Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: How the Prince Makes Friends
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Hot tea streamed down through his white hair, soaking his clothes.
Perhaps because of Nihil's characteristic aloofness and mysterious aura, if not for the distinctive milky, nutty sweetness of the milk tea, it would have seemed like a dream where someone spilled tea—an utterly surreal scene.
"...Wipe it."
"Uwaaak! Are you hurt anywhere?!"
At Nihil's low murmur, Karus—who had been frozen stiff, barely breathing—shouted and hastily set down the teacup on the table before pulling out a handkerchief and busily dabbing at the spill. It was sticky from the five sugar cubes.
"Nil, you okay?"
"...I'm fine."
"We're truly sorry. It wasn't hot, was it?"
Marquis Francesca carefully wiped Nihil's face and hair with a dampened handkerchief, her movements meticulous and tender, as if tending to a young sibling.
Nihil closely observed the marquis, who peered at his face from inches away with a look of worry, tilting it this way and that.
Just moments ago, she had been whining like a child about wanting to know more about ancient languages, so he'd expected her to grovel and beg forgiveness from her subordinate position. But her eyes held not servility, but a touch of guilt and genuine concern.
Nihil entrusted his body to her straightforward touch and slowly blinked.
"Thank goodness there's no burn..."
"Teacher."
"...Yes?"
"Give me your hand."
Marquis Francesca absentmindedly set down the handkerchief and extended her hand.
Nihil seized the offered hand and gently pressed it to his forehead, closing his eyes.
A gentle breeze wafted from somewhere, making his white hair sway. The sight resembled a sacred ritual, causing Lianus and Karus to unconsciously hold their breath as they watched Nihil.
"Ah."
Suddenly, Nihil let out a sound, snapped his eyes open, shoved Karus's body hard, and leaned back himself. A loud crash echoed through the drawing room, followed by a gust of wind surging wildly.
Karus tumbled backward, staring at Nihil with wide eyes. Lianus was equally baffled and flustered, but then he spotted a thin red line slicing across his friend's cheek.
"Ni, Nil! B-blood, there's blood!"
Lianus shouted and grabbed Nihil's face. Karus scrambled over in shock to inspect it too.
"Wh-what the hell just...?!"
"Nil, you okay? What happened?!"
"I'm fine."
Unlike the two panicking, Nihil indifferently raised a hand and brushed his cheek. Blood seeped out, but he paid it no mind.
Karus floundered in confusion, trying to wipe the blood with his handkerchief—only to realize it was the one used for the tea—and quickly pulled out a fresh one from his pocket. It wasn't deeply cut, so the bleeding stopped soon. After dampening the cloth and cleaning the stain thoroughly, the wound wasn't all that noticeable.
"What happened all of a sudden?! Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine, so stop asking. Give me that handkerchief."
"A handkerchief is no big deal—I can give you as many as you want—but... are you sure you're okay?"
"I said I'm fine."
"Then, that ritual thing from earlier..."
Nihil picked up the bloodstained handkerchief and rose silently from his seat. He walked to the fireplace and tossed it in.
The handkerchief caught fire instantly, vanishing without a trace.
"...Teacher, you should stop that language research. It won't help you."
"...Pardon? Is that all?"
"Yeah."
"C-can I ask just one more thing?"
"Don't ask. Aren't you busy, Teacher? You're a professor or something, right? Class ended ages ago."
"I am busy, but just one last thing, please!"
"No."
"Please, I beg you!"
"No means no."
"You're the prince's friend! Please, just one last thing, I beg youuu!"
In desperation, the marquis flattened herself on the floor and clutched at Nihil's trouser leg, pleading.
"Prince's friend! Please!"
"Let go. Rian, do something about this lunatic."
Nihil, trapped and unable to move with his trouser leg seized, boldly yanked at her hair, but she didn't budge.
"Princeee! You said you liked me! Convince your friend for me!"
"Ka, Karus, calm down first...!"
Bang—!
As the situation hurtled toward disaster, the drawing room door flew open.
"Wh-what in the world...!"
It was Evan, just back from his outing.
Sir Evan, fresh from his outing, couldn't grasp the scene in the drawing room.
'I rushed in because of the loud noises...'
With his twenty years of experience, he couldn't fathom why a marquis would be rolling on the floor, hair grabbed, clinging to the kitten's trouser leg like a wildcat.
The innocent little kitten beside her fidgeted restlessly before greeting him warmly.
"Sir Evan, welcome back!"
"I'm back. Marquis, what on earth is going on?"
"Sir Evan, you're here! Convince the prince's friend for me!"
"No, what..."
