Lianus was dragged off and forced to down a full bowl of tonic.
"Rian, tonic every day from now on."
"...Do I have to?"
Lianus, who had been soothing his tongue with chocolate, looked downright woebegone at the prospect of daily bitter medicine.
"I'll do my best to make it taste good."
"Ung......"
...Sure, and how good could tonic possibly taste? Still, Nihil looked so earnest that Lianus couldn't bring himself to argue. He just nodded and said okay.
"Gotta eat a variety to build strength, Rian."
"......"
But he couldn't shake the feeling that Nil was being extra pushy today.
'...Did I mess up somehow?'
Lianus munched on his vegetables and sneaked a glance at his friend. For some reason, Nil was locked in a staring contest with a slice of bell pepper.
"What's wrong, Nil? Hear something weird?"
"...Nothing."
Crunch. The sound of the bell pepper being bitten seemed especially loud.
Nihil vowed never to force bell peppers on the kid again. Making someone eat food they hate was straight-up cruel. Honestly, weren't there plenty of other ways to get those nutrients?
"Ugh."
Wobble—.
"...! You alright?!"
The slightest sway during training, and the mutt lost his mind.
"Quit fussing."
Nihil scowled and kneaded his eyelids.
During classes with teachers who knew his condition, he'd stand Rima as guard instead and train with Evan. Rima stayed quiet through it all, but this mutt? One hint of fatigue, and he yapped like crazy.
"You look fine for fussing! The guy who never misses a beat no matter how hard he pushes, staggering around like a diseased chicken...!"
"Head's pounding. Quiet down. ...Jane."
"Y-yes, sir!"
Jane, who'd been standing by, scurried over with two compress packs.
To ease the eye strain, Nihil alternated hot and cold packs for a quick break, then stood and gripped his wooden sword again.
"Wrap yourself in aura, mutt."
"Why the hell are we even doing this?"
"To find the most precise, efficient training method for our kid. Cooperate nicely."
"......"
Evan narrowed his eyes. Skipping class for this was one thing, but hours of grueling drills? No way it was easy. And while he rotated with the potion kid, the wildcat didn't.
"Call it for today."
"Aura. Now."
"Pass."
"It's for Rian."
"Bet the prince would love seeing you keel over."
"......"
Nihil shot a glare at the insolent mutt. But Evan just tossed his wooden sword aside with flair.
"Now what?"
"...Hmph. Got plenty of others besides you."
"...? Hey, wait up!"
Nihil whipped around and stormed out, leaving the cheeky mutt behind. Training partners? He had them in spades.
'Hit up the kid's dad. Say I'm training the knights or something—borrow a few.'
But the moment he found the kid's dad, regret hit hard.
"......"
"...Requies."
The all-too-familiar man furrowed his brow.
At some point, strange rumors began circulating the palace.
It started trivial: the son's friend was ill. The kind of thing too minor to even qualify as gossip.
But rumors, as they do, snowballed from mouth to mouth.
The lighthearted "son's friend is sick" twisted into "son's friend badly injured by the 1st Prince's faction." By the time it reached Nihil, it had ballooned into the absurd: "The Grand Duke took the 2nd Prince's attendant as his heir, so the 1st Prince's side took him out to counter it."
Worried it'd spiral further, he'd just asked the Grand Duke to set things straight—only for it to overlap perfectly with the son's friend dropping by.
"@@#$! %@#$@!!!"
"@#%^..., @#$......"
"#$%@#$$!!!"
"......"
King Sedes mechanically sipped his cold tea, desperate for any escape from the scene.
For some reason, the son's friend bolted the second he spotted the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke snatched him up, plopped him down right in front of Sedes, and had been lecturing nonstop for thirty minutes now.
The son's friend looked utterly deflated, kneeling on the sofa with his head bowed. From the looks of it, he'd screwed up somehow and was getting an earful.
"Uh... Grand Duke."
"What?!"
"...Never mind. Carry on."
"No, Father, that's too much. Shouldn't you intervene?"
"......"
A word from each left Sedes's nerves frayed. Then the son's friend cried out.
"Fluffel!"
"Kwee!"
Next thing, the Grand Duke swiped the kid's toy. A stretchy furball that, up close, looked like the magic beast Anima he'd brought before...
"Give Fluffel back!"
"Kyaaah!"
