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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Snack Time Introductions
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"So."
"Yeah!"
"You bought up every kind of snack..."
"Yeah!"
Lianus had returned to his bedroom, changed into light loungewear, and finished preparing for snack time.
Nihil stood speechless at the sight of the three-tier dessert tray filled to the brim, not to mention the tea table overflowing with all sorts of treats.
He shot a glare at the large guard dog standing beside him, as if asking why he hadn't stopped this nonsense, but Evan knew full well that his single comment had sparked the whole mess, so he silently turned his head and pretended not to notice.
"Lian."
"Yeah?"
"We can't eat all this, so leave a few and give the rest to the palace servants."
"But we have to try them all to know which ones are the tastiest."
"When your belly's full, even the good stuff tastes bad. We'll be eating snacks together from now on, so there's no need to stuff ourselves all at once."
"I get it! Since we'll be together from now on!"
"Right. So hurry and send them back."
"Yeah!"
Evan listened to the two boys' conversation and thought Nihil was surprisingly good at handling kids. He usually spoke in short bursts, but when dealing with children, he explained things patiently and gently. And he always wove in exactly the kind of words that made it impossible not to be convinced.
Lianus yanked hard on the cord connected to the chime bell. Now that he no longer had to hide Nihil, his newfound confidence made the bell ring out loudly.
It wasn't long before a maid knocked on the bedroom door. It was the twin-tailed girl who had brought juice the night before.
"You called for me, Your Highness? Oh!"
The twin-tailed maid's eyes went wide with shock upon seeing the unfamiliar outsider standing squarely in the bedroom.
It was surprising enough to find an outsider there, but his appearance was even more astonishing.
Snow-white hair like fresh fallen snow, eyes as deep and multicolored as a galaxy in the night sky. The white lashes softly veiling those eyes resembled a crescent moon floating in the darkness.
And even with almost no expression on his face, he was utterly beautiful.
Lianus watched Anna staring blankly at Nihil and thought back to how he'd done the same, brushing off her rudeness with ease.
"Anna, this is my friend Nil. He'll be staying in my palace from now on."
Lianus knew Nihil disliked his full name, so he introduced him as 'Nil' from the start.
Anna snapped out of her daze at Lianus's voice, startling and bowing deeply.
"Ah, y-yes! Hello, Young Master Nil. I'm Anna! I, uh, that is, you're very, um, very..."
"...?"
"...pretty."
"..."
Silence fell.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After blurting out that he was pretty, Anna stared at Nihil again as if entranced. At the prince's age, it was hard to tell if he was a boy or a girl, just like most kids his age. The ends of his white hair were jagged, as if roughly cut with scissors, but even so, he looked like a doll crafted from only the most precious and beautiful things.
Evan let out a stifled chuckle at the maid's bold remark. Snapping to her senses at the sound, Anna replayed her own words in her head and shuddered violently.
"Sor-sorry!"
Lianus let out a small "hm" and glanced at his friend, murmuring that he really was pretty as he nodded. But it was a problem if the maid kept staring at Nihil in a daze, so he got to the point.
"Anna, take these snacks and share them with the other servants."
"C-can I really take them?"
"Yeah. Oh, hold on. Nil, what do you want to eat?"
Nihil started to say "anything," but glanced at the maid and casually pointed to the nearest cookie package.
Lianus figured it was because the fancy snacks felt unfamiliar to him and selected that cookie package along with a few others, instructing the maid to take the rest.
"Anna, take the rest and bring some tea."
"Yes, Your Highness! Is there anything else you need?"
"Call the butler and the head maid."
"Yes! Right away!"
Anna bowed deeply, gathered up the snacks, and left the room with her neatly braided twin tails swaying.
Before long, another maid arrived with tea.
It wasn't Anna. She'd been chosen from a fierce competition among the maids—who all wanted to be the one to go after hearing about the prince's friend—because she made the best tea.
She'd come out of curiosity after all the hype about his beauty, but seeing him in person made her realize the hype didn't even come close.
The maid kept stealing glances at Nihil as she poured the tea, nearly letting it overflow, but Lianus waved it off and quickly dismissed her.
"Nil, if you keep enchanting the maids like that, it'll be a problem."
When Lianus said it like it was truly troubling, Nihil shrugged and replied.
"Can you blame me? A total stranger shows up in the prince's bedroom—wearing the prince's pajamas no less—sitting there enjoying tea time. How could anyone's eyes not go there?"
Evan narrowed his eyes, unable to fully agree with Nihil's point. It wasn't wrong, exactly, but that undeniable beauty was surely playing a big role.
Evan sighed deeply, thinking that face was going to cause endless trouble from now on, and took a sip of his tea.
Lianus tilted his head at Nihil's words, as if considering, then poured milk into his black tea and dropped in seven sugar cubes with a series of plops. He did the same for Nihil's cup.
"It's called milk tea. You can drink black tea straight, but this way is even tastier. Want more sugar?"
Nihil took a sip of the tea Lianus had sweetened for him and shook his head. No more sugar needed.
