Chapter 3

**The Prince's Method of Making Friends - Chapter 3 (3/324)**

"Will he hate me?"

"We did hit him with the carriage. I really thought he was dead. Even if he is a decent person, he probably won't like someone who almost killed him."

"Indeed, that's probably the case, right?"

"Before that…, I didn't expect you to confess so suddenly. I was shocked, thinking that you had fallen in love with him at first sight."

"Thinking I had to make friends…, it was my first time proposing friendship, so I was nervous…"

Evan shook his head and continued.

"First of all, he's a wandering orphan. Literally a beggar, a commoner. He's not of a status to be friends with a prince."

The prince nodded. It wasn't a wrong statement.

I'm a prince, and he's a beggar, so it makes sense we can't be friends.

"But I proposed friendship first. So if he says he wants to be friends with me, I should be friends with him."

"Really…?"

"If he says he wants to be friends with me, it would be wrong not to, but since I proposed it first."

"You also confessed incorrectly and were already rejected."

"No."

The prince was firm.

I wasn't rejected.

It must not have been a rejection.

He lost a lot of blood and was in a daze, so he must have been confused.

Moreover, I didn't even introduce myself properly. Normally, when you meet someone for the first time, you introduce yourself first, but I didn't do that.

Even though I'm a powerless prince, I'm still a prince!

He probably doesn't know much about me, so if I introduce myself as a prince, he will surely beg to be my friend, feeling honored.

"He was just confused because I confessed incorrectly. If I introduce myself properly, it will be fine."

"But, Your Highness, you can't bring a commoner into the palace as a playmate."

"Then, what should I do?"

"Even if you treat him well, the best he can be is a servant."

"But he's too young to be a servant, and they won't accept him without a recommendation. Besides, I want to be friends with him, not use him as a servant. What if he says he doesn't want to be a servant?"

"He will likely say he doesn't want to be a servant. In that case, you should just give him some compensation and send him away."

"What?"

"What else can you do? Bringing him into the palace is impossible. He's not an animal you can secretly keep. Just give him a generous compensation."

"But…!"

But he was almost killed by the carriage because of me!

I proposed friendship and then knocked him out and brought him here in the carriage. How can I just send him away?

Even if he misunderstood my confession as a proposal for friendship, I acted too rashly, so I can't just send him away rashly.

Yes, this is a matter of a prince's pride!

"Absolutely not!"

"What?"

"He has no home, no clothes, and no food. It's still cold outside, and he might have his money stolen by bad people! What if he dies soon after barely surviving?"

Although he had never died before, the prince spoke firmly, as this was a matter of his pride, not just a desire for friendship!

"You shouldn't take in a small animal if you can't take responsibility for it!"

"Then, you shouldn't have taken him in and should have let him go, right?"

"I already brought him in and put him in the carriage, so I have to take responsibility."

Evan sighed.

The boy in the carriage might not even want to be friends, but it seems our little kitten has taken a liking to him.

However, given his rude manner and the way he speaks to the prince, who clearly has a noble status, it's clear he has a bad temper. Bringing in that wild cat-like boy could hurt our gentle kitten.

"Even if he couldn't survive the cold and would have frozen to death, or if he would have starved to death or been beaten to death while stealing food, it's not your responsibility. The boy was at fault for jumping in front of the carriage."

"But, but…."

The little kitten, seemingly unwilling to let go of what he had found, kept repeating "but" and muttering, "It's dangerous outside."

"Your Highness, as a knight, I believe that even if his life is difficult, he probably won't die easily. With his good looks, he could easily find a job if he wanted to."

Probably, he just doesn't want to.

"Good looks can help him find a job easily?"

The prince tilted his head. If good looks can help him find a job easily, this boy would surely find a job right away, wouldn't he? Everyone would want to take him in.

"People like pretty things, don't they? Like…, a brothel…."

"What?"