The son's friend and the furball shrieked in unison, but the Grand Duke pried it away regardless. As much as he hated to admit it, the man looked like a total villain.
Bam!
Diabolus finally lost his temper and slammed the table. Pure physical force—no magic—but the table exploded anyway.
"......"
Sedes pressed his forehead, eyeing the shattered wreckage and the teacups now rolling on the floor.
He couldn't dare challenge the Grand Duke. Not unless he wanted to end up like that table.
Sedes sighed deeply and set his cup on the side table. He had no idea why they were fighting, but if they insisted, could they take it elsewhere?
"Father, hear me out!"
The son's friend toddled over and grabbed his cloak hem. Sedes panicked inwardly but couldn't shoo him away.
"No matter how I think about it, giving something and taking it back is just wrong!"
"Mm, sure, taking back a gift is improper... But there's probably a reason."
Sedes nodded along, then caught the Grand Duke's murderous glare and backpedaled fast.
"Father, you're too lenient."
"Have some mercy. And you—could use lessons in respecting your elders."
"......"
"......"
"Hm? What's with those looks?"
Both their faces twisted oddly at his words. But Sedes saw nothing wrong with it, so he shrugged and scooped up the kid still clinging to his cloak, settling him on his lap. Pure instinct.
"...Feels strangely guilty."
Nihil wondered if it was okay to lounge on an adult's lap like this, but chalked it up to receiving proper respect.
Soon, a hand ruffled his hair. Clumsy, but brimming with affection.
Nihil blanked out, then snuggled closer. A low chuckle rumbled above, and the petting shifted to gentle back pats.
"Sleep if you're tired."
"......"
'...Maybe I will.'
Days of nonstop training had worn him down, and Father's lap was comfy besides.
Right as consciousness faded—
"Requies!"
Someone yanked him back to awareness.
"......!"
Before he could even look up in shock, his body was hoisted and shoved somewhere.
"Guh!"
Something flooded his mouth right after.
"Guh, hack!"
The metallic tang of blood hit hard. The blood pouring down his throat jolted him fully awake.
"Di—cough—Grand Duke Diabolus, stop! Don't squeeze the wound!"
Somehow, his little one had gone ghostly pale, digging nails into his own palm to wring out blood.
Nihil finally realized he'd nearly consumed Lianus's existence and hurriedly fused with his demonic power instead. He poured every effort into ensuring no re-assimilation with his little one.
His limp body surged with forced vitality. White hair before his eyes turned jet black, vision sharpened, and muffled sounds came rushing back.
Nihil checked the kid's dad first.
"Hack... Father!"
"......!"
Sedes stared blankly at the demonization, then snapped to at the call. But confusion hit again—he rubbed his temple.
'Thought I was holding Rus...'
His son hadn't visited today. It had been just the son's friend and the Grand Duke from the start. So why the illusion?
Suddenly, a red hand thrust toward him. The Grand Duke's, smeared in blood.
As Sedes's mouth opened in shock—
"Rest for now."
With that, Sedes's consciousness cut out. The nearby knights collapsed too.
"......"
"......"
A heavy silence blanketed the drawing room. Nihil couldn't bring himself to look up, fiddling instead with his blood-soaked front.
"Hoo......"
He flinched.
That deep sigh, loaded with layers of meaning, made Nihil shrink and stammer.
"Sorry... I'm sorry."
"......"
"Really sorry, Dia."
At the apology, his little one stared down long and hard before speaking gravely.
"If that blood lump had been here..."
"......"
"...I could've wrapped it up neatly."
Right? The soft tone scolded his dangerous lapse, yet also lamented the unfinished business.
Nihil didn't argue. If Lianus had been there, it really would've been over for good.
"Assimilating with such a frail body? Least manage it properly. What's with pushing yourself like that?"
"...I thought I couldn't hold the assimilation long..."
"You knew that, yet you zoned out so bad you didn't notice the assimilation rate climbing?"
"...My fault."
He'd already endured over thirty minutes of related nagging, but Nihil stayed quiet. This time was genuinely perilous. Nearly devoured the kid's existence—and his own, to boot.
As he bowed his head lower, sleek black hair cascaded down.
Wonder what he looked like now. Desperate assimilation with demonic power, but no clue on the exact changes.
'How much holy water's left...'
"Father."
"...Yes, Dia."
"Won't come to my estate after all?"
...Figures.