Chapter 162 - Look Who’s Talking
Editor: Sam
“There are Rug Dragons rushing at us. They might be thieves,” Nico looked back and said, a little excitedly. Why are you so excited about that?
“Ith’sh noth. Nii-syama and Giww, woow bacw.”
Everyone, including the dragons, were calm.
“Hmm. They’re not thieves?”
“Thievesh are shcary...”
Nico’s uncle was pitiful for being treated like a thief, but I wasn’t kind enough to tell him that. We slowed down even more and a group of Rug Dragons rushed towards us while trailing dirt behind them.
“Kyee,” Minnie squealed quietly and stopped in her track, and all the other Rug Dragons stopped as well.
“Nico!”
“Uncle?”
Prince Albert jumped down from a Rug Dragon. He peeked at Nico, who was in the basket, but Nico was held in place by a belt and couldn’t move. Hans, who had already gotten off his dragon, quickly approached and unbuckled Nico’s belt.
He also walked over to the other side and unbuckled my belt too. He’s competent.
When we came out of Earl Coulter’s mansion, we bluffed and pretended that we were able to ride the Rug Dragons ourselves, but in reality, we still needed the help of an adult to buckle our belts and get on and off. Even on carriages, it was difficult to climb up the stairs safely.
Being able to ride the dragons ourselves was just an illusion. The adults, who were left behind, were successfully deceived and they panicked.
If I can’t ride a dragon once I reach Nii-sama’s or Alistair’s age, then I can’t really say that I can properly ride a dragon.
Prince Albert picked Nico up from his basket once he was free and gave him a tight hug.
It worked. I nodded in my basket, then looked at Nii-sama. He quickly rushed to my side, but he was a little too short to pick me up from the basket. Gill picked me up from the basket instead and handed me to Nii-sama. It was like harvesting vegetables.
“Lei-sama, it’s like he’s harvesting potatoes.” It was slightly irritating that Hans was thinking the same thing. And why potatoes?
“Lei likes potatoes, so that’s nice.”
“Ai!”
It’s not. It’s one thing to like potatoes and another to be treated like one. But if Nii-sama thinks it’s good then it’s good. I wrapped my hands around his neck and hugged him tightly.
“Uncle, I heard there aren’t any thieves, so you don’t have to worry.”
“That’s not it. That’s not it.”
Prince Albert hugged Nico tightly. Isn’t that painful?
“Nico don’t leave yet. I’ll make sure to go at your pace and won’t force you to do anything.”
“Uncle. I’m alright, so match the pace with little Lei.”
“Nico, you!”
Not only Prince Al, but everyone must have been moved by Nico’s words. Me? I wasn’t moved because I was tempted to ask him who was the person who almost reached out to a Hollow.
“Lei may be important too, but you need to pay attention to me too,” he finally said it. I was relieved. Honesty is the best. I don’t think Nico particularly thinks of me as important. How and when did it look like he treated me that way?
“What are you saying, Uncle? Lei is my friend, but you’re my uncle. I love you as much as I love father.”
“Nico!”
I love Nii-sama.
“I see Lei every day, but I rarely see you. It’s always fun to spend time with you when you return.”
“I also go back to the royal capital because I want to see you, Nico. I was happy to be with you again this time, but I forced you to do things.”
“I don’t mind. But I’m worried about Lei.”
Look who’s talking. If I was next to him, then I would have pulled on his cheeks. I huffed in anger. Honestly, who’s fault is it that I suffered so much?
“Lei, Lei is cute even when she’s angry.”
“Nii-syama, wove you.”
“Kyee.” The Rug Dragon also answered for some reason. Prince Al noticed me from that cry.
Then, he came closer to me while still holding onto Nico. You want to have a go? I waved my fist in my mind.
“Leila...” His Highness mumbled a little. I leaned my head against Nii-sama’s chest without replying.
“Lei, you...” Why is Gill laughing?
“What the heck am I doing against a baby like this...?” Prince Al muttered.
“Lei, do you want to go down?”
“Uncle, I want to get down too.”
The two children were put down.
“Prince Albert. Lei is a bit odd.”
“Nii-syama...”
What a terrible thing to say. However, Nii-sama glanced at me regretfully, put his hand on my head, patted it gently, then turned to face His Highness again.
“Still, she’s a cute little girl, so I think it’s fine as long as she’s cute and adorable. But she’s a smart child. Prince Nico is exceptionally clever, but Lei isn’t inferior to him in that aspect.”
Prince Al looked at me suspiciously. I’m an adult inside. Probably. I’ve been feeling a little less confident about this lately though.
“I hope you don’t get fooled by her cuteness and overlook how she really is. We’ve only been travelling for a few days, but I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been saved by Lei.”
Prince Al opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He probably remembered that I helped and rebuked him when he made Nico overdo it.
“We’re just extras who are accompanying Prince Nicholas. Prince Albert, please take care of Prince Nico without minding us or get worked up because of us.” Nii-sama said ‘us’ but he meant ‘Lei’. It’s bad because he feels a weird sense of rivalry towards me.
“I’m sorry, but we’re going to learn from this trip and enjoy it on our own. Of course, we’ll look after Prince Nicholas properly as well.”
Of course, we’ve been looking after him properly this whole time. I puffed my chest out. The edge of Prince Al’s lips twitched when he saw me do this.
“Your Highness, you only have to think about your marriage interview and Prince Nico.”
“Alright.”
His Highness nodded reluctantly, but he apologised properly, “I’m sorry for being stubborn. I’ll look after Nico properly, so don’t say you’re leaving.”
What progress.
“Oway.”
“Lei,” Nii-sama chastised me since I was acting a little proud. I stopped crossing my arms.
“I’ww go bacw withh Nico.”
“Please do,” like this, Prince Albert became a little honest and the matter was settled. However, “Are there really no thieves?”
“There ishn’th.”
Can’t someone solve this? Why do you think a two-year-old knows about thieves? I thought royals were bothersome.