Chapter 4: Right choice

“Ugh.”

“Uwaaahhh…”

Lianus de Harpens was overwhelmed with sorrow.

Even when they called him the Swamp Prince because his hair—His Majesty’s deep navy and his mother’s golden locks—mixed into a muddy, dull green, he hadn’t felt this sad.  

Even when he was called ‘mismatched eyes’ for being born with His Majesty’s golden eye and his mother’s green one, he hadn’t cried like this.

“Uwaaah, hic, huuuh…”

“Can you please be quiet?”

“Ugh, uwaaaahhhh…”

Evan’s anxious attempts to comfort him were drowned out by his wailing.

But the command to be quiet came through loud and clear.

That only made it worse.

‘I’m the prince, and you’re just a beggar. ‘

‘I can do so much for you. ‘

‘I’m above you.’

‘You’re the bad one. ‘

‘I’m a prince, I’m going this far, and you just ignore me. ‘

‘That makes you the bad one.’

No matter how much he tried to stifle his cries, the tears wouldn’t stop.

Do you also see my deep green hair and mismatched eyes as dirty and disgusting?

He remembered the curling scarlet gaze that had looked at him back at the Duke’s Estate.

As if it was delightful that he was so utterly alone, while his older brother sat surrounded by nobles, holding his noble seat.

His brother always said it was because he was cursed.

That everyone left because his mother was a Half-Elf.

So, am I the bad one? Is that why you don’t want to be my friend?

But it’s not like I chose to be born this way.

Tears that had barely stopped in his golden and green eyes began to well up again. The black opal eyes watching him narrowed once more.

“Stop crying. My head hurts.”

Sniff.

“…Hic, does your head hurt?”

“Yeah.”

“Hic, sorry, hic, I’m sorry.”

The prince tried his hardest to hold back his tears.

He couldn’t make someone hurt even more because of him.

He’d cried so much his voice was hoarse.

The opal-eyed child raised an eyebrow, as if looking at some bizarre creature, when the prince finally stopped crying.

Evan felt odd watching the prince, who’d been sobbing so sadly, force himself to stop just because that rude brat complained of a headache.

The Knight handed the prince a water bottle.

“Your Highness, have some water.”

“Mm… Thank you.”

Evan glared at the root of all this trouble.

The wildcat of a child didn’t even blink.

The little kitten’s eyes were swollen and red, as if they’d burst if pressed just a little more.

It stung a bit that the kitten, who hadn’t responded to any of his words, reacted instantly to the wildcat’s rude tone.

But Evan comforted himself, thinking that brat’s disrespectful voice was so grating, anyone would react.

“Hey.”

The rude wildcat spoke up.

Evan wanted to smack him, but if he did, the little kitten might start crying again, so he held back.

Since the kitten had only just stopped crying, Evan mustered all his patience and tried to speak as kindly as possible.

“Show some respect to His Highness, beggar.”

“I wasn’t talking to you. Hey, seaweed head.”

Lianus blinked at the black opal’s words. Though, his eyes were so swollen they didn’t open wide.

Having been rejected as a friend twice, Lianus didn’t know what ‘seaweed’ meant, but since he was being addressed, he happily blocked Evan from stepping in and answered quickly.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not a girl.”

“Yeah, I know. I was wrong at first. Sorry.”

“I won’t use honorifics, even if you’re a prince or a king.”

“Huh? Uh… okay…”

He wasn’t using honorifics anyway, but since Lianus didn’t expect to hear any, he nodded, saying it was fine.

“I don’t like holding back, either.”

“Mm.”

“I never do what I don’t want to do.”

“Okay.”

The prince answered, but was clearly confused by all this.

Whether he cared or not, the beggar just kept talking.

“I don’t like the sound of crying, either.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t like being hurt.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t have much, but I’m really proud.”

“Mm.”

Evan, listening on the side, thought the wildcat was surprisingly self-aware and found himself nodding, too.

“So, do you still want to be friends with me?”

“…Huh?”

Only then did Lianus realize this string of statements was a self-introduction.

Right, you always introduce yourself before making friends!

Lianus felt his heart flutter. Worried the opal-eyed child might change their mind, he nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, yeah! I want to be friends.”

“Can you get me into the Palace?”

“…Huh?”

Into the Palace?

Before he could even worry about what the problem was, the beggar continued.

“Like the Knight said, I’m a beggar. I can’t just go in and out of the Palace, so you’ll have to come find me.”

“But… I can’t come out often.”

“Yeah. You’re a prince, so you probably can’t come out much. So, is once a month okay?”

“I don’t like that. That’s too little.”

Once a month? How could they become friends like that?

“Then I guess I have to get into the Palace. So, how are you going to get me in?”

“…….”

Right. How was he supposed to get him in?

“Just so you know, I won’t be a Servant. And I said I won’t use honorifics.”

“Um……..”

Lianus started to think hard. He couldn’t let go of this chance.

This kid had survived getting hit by a runaway carriage, so they had to be tough.

They stood up to his burly Escort Knight without fear, claimed to have a lot of pride, so they probably wouldn’t run away scared by some so-called curse.

And they spoke their mind, even to royalty, so they wouldn’t be cowed by his older brother.

Most of all, his gut told him: If I don’t grab this chance, I’ll regret it forever. I have to be friends with this kid!

‘What do I do?’

Lianus racked his brain. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t find an answer.

He glanced at his Escort Knight, who looked even more tense now, then at the mysterious, lazy eyes resting against the carriage, and spoke carefully.

“For now, why don’t we sneak in and figure it out after?”

“….”

“Your Highness!”

The Knight leapt up in shock, making the carriage jolt.

Sneak in? This wasn’t some empty house—this was the Palace!

Lianus saw the previously languid black opal eyes cloud over in exasperation and hurried to explain.

“My room’s big. There are lots of places to hide.”

“…..”

“I’ll give you lots of tasty food, too.”

“I have plenty of money…, don’t you want it?”

“……”

“Ugh…….”

With no answer from the child, the ‘seaweed’ prince drooped.

Sigh…….

The child thought.

Where in the world did this idiot come from?

***

Evan began to comfort the little kitten he served.

Wanting to be friends with that rude wildcat was a problem, but he couldn’t blame the lonely little kitten.

Evan took a deep breath, trying to reason with Lianus.

“Your Highness, there are many eyes and ears in the Palace. To start with, this beggar needs a Royal Bedroom, but as you know, most Servants share rooms. Even if they stay in the room all day, at least one person would have to help, and you said yourself they’re too young to be a Servant. People will notice.”

“I’m not going to be a Servant.”

Evan looked at the wildcat, who growled at him.

He wanted to smack him, but the kid already looked like a bloody mess, so he held back.

“You might not like it, but you’ll have to disguise yourself. Anyway, Your Highness, you really should think carefully—”

“Ah!”

But before Evan could finish, the little kitten suddenly sprang up as if he’d had an idea and grabbed the wildcat’s hand.

Evan sighed, watching the prince’s clean, delicate hands get dirty again.

“Your Highness, don’t just grab that filthy kid’s hand—”

“Do you want to stay in my Royal Bedroom?”

“…Excuse me?”

Evan thought he must have misheard.

He blinked several times, but the innocent little prince was holding the wildcat’s hand, smiling brightly with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah.”

The arrogant wildcat glanced at the shining Heterochromia and nodded lazily.

Evan’s jaw dropped at the ridiculous answer.

What the hell is this brat saying?!

“What do you mean, ‘yeah’?! You think a royal bedroom is just some casual place?! And what’s with that bored reaction?! Your Highness, absolutely not! How can you trust this brat with your bedroom—!”

But the prince ignored the Knight’s desperate protest and started asking the wildcat questions.

“By the way, how old are you?”

“…..”

While the Knight raged, the little prince began chatting up the wildcat.

Evan panicked, protesting that they couldn’t just let a beggar into the Royal Bedroom, that with an outsider inside he couldn’t guard the prince properly, that who knew what this brat might do.

He even threatened that if the brat was let in, he’d have to stay in the Royal Bedroom too.

But the adorable little prince just smiled and said that was fine—they could all live together.

“My Royal Bedroom is going to get lively!”

“Your Highness! I said, absolutely, no way!”

“Huh? How old are you? You’re about my age, right?”

“Your Highness!”

“Sir Evan! Please be quiet. I’m trying to talk to my friend.”

Evan was momentarily speechless.

How could the prince call him a friend after just a few minutes? How could he take the side of that ragged brat over the Escort Knight who’d been with him for five years?

Evan wanted to argue, but then clamped his mouth shut.

Seeing the prince holding that dirty hand and smiling so brightly, he couldn’t say another word.

When was the last time he’d seen such a smile?

He couldn’t even comfort the prince when he cried, so maybe it was best to step back.

He didn’t understand why the prince, who was always wary of outsiders, was going this far, but Evan decided to watch quietly.

Even if they snuck in now, they’d need official permission to stay.

Surely, the wildcat would be forced out soon enough.

Would that make the prince sad again?

Evan glanced at the little prince, who was now introducing himself, and at the bloodied child.

If the wildcat didn’t harm the prince, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let him stay.

But a prince befriending a commoner would definitely cause a scandal.

Worse would be if the prince was betrayed after letting the wildcat stay.

Evan couldn’t shake his unease as he watched the child, who, even knowing he was talking to a prince, sat there with an insolent calm, only blinking occasionally.

There’s no way a kid he just met would have any loyalty. Even if he gets into the Palace, he’d probably run away under pressure, get bribed, or act up and end up executed for disrespect.

Was bringing him in really the right choice?