Damn it, can that idiot come up with a proper excuse! Nigel gripped his finger tightly with his entire body.
“Th-this isn’t just any frog… it’s for magic experiments… that’s right! It’s a magical herbology experiment material! Nigel specially asked me to look after it for a while. He said it’s very precious.”
As if he’d prepared it in advance, he smoothly spouted out a much more plausible lie than before. At the words “magical herbology,” the maids’ expressions subtly changed.
They too would know from experience that when it came to anything magic-related in this academy, it wouldn’t be strange for things beyond common sense to happen.
“But… still, we need to clean…”
Rowen cut off the maid’s words as she didn’t immediately back down, preparing for any possibility.
“I’ll take responsibility and deliver it to Nigel properly. So please finish cleaning the room. That guy wouldn’t like it being left messy.”
When he brought up Nigel’s name, the maids ultimately didn’t argue further. Since Rowen Ashfield had said so, they decided to conclude the frog commotion that had been noisy since morning this way.
“…Understood, Young Master.”
The maids exchanged glances with still suspicious expressions, then soon hurried into the room to start cleaning.
Phew, they finally gave up. Nigel could finally breathe a sigh of relief in Rowen’s warm palm.
Rowen also exhaled deeply as if his tension had released. Then he carefully looked down at Nigel, who was obediently curled up in his palm. Looking at each other like this, his blue eyes seemed much bluer than usual.
Did he originally like these frog types? Even Nigel was momentarily confused enough to think so. Rowen still tilted his head with a bewildered expression.
“Where on earth did Nigel go?”
It was a muttered question to himself.
He looked down at the frog wriggling in his palm with curiosity, and on the other hand with difficulty. As if the moist and slimy texture was quite unfamiliar, he occasionally separated and reattached his fingers. Nigel flinched at his finger movements and curled his body even more tightly against the finger.
‘Please, don’t think about dropping me or throwing me away.’
Nigel desperately prayed inwardly.
“For now… I should take you to my room.”
Rowen, who’d been pondering for a moment, muttered as if he’d made a decision.
He glanced once toward the Crown Prince’s room door where the maids were cleaning. He probably thought he should safely keep the frog until Nigel returned.
That was a very good idea.
Rowen began walking toward the opposite corridor, carefully holding Nigel. His gait had long strides, but as if conscious of the frog in his hand, it was much softer than usual. Inside his firm palm was unexpectedly cozy and warm.
Human body temperature is much warmer than a dragon’s… Perhaps because of all the commotion and fear he’d experienced since dawn, drowsiness poured over him as his tension released.
But he couldn’t fall asleep like this.
Somehow, he had to let him know that this frog was none other than Nigel Kaiserion. But how exactly? With this detestable body, he wouldn’t be able to convey even the imperial surname that was only five letters to Nigel.
In frustration, he tried to clench his fist, but the frog’s tiny hands only shrank unsatisfyingly small.
Passing through the corridor, descending the central stairs, and finally entering the familiar west annex corridor. Rowen stopped for a moment in front of his room door, looked around once, then took out a key from his pocket and opened the door.
Creak— The scenery inside the room came into view, incomparably more modest than Nigel’s room they’d been in moments ago, but nonetheless feeling of Rowen’s characteristic simplicity.
Well, given Rowen’s personality, rather than pursuing simplicity, there was a high probability he just found the very thought of decorating his room bothersome.
As soon as Rowen entered the room, he carefully set the frog down on his desk. True to a Swordsmanship Department student, wooden swords and training tools were neatly arranged in one corner of the wall.
“Ha… A frog.”
Rowen scratched his chin and muttered as if troubled. He looked down at the frog that had been obediently curled up in his palm.
Even for him, who was born and raised in the Ashfield family estate, though he’d received animals like puppies, horses, and rabbits for Christmas or birthdays, this would be his first time with such a lowly creature as a frog. And yet he’d placed this body on his palm so casually.
“For now… what do frogs eat anyway?”
What? Food? Nigel scrunched his round eyes. Just imagining it made his stomach churn. He didn’t care what frogs ate. He’d return before needing such things!
Whoosh! In his frustration, Nigel tried to jump toward his finger, but Rowen misunderstood the movement and quickly pulled his hand back.
