Everyone looked at Nihil with eyes that said they had all been fooled by the mention of the back mountain.
Nihil, feeling slightly insolent from those stares, twitched his eyebrows, but then thought the owner of the back mountain might scold him, so he quickly pretended to be cautious.
“…Are you going to scold me for digging without permission?”
His slightly lowered head and upward glance looked quite pitiful, but Sedess, rather than focusing on the fact that herbs had been picked, had a subtle expression, convinced that no precious treasure could possibly be found in the back mountain. He pressed his lips tightly.
When His Majesty showed little reaction, Nihil decided to just push through.
“A son’s friend can make a few mistakes, can’t he?”
“…That’s true.”
“If it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t have been able to dig at all. Just take a look this once.”
“I don’t intend to scold you just for picking herbs in the mountains.”
“Then I’ll continue to dig without worry.”
“………”
“There are surprisingly many medicinal herbs in this back mountain.”
“………”
Everyone fell silent at Nihil’s shamelessness. But what they were truly curious about was whether this red flower was really Sirentea.
At that moment, Evan, with a reluctant expression, asked on behalf of everyone’s curiosity.
“Is that really Sirentea?”
“It is.”
“Then isn’t it something you can find fairly easily?”
The porters all nodded in unison. Nihil raised an eyebrow at their reaction, then shook his head and added an explanation.
“The sunlight isn’t strong, but it has to be in a place that can receive moonlight for a certain number of hours and must have aged for over a hundred years. Meeting those conditions is hard enough, but Sirentea has the property of blending in with its surroundings, so to an ordinary person, it looks just like the other grasses and flowers around it and can’t be distinguished. Moreover, before picking it, the soil around it must be thoroughly soaked with blood. If someone thoughtlessly sprinkled blood around trying to find Sirentea, they would surely end up with excessive bleeding…”
“Wait, wait. Then how did you pick it? The blood—?”
Evan cut Nihil off, surprised to hear that blood was necessary to pick Sirentea.
Nihil stared at Evan, hesitated, and then rolled up his sleeve to show him. Although the bleeding had stopped, several long, deep, and dirty wounds were scratched along his forearm.
Evan, horrified, grabbed Nihil’s forearm. The wounds made the skin look like tattered rags, making his brow furrow involuntarily.
“What on earth did you do to yourself?!”
“I didn’t have any sharp tools on me, so I had no choice but to scrape it with my nails.”
“No matter what, you don’t leave your arm looking like that!”
“Don’t be so harsh. If I find another one, I’ll make sure it’s yours.”
“That’s not the point! What are you going to do about these wounds?!”
“…Next time, I’ll make just one clean cut.”
“You… you!”
Nihil, looking troubled, pushed Evan’s face away with his palm, then lowered his sleeve and buttoned it up tightly before continuing.
“At first, that Sirentea just looked like a weed. I transplanted a flower into a pot and went around looking for another one, but I never found it. Then I found that intruder and ran into you.”
Nihil explained calmly, then asked Sedess.
“Father, do you have any questions?”
“How did you distinguish Sirentea?”
“I can tell just by looking.”
“For a flower soaked with blood, there’s no scent of blood at all.”
“That’s because Sirentea absorbs the blood. As proof, the flower didn’t turn red.”
“What color is it originally?”
“Translucent white. Over time, it should return to its original color.”
“Can you just give it blood like that?”
“You have to give the blood to the flower, not the soil. The fruit will take on the color of the aura or magical power of the person who gave the blood. If it’s mixed with another person’s blood, it won’t mean anything, so be careful.”
“………”
Sedess pondered how to deal with this ‘bribe.’ Meanwhile, one escort knight tentatively raised a hand, but after a glance from another knight, pursed his lips.
Sedess sighed as he watched his knights bickering. Gesturing that they should ask if they had questions, one knight quickly spoke up.
“Is it true that if the captain eats that fruit, he can become a Sword Master?”
“…You don’t need to be so formal with me.”
The knight hesitated for a moment, then cheerfully asked,
“Is that so?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Those who are meant to become masters don’t need to eat it. And I’ve never even learned swordsmanship, so don’t ask about that.”
“How do you know the captain’s skill level?”
“How do you think we rank in the young master’s eyes?”
“If that guy and this guy fought, who would win?”
“………”
One question opened the floodgates, and the escort knights eagerly fired off question after question.
Seeing this, Sedess was at a loss for words and sighed deeply again. His escort knights had been recruited and trained from wandering mercenaries, war orphans, and deserters who showed potential, so sometimes they behaved like children, failing to act their age.
But Nihil, who didn’t want to answer all the foolish questions, rushed over to Evan and tugged hard at his sleeve.
“Tell them to stop already. It’s noisy.”
“………”
At that, the Royal Bedroom quieted, and all eyes turned to Evan.
Evan, sweating nervously under their gaze that asked, ‘Are you really going to chase us out?’, had no choice but to endure, being the youngest and lowest in rank.
Unable to do anything, Evan carefully picked up Nihil and gently comforted him.
