Chapter 23: Teacher

Lianus’s once lively voice settled into a calm tone.

It was because he didn’t like seeing his close friend being ignored right in front of him.

“But, Your Highness. You must be clear about hierarchy…!”

“Countess, I am much clearer about hierarchy than you think. And if my close friend had cowered just because I’m a Prince, we wouldn’t be friends at all. True friendship is built on equality. Even if he is a commoner, His Majesty has granted him entry into the Royal Palace, and he’s staying here as my friend, and also as a guest. So it would be troublesome if you openly disregard him like that. If my friend’s attitude as a student was lacking, you should have pointed it out during class. But didn’t you treat him not as a student at all? My friend has no particular interest in learning, so I didn’t intervene, but if you’re displeased with his attitude, I hope you’ll treat him as a student and guide him accordingly next time.”

Surprisingly logical and firm in tone, Lianus’s words made the silent bystander blink in astonishment.

Nihil, finding Lianus admirable, unconsciously raised his hand to pat his head, but quickly lowered it when the Countess’s gaze grew sharp.

“…I was thoughtless. I apologize, Your Highness.”

“I’d like you to apologize to my friend as well.”

The Countess, who had been feigning composure, frowned slightly. She didn’t seem inclined to apologize to a commoner.

Watching the exchange indifferently, the bystander squeezed Lianus’s hand tightly and shook his head. It meant to let it go.

“Lian, there’s no need to defend me. I can’t promise I’ll sit up straight in every class anyway.”

Even after being insulted as an uneducated commoner right to his face, Nihil’s expression remained indifferent.

But Lianus felt even worse because of Nihil’s nonchalance. Somehow, it looked like he was used to such treatment.

Lianus grumbled, his cheeks puffed out.

“Nil, if someone heard you, they’d think you slept through class or sprawled out on the desk.”

“If the treatment is going to be the same anyway, maybe I should just lie down.”

Ah, that actually sounds like a good idea!

Lianus’s eyes sparkled and he broke into a broad smile, as if he’d never been upset.

“Should I bring in a bed, then?”

“…No.”

Nihil couldn’t say yes, not even as a joke. He knew Lianus meant it.

If he agreed, a bed would really appear in the drawing room.

People say you can’t even drink cold water in front of a child, but why does my kid always make me drink the water?

Still, knowing Lianus had no bad intentions, Nihil covered his face with a hand, sighed, and forced his slouched body upright.

And then, meeting the eyes of the Countess, who had been watching in shock.

Nihil signaled with his eyes: my kid is this obsessed with me, so if you don’t want trouble, let’s just wrap this up quickly.

Maybe Nihil’s intent got across, or maybe it was because the Countess caught sight of the Prince still only looking at his friend even in the midst of all this, but she cleared her throat and regained her composure.

“Hmm, hmm. I am sorry.”

Nihil didn’t reply, only gave a slight nod.

The Countess frowned again at Nihil’s arrogant attitude, but perhaps she didn’t want to deal with him, so she bowed to Lianus and hurriedly left.

Nihil watched the Countess’s retreating back with an indifferent but persistent gaze.

No doubt, rumors about the arrogant commoner the Prince picked up would soon spread. And that the Prince was protecting him.

If rumors didn’t spread, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to draw her into Lianus’s circle.

“Nil, were you surprised by the sudden lesson today? I’m sorry.”

Lianus apologized again for what had happened at lunch.

Truthfully, he was a bit anxious that Nihil might say he didn’t want to attend lessons together anymore.

“It’s fine. Actually, I think it’s good to know about the tutors in advance. What’s the history tutor like?”

“The history tutor is my favorite! I’m sure you’ll like him too.”

Lianus seemed excited, happy to have something to share with his friend, and started chattering away.

The history tutor’s name was Karus Francesca.

At twenty years old, he had inherited his family at the young age of fifteen and was known as the young Marquis of Francesca.

He was the history tutor for the Princes, but his main job was as a professor at the Academy, where he taught the Imperial Language and several other languages.

His specialty wasn’t actually history, but languages.

However, he was so intelligent that as he studied languages, he naturally became extremely knowledgeable about history as well.

Most of the territory management was left to his younger siblings, and he was so focused on linguistic research that he spent most of his time at the Academy.

The reason he took on the Princes’ lessons was because the King had promised to grant him access to part of the royal library, which was only open to royalty—and he jumped at the offer.

The Francesca family hadn’t always been known for political neutrality, but because the current head avoided politics, the family’s territory had quietly become one of the Kingdom’s leading neutral zones.

“…And the Marquis has light teal hair. At our first meeting, he was delighted to see someone with green hair outside his family and told me to call him by name.”

Lianus finished his explanation with a bashful smile.

That smile made Nihil, who had been inputting information about the Marquis with indifference, raise the Marquis’s internal rating a little.

Out of five points, maybe a two.

Starting from zero, that was a generous score for Nihil.

