“My name is Lianus de Harpens. I’m the Second Prince of this kingdom, and I’ll turn eight this summer. Call me Lian. What about you? What’s your name? How old are you?”
Lianus introduced himself once more. But the child only gave a half-hearted reply, as if he wasn’t interested.
“…I’m older than you. And you can call me whatever you want.”
“You don’t have a name?”
“I do, but I don’t really like it.”
The Opal Child glanced at the knight beside him and replied slowly.
Lianus wondered if the child was frightened because Sir Evan had shouted earlier.
Sir Evan was his only escort knight, and they’d have to get along from now on.
Even if Evan was a bit big and looked stern, he was really a good person.
Thinking the knight might be making things uncomfortable, Lianus subtly shifted his body to block Evan from the child’s view.
He couldn’t possibly hide all of Sir Evan’s much larger frame, but when those beautiful opal eyes turned toward him, Lianus felt strangely satisfied.
“It’s alright! No matter how strange your name is, I won’t laugh at you.”
The child fell silent for a bit longer, then mouthed a word so quietly that only someone with sharp hearing like Lianus could catch it.
“Nihil,” he whispered.
“Nihil?”
“Yeah.”
Lianus tilted his head and blinked at the unfamiliar name.
It sounded unusual, but not strange—so why had Nihil hesitated? Rather…
“I don’t know what it means, but I think it suits you.”
“…You have good instincts.”
For a moment, Nihil’s face stiffened at the words ‘it suits you,’ then he let out a faint, resigned laugh.
He muttered something about nothing suiting him more than that word, and gazed out the window with an air of resignation. He looked terribly lonely.
He must really hate that name. Its meaning must be something terrible.
Realizing his blunder, Lianus clutched his head, desperate to fix the situation.
“T-then, can I call you Nil? You know, friends use nicknames… and you’re my first friend, so, if you don’t mind…”
A mismatched pair of eyes rolled about, nervously gauging Nihil’s reaction.
Fortunately, Nihil’s face soon returned to its blank expression, and he nodded as if to say ‘do as you wish.’
Determined not to make another mistake, Lianus repeated the short name ‘Nil’ to himself over and over.
“Nil.”
“Yeah.”
“Nil.”
“What?”
He answered when called. It was a simple thing, but Lianus’s heart swelled with joy.
“Nil, can you… can you call my name, too?”
“…Lianus.”
Nihil quietly recited Lianus’s name.
His voice was emotionless, but his presence was clear and unmistakable.
Lianus felt a little disappointed that Nihil hadn’t called him ‘Lian,’ but he smiled brightly.
Maybe once they got closer, Nihil would use the nickname. It was probably just too soon.
“Nil, my bed is really big, so we can sleep together without a problem! If I tell the servants to stay away, we’ll be comfortable. And if I ask for plenty of food, there’ll be enough. We’re about the same size, so I’ll lend you my clothes. And also…”
“Prince, Prince, please calm down for a moment.”
Lost in happy fantasies and chattering away, Lianus was interrupted by Sir Evan.
Afraid that Sir Evan might shout at his new friend again, Lianus hurried to speak, but this time Sir Evan was quicker.
“Prince, it’s not enough to hide a beggar in your bedroom, but now you want to share your bed and even lend him your clothes?”
“…Nil is my friend now, so don’t call him a beggar.”
Unhappy with Evan’s ‘beggar’ remark, Lianus puffed out his cheeks and pouted.
Then, worried that his new friend might be discouraged, he quickly checked Nihil’s expression.
“What?”
Lianus smiled brightly.
Thankfully, the eyes that resembled black opal still shone with dignity.
“Sir Evan, you’ll be seeing my friend every day from now on, so please get along with him.”
“You want me to get along with… no, what if someone finds out about this?”
“We’ll sneak him in today and then get His Majesty’s permission.”
“And you think you’ll be granted permission?”
“His Majesty doesn’t care much, so he might just say yes.”
“Even so, what if rumors spread that the Prince has made friends with a commoner?”
“They’ll just say, ‘Oh, the ostracized Prince picked up a friend from somewhere.’ Anyway, there are only commoners around me.”
“You should think about your reputation.”
“What reputation? I don’t have any left to lose.”
Sir Evan, a knight of commoner origin, was at a loss for words.
He himself was ‘Commoner 1,’ and it was true their reputations couldn’t get much worse.
He buried his head in his hands and sighed deeply.
“Prince, even if I overlook everything else, this wildcat has no manners at all. If he’s like this with you, imagine how much worse he’ll be in front of other Nobles or Royals. He’ll be dragged off and beheaded for disrespect, mark my words.”
Sir Evan made a chopping motion at his neck, as if to demonstrate.
Speechless, Lianus looked at Nihil.
Sir Evan’s words were true.
Lianus thought Nihil’s boldness was a little cool, but other Nobles or Royals would feel differently.
