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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Old Maid Blues
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Sir Evan's light brown hair, which had been yanked countless times already, was a tousled mess, as if he'd just rolled out of bed.
Lianus gazed regretfully at the strands of light brown hair drifting down onto his own bed, then turned to Nihil and spoke.
"Nil, you're really something. How do you even know? Sir Evan doesn't usually hide his feelings, but when he tries, it's seriously hard to spot."
"Just by looking."
"Hmm, do I need a Jack?"
"Take the second one from the right."
At Nihil's words, Lianus didn't hesitate and plucked out the second card from the right.
"...."
It was the Old Maid—the Queen.
"Ah, I meant the second from my right."
Nihil's face remained impassive, but Lianus, who had drawn the Queen, couldn't hide his stiffening expression.
Realizing he was likely to lose at this rate, Lianus shuffled his hand and spread the cards face down across the bed in a way even he couldn't track their positions.
"Sir Evan, pick one!"
"This defeats the purpose of psychological warfare, doesn't it?"
"This is the only way I might beat Nil even once."
"…I see."
Sir Evan nodded as if in understanding. In that moment, an alliance formed between the kitten and the guard dog.
"But for that guy to lose, don't I need to take the Old Maid first?"
"…Will you take it if I hand it over?"
"…No."
The alliance crumbled in mere seconds.
Nihil snorted derisively at their banter.
Sir Evan, with a resolute expression, drew one of Lianus's face-down cards and added it to his hand.
No card was discarded, and seeing no change in his expression, Lianus figured the Old Maid hadn't come his way. As he reached to gather his cards, Nihil spoke up.
"It did."
"What, really?"
"...."
At Nihil's confirmation, Lianus hurriedly scraped up his cards from the bed. Sir Evan's face crumpled in dismay.
Checking his hand, Lianus saw the Queen was indeed gone and let out a gleeful chuckle.
Sir Evan feigned a blank expression while inwardly cursing the sneaky fox, then shuffled his own cards and laid them face down on the bed just as Lianus had.
This was his only shot at winning.
"You're really committed."
"Shut up and pick."
Nihil indifferently selected a card from the sprawl on the bed, checked it, and matched a pair, slapping down two cards. Now only two remained in his hand.
"Rian, your turn. Got a three?"
"Um, no."
Nihil gave a light laugh at the honest reply.
"Rian, you can't just tell me everything when I ask."
"What? Then you shouldn't have asked!"
Lianus protested that he couldn't possibly lie to a friend who asked, insisting it wasn't his fault.
Seemingly pleased by Lianus's overly transparent honesty, Nihil offered a faint smile and held out a card.
"It's a Jack. Here."
"...."
Lianus stared at the proffered card, hesitating to take it right away.
Was this a lie or the truth?
Having been handed the Queen in the previous round, Lianus couldn't bring himself to grab it immediately. He tried to read Nihil's face, only to reaffirm that the guy was just pretty.
"Give me something else."
"Won't regret it?"
He wavered at the question but soon nodded with grim determination.
Nihil handed over the Club three as requested, muttering under his breath, "Guess we'll go a few more rounds."
"...Hng."
"Told you to trust your friend."
Lianus grumbled "Yeah, you're right..." as he shuffled and set down his cards.
"Sir Evan, pick."
"I'd prefer you draw a Jack if possible."
"...."
Sir Evan vowed not to draw the Jack Nihil wanted and picked the nearest card. After checking it, he matched a pair and discarded.
Now three cards remained in Sir Evan's hand.
Still including the Old Maid.
He placed the three cards resolutely on the bed and gestured at Nihil to hurry up and pick.
Nihil knew no matter which he chose, the game wouldn't end this turn, so he casually selected one, checked it, and found himself staring into the Queen's eyes. The Old Maid had returned to him.
Sir Evan checked his hand, visibly delighted to see the Old Maid gone, but Lianus, fixated only on Nihil's expression, missed that the Queen had moved to Nihil's hand.
Maintaining his blank face, Nihil shuffled his remaining two cards.
"Rian, it's fifty-fifty."
Lianus groaned in agony. One of those two had to be a Jack, the other the card Nihil had just drawn from Evan.
"Want me to pick for you?"
"…Yeah."
Nihil held out one card. This time, Lianus snatched it without suspicion.
Had he known the Old Maid was in Nihil's hand, he might have chosen more carefully—but it was already too late; it had passed to him.
"Aaaah!"
In the end, the game concluded with Lianus's defeat.
Nihil finished on the next turn, while Sir Evan leveraged his knight-honed dynamic vision to track the Old Maid's position with fierce tenacity, dodging it every time.
With the Old Maid refusing to leave Lianus's hand, defeat was inevitable.
