Lianus darted around, desperately trying to evade Nihil.
He tried hiding behind the Butler, and even grabbed onto the skirts of other Maids, but Nihil approached Lianus directly, not brushing against a single hem of anyone else’s clothes.
Though it was just a game, Lianus felt a twinge of fear and, forgetting he shouldn’t run, hurriedly ran to Evan, reaching out with both arms as if asking to be picked up.
It was clearly against the rules, but Evan couldn’t ignore the request of the Kitten Lord to be picked up, and he also wanted to see the Wildcat looking a little troubled, so he lifted Lianus up and set him on his shoulders.
Lianus’s view rose sharply, taking in the entire office at a glance.
Carrying Lianus on his shoulders, Evan strode across the room to a new spot.
Even for that kid, finding the Prince riding on someone’s shoulders would be difficult.
Even if he could track the direction by scent, if Lianus was up high out of reach, the Wildcat would have no choice but to give up.
Perched on Evan’s shoulders, Lianus clung tightly to Evan’s neck with his legs and hugged his head.
He looked like a squirrel shivering after being chased by a beast, making the Servants giggle.
Nihil seemed to hesitate for a moment, then turned his body in Evan’s direction and took a step, then another, approaching.
Unlike his previous unhesitating strides, his steps were a little slower now.
Watching Nihil approach, Lianus forgot it was a game and held his breath, covering his mouth.
Nihil, who had been coming closer, suddenly stopped six steps away.
The Servants, caught up in the tension, forgot to make noise as they should, and a heavy silence fell over the office.
Even Evan, who hadn’t been nervous, tensed up.
As the room grew quiet, Nihil tilted his head, then began tapping the floor with the balls of his feet.
In the empty space, the sound of Nihil’s footfalls echoed like the ticking of a clock, dominating the office with their steady rhythm.
How much time passed?
Sensing the positions of the Servants through the vibrations in the floor, Nihil smirked.
Clearly, one person was missing.
‘Looks like that dog put him up on his shoulders or something.’
Nihil moved forward very slowly, step by careful step, closing the distance to Evan to less than three paces.
So engrossed in the game, Lianus felt a mounting sense of fear as Nihil drew closer, shaking his head as if to say no. It felt as if he and Nihil were the only ones left in a world devoid of anything else.
Nihil stopped again.
Evan’s hair, gripped tightly by Lianus, was already a mess, and Lianus’s hands were still clenched, pulling out hair in real time.
Afraid the Prince would be found, Evan couldn’t even cry out in pain, just stared regretfully at the strands of hair falling from his head.
Nihil’s head slowly lifted. When it stopped, it was aimed directly at Lianus sitting on Evan’s shoulders.
A red arc curled on Nihil’s lips.
With a hint of laughter, Nihil whispered so softly that only Lianus and Evan could hear.
“Found. You.”
“UgyAAAAH!$%@#$@#!”
“Ugh, wa, Your Highness!”
The silence in the office was shattered by the screams of the two.
One was Lianus’s, a cry of terror at being found, and the other was Evan’s, who was being strangled and had his hair pulled by Lianus.
“It was… so scary.”
Nihil, unintentionally frightening Lianus, patted his shoulder to comfort him.
Lianus, still wary, reached out to Nihil and carefully untied the blindfold, checking thoroughly to see if there had been any holes in the cloth. But he couldn’t find even the tiniest one.
From Evan’s shoulders—
Evan, with his hair in disarray, tried to smooth it with his hand, but the loose strands caught and fell away.
“Uh, Sir Evan, I’m sorry.”
“…It’s all right.”
Evan grew a little gloomy as he watched his freed hair flutter away.
He wanted to give the smirking Wildcat a good smack, but if he did, the Prince who pulled his hair would be in trouble.
Regardless of Evan’s glare, Nihil covered Lianus’s eyes again with a black cloth.
With his vision blocked, Lianus felt his other senses sharpen.
“I can’t see anything.”
“Heh heh, well, that’s because your eyes are covered, Your Highness.”
The Butler, watching with a pleased smile, chuckled kindly.
Since the Prince was ‘It’ this round, the Butler, wanting to be caught, took a more active stance.
But it was the same for the other Servants, and soon everyone was eyeing each other warily.
“Are you going to count?”
One, two, three, four…
As Lianus counted, the Servants scattered busily. The Butler, apparently enjoying himself, grinned. Even Evan, who rarely moved from his spot, shifted away a bit.
“Here I come!”
After counting to ten, Lianus reached forward, shuffling awkwardly, and the Servants made a racket.
“Your Highness, over here!”
“Come this way!”
Voices and clapping overlapped. With so many simultaneous sounds, Lianus grew confused. His sharp hearing picked up every little noise, making it impossible to decide whom to chase. Then—thunk!—his toe bumped into a table leg.
“This is way too hard.”
When Nihil had effortlessly dodged the furniture while chasing him, Lianus hadn’t thought much of it, but now that he was ‘It,’ every step felt cautious.
Unable to watch, Nihil quietly moved any small, lightweight furniture that might trip Lianus into a corner.
Perhaps because the eager Servants made even more noise, Nihil kept clapping too, but his sound was drowned out and didn’t catch Lianus’s attention.