“Hold on, alright?”
“You’re useless.”
Nihil glared at Evan once but, still nestled in his arms, grabbed Evan’s cloak and flipped it over his head, clearly meaning not to talk anymore.
Seeing the slightly sulky boy, Sedess signaled his escort knights, who sheepishly took a step back each.
“If this really is Sirentea, it must be a rare treasure. What reason do you have for giving this to me?”
“…Didn’t I say to look kindly upon me? I have nothing else to offer right now except this.”
“What exactly do you want me to look kindly upon?”
“I don’t really need anything at the moment, but it wouldn’t hurt to score some points with His Majesty. Just think of it as me taking up a refined hobby by growing a flower.”
A hobby… Though the legendary Sirentea might have been exaggerated, according to the boy’s explanation, the flower’s value was tremendous.
Sedess suddenly remembered the Second Prince, who was infamous for being cursed by Mana’s Curse. Despite all efforts, they hadn’t found a diagnosis for the prince’s illness, but maybe this flower could be the key. He carefully asked.
“…If someone who cannot contain mana eats the fruit from this flower, would they then be able to contain mana?”
Nihil peeked out from Evan’s cloak and met Sedess’s eyes.
“Lian’s mana vessel is broken, so it’s useless. If it worked, I wouldn’t have given it as a bribe to His Majesty—I would have given it to the boy to eat.”
“…Broken mana vessel? Do you know about the Second Prince’s condition?”
Sedess’s eyes widened. Even Evan was surprised, as it was the first time hearing that.
“It means the stage before being strengthened by the mana heart. When someone is close to death, the vessel begins to crack.”
“…What does that mean? So it’s not the ‘Mana’s Curse’?”
“Mana doesn’t have the intelligence to curse anything.”
“So… the Second Prince almost died, and that’s when his mana vessel broke? But…”
It was true that the Second Prince had come close to death—the attempted poisoning two years ago, which had also claimed the life of the prince’s wet nurse. But the Mana’s Curse had been present even before that incident, so it had nothing to do with the poisoning.
Seeing Sedess confused, Nihil casually added,
“See? You shouldn’t have hesitated.”
“…What?”
“Father, you’ve taken too long. It’s time to leave.”
“Wait a moment, what do you mean by that?”
Sedess still had many questions, but Nihil once again coldly gave the order to disperse.
“Just tell me how you know the prince’s condition!”
“I can see mana.”
“What?”
“Be careful on your way, Father.”
And with that, Sedess was chased out of the Second Prince’s Palace, clutching the small flowerpot to his chest.
***
Evan once again bowed deeply.
“…My apologies, Your Majesty.”
“No, it’s quite all right. It was a very curious experience. I still feel like I was dreaming.”
“He doesn’t usually act so wildly in front of the prince…”
“…Should I be relieved by that?”
Though it was questionable whether it was better that he acted wildly before the king but behaved in a restrained manner before the prince, Sedess didn’t feel much discomfort—perhaps it was because of the child’s mysterious, mature, or rather, almost elderly aura.
The sun was just rising high in the sky.
Sedess glanced down at the flowerpot given as a bribe, recalled the warning to avoid strong sunlight, and unconsciously raised his hand to cast shade over the flower.
The shadow knight disguised as a coachman held the reins, while the rest climbed into the carriage.
“…So the reason the Second Prince cannot contain mana is that he nearly died and his mana vessel was broken…”
‘See? You shouldn’t have hesitated!’
Sedess’s expression darkened as the child’s voice echoed again in his mind.
“My lord, are you all right?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Shaking off his thoughts, Sedess turned to Evan and asked,
“Did you know the boy could see mana?”
“…He said himself he sees things he shouldn’t, but I never thought it was mana.”
“That explains why he could immediately recognize the knights’ skill level. Could his ability to identify Sirentea be tied to this power?”
“Seems like it. He also has other heightened senses.”
“…His sense of smell was impressive. How about his other physical abilities?”
“He can suppress his presence or imitate other people’s footsteps. Beyond that, I haven’t observed much.”
Sedess clicked his tongue. The Second Prince seemed to have brought home something more extraordinary than expected.
“…His way of speaking isn’t like a child’s either. Is he actually quite old?”
“He himself said he’s older than he looks, but… there’s a bit of a story behind his manner of speech.”
“A story?”
Why would a child speak with the mannerisms of an old man?
“Apparently, he only recently learned the kingdom’s language.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. So, like a child mimicking a guardian’s speech, he has that mannerism, but normally he doesn’t speak that way. Probably…”
Evan trailed off, looking nervously at Sedess. Sedess guessed the rest and frowned slightly.
“So that old-man-like way of speaking… is it because he’s imitating His Majesty?”
Evan glanced away from the king’s gaze and answered with a slight delay.
“…When he talks with the prince, he uses a much more childlike tone.”
So you’re saying my tone sounds like an old man’s.
Sedess, still in his thirties and in his prime, felt a bit gloomy.
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