Nihil eyed Sir Evan coolly.
"Knight training wasn't meant for spotting the Old Maid."
"...Shut up."
"Desperate enough to crush a kid just to win?"
"You first—lose once and then talk!"
Sir Evan bristled at Nihil, questioning if he even had a conscience.
Lianus gathered the cards from the bed and spoke up.
"In the end, I didn't win against Nil even once."
"Bring a game you're good at."
At that, Lianus pondered what games he excelled in. But having lacked friends, he hadn't played many, so no answers came. Truth be told, Old Maid was something he'd only heard of before today.
And above all, he doubted he'd beat Nihil at anything. It felt impossible.
"Rian."
As he mulled it over, Nihil called him.
"Yeah?"
"Food's here."
"Oh!"
Food. The priority.
Crucially important mealtime.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Lianus was relieved to see Nihil with an appetite.
After all, they'd said truly ill people lose their hunger. Moreover, hadn't he failed to properly feed his friend this morning, making yesterday's vow to take good care of him ring hollow?
So, using the excuse that since he was much better, he needed hearty meals to recover fully, Lianus had ordered three servings.
The servants were shocked to learn belatedly that their master had been ill, their eyes widening in surprise. Lianus, in turn, was stunned they hadn't known.
It turned out Sir Evan hadn't reported his condition, instead telling them the prince had overeaten yesterday and to prepare easily digestible food.
Nihil, too lazy to even hide it now, nudged Sir Evan's foot and jerked his chin toward the door—go fetch the food already.
Sir Evan narrowed his eyes but, considering the guy's all-night ordeal and breakfast of just bread, rose without complaint to retrieve the meal.
As the food was served and Nihil roughly sliced his steak, stabbing a piece with his fork, Lianus spoke.
"What should we do this afternoon?"
"Anything you want."
"Hmm, uh, I've never had time to play because of classes... Ah, classes!"
Lianus's face fell.
My classes... what about them?
He shot to his feet. Waking up to entertain his bored best friend with cards had made him forget about lessons entirely.
"Sit."
"Ah, okay."
At Nihil's firm command, Lianus obediently sat back down.
A friend tells you to sit? You sit. Standing up mid-meal is rude. Of course.
Sir Evan gaped at the scene, dumbfounded. No lèse-majesté was this blatant.
"Your Highness, you had a fever all night. Rest today. I've informed your afternoon tutors."
"I see."
Lianus looked a bit downcast and popped a piece of meat into his mouth. His chewing slowed as he thought, his expression hardening.
"I'll fall behind again like this. I should at least go to afternoon classes..."
"No."
At Nihil's curt refusal, Lianus peeked up before slumping again. The mood darkened. Worry flickered in Sir Evan's eyes.
Lianus mumbled around his food.
"Nil, sorry. Can't play more today."
"Rest."
"Can't."
"Why."
"I get sick a lot, miss classes often. Can't study, grades are a mess... Older Brother's smart, I can barely keep up, lessons keep going, and I'm... an idiot. Forgot classes playing, what now..."
Unaware Nihil had led him there on purpose, Lianus buried his face in his hands, berating himself nonstop.
Nihil glanced at Sir Evan amid the rambling self-reproach. Sir Evan's face was tense too.
Was it trauma? Lianus's yellow-green eyes trembled nonstop. They reddened, welling with tears on the verge of spilling. His hands on the table grew damp, fidgeting restlessly; his seaweed-like hair sagged limply.
Nihil watched quietly.
So that's why the guard dog had yapped about classes at dawn. He blinked slowly a few times.
He had no intention of indulging the mutt's nonsense that disrupted his sleep, but left alone, the seaweed would drown in slime.
Hate playing into the dog's scheme, but no choice.
"Rian."
"Y... yeah..."
"Classes every day? With the 1st Prince?"
"Y-yeah, no. Just weekdays. Some days many, some few..."
"Rian, what if you go to classes and I'm bored? You're the only friend I know here besides that dog."
The listening dog bristled but stayed quiet under the table, clenching his fist—he knew Nihil was helping Lianus.
"U-um, s-sorry, Nil. But classes are..."
"Rian, could I come along? I'd just sit quietly and watch."
"Wh-what?"
Lianus's face brightened a little. If Nihil joined classes, they could stay together. Good for him, and Nil wouldn't be lonely.
Nil might learn something too—books were rare treasures for commoners, so it'd be a great experience.
As Lianus nodded eagerly,
"Ah, but the 1st Prince would hate a commoner like me there... You don't discriminate, Rian, but other royals aren't as kind..."
Sir Evan's jaw dropped at Nihil's woebegone words.
The fox was peddling medicine.