Chapter 57 – The Day Of The Pets’ Competition.

At noon, when the sun was shining brightly, Garlan, who had just finished drinking the porridge, was lying on the bed feeling sleepy.

He was a little depressed. Because of the injury, the doctor had said that in order to avoid inflammation of the burn and leaving scars, it was best to eat only light things until the injury was healed.

So in the past half a month, he had eaten all fruits porridge, meat porridge, clear porridge, olive porridge…Taputi changed different methods and made him all kinds of porridge. He ate so often that whenever he saw porridge, he would feel nauseous.

In order to eat something flavourful, he abandoned his self-esteem and behaved in various coquettish manners to the female officer, Taputi. However, the female officer who had previous experience, was immune to it, and was very firm this time. No matter how coquettish he was, she refused to agree to his request.

“Prince, you must bear with it for this period of time, or else the wound will leave scars.”

If it leaves a little scar, so be it. Anyway, there were only three places and it wasn’t serious. I’m a boy and not a girl. The clothes could cover it. Why was she having the look of facing an enemy?

In this regard, Garlan was very puzzled.

Absolutely no way! How can my little Prince’s fair and tender skin leave scars! I’ll never allow it!

The seemingly mature female officer held such a breath in her heart and she was determined not to let her lovely little Prince leave any scars.

She supervised the doctor even much more strictly than King Camos.

Although he didn’t like to eat, he knew what Taputi did was for his own good, so Garlan still ate the bowl of porridge obediently.

As soon as his stomach was full, he felt a little sleepy.

At this moment, he was lying on the bed, dazed, his eyes closed gradually, and he was about to fall asleep.

Not long after he closed his eyes, something kept touching his face, making him unable to sleep.

Garlan hummed, turned his face, and leaned sideways, thinking that he could escape the harassment. However, after he turned his head, that thing went quiet for less than a minute, and subsequently kept touching his cheek.

That something kept sweeping across the cheek. It was soft, a little prickly, and itchy.

Under the persistent harassment of the unknown thing, the child opened his eyes with great difficulty.

A little fluffy head came into his eyes, and the little brown lion leaned close to him, licking him with his little tongue, while arching him with his little head.

When he saw Garlan open his eyes, the little lion cub was immediately elated. With a flick of his long tail, the fluff on the tip of the tail trembled. He leaned forward happily, and licked hard at Garlan.

As soon as Garlan raised his hand, he pushed away the little guy who kept licking his face.

It had been a few months since their encounter, and the little lion Nergal had grown a lot and had a lot more strength. He really couldn’t push him away without putting more effort.

The little lion cub grew at a rapid rate. He was no longer the little ball of fur when he first saw it, and he could no longer carry him.

In particular, the bristles on the head and ears were long and dense, and the contours of the face were stretched out, showing a little intensity. According to the maids who took care of him, this little guy was very majestic among his brothers and sisters. Almost all the other lions listened to him. He had quite a bit of the might and courage of the king of beasts.

But Garlan couldn’t see the courage of this little guy, because as long as Nergal came to him, he would still be like a fur ball when he was a child, sell Meng and use various methods to be caressed.

Even the shouting was whimpering, softly and acting like a baby.

Garlan sat up, hugged the little lion that was approaching, and began to fluff it.

He turned his head and looked at Kaijos standing in the doorway.

“You brought him here?”

Kaijos leaned against the door and shrugged.

“I don’t have that skill.” He said, “He ran over by himself.”

Little Nergal was very active before weaning. He always liked to run around, making the maids very anxious. Being a little bit older, he was more naughty, but fortunately, Garlan could still control him and make him obedient.

However, as Garlan hadn’t looked for him for over ten days, Little Nergal became anxious. He finally couldn’t help it, and sneaked out of the animal garden again and found him.

As soon as Kaijos entered the courtyard, he saw this little lion leaning against the door panel, waving his two small paws and scratching the door vigorously, as if trying to claw through the door.

The little fluffy body bent on the door made Kaijos couldn’t help but want to laugh.

He chuckled as he walked over.

Little Nergal glanced at him, probably because Kaijos often stayed by Garlan’s side and was familiar with him too. He whimpered at him, scratched the door with his claws, and bared his teeth.

His meaning was very obvious—open the door for this Lord, or I’ll bite you.

Kaijos held back his laugh and opened the door for him. He rushed in, jumped onto the bed, and licked at Garlan, who had already fallen asleep.

He came on his own ah.

Garlan thought.

It’s over. Once this little guy finds me, he will be able to find me again and again in the future.

As he thought, he smacked Nergal’s little head hard.

The little lion leaned into his arms, and squinted at him. His tail flicked in comfort.

