Sedess narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the white-haired boy.
To think that the first thing he does upon entering the palace is to change the water. If this went wrong, the Second Prince’s Palace might end up in this kid’s hands.
Was it really alright to keep him so close to the Second Prince?
Nihil sensed that the boy’s father was starting to be wary of him, but he didn’t bother correcting his assumptions.
The more uneasy he felt, the more attention he would pay to Lianus.
Nihil rose from the sofa.
Despite all eyes on him, he maintained his composure as he arranged the sacks of herbs.
Everyone subtly watched as the small boy carried a heavy bundle of herbs around.
Eventually, Evan couldn’t hold back and spoke up.
“Need a hand?”
“No, it’s fine. And though it couldn’t be helped this time, next time try to make sure the herbs don’t end up in someone else’s hands. We’re feeding a kid here; we need to be careful… Wait, what’s this?”
Nihil stopped moving the herbs and opened an unusually small bundle. It wasn’t on the herb list he’d written.
He touched the leaves and sniffed, but although the scent felt vaguely familiar, he couldn’t immediately place it.
In truth, it was a pouch Sedess had picked at random from the herb storage to test Nihil. He was curious if Nihil really knew anything about herbs. The problem was, even Sedess himself didn’t know what he had picked.
Sedess subtly observed Nihil.
“Is there something mixed in with the others?”
“……”
Nihil quickly realized Sedess was testing him, and with great irreverence, narrowed his eyes and glared back before putting a leaf of the herb into his mouth.
The scent was familiar, but it was an herb he had never eaten before.
Evan watched worriedly as Nihil chewed on the herb leaf.
“Do you even know what you’re eating?”
“I don’t, which is why I’m eating it. The scent seems familiar, but I don’t think I’ve ever ingested it.”
If it had been an herb he’d used before, he would have recognized the taste. He always tested the herbs on himself first.
So this must be an herb he had never handled personally but had smelled somewhere as a fragrance. Yet, he couldn’t quite recall where he had smelled it.
…Actually, it was quite recent…
“Ah.”
Nihil suddenly spat out the leaf and handed the herb pouch to Evan.
“Throw this away. Take it back to the herb storage.”
“What is it?”
Evan rummaged through the pouch and sniffed as Nihil had, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t identify it. Just as he was about to taste it, Nihil quickly spoke up.
“You pup, don’t eat just anything. That’s a sleeping drug.”
“……”
Evan froze, still holding the herb leaf he had almost tasted. The pouch slipped from his hand, scattering herbs across the floor.
“You really wanted to test me, huh? But of all things, you pick something like this?”
“……”
Nihil frowned and scolded Sedess.
Sedess had no retort and kept his mouth firmly shut. The bodyguards, hearing the word “sleeping drug,” didn’t dare question Nihil’s irreverence and instead glanced nervously at their lord.
Evan, finally coming to his senses, lifted Nihil up and inspected him carefully.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s a negligible amount, so there’s no need to worry.”
Still suspicious, Evan carried Nihil in his arms and gathered the scattered herbs. This dangerous stuff needed to be disposed of quickly.
Nihil remained calm despite being jostled in Evan’s arms. As Evan stared at the fireplace, ready to burn the herbs, Nihil added an explanation just in case.
“Pup, you have to burn this to use it, so don’t ever burn it inside. Judging by where it was found in the herb storage, there might be other uses I don’t know about. It’s tolerable for adults, but it’s very potent for kids, so if you burn it, do it outside the palace.”
Sedess, who had been silent, cautiously asked,
“Are you sure it’s a sleeping drug?”
“No. It might not be. It doesn’t have much effect on me.”
Nihil recalled the other kids on the slave ship who had smelled this scent and spoke hesitantly.
“At first, it made me sleepy, but after a while, my body heated up and my eyes glazed over. It might be useful as a painkiller in emergencies, but I wouldn’t recommend it because the side effects are unknown.”
“Where did you learn that? Is it reliable information?”
Nihil squirmed in Evan’s arms, trying to get comfortable, then leaned against him irreverently and said,
“I saw kids who smelled this herb. If you don’t believe me, just try burning some yourself. Or test it on your father’s dogs.”
“……”
“Experiencing things firsthand is best,” Nihil added without mercy.
Everyone was dumbfounded again.
Unbothered, Nihil hugged Evan’s neck tightly and added,
“Just so you know, my dog’s off limits. I only have one, and it would be a disaster if it got in heat… ugh!”
Evan quickly covered Nihil’s mouth. It was useless since Nihil had already said everything.
“Please watch your words!”
Evan felt like crying. Without the prince around, he had no way to control the wild child’s mouth. This was surely revenge for all the mockery earlier that morning.
He hurriedly bowed repeatedly toward Sedess.