“Ah, are you already hungry? But I don’t have bugs or anything…”
His face was genuinely troubled.
You idiot! Nigel swallowed his curse inwardly and turned his head sharply away. He expressed with his entire body that he had no interest whatsoever in what Rowen was saying.
“You’re still okay then…”
Admirably, only then did Rowen seem to understand Nigel’s intention. Still, Rowen’s perceptiveness had improved a bit compared to initial expectations.
That’s when it happened.
Dong——
The bell tower’s long chime rang once.
Rowen’s gaze turned toward the window, toward the building where the classroom for lessons would be held.
“…He’s not the type to leave school without saying anything.”
Seeing worry appear on his face, Nigel’s heart became complicated too. That guy was genuinely worried about his friend Nigel.
Dong——
Hearing the second bell, Rowen muttered as if he’d made a decision.
“This won’t do.”
He approached the desk and picked up an empty glass cup that had been lying around. Then he laid a few leaves from the tree in the ornate planter on the floor inside it, and tried to carefully put Nigel inside.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to stay here for a bit. I really need to go look for Nigel.”
No!
Don’t go!
‘Take me with you! I’ll explain everything!’
Nigel desperately backed away to avoid being trapped in the glass cup. But Rowen quickly caught the frog and imprisoned it inside the glass cup.
“I’ll be right back. I made up that story about you being Nigel’s magic experiment material… just in case, drink some water.”
He poured a little water into a small dish and put it inside the glass cup, then covered the opening halfway with a book. He jumped high, but blocked by the book, he had no choice but to crash to the bottom. At the thud sound, Rowen peeked slightly into the cup and said:
“Stay put.”
With those final words, Rowen hurriedly grabbed his bag and rushed out of the room.
Bang, the sound of the door closing echoed.
Nigel stared blankly at the door where he’d disappeared from inside the glass cup.
Ribbit.
This was the worst.
* * *
While Nigel was counting time with rage and despair inside that small glass prison in Rowen’s room, the academy’s morning was flowing on no differently than yesterday.
The sound of students’ footsteps passing through the corridors gradually subsided, and the preliminary bell announcing the start of the first class rang faintly in the distance.
Through it all, Rowen walked down the dormitory corridor with a hardened face. Other students passing through the corridor, as usual, didn’t dare speak to him as he gave off a cold aura and merely stepped aside to make way.
His mind was filled with only one thought.
About his old friend Nigel.
‘This is strange.’
Normally, once the academy term starts, students are strictly forbidden from leaving the academy grounds.
Of course, there was the pretext of being for the students’ safety, but… there probably wasn’t anyone gutsy enough to climb over the academy walls to avoid Headmaster Silvanus’s eyes just because they disliked classes or exams.
Of course, after just a little time since enrollment, one would realize that the headmaster was so difficult to meet that even the absurd vanity that he was monitoring every student’s existence would disappear. Silvanus, despite being the headmaster, was terribly uninterested in the students.
Anyway, that’s not what’s important.
Today should have been an ordinary day like any other for Nigel Kaiserion. A day that should have started with waking up normally and going to class…
Rowen rubbed his brow with his finger.
‘Am I forgetting something? A suddenly scheduled diplomatic meeting or an imperial family holiday or… No. There’s nothing like that.’
A friend close enough to attend to the Crown Prince would be informed in advance of the imperial family’s official events.
Especially the information network of House Ashfield, which had connections with most of the trading companies within the Empire, played a part in that.
The head of House Ashfield, who was very pleased with his youngest son becoming close with Nigel, would spoon-feed Rowen quite generous allowances and information deemed useful.
Even if it might be someone else, suddenly abandoning class and disappearing wasn’t behavior Nigel would do. That guy was someone who lived dividing his daily life down to the minute.
That guy had disappeared without contact.
Moreover, the broken cup he’d discovered in the room weighed ominously on his mind. Could someone have actually broken into the room? Rowen’s face hardened even more coldly.
Nigel was the man who would ascend to the Empire’s next Emperor position. There couldn’t possibly be a madman who would dare attack the Crown Prince inside the academy, a neutral territory on the continent…
“……”
Suddenly, a memory surfaced.
