Chapter 6

Prince Lianus' Method of Making Friends - Chapter 6 (6/324)

Ultimately, Lianus successfully sneaked Nihil into the bedroom. He emptied Evan's suitcase, wrapped the unconscious Nihil in a cloak, and carried him in like a piece of luggage. Fortunately, Nihil was small; if he had been any bigger, it would have certainly failed.

They encountered the castle guards on patrol, but they didn't seem to care much whether the prince returned late or not. They merely offered a brief greeting and continued with their duties.

Lianus dismissed the waiting servants after receiving their greetings. He ordered them to bring dinner to his room and to bring a lot of meat, as Nihil had requested. Nihil was very hungry, so he wanted a lot.

Lianus, thinking that Nihil had lost a lot of blood and needed to drink blood, also asked for the steak to be less cooked than usual.

The servants were a bit surprised by the prince's unusual orders but agreed without a word and left.

Back in the bedroom, Lianus, with Evan's help, laid Nihil on a cloak spread on the floor. He wanted to put Nihil on the soft bed, but Nihil's body was covered in blood and dirt, making it impossible. If the servants found out later, it would be hard to explain.

"Prince, are you really going to use that?"

Lianus nodded solemnly, alternating his gaze between the glass bottle in his hand and Nihil, who lay like a corpse.

The glass bottle contained the only elixir hidden in his secret vault.

A precious treasure given only once to each direct descendant of the royal family.

It was said to be able to save anyone as long as they were still alive.

"Prince, just call the royal physician. Why waste such a precious thing?"

"The royal physician won't do. The moment I go to fetch the physician, Nihil's existence will be exposed."

"Then I'll bring a physician from outside early tomorrow morning."

"What if he dies in the meantime!"

It couldn't happen. His goal was to make a friend who would mourn his death, but if his friend died first, what was the point? He had to save Nihil.

And he had already ordered a lot of meat to be brought, so he had to feed it to Nihil!

"Prince, please reconsider! You can only obtain one elixir in your lifetime, even if you are of royal blood. What will you do if your life is in danger? The prince selection exam is notoriously harsh. How will you survive without the elixir?"

"I'll think about that later. First, we have to save him! Don't stop me!"

Lianus, ignoring his pleading knight, popped the cap off the elixir with a 'pop.' Even in the short time he spent talking with Evan, Nihil's body seemed to be getting colder.

If he delayed any longer, it might be too late.

Lianus didn't know why he felt so strongly about this child, whom he had just met today. But his instincts told him that he had to save this child from the moment they met.

Lianus had superior hearing and vision, and his instincts were also sharp.

He always trusted his instincts, but they often led him to a harsh reality. This time, he decided to follow his instincts and do what he wanted.

Snap, snap, snap—

Lianus carefully poured the elixir over Nihil's wounds. Despite the significant blood loss, the visible wounds were not large. The knight's sighs from the side didn't bother him; he focused only on the wounds.

Once the wounds began to heal, Lianus gently lifted Nihil's head and slowly poured the elixir into his slightly open mouth. Nihil's pale complexion gradually regained color, and his cold body began to warm up.

Evan, having given up, watched the changes.

After pouring about half the elixir, suddenly, Nihil's hand grabbed Lianus' wrist.

"Stop, cough, stop."

"…Nihil?"

Lianus, startled by the sudden grip or the movement of his seemingly lifeless friend, almost dropped Nihil's head.

He looked at Nihil with wide eyes, then at Evan. Evan was equally surprised, his eyes wide as he alternated his gaze between Lianus and Nihil.

Nihil sat up on his own, coughing a few more times due to the remaining elixir in his throat, and released Lianus' wrist.

"Nihil, are you okay now?"

In response to Lianus' question, Nihil looked at the glass bottle and asked, "What is that?"

"Th, this is... an elixir..."

"Where did you get it?"

Nihil's eyes darted around. He sighed deeply and stared intently at Lianus.

Why did he bother with this liquid instead of the meat he was supposed to bring?

