Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Perfect Disguise
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Sir Evan turned his body, which had been about to leave the bedroom, and slumped against the door, collapsing to the floor with a thud. The cold creeping up from the floor chilled his sweat, reminding him once more that this was reality.
The kid must have finally made a sound because he sensed I was on the verge of going out to look for him. In short, it meant, "I'm right here, so don't go wandering around searching—just crash and get some sleep."
Realizing he'd been dancing in the palm of the kid's hand from start to finish, Evan withdrew his energy and buried his face in his palms, starting to chuckle.
If the servants had seen Evan sitting on the floor in the dimly lit room, where only a single candle flickered, laughing like someone half out of his mind, they surely would have freaked out and fled.
Evan knew full well his appearance must look pretty grotesque, but he couldn't stop laughing.
How much time passed?
The laughter gradually subsided, and a suffocating silence settled over the room.
Evan slowly lifted his face from his palms.
The candle, shortened to its last wick, thrashed like a beast struggling for survival, barely illuminating something bright yellow before it was devoured by the great beast of darkness.
What it illuminated just before extinguishing was
the wolf's eyes.
Lianus opened his eyes at the rustling sound. The first thing he saw was none other than his close friend, whose hair had turned ash-gray overnight.
"Rian, it's about time to get ready."
"Mm."
Lianus hugged his pillow and squirmed in the unusually early morning. Then, remembering what he had to do today, he bolted upright in bed.
"Did I oversleep or something?"
"No. I was just about to wake you."
"Okay, I'll go wash up!"
"No need to wash. You'll just get dirty anyway. Butler."
"Yes."
When Nihil called the kindly smiling butler holding some faded old clothes, he approached to help Lianus change.
Nihil didn't step back either and assisted the butler, Paul, in changing Lianus's clothes. Led this way and that by the two men, Lianus tilted his head at the bandages being wrapped tightly around his body after he was stripped.
"What's this?"
"It's still chilly outside. These are bandages made from thin but excellent insulating fabric. If street kids wear thick, nice clothes, they'll definitely become targets. Cheap cloth doesn't insulate well even in layers—it just hinders movement. This should be enough, but bear with it."
Even as he said it was enough, the butler and Nihil used the bandages generously, wrapping Lianus so thoroughly that not a bit of bare skin showed—perhaps a bit excessive, enough to make anyone think he was a seriously injured patient.
"Won't it look suspicious wrapped up like this?"
"Rian, you're an orphan who grew up abused by cruel relatives, until you couldn't take it anymore and ran away with your older brother. Hmm, let's call you 'Ner.' Ah, is the wrapping too tight?"
Lianus, listening to Nihil's explanation, moved his body a little and nodded.
"No, it's fine. So Nil, you'll be my older brother?"
"It'll be easier that way—you can hide behind me, or I can handle things up front. Rian, come sit here."
"Sounds good, big bro!"
Lianus was thrilled to have a new big brother!
Nihil sat the beaming Lianus in a chair, neatly combed his hair back, and fitted an ash-gray, tousled wig over it before asking,
"Your eyes stand out too much, so we'll cover one. Which side do you prefer?"
"Hmm."
Lianus began to ponder. It was like asking, "Do you like Mom or Dad more?"—fitting, since each eye was inherited from one parent.
Seeing Lianus deep in thought, Nihil decided to pick one himself. He alternately covered each eye, waved his hand in front of Lianus's face a few times, then bandaged over the golden eye he'd received from King Sedes.
"Nil, was there a reason you picked the left eye?"
"No big difference, but the green one's a tad more striking."
"I see."
Lianus didn't quite get what "more striking" meant, but since his friend said so, he nodded along. Then, glancing over Nihil's outfit, he asked,
"But Nil, don't you need bandages too?"
"I'm pretty resistant to heat and cold. Plus, I'll throw a robe over this, so don't worry."
"Still..."
Lianus worried about Nihil's light attire. The sleeves looked deliberately frayed, exposing half his forearms, and the pants were so short his knees showed.
Nihil jerked his chin toward Evan, who was standing a short distance away with arms crossed, watching, and said,
"Don't worry about me, Rian. Focus on protecting yourself. If you catch a cold from this outing, that mutt over there won't let me hear the end of it."
"No way! I'll protect you!"
At those words, the mutt looked a little downcast.
Beside the dog-knight Sir Evan stood the cat-knight Bella, both already changed into comfortable activewear that could pass for mercenaries' garb to an outsider's eye.
Bella caught Lianus's gaze and laughed merrily, waving her hand in an exaggerated, playful manner. Unaccustomed to such goofiness, Lianus felt a bit awkward but waved back.
"By the way, Nil, what about your eyes?"
"It's fine. I made some eye drops that dull the color a bit."
"If you had something like that, shouldn't you give some to His Highness? Covering one eye like that could be dangerous."