Feeling comfortable, when his head was suddenly slapped, he opened his eyes, tilted his head and looked at Garlan with a whimper. The cute expression on his face didn’t look like a fierce King of Beasts.

Garlan rubbed his chin, and he immediately forgot the slap on the back of his head, and hummed against Garlan’s hand, seemingly enjoying it.

Garlan looked at him, suddenly remembered something, and turned to look at Kaijos.

“Speaking of which, I remember that you seem to have raised a little mouse, right?”

“Yes, I train him to pass messages.”

“Well, he’s very clever.” Garlan laughed when thinking of the little black mouse who sent him a letter when he was locked in the cave of the Anki Cult. He looked left and right at Kaijos, didn’t see the little black mouse, and asked curiously.

“Kaijos, I never seem to have seen him by your side? Is he still there?”

“Yes.” The blonde-haired knight replied with a smile, “but I usually let him move freely. He doesn’t stay by my side.”

With that said, Kaijos looked at the sky, then took out a miniature piccolo, the size of a little finger and put it in his mouth and sounded a beep.

Not long after this beep, there was a slight rustling sound in the courtyard, and a small black shadow jumped out of the dense bushes and quickly entered the house.

The little black mouse was a little smaller than an ordinary mouse, its black fur was shiny, and the pile was pitch-black. The small bean-sized eyes were bright, and it turned nimbly and steadily.

He stood upright, standing in front of his owner, and squeaked twice.

Kaijos squatted down and put his hand in front of him.

The little black mouse squeaked, ran to Kaijos’ hand, and obediently didn’t move.

Kaijos just supported him with the palm of his right hand and sent him to Garlan.

The little black mouse stood upright on the palm of his master, with his small paws tucked into his chest, tilted his head and looked at Garlan. He raised a paw and waved at him, then squeaked again as if to say hello.

Garlan was amused by all his actions.

“Sure enough, he is very smart.”

“En, I have tried to domesticate them since his grandfather’s generation. He is the third generation and understands my instructions the best.”

Garlan thought for a while, took a piece of fruit from the small table beside the bed, and wanted to feed the black mouse.

But the little black mouse squeaked and didn’t eat.

“He had undergone strict training and won’t eat any food that hasn’t passed through my hands. This is in order to avoid him from being tempted by others.”

Kaijos said with a smile, and then took the fruit from Garlan and handed it back to Garlan in front of the little black mouse.

This time, when Garlan handed it over, the little black mouse began to gnaw on the fruit while holding it with his two small paws.

As the little Prince was feeding the little black mouse with great interest, there was a sudden scream, frightening Garlan, and the little black mouse. He was so scared that all the fruit in his hand was dropped in an instant.

It was not known when the little lion who had been obediently leaning in Garlan’s arms, jumped out, and screamed at the little black mouse.

He stopped in front of Garlan, as if trying to separate Garlan from the little black mouse. Nergal stared at the little black mouse so fiercely that the little black mouse was scared. He scurried and crawled along the arm of Kaijos, then hid behind Kaijos’ shoulders.

The next second, he sneaked out his little head again, watching the movement of the little lion.

Little Nergal was still growling, bearing his teeth and his claws extended. It wasn’t only at the little black mouse, but even towards Kaijos. He was in rage and roared to make Kaijos leave.

Garlan hugged him by the neck and dragged him back. For a while, he couldn’t laugh or cry, and could only squeeze his hair to soothe him.

The one-eyed knight folded his arms and stood there laughing.

The little black mouse shrank behind his shoulders, his small eyes squirming and peeking at the little lion.

Although the little lion was hugged by Garlan, he still growled restlessly at Kaijos and the little black mouse.

All of a sudden, the room became a mess.

At this moment, a loud percussion sounded in the room, and Garlan looked up and found that Heimos had somehow appeared at the door.

He held a black wooden box in one hand, raised his other hand, knocked heavily on the door with his knuckles. Frowning and watching the room, his thin lips pressed slightly, making him look a little disgruntled.

“Kaijos,” He stared at the little black mouse on Kaijos’ shoulder, “Don’t bring dusty animals in until Garlan is better.”

Kaijos froze for a moment, then lowered his head slightly.

A bunch of blond hair hung down his shoulders, and the little black mouse raised his head and glanced at Heimos. In the next second, he ducked down, as if frightened by Heimos, retracted into Kaijos’ back, never probing out again.

The knight bowed slightly to Garlan and said, “Sorry, Your Highness, I was negligent.”

“No, it’s okay. I was the one who asked you to let me see him first.”

Garlan waved his hand and said, “Also, my injury is almost healed, so you don’t need to be so nervous anymore.”

The doctor said that his wound was completely scabled. He just had to wait for the scab to fall off.

He didn’t need to continue lying on his stomach now. He could lie on his back and sleep.

“No.”

Heimos