At first, history class proceeded much like etiquette lessons. Lianus played the diligent student, while Nihil fulfilled his role as the silent bystander.

But as time passed, the class became more relaxed: comments about how splitting into groups was nice, how the First Prince was too stiff, whether he could be more comfortable in class, or that the Prince’s friend should focus more…

The history tutor’s light chatter began to mix in.

The history tutor was more free-spirited—and a bit more eccentric—than expected.

No, much more eccentric.

He didn’t scold Nihil for lounging comfortably in his chair, but if Nihil slouched too much or tried to lie down, he would rush over, lift him up high to make him “taste the air,” then set him back down.

Nihil, after being lifted up several times, was bewildered at first but soon adapted, and eventually learned to slouch just enough to avoid being picked up.

Lianus, too, was surprised by the tutor’s odd behavior, but burst into laughter when he saw Nihil dangling indifferently.

Perhaps that bright laughter was why Nihil was lifted up even more.

After about an hour of class, the history tutor suggested a break, taking out a bundle of cookies from his bag and handing them to his cute students.

“These are a gift. My adorable youngest sibling baked them! Honestly, I wanted to brag.”

“Thank you, teacher!”

Lianus smiled brightly as he accepted the cookies.

Nihil, still slouched, only followed the cookie bundle placed on his desk with his eyes.

Among the lightly golden cookies, a few chocolate-colored ones were mixed in.

Judging by their uneven shapes, the youngest sibling must still be very young.

There was a crinkling sound as the cookie bag opened, and a cookie was suddenly offered to Nihil.

Nihil glanced at Lianus, who was holding out the cookie, then accepted it and took a bite.

The cookie tasted burnt and bitter.

Nihil straightened up, brow twitching.

He chewed in silence, wondering if this was how the cookies were supposed to taste, when the tutor spoke up.

“Ah, my sibling said they didn’t add chocolate, but somehow a few turned out like chocolate cookies! My sibling must be a genius!”

They’re just burnt!

Nihil couldn’t bring himself to spit it out and forced himself to swallow the burnt cookie.

Glancing to the side, he saw Lianus reaching for a charcoal cookie.

Nihil quickly called out to Lianus.

“Lian.”

“Hm?”

“…Can you show me where the Kingdom of Harpens is?”

Glancing quickly around, Nihil drew Lianus’s attention to the world map spread out on the desk.

With the history tutor watching with sparkling eyes, Nihil couldn’t exactly tell him not to eat the cookie.

Lianus, excited at the chance to teach his friend something, scooted over and sat right beside Nihil.

“Nil, the Kingdom of Harpens is here! Our kingdom has a very short coastline. On both sides, we’re bordered by the Empire and the Berlem Kingdom.”

“What’s this?”

Nihil pointed to a small island near the Kingdom of Harpens. It was the Duchy of Lefne, made up of a large crescent-shaped island and several rounder islets.

“This is the Duchy of Lefne. The crescent-shaped island is Nemea, and the round one next to it is Margarita. That’s where the Grand Duke who gave you the elixir resides. But actually, the map isn’t accurate. You can’t go there without a portal. The Grand Duke cast magic to completely hide the entire island. The coordinates change every day, so unless the Duchy of Lefne tells you, you can’t get there.”

Nihil nodded at Lianus’s explanation. So the Grand Duke, being Demonkind, could use quite a wide range of magic.

“Rumor has it the Duchy of Lefne is heavily infested with miasma and Demonkind, making it dangerous for humans. That’s why the Grand Duke put up magic barriers so humans can’t just wander in out of curiosity.”

“Have you ever been there?”

“No. The Grand Duke rarely interacts with others except for official business, and when necessary, he comes here himself rather than bringing outsiders into his domain. Still, I am a little curious about the Duchy of Lefne.”

“I’m curious too!”

The history tutor suddenly raised his hand, joining the conversation.

“Demonkind are said to have long lifespans, so their history must be deep and unique. I’d love to study their language too! And surely they know many ancient words that humans have forgotten. In fact, I once tried to persuade His Grace the Grand Duke for a favor, but was turned down.”

“Ha ha, I almost lost my hand that time.”

The history tutor scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

Nihil narrowed his eyes, giving him a sleepy stare as if to say, What kind of person is this?

Then ignored him and turned back to the world map.

There, in one corner of the map, he noticed a scribbled note.

At a glance, it looked like a recipe for some kind of seafood stew with all sorts of ingredients thrown in.

Lianus didn’t seem like the type to doodle on a map, so perhaps he really wanted to eat seafood stew, Nihil thought, and asked if he liked seafood.

“Seafood? I like shrimp. But seafood is rare here, so we don’t get it often. Why do you ask? Do you want some?”

“This scribble…”

He trailed off.

Now that he looked closer, the script was similar to the continent’s writing system, but the pronunciation was—

Completely different.

Which language was this again…