The knight's mention of a brothel was very quiet, but the prince, with his good hearing, heard it clearly. He jumped up and opened the window to slap the knight's back. It probably didn't hurt the knight, but the prince wanted to express his displeasure clearly.

He quickly closed the window to prevent the cold air from affecting the injured boy and sternly warned the knight not to say such things.

"That's the life of a commoner. A weak commoner, if pretty, might be kidnapped and sold, or sold by their parents, or even taken in by a perverted noble and made a servant."

Like a bird in a cage.

"Why can he be a noble's servant but not my playmate? And why a perverted noble?"

"There are other royals in the palace, so it's not possible. The reason for a perverted noble is…, that boy seems to have a bad temper, so he probably wouldn't become a servant unless he was kidnapped."

"Then just tell him to be my friend!"

"It's impossible in the palace."

"I don't want to be a prince."

"Your Highness, even if you say that, a commoner is still not possible."

Why can't a commoner be a friend?

I just need someone to talk to.

As long as we can communicate, that's all that matters.

The prince was very upset that even his only knight, Evan, didn't understand his feelings and spoke so firmly. Tears began to well up in his eyes.

I'm not asking for much. I just want one real friend.

"I won't be a royal. What's the point of being a royal…, I can't make friends as I wish, the nobles are busy with the queen and the Duke of Tessauros, the playmates I had all ran away crying and apologizing, my nanny was…, she was…, killed because of me…, and today, my brother…, he…, sigh, tricked me again. I just wanted to find someone to talk about swordsmanship with…, sigh, haaah!"

"Your Highness, are you crying?"

"Uuuuuuuh!"

The knight, sitting in the driver's seat, was greatly alarmed. The prince, who usually cried quietly, was now sobbing loudly, shaking the carriage.

The knight, holding the reins, couldn't do anything but glance back at the prince, who was crying so pitifully.

"Even as a knight! I'm a prince, but I only have Sir Evan as my knight. No one volunteered to protect the second prince without a powerful backing…! My brother always has two knights with him, but I, I…, huuu, uuuuuh!"

Evan, the only knight, had no choice but to stop the carriage. He realized too late that he was the only one who could comfort the prince.

He thought he only needed to silently guard the crying prince, but it wasn't that simple.

The prince was just a 7-year-old child, after all.

Maintaining the prince's dignity was meaningless. What the prince needed was just someone to be with him, regardless of whether they were a commoner or a slave.

As Evan got out of the driver's seat and opened the carriage door to comfort the sobbing kitten,

Whoosh—

Something flew past his face and landed on the prince.

"Your Highness!"

Evan reached out in surprise, but what landed on the prince was his own cloak.

"Be quiet."

The weak, hoarse voice caught everyone's attention.

The prince, worried about hypothermia due to blood loss, had carefully covered the boy with his cloak. But the boy, who had been on the verge of death, immediately threw the cloak back at the prince upon waking up, showing the ultimate lack of gratitude.

"How dare you, showing no gratitude to the prince!"

"What gratitude? You hit me with a carriage and then talk a lot."

"Huh, hic."

The kitten, startled by the sudden cloak, clutched it tightly and peeked out with eyes that resembled a pumpkin and an emerald.

Still sniffling a bit, but probably due to the shock, Evan saw the kitten almost stop crying and glared at the unruly wild cat.

Feeling his efforts to comfort the kitten were being stolen, Evan was displeased.

The prince's eyes darted back and forth. Was it because he was caught crying or because he remembered hitting the boy and making him faint? He looked between the black opal-eyed boy and his only knight, rolling his eyes nervously.

After a moment of silence, just as Evan was about to step in, the kitten mustered the courage to speak again.

"I'm a prince."

"…So?"

"Will you be my friend?"

"No."

Oh, Your Highness…

The only knight, witnessing this extremely short conversation, sighed and buried his face in his hands.

What a bad, heartless boy. At least pretend to think about it. Why did he have to reject the prince so bluntly? How could he dare to reject such a cute prince's offer of friendship!

Our little kitten, who is bad at making friends, was rejected twice today.