As Lianus stood frozen by all the noise, Evan advised him to focus on just one sound.
Lianus concentrated again.
Amid the chaos, a small but especially rhythmic clapping stood out. Lianus decided that must be Nihil’s and resolved to ignore everything else and follow only that sound.
Step by step.
Not as sure-footed or quick as Nihil, but more confident than before.
When he had almost reached the source, the steady clapping faltered, then shifted. As the sound he’d finally approached began to move away, Lianus hurriedly lunged and hugged the person.
“Got… you?”
Expecting Nihil, he thought he’d catch something small and slight like himself, but what he actually grabbed was a large, firm cylinder.
Lianus whipped off the black cloth covering his eyes. As his vision cleared, he saw his Knight staring at him with wide eyes.
“Sir Evan?”
Evan, not expecting to be caught, looked down in surprise at the tiny Kitten clinging to his thigh.
The little Kitten, seeing he hadn’t caught who he wanted, blinked in surprise but soon smiled sheepishly and hugged tighter.
“So it was you, Sir Evan. The small, steady clapping.”
“Impressive, Your Highness.”
To pick out his clapping in all that noise was no small feat. Evan was proud of the small, delicate Kitten smiling up at him.
Before they knew it, Nihil had come up beside Lianus.
Lianus, looking at Nihil, said he had wanted to surprise him too, sounding a little disappointed.
Nihil, who had no intention of letting himself be caught, just smiled and glanced up at Evan.
Meeting Nihil’s eyes, Evan smirked.
“Wildcat, get ready to be ‘It’ again.”
Challenged, Nihil curled his lips in a mocking smile.
Nihil whispered to Lianus, asking if, since Evan was a Knight, he shouldn’t get a handicap.
Lianus glanced at Evan, then nodded, thinking it was indeed unfair to use the same rules for everyone.
After all, his Knight had joined the Royal Knights at the youngest age ever—an incredibly outstanding talent!
“Since Sir Evan is a Knight, he can find you without clapping, right?”
“Of course.”
Even now, Evan was tracking Nihil’s presence.
The lighter, more relaxed footsteps than the Prince’s were clearly etched in his mind.
It was a much smaller sound than the others, but if he focused, he was confident he wouldn’t miss it.
“I’ll catch that Wildcat and present him to Your Highness.”
“Yes! Sir Evan, good luck!”
Lianus cheered for his Knight with all his heart.
Nihil hadn’t done anything bad, but being chased by him had been truly scary.
Lianus hoped Nihil would feel a little scared too.
In truth, he also wanted to see that ever-calm expression change, but he couldn’t imagine Nihil looking frightened.
Evan slowly counted to ten. The sounds of everyone scattering and stopping were vivid.
Even in the flurry, one set of footsteps moved with unhurried ease—Evan strode straight to where those small, light steps had stopped.
As he neared, the Prince’s light, bouncy footsteps brushed past his side.
Since Evan’s target was the Wildcat, not the Kitten, he let the Prince go by.
‘Wait, did His Highness come this way?’
The thought crossed his mind briefly, but Evan ignored it.
And soon regretted it. Where the Wildcat’s footsteps had stopped, there was nothing.
A clap rang out from behind. Evan’s head snapped toward the sound.
Since clapping was supposed to be forbidden, this must be the Wildcat taunting him for losing track.
But Evan only grew more tense. Though he heard the clapping, he couldn’t sense the boy’s presence at all. A brat who could mimic other people’s footsteps and hide his own presence even from a Knight.
Footsteps sounded again—this time, unmistakably the Wildcat’s. Before he could erase his presence again, Evan hurried after him.
But it wasn’t easy. Though the footsteps didn’t stop, the Wildcat slipped away from Evan’s grasp again and again, never staying in one place.
Everyone knew Nihil was the target, so they relaxed, but as he skirted dangerously close to the Servants, coming close to being caught several times, the tension grew.
“Ah, not me!”
The Coachman, almost caught, shouted and ran away.
Nihil skillfully led Evan’s pursuit toward the Servants. Several times, Evan nearly caught someone else, growing more and more frustrated.
Lianus, having forgotten Nihil was supposed to be caught, giggled as he watched. Playing together like this was just so much fun.
The Servants, worn out by Nihil’s antics, ended up pressing themselves against the walls to avoid him, even though he wasn’t ‘It.’
Right now, Nihil was a small, roaming disaster.
Just then, Nihil brushed past Lianus.
Grab!
“……?”
A question appeared on Lianus’s face. He’d thought Nihil had just passed by, but suddenly found himself hugged from behind.
As Lianus, startled to be in Nihil’s arms, started to turn to see what was happening, a large, rough hand landed on his small, round, dark green head.
“???”
Suddenly feeling a heavy weight on his head, Lianus’s eyes went wide as lanterns as he finally realized what had happened.
“Got you, Wildcat! ……?”
Evan pulled off the black cloth covering his eyes and checked the small, round head he’d grabbed.
It wasn’t white—it was dark green.
Behind him, Nihil, still hugging Lianus, lifted the corners of his mouth at Evan.
“Waaah! Sir Evan, you’re a dummy!”