Lianus beamed and slid the fondant chocolate in front of Nihil. It still held a bit of warmth.
Nihil tried to split the fondant chocolate in half to share with Lianus, but as he scooped with the spoon, the chocolate oozed out from inside the bread, so he just ate it himself.
"That's fondant chocolate. It's best when it's warmer, but this one's pretty cooled off. How is it? Tasty?"
Lianus asked with sparkling eyes, and Nihil gave a casual nod before taking another bite. The chocolate was rich, but not overly sweet— the slight bitterness suited him. The milk tea Lianus had made was too creamy and sugary for his taste.
Lianus beamed at the sight of Nihil eating so well.
"Should I have them bring more?"
"Four are already drooling."
"Kuh, cough!"
Evan, who had been sipping his tea quietly, spat it out from the sudden ambush. He swore he'd only glanced once, but the little leopard had read his face perfectly.
'Does this kid have eyes on the side of his head or what?'
Lianus jumped up at the sound of Evan's coughing, scurried over, patted his back, and asked if he was okay.
Evan insisted he was fine, but honestly, he wasn't. If the leopard had just softened his language a bit, he wouldn't have been so startled.
"Sir Evan, it's not poisoned or anything, right?"
"No..."
"You got surprised. Nil, we don't keep dogs in the palace—where'd you see one?"
"..."
"..."
"I'm pretty sure you said at lunch that the only things you knew were one dog and me."
A brief silence fell. Evan couldn't bring himself to admit that the "dog" Nihil meant was him, and Nihil held his tongue, wondering if such phrasing was bad for the kid's emotional development.
Nihil quickly changed the subject.
"Lian, your knight looks like he wants some fondant chocolate."
"What? Sir Evan, you like this? Should I have them make one quick?"
Lianus's eyes went wide as he looked up at his knight. Evan had never once shown any sign of liking sweets, so he was quite shocked.
"N-no! I'm fine, really!"
"You don't like it...?"
The little kitten's eyes drooped pitifully. His expression looked so downcast as he murmured, 'But it's tasty...'
Nihil deliberately scooped a big spoonful of fondant chocolate and ate it, his blank face somehow more infuriating than a smirk.
Evan wanted to snap at Nihil for saying something so unnecessary, but after glancing at Lianus's droopy expression and opening his mouth a few times, he finally let out a big sigh.
"Next time... please save me one..."
"Got it! I won't forget!"
Lianus was delighted to learn one of his knight's favorite things. He still didn't quite grasp the dog comment, but overall, he was extremely—extremely—satisfied.
The butler and head maid arrived a bit late. Quite some time had passed since the call, but the 2nd Prince's palace was short-staffed, with the two of them handling all the important tasks, so the maid hadn't been able to track them down quickly.
Both were a little surprised to see a complete stranger—a child, no less—in the prince's bedroom, but their years of experience kept them from committing any rudeness like the other maids. They greeted him smoothly.
The butler appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, an elderly man, while the head maid was younger than expected—somewhere in her mid-to-late twenties.
"Butler, head maid, come on in. You must be really busy."
"My apologies, Your Highness. We've been running around, so we must have missed the maid."
The butler stepped forward to respond to Lianus, a kind smile on the kindly old man's face.
"No need to apologize. I know full well how busy you are. Maybe it's time to hire more servants."
"We're managing fine. Please don't push yourself."
"You're the ones pushing. Sorry for being stubborn about it. Figure out what we need and post hiring notices tomorrow if possible. But I'll handle the final selections myself."
"...Understood."
The butler seemed a bit surprised by Lianus's sudden order to bolster the staff, but he quickly smiled with crinkled eyes and nodded.
He had no idea what had changed the prince's usual wariness toward outsiders, but it was good news.
"I called you both because I wanted to introduce someone. This is my friend Nil. He'll be living here with me from now on."
Lianus turned slightly and pointed to Nihil beside him with a bright smile. The butler mirrored the smile and bowed toward Nihil.
"Pleased to meet you, Young Master Nil. I'm the butler, Paul."
"I'm the head maid, Perry."
Nihil gave only a slight nod in response, his white hair swaying gently with the motion.
It wasn't just his appearance—the utterly detached expression gave off such a mystical aura that the butler and head maid half-wondered if the prince had brought home some divine beast.
Lianus gazed at his amazing friend and grinned from ear to ear. Introducing a friend to others was starting to feel real. His heart tickled pleasantly.
His cheeks flushed pink and his eyes curved into round crescents with that smile—it was so endearing that the head maid, watching alongside, couldn't help smiling too. It was the first time she'd seen the prince smile like this, and for the butler, it had been two years.
"Where shall we prepare the young master's bedroom?"
Head Maid Perry asked politely.
All eyes naturally went to Nihil, who was wearing the prince's pajamas so casually. Given how he'd apparently stayed the night already—and how all the servants had been dismissed last night—they guessed he must have already given his friend a room.
A competent head maid would tactfully pretend not to notice and assign one naturally...
"Huh...? Nil sleeps with me in my room, though..."
...Pardon?