Chapter 8

The Prince's Guide to Making Friends - Chapter 8 (8/324)

Evan, filled with the intention to drive away the brat, quickly tried to change the subject, feeling that his inner thoughts had been exposed.

Then he realized,

"Why has your tone of voice changed to sound like an old man?"

"An old man? Is there nothing else to pick a fight over?"

Nihil answered, then lowered his eyes and rested his chin on his hand, tapping his lower lip slowly.

Evan actually had more to say about the brat's way of speaking, which seemed to have no up and only down, but seeing him lost in thought, he closed his mouth.

After a while, the brat seemed to have sorted out his thoughts and lifted his head to meet Evan's gaze.

"It's a habit."

What does that mean? Is having no way of speaking a habit?

Evan, unable to understand the meaning of this truncated statement, furrowed his brows and gestured with his chin, as if demanding a proper explanation.

Nihil, finding it tedious to explain in detail, decided to do so out of appreciation for being let into the bedroom early.

"This tone of voice is just mimicking yours. I haven't been speaking for long."

"Are you a baby? You sound like you just learned to speak."

"[That's not something a mere twenty-year-old should say, though.]"

"……?"

Evan tilted his head at the sudden unfamiliar language. Was it a foreign language?

Nihil, seeing Evan's confusion, chuckled and continued his explanation.

"I'm not consciously mimicking it, but to put it simply, I've assimilated. Things from the outside are often met with suspicion or exploitation, so I unconsciously mimic the other person's tone to blend in. I've only been in this kingdom for a short time, so my accent is still unfamiliar, and my tone of voice changes quickly. Once I get used to the local accent, my tone won't change so easily, so don't worry about it."

Evan thought.

It felt a bit strange, like a child with poor language skills mimicking their guardian's tone. In Nihil's case, it seemed to be an unconscious survival instinct, but in a way, wasn't this habit of speaking without a proper tone a result of mimicking him or the prince?

Putting aside the uncomfortable feeling, Evan asked another question.

"Have you been in Harpence for long?"

"Is Harpence the name of the kingdom?"

"……Where were you before that?"

"Perhaps…, the Empire."

"How did you get here without a status badge? Did you sneak in?"

"……."

The brat was silent for a moment. It seemed he had indeed sneaked in.

Evan felt good about finding a legal way to drive away the arrogant brat but tried to hide his satisfaction and pressed on.

"How did you get here?"

Nihil hesitated and finally spoke, his eyes cast downward.

"…I was captured by human traffickers and handed over to a pirate ship disguised as a merchant vessel."

"……."

Evan fell silent. He almost drove away a poor child who had been kidnapped by illegal human traffickers, potentially turning him into a useless piece of human trash.

After a moment of silence, Evan felt a slight twinge of guilt and softened his tone.

"What?"

When Evan didn't respond, Nihil lifted his head to meet his gaze. The brat, who had claimed to be kidnapped by human traffickers, remained expressionless.

"…No. Do you have a slave mark?"

"There's no way. I blew up the pirate ship and escaped. It burned really well."

"……."

Evan was speechless again.

He realized that the brat, who had seemed a bit pitiful, was not an ordinary person. Indeed, the brat was dangerous. Then he suddenly remembered the pirate ship that had exploded a few days ago.

"Was it about ten days ago?"

"Roughly…, around that time."

"……."

Could that explosion have been this brat's doing? It was a significant event that required the royal family's direct involvement.

A large merchant ship from the Eastern Empire, known to be carrying illegal slaves, turned out to be a pirate ship. It was not just illegal slaves but also drugs and stolen goods, causing a stir in both the Eastern Empire and the kingdom.

It was revealed that the ship was not related to the large merchant company, but the pirate group was so large that the investigation was still ongoing.

"Anything else you're curious about?"

"……."

"If not, I'd prefer you didn't talk to me anymore. I don't want to sound like an old man."

Clearly, Nihil meant that if they continued to talk, Evan's old-man-like tone might become a habit, so he should stop talking.

Evan had a lot to say but decided not to ask any more questions. The more he dug into the brat's background, the harder it would be to get rid of him. He had a foreboding feeling that human trafficking was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Ah, if you must talk, do it like a five or six-year-old."

"……."

You little brat.

***

"Food's here!"

