Suddenly, the grey cat that had appeared out of nowhere frowned and spoke.
“…Why are you here? Lianus, no, never mind. Follow me.”
Evan stared blankly at the creature for a moment.
The pure white hair, once as white as snow, was now a dull ash-gray, and its clothes were covered in dirt from head to toe.
Nihil hesitated at the bedroom door, his dirt-covered shoes stopping him, then threw them off and hurried over to Evan, grabbing his sleeve tightly.
“…? Hey, where are you going!”
Pulling Evan along, Nihil quickly exited Lianus’s bedroom and headed straight for his own room.
The king and his escort knights, caught off guard by the sudden situation, followed in a line, clutching their herb pouches.
Opening the terrace window, Nihil handed something to Evan and spoke.
“This is Chasing Incense that only I can use. There’s an outsider lurking around the first-floor bedrooms. It seems like they’re looking for me, so spray this on them and chase them away.”
“An outsider? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Evan was confused by the unexpected news, but Nihil patted his thigh and urged him to hurry down.
“Go quickly. There’s no need to kill them; just drive them off.”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Despite his frustration, Evan couldn’t delay any longer and immediately jumped out from the terrace.
The intruder fled as soon as they spotted Evan, but following Nihil’s request, Evan pretended to chase after them, sprayed the Chasing Incense, and then returned to the bedroom.
However, when he returned, the cat was nowhere to be found. Only bundles of herbs and the porters—actually the king and his escort knights disguised as porters—were huddled together.
“…? Where did he go?”
At Evan’s question, Sedess nodded toward the bathroom.
“He went inside there.”
“……..”
Evan made a subtle face at the cats behavior, who just did what he had to do regardless of whether a stranger was present or not.
Of course, it was stranger for him to stay in that state any longer.
Who knew what he had been up to, but he was covered in dirt from head to toe.
‘He wouldn’t have buried gold coins in the ground, would he?’
Evan wondered if the cat was hiding emergency funds for when he got kicked out, but since he seemed to have shown the king something unpleasant, he sighed deeply and bowed his head toward Sedess.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Even I didn’t expect the child to be in such a state. Still, it’s been quite an eventful day.”
“……..”
Evan lowered his head even more in silence. How had it come to this?
At that moment, the bathroom door suddenly swung open.
Whether he hurried to wash or not, the white cat emerged, water still dripping from his hair.
“…So he was white-haired. And with such mysterious eyes.”
Seeing Nihil come out of the bathroom, Sedess slightly widened his eyes and muttered quietly.
Even the shadow knights disguised as coachmen and porters were entranced by Nihil’s unexpected beauty.
They had called him a doll, a beastman, or a sacred beast, so they assumed he was pretty, but his appearance exceeded expectations.
He wasn’t just pretty; words like beautiful or mystical fit him better.
But the words that came from that beautiful child’s mouth were anything but beautiful.
“I never thought the child’s father would come down personally this quickly.”
“……..”
“……..”
The bedroom instantly grew calm.
***
Nihil, the source of the silence, didn’t even glance at Sedess as he threw the dripping towel into the laundry basket and grabbed a dry one to shake his hair.
Water splattered everywhere, but no one dared to speak first.
Evan looked at the king’s entourage as if wondering when they had been discovered, but the king and his escort knights just stared at the child dumbfounded.
Nihil looked directly at Sedess and spoke.
“So, what are you so curious about to come all this way, huh? Ugh!”
Before he could say more, Evan hurriedly covered Nihil’s mouth. If left unchecked, Evan thought his own heart might give out first.
“If you realize he’s His Majesty, at least pretend to show some respect!”
“……..”
With his mouth covered, Nihil blinked several times, then glanced at Evan, then Sedess, before lowering his gaze.
Evan, thinking Nihil had calmed down, removed his hand from the child’s mouth, but the cat immediately spat out more rude words.
“…If you’ve moved all my stuff, send the porters away.”
Hating to speak politely, Nihil acted oblivious and tried to send out the king and his escorts—no, the porters.
“You little…!”
“…Enough. Since they came as my porters, I won’t fault you for lack of respect. But how did you know? It’s not easy to recognize someone using a magic item.”
Sedess raised his hand to stop Evan, who was about to step forward, and dispelled the magic. It was an item that blurred the user’s presence, but apparently, it didn’t work on this child.
Nihil, slipping from Evan’s grasp, finished drying his hair and replied nonchalantly.
“They smell similar to Lianus.”
“……..”
“……..”
Are they really beasts?
That thought filled everyone’s minds at once.
Nihil continued as if it was nothing.
“Besides, he brought along four escort knights, so it would be impossible not to notice.”
“So you noticed they were escort knights, too? But you should count properly. Sir Evan isn’t your escort knight, so there should only be three.”
“Three?”
“Yes.”
Nihil didn’t answer but draped the towel over his shoulder and stared at Sedess for a long moment.
It was quite disrespectful, but Sedess, intrigued, met his gaze with shining golden eyes.
Nihil blinked several times and then slowly moved toward the wall. Reaching toward the shadow cast there, he gently grabbed something invisible.
Raising his gaze a bit higher, Nihil smiled brightly and said,
“Hello, brother? Looks like you got fired as an escort knight. Want to be my escort knight?”
Everyone in the bedroom was stunned speechless at that cheerful remark. They had only known of the shadow’s existence but had no idea where he was watching from.
Evan rubbed his goosebump-covered arm.