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
“Enough. How refreshing.”
“Why are you apologizing on his behalf?”
“Please make him shut that mouth. He behaves so well in front of the prince but can’t keep quiet now!”
“Well, even cold water can’t be drunk in front of a kid. And your barking is quite entertaining.”
Nihil smiled brightly and dangled his legs, teasing Evan. Evan slapped the swinging legs and kept his mouth tightly shut to avoid being manipulated further.
“By the way, Father seems to be staying too long. If the Queen gets suspicious, it could cause problems here too. Shouldn’t you be leaving soon…? Ah, wait, I have something to give you.”
Nihil jumped down from Evan’s arms and ran off somewhere. He came back holding a pot with a single red flower, placed on a dim shelf, and thrust it into Sedess’s hands.
“Father, please accept this.”
“…What is this?”
“A bribe for you to take good care of me.”
“……”
Sedess accepted the pot in surprise.
A flower as a bribe—it was the most trivial bribe he had ever received in his life.
Nihil watched Sedess’s subtle expression and explained.
“I got it quite luckily. Water it just enough so the soil is damp as if touched by the night dew. Be careful not to expose it to strong sunlight, but let it catch moonlight after sunset. Occasionally, you have to feed the flower a drop of blood, and the same person should do this consistently.”
“…Blood?”
Sedess was flustered by the strange instructions and lost his composure.
Feed it blood? Was this flower supposed to grow by drinking blood?
“…What on earth do you mean? I wish you could explain properly.”
“Do you know what the main ingredient for mana potions is?”
“If you mean Maractea, then yes.”
“Right. Mana potions are made from the roots of Maractea. This flower is the blossom of Maractea.”
“Maractea doesn’t bloom.”
“That’s because the flowers are all picked before they bloom. It’s rare to see a blooming Maractea, and they have to be over a hundred years old. The blooming ones had another name… I think…”
Nihil frowned, trying to recall something, and lightly touched the flower in the pot. The delicate red blossom swayed under his touch.
“Ah, I think it was called Sirentea. Have you heard of it?”
“…Sirentea?”
Everyone’s eyes widened as they looked at the small flower in the pot.
Sirentea wasn’t a flower but a gem mentioned in legends.
The story went that whoever obtained the gem—if a knight, would break through the Transcendence Wall; if a mage, would reach the unattainable 8th Circle.
Though such tales were fanciful and no one had ever seen the gem.
“Is this really the legendary Sirentea? But… isn’t that supposed to be a gem?”
Nihil, who knew nothing about the legend, tilted his head.
“I don’t know much about the legend, but maybe the fruit is compared to a gem? Sirentea blooms only once in its lifetime and produces a single fruit before withering. If you keep feeding it a person’s blood consistently, the fruit will contain that person’s mana. If that person eats the fruit, they can absorb a massive amount of mana. Normally, when absorbing natural mana, you have to refine it with your own mana, but mana from Sirentea skips that process, allowing a large amount to be absorbed at once. That could help break through barriers.”
“…”
“Don’t you like it?”
When Sedess didn’t answer, Nihil tilted his head again.
Sedess looked once more at the pot in his hand, then cautiously addressed the white-haired boy.
“Is this really the legendary…?”
“Most legends are exaggerated, so I wouldn’t trust it too much.”
“They say knights break through the Transcendence Wall and mages surpass the 8th Circle.”
Nihil frowned and clicked his tongue.
“That’s absurd. The Transcendence Wall isn’t determined by the amount of mana you have. It’s the same with a mage’s Circle. Increasing mana helps, but it won’t break the wall on its own. Hmm, well, for that shadowy guy’s level, he might aim to become a Sword Master. But your level won’t become a Sword Master just by eating that.”
Nihil gestured toward one of the bodyguards. It was the one who had been praised earlier for his capability while hiding in the shadows. At the mention of “Sword Master,” everyone’s attention turned to the guard.
Sedess’s eyes widened as he glanced at his bodyguard and said,
“Really?”
“Those who don’t need it in the first place will manage without it. That guard has enough potential. Father, you should decide quickly if you’ll take it as a bribe or not. If you don’t, I’ll feed it to my dog.”
Evan shuddered at the mention of “my dog.”
Sedess involuntarily clenched his hand holding the pot.
“What happens if a mage consumes it?”
“It’s more efficient for mages than knights who rely on physical ability. Um, if we’re only talking about mana, a mage who just reached the 4th Circle could jump to the 6th Circle. Of course, how they use that mana to link Circles depends on the individual.”
Since the highest Circle a human could currently reach was the 7th, being at the 6th Circle meant being among the most powerful mages in the Magic Tower, second only to the Magic Tower Lord.
“…Can I know where you found it?”
“I gathered it from the hill right behind here.”
“…..”