Fortunately, Lianus came out of the bathroom soon, so Evan didn't get a chance to hit Nihil on the back of the head. The food was still mostly warm.

Evan naturally helped Lianus sit down and carefully dried his hair with a towel.

It seemed that without a maid, the bodyguard often served the prince.

"Nil, sit down quickly. Are you hungry? Sir Evan, come on. You haven't eaten anything but a sandwich all day."

Evan hesitated for a moment but then cautiously took a seat, as if it were a common occurrence.

Nihil lifted the cloak he had been sitting on and positioned himself as far away from Lianus as possible.

It was a considerate act, given that he was dirty while Lianus was freshly bathed and clean.

Lianus, not noticing this consideration, pretended to be disappointed but then saw that there was a lot of meat near him and thought, "I must really like meat," praising his past self for ordering "a lot of meat" and eagerly tore into the duck leg with his hands.

It was an improper dining etiquette, but when he saw his commoner knight, who was not used to noble dining manners, feeling uncomfortable, he had always acted this way until the knight got used to it.

This time, the consideration was naturally for Nihil, and Evan, understanding the meaning of the act, did not stop him.

On the other hand, Nihil, seeing the prince's consideration, was probably wondering, "Do I need to teach the prince dining etiquette first?"

The young prince, unaware of this, pushed a plate of steak towards his new friend, urging him to eat more.

Nihil, after a brief moment of hesitation, decided to eat since he was hungry.

"Delicious."

It had been a while since he had a proper meal. Until recently, he had been tearing into whole roasted rabbits rudely, so what did it matter if he held a fork and knife properly?

Lianus, watching Nihil silently clear his plate, smiled contentedly, thinking it was fortunate to be a prince. At least he could feed his friend a full meal of meat.

By the time Evan was rolling his eyes at Nihil's rapid eating, Nihil had paused while emptying his third plate, stuffed his cheeks with food, and then stacked the empty plates and pushed them towards Evan.

He then turned his head towards the door, grabbed his fork and knife, and quickly ran to the terrace, closing the window hurriedly.

The remaining two, unable to react, just stared at Nihil's odd behavior of running out to close the window while eating.

Then Lianus heard footsteps.

"Someone is coming."

Only then did Evan start to hear the footsteps.

They were light, like those of a young maid.

Evan marveled at the brat's animal-like senses. While it wasn't impossible to hear the sound if he listened carefully, it required constant vigilance to detect it while eating.

Evan quickly tidied up the chair Nihil had been sitting on and adjusted the position of the food, which had been piled up on one side of the table.

Soon, a knock was heard.

When Lianus, a bit tense, said to come in, a young maid with two braids entered, carrying a tray with two glasses of juice.

"Prince, you seem to be eating a lot of meat late at night, so I brought some kiwi and pineapple juice to aid digestion. But…, it seems the knight needs it more."

The maid smiled and looked at the stacked empty plates in front of Evan. Suddenly, Evan, who had eaten more than three plates by himself, couldn't argue and took the juice with a subtle expression, saying thank you.

"Prince, you really care a lot for the knight!"

No, it's unfair. This is the brat's food, not mine.

Evan gave the maid an awkward smile and subtly glanced at his master.

Lianus, also giving an awkward smile, rolled his eyes to avoid the knight's gaze and told the maid to prepare a generous breakfast for the next morning before dismissing her.

As soon as the maid left, the terrace window opened. Nihil dashed in and shamelessly grabbed Evan's share of the juice, drinking it all.

Then he said calmly,

"I thought I was going to choke to death."

"You……!"

Evan, already feeling wronged, was further infuriated by having his share of the juice taken right in front of him.

Of course, you would choke! You stuffed your cheeks with food!

"Why are you drinking that?"

"Why not? Since it was brought to aid digestion, the one who ate the most meat should drink it."

"……."

It was such a logical argument that Evan was speechless. If you only consider the purpose of the juice, it made sense.

Evan watched the brat sit down and pick up a piece of steak with a fork, putting it back in his mouth, unable to say anything.

Lianus, now seen as a prince who takes good care of his knight due to the maid's misunderstanding, watched the two for a moment, then, feeling guilty, pushed his own glass of juice towards Evan.

"Sir Evan, at least drink this. I'm sorry for not taking good care of you."

Evan, suddenly seen as a knight who craves his master's food, was speechless.