Sir Evan narrowed his eyes and chimed in at the mention of eye drops.
"This isn't a magic potion. It just makes them hazy, nothing more. It won't work on Rian since his eyes are so different from each other."
As he spoke, Nihil grumbled about how it wasn't the stone age—why were magic reagents so hard to come by? The civilization regressed by the Heavenly Demon War was nothing but an inconvenience to him.
"Where'd you even get eye drops like that?"
Sir Evan eyed him suspiciously, but Nihil, too lazy to explain, pulled a small vial from his pocket, shook it, and uncorked it.
Something felt off to Evan at the sight. He snatched the vial and dabbed some on the back of his hand. It seemed fine at first, but soon a stinging pain set in, and he shook his hand involuntarily. It wasn't severe, but the spot where the drops had splashed was visibly reddened.
No matter how mild the irritation, it was obvious it'd hurt like hell in the eyes. Evan thrust his hand toward Nihil and started berating him.
"What the hell were you planning to put in his eyes?!"
Nihil turned the empty vial upside down, shook out the last drops, confirmed nothing remained, and replied calmly,
"It's just a potion that temporarily dulls eye condition a bit."
"Making his eyes go all bloodshot is what you mean by 'dulling the color'?!"
"It's not that bad. I put some thought into it—you're exaggerating. Now, give me your hand."
Evan felt a vein throb in the back of his head, opening and closing his mouth a few times before wordlessly extending his hand.
Nihil grabbed the proffered hand, pulled out another vial, poured it over Evan's skin, and muttered,
"Guess I misjudged the concentration."
"You think that's the issue right now?!"
Unable to hold back at Nihil's seemingly hopeless antics, Evan pinched and stretched one of Nihil's cheeks long. Lianus, who had been staring blankly, narrowed his eyes sharply and tugged the other cheek, saying,
"Nil, no more dangerous stuff."
"Okay."
"Promise, promise."
"Yeah, I promise."
Nihil readily agreed without protest and stuck out his pinky.
Lianus was a little surprised to see the offered pinky but, as Nihil wiggled it urging him on, quickly hooked his own pinky around it.
And smiled brightly.
He was overjoyed to have a friend to pinky-swear promises with, and asked with a fluttering heart,
"All set now? Ready to head out?"
"Not yet."
With that, Nihil dipped his hand in a bowl of water, grabbed a handful of dirt and black powder from who-knows-where, and smeared it sloppily over Lianus.
"...Your Highness, forgive my impertinence, but you really look like a beggar now."
Sir Evan spoke reluctantly, eyeing Lianus's soot-covered face. Of course, no amount of grime could fully hide the prince's cute, lovable features, but at least now he looked like a "cute little beggar" instead of a "cute little prince."
Lianus nodded in agreement and spoke to Nihil, who was now reaching for red dye.
"Yeah. Do we really have to go this far?"
"People let their guard down more when you look weak. Easier to earn sympathy too."
Nihil finished by applying blood-like dye around Lianus's bandaged eye, gave him an overall once-over with satisfaction, then started dirtying up his own body and clothes with black smudges.
"Ah, can we skip the bloodstains...?"
Lianus stopped Nihil just as he was about to apply the red dye. The more Nihil disguised himself, the more he resembled the Nihil from their first meeting, stirring complicated feelings.
Thinking of that blood-soaked figure collapsed on the icy floor, looking like a corpse, made him gloomy.
Nihil's face clouded with question at the request but soon understood and nodded, setting the red dye aside.
"Nil, what about your hair color? Did you dye it?"
"Just finely ground ash powder smeared on. This black powder's ash too. Here, take these."
Nihil handed Lianus a dagger and a necklace.
Bella, who had crept closer, couldn't resist and lightly touched Nihil's hair—naturally, ash powder came away on her fingers.
She rolled her eyes sneakily, gauging reactions, then tried to wipe the soot on Nihil's clothes. When Evan clicked his tongue, she pivoted and smeared it on Evan's instead before scampering off.
"You damn cat brat!"
"Kyahahahaha~"
"Argh, seriously!"
Evan thought to himself that, excluding their own cute and lovable baby kitten, cats just didn't mesh with him at all.
Lianus giggled at the knights bickering—it was fun.
Ever since Nihil arrived, everything was joyful. His once oppressively quiet and depressing bedroom was now bustling with noise and laughter, all thanks to his friend.
Of course, Nihil ignored the mutt and meow's squabbling—it was none of his business—and quietly fussed over Lianus.
"Ner."
"...Uh, yeah? Oh, you're calling me."
Not yet used to the alias, Lianus startled mid-peek into the bag Nihil handed him and answered.
"We'll use aliases the whole time we're out. Get accustomed to it."
An alias. Lianus's heart started pounding, like he was heading out on a covert mission.