The presence of the shadow was surprising enough, but the cat smiling and calling him “brother” was just unbearable.
A silhouette gradually appeared in Nihil’s palm as the magic item that helped conceal him was dismantled.
The shadow knight he had grabbed looked at his master awkwardly.
Nihil went even further, shaking the hand he held.
“Huh? There’s only one dog at the Second Prince’s Palace, so it’s pretty tough being alone. Brother, you should be the dog here, too.”
“……..”
“Brother, you got fired anyway. Sad but what can you do? Find a new master.”
“Y-you crazy bastard!!”
Unable to hold back, Evan grabbed his head and shouted as he quickly yanked Nihil away. Nihil still clung to the “fired escort knight brother’s” hand, dangling from Evan’s grasp.
“Why are you like this today!”
“Jealous? Don’t worry. Even if a new dog joins, you’ll be first.”
“That’s not the point! And stop calling me that in front of others!”
“Isn’t it nice to have one more escort knight? His stealth level looks pretty useful. Especially since he just got fired. Right, brother?”
Nihil smiled brightly again at the shadow knight he was holding, not forgetting to wiggle the hand a little.
Judging by the sudden change in atmosphere, the child was mocking the king and his knights and thoroughly enjoying making Evan uncomfortable.
Nihil laughed even more cheerfully as if the king’s lies and the knights’ sensing abilities were trivial.
The shadow knight whose hand was held couldn’t pull away, still awkwardly staring at his master with pleading eyes.
Evan forcibly opened the hand and distanced Nihil while embracing him.
Finally, Sedess, who had been dazed, spoke.
“…How did you know?”
“By the smell… and a few other things.”
“…Truly amazing. Now I understand why such rumors spread.”
“Are you really a beastman?”
“No. So, will you give him the escort knight or not?”
Nihil pointed at the shadow knight and asked.
Sedess hesitated.
“…I admit I lied. Sorry, but that one is the strongest of my shadows, so I can’t give him up. How about the others?”
The others flinched. If they weren’t careful, they’d be in the hands of this mischievous child.
Fortunately, Nihil shook his head.
“We don’t need anything weaker than that.”
“Ruthless.”
“I never intended to take them in the first place. So put him down already, dog.”
Nihil tapped Evan’s arm and said. Evan felt uneasy but carefully set the cat down.
Nihil looked up at Evan and continued.
“And you, put the gold coins you picked up back where you found them. Lianus hid them to play treasure hunting.”
“So those gold coins were for treasure hunting?”
Sedess’s eyes sparkled with interest.
The child was unique but played diligently with the prince.
Evan sighed.
Now it made sense why Nihil had been running around so much—he was playing treasure hunt with the prince.
He couldn’t even scold him for it.
Ignoring the attention on him, Nihil turned toward Sedess and gestured to the sofa.
“Please, sit down, Father. You came all this way in that state, so I can’t serve tea. But you should at least satisfy your curiosity before leaving.”
Sedess looked at the child addressing him as “Father” with a surprisingly old-fashioned tone and regarded him with fascination.
Evan wanted to grab Nihil and shut that damn mouth, but since Sedess had already taken a seat and gestured for Nihil to sit opposite, he held back.
Naturally, Nihil didn’t refuse and jumped onto the sofa.
Behind Sedess, the escort knights stood in a line. Surely the oppressive presence was overwhelming, but the white-haired child swung his feet nonchalantly.
“The treasure hunting story is quite interesting. Do you usually play like this with the Second Prince? It seems you’ve roamed the entire palace. Isn’t that too broad an area for treasure hunting?”
“Isn’t a wide area better? Wherever Lianus goes, he can find treasure.”
“…An unexpected perspective.”
Sedess nodded, calling it an inefficient but very efficient way of treasure hunting.
“But what about the gold coins you couldn’t find?”
“I’ll collect them later. If I can’t, then there’s nothing I can do.”
“I heard you’re a wandering orphan but have a generous spending habit.”
“I don’t hold back when it’s necessary.”
Evan grimaced at that.
He wanted to ask if that was the prince’s money or his, but he couldn’t interrupt the conversation with the king, so he just glared at the back of the child’s white head.
“You should have hidden jewels instead. They’re easier to track, and the servants would bring them back even if they found them. Gold coins would be taken away if discovered. You were short-sighted.”
“I hid them deliberately while the servants were watching. They’ll fetch them on their own.”
“Naive thinking. There aren’t many honest people in the world like you think.”
Sedess felt a bit of pity watching the very smart but still innocent child before him.
Nihil grinned crookedly under that gaze. Then he gestured at Evan and asked,
“Aren’t you curious how I knew you picked up the gold coins?”
“……..”
At those words, Sedess raised an eyebrow.
Come to think of it, how had the child known? From the moment he asked why Evan was there, he seemed unaware of Sedess’s visit…
Sedess pondered for a long while but couldn’t find the answer. Then, the Second Prince’s escort knight cautiously spoke up.
“…Incense.”
Nihil smiled at Evan.
“You’re quite perceptive.”
“…It’s unsettling when you smile. Don’t.”
Nihil shrugged off Evan’s needless worry and turned to Sedess.
“As you heard, I scented the gold coins. If someone fills their pockets with the owner’s gold coins, I’ll deal with them. That gold will be their severance pay.”
Sedess’s expression stiffened at those words
“…So treasure hunting was just an excuse from the start.”