Nihil stared at Lianus, who, under his relentless gaze, turned away.

Nihil grabbed Lianus' chin, but a large, hard hand of a knight slapped his hand away.

"How dare you be so disrespectful to the prince!"

Nihil shook his reddening hand and glanced at the knight, then returned his gaze to Lianus' eyes.

The sound of the knight grinding his teeth was heard, but Nihil ignored it. He carefully and calmly spoke to the young prince, who was afraid to run away.

"Rian."

"Wh... What? Yes!"

Hearing his nickname, Lianus' eyes widened, then curved into a gentle smile.

Lianus blocked the knight, who tried to interrupt their conversation, and slapped his kneeling thigh.

Evan, despite being hit on the thigh, felt a pain in his heart.

He felt a surge of jealousy seeing his "kitten" bring home a stray cat and neglect him.

But Lianus, focused only on his friend, couldn't understand Evan's feelings.

"Rian, where did you get that?"

"Th, this is..."

Lianus glanced at the remaining liquid in the half-empty bottle and rolled his eyes.

Should he tell him? Should he not? What if he gets angry? No, it's a good thing, so he might be grateful.

"Rian, friends shouldn't have secrets."

"Y, yes! You're right! This was given to me by Duke Diabolus!"

Evan facepalmed at the kitten's quick change in attitude.

He felt like he was being played by the stray cat.

Nihil, hearing the word "Diabolus," chuckled, then his face hardened.

"Diabolus? What kind of human calls themselves a demon?"

"Oh, it's more like a nickname."

"Nickname?"

"Duke Diabolus is a demon. Since he has no known name, people gave him this nickname. Now, he's called Duke Leifne since he allows interaction with his territory."

"A demon ruling a territory in the middle realm?"

Nihil's face hardened. Lianus, trying to ease his friend's worry, added, "Don't worry. He's been active for 300 years, and nothing has happened. He doesn't interfere with human politics. He bound himself with a contract to prevent interference. He mainly blocks unauthorized dimensional gates and manages monsters and demons. Our kingdom grants him a title to facilitate his activities and receives protection from monsters and demons. The Harpens royal family receives this elixir as a gift on their 5th birthday."

"Doesn't interfere at all?"

"Yes. The contract can only be broken if a stronger demon appears. Even the previous king, who sought Duke's help, couldn't break the contract and didn't receive any help. The elixir is given only to recognized royal blood, and it can cure any illness or injury as long as the person is still alive! I can confirm it works."

Nihil's eyebrows furrowed. Did he hear correctly?

Did the prince use such a precious elixir, given only once to each royal, instead of meat?

Nihil wanted to scold the prince for giving it away so easily to a stranger, but he kept quiet, knowing he would end up in trouble again.

The foolish prince was grinning and waving his tentacles.

Watching the tentacles, Nihil couldn't help but laugh.

What could he do with such a lacking person? The prince seemed unsuitable to be the crown prince.

The only good thing was that half the elixir was still left.

"I'm fine now. Take good care of the rest. Don't waste it on unnecessary things."

"Okay! I'm glad half is left!"

Lianus quickly gathered the remaining elixir and ran to his secret vault.

Nihil saw the knight's face, twisted with anger, behind the grinning prince. The knight's eyes clearly said, "You've already wasted half on unnecessary things."

Lianus, ignoring the angry knight, focused on carefully storing the elixir.

"Your body temperature is too low. Go take a bath."

Nihil, recalling the cold touch of the frail wrist he had grabbed upon waking, repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand. The prince, who had been unconscious, had a lower body temperature. His pulse was also slightly unstable.

If left as is, the well-groomed prince might fall ill.

"Soak in hot water for a long time. Call a servant if you need help. I'll hide."

"No! I don't need help! I'll take a quick bath and come out. Rest comfortably."

"Take a long, hot bath, not a quick one...!"

Thud, splash!

Before Nihil could finish, the excited tentacles waved and the prince ran into the bathroom.