What in the world had happened while he was away to cause this mess?
Evan alternated glances between the kitten impassively yanking a noble's hair and the marquis.
He had no idea of the context, but if the marquis was crawling on the floor clutching a trouser leg, it seemed serious enough to side with her first.
"Spectator fee."
Then, the kitten holding the marquis's hair by the roots raised both arms toward Evan, demanding payment as if saying to rescue him for the show.
Evan blinked in surprise at the childishly acting kitten but reflexively scooped up the reaching arms into an embrace.
"Marquis, perhaps you should head back first..."
"How could you do this to me! We're friends!"
It was absurd for a mere common knight and a marquis to claim friendship, but Karus truly saw Evan as a friend.
Since the free-spirited Karus learned Evan was his age and suggested they be friends, Evan had been treating him casually enough.
Evan glanced at the kitten in his arms. The kitten impassively repeated "spectator fee," urging him to fulfill the debt.
Evan figured rescuing the kitten from the marquis would be easier than finding three playmates for the prince, so he resolved to pay up properly.
"...I owe him a spectator fee..."
"What the hell is this spectator fee?!"
The marquis stomped her feet, looking ready to snatch the kitten from Evan's arms.
The little kitten seemed shocked that her knight owed a debt, mumbling, "Sir Evan, you owe money...?"
Nihil sighed. One side was throwing a tantrum, another was trying to placate, and the last was stepping up to pay his debt.
Was this a drawing room or a marketplace...?
Weary, Nihil went limp in Evan's arms. At his listless appearance, all three froze and asked in unison.
"Nil, does it hurt?"
"Friend! Are you hurt?"
"What's wrong. Kitten, you hurt?"
Caught off guard by the sudden attention to his meaningless action, Nihil panicked inwardly.
Lianus and Karus recalled the abrupt cut on Nihil's cheek earlier, their faces turning grave as they scrutinized him.
What if something was wrong?
Only Evan, unaware, took it lightly and brushed back Nihil's bangs.
A sweet milky scent wafted from the kitten. Evan chuckled at the oddly fitting yet mismatched aroma.
"Kitten, you smell like milk. Acting all grown-up, but you're just a kid."
"...That's because Teacher spilled tea on me."
"Spilled tea...?"
What could make a marquis spill tea on a kid's head? Come to think of it, not just the hair—his shoulders were damp too.
"You, what's with the cut on your face?"
Evan spotted a faint line on Nihil's left cheek—a clean slice from something razor-sharp.
Nihil didn't answer. Karus, gauging the mood, timidly raised a hand.
"That cut's probably my fault."
"Pardon...?"
"Not sure, but yeah, likely mine."
"What do you..."
"No."
As Evan started to question, Nihil firmly denied it. He patted Evan's shoulder and nodded toward the sofa.
"Put me down now."
Evan gently set Nihil on the sofa. Seeing Lianus and Karus immediately flank him on both sides, Evan let out a hollow laugh.
"...Jeez, what kind of situation is this."
Evan sat naturally across from them and picked up the last remaining chocolate cookie from the table, popping it into his mouth.
"Ah, that's Nil's!"
Lianus tried to stop him upon seeing, saying it was for Nihil, but the cookie was already in Evan's mouth.
Evan froze mid-chew and glanced at Nihil. Wondering if it really was his, Nihil raised a hand in surprise before lowering it and avoiding his gaze.
What, sulking because I ate his share?
Thinking he'd buy cookies later, Evan chewed—and tasted charcoal. The more he chewed, the more bitterness rose.
Evan's chewing slowed.
"...Your Highness."
"Yeah."
"...Have you tried this cookie?"
"Just the butter ones here. I gave him all the chocolate ones since he seemed to like them. It was the last chocolate cookie after Nil ate the rest..."
"......"
Evan glanced at Nihil. Avoiding his eyes, Nihil poured fresh tea, skipped one sugar cube, peeked at Evan, then skipped another before sliding the cup toward him.
He definitely knew. That this "chocolate" cookie tasted like coal, the one His Highness thought was chocolate. And he'd eaten them all to keep the prince from trying it.
"Your Highness, who brought these cookies...?"
"Karus gave them as a gift!"
"...The marquis, you say?"
These coal-tasting cookies as a gift...?
"Yeah! My little sister made them!"
"Haha, my little sis is a genius!"
"Little... sister..."
"Yeah! How are they? Tasty?"
"......"
As Evan didn't respond, silence fell over the drawing room. Lianus and Karus tilted their heads, sensing something off.
Nihil murmured softly.
"Don't bark."
No, who said anything about barking...!