His mind was filled with all sorts of worries, but Nihil’s eyes remained mysterious and proud.
Unlike his own restless self, Nihil simply shone quietly.
“I don’t use honorifics.”
The dignified Black Opal spoke once more, driving the point home.
Sir Evan glared at Nihil as if he might hit him at any moment, but Lianus only nodded.
Right, if my friend doesn’t want to do something, I can’t force him. Friends don’t make each other do things they don’t want to do.
“If you don’t want to, then you shouldn’t. I’ll make sure you don’t have to face any Nobles!”
“…..”
At Lianus’s innocent reply, Sir Evan buried his face in his palm in despair.
“…Fine… Understood.”
Sir Evan finally stood up, realizing further persuasion would get him nowhere.
‘…Maybe leaving an injured child behind was never an option to begin with.’
He shot Nihil one last glare for comfort, then opened the carriage door. A cold wind rushed into the carriage.
Worried the warmth inside might escape, Evan quickly leapt outside and shut the door tightly.
“If you insist, we’ll set off now. It’s late, so we’ll be traveling quickly. Please sit still.”
“Okay!”
Pleased with his knight’s resignation, Lianus beamed and found his seat again.
Soon, the rhythmic sound of hooves filled the air as the carriage began to move, then picked up speed with a jolt.
Lianus stole careful glances at his new friend, heart pounding with excitement.
He had never made a friend like this before, nor invited anyone directly to his palace.
But the excitement was short-lived.
When Lianus looked closely at Nihil, his face clouded over.
His new friend was still barefoot, his ragged clothes stained bright red with blood, and his ashen hair was matted with dried blood.
Now that he thought about it, they’d rushed into the carriage in a panic after Nihil fainted again.
Sir Evan had said there was no need to stop the bleeding, and Nihil had been so proud and composed that, despite his appearance, Lianus had completely forgotten about his injuries.
Lianus raised his head slightly to check on Nihil’s wounds. At that moment, Nihil seemed to be looking at him too—their eyes met.
“……!”
Lianus flinched.
He felt as if he’d been caught doing something wrong.
“Hmm…”
Nihil’s gaze was indifferent, yet persistent.
Leaning crookedly against the carriage wall, Nihil stared at him for a long time, lost in thought.
“…Why… are you looking at me like that…?”
No answer came.
Lianus fidgeted with his hands, then straightened his back, wanting to look good for his friend.
I hope he thinks I look nice.
Just then, the corner of Nihil’s mouth lifted in a faint smile.
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
“Huh?”
“Friends.”
Nihil emptied his complicated thoughts.
No matter how much he worried, the answer was always the same. He was weak to small, fragile things.
Especially those struggling to be loved—he could never ignore them. Even more so when they were young.
He’d think about the rest later.
“Really?!”
“Yeah. But I’ve lost a lot of blood, so I might die soon.”
…Not that he really would.
“Are you okay with that?”
Nihil tried to lighten the mood with a wry smile.
But instead, the seaweed in front of him grew damp all over again.
He wondered if this child would one day dry out into a shriveled piece of seaweed from all the crying.
The seaweed wailed again.
“Uwaaaah! Are you in danger because of me? Uwaah, s-sorry, hic, I didn’t even know… uwaaaah!”
“…Oh, for…”
Leaning his head against the wall, Nihil let out a low sigh.
Apparently, his joke was too much for someone this young.
But there was nothing he could do to comfort the crying young Prince.
He couldn’t even lift a finger.
His vision blurred, and the crying grew distant.
While his mind felt light and dizzy, his body grew heavier, as if soaked in water.
The only reason he hadn’t passed out again was probably because of the noisy, ever-crying seaweed.
Whenever sleepiness came, the crying would start up again. It was annoying, but he supposed he should be grateful.
As Nihil felt his consciousness growing faint, he called out to the child.
“Seaweed.”
“Uwaah, sorry. Hic, I’ll stop crying.”
No, stopping was not the answer.
“Hic, I, uh, I’m crying too much—”
“Cry some more.”
“…?”
At Nihil’s words, the mismatched eyes went wide. The crying stopped abruptly.
‘Why stop when I told you to cry more!’
Annoyed that the carriage had gone quiet against his intentions, Nihil heard the knight’s curses from the Coachman’s Seat.
Damn beggar, don’t bully our Prince! Just wait until your treatment’s done—I’ll make you bawl! Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just ’cause you’re small! And so on.
But the knight’s deep voice was no help in keeping Nihil awake.
And threatening to make him cry after his treatment—maybe the knight was as odd as his master.
Just then, Nihil’s vision twisted again.
He couldn’t tell if it was the moving carriage or just his failing focus.
If he fainted again, the young Prince would surely panic, but Nihil couldn’t hold on any longer.
Just before his vision went completely dark, Nihil managed to say two more words to the seaweed.
“Set the table. Lots of meat.”
It was important information, but he wasn’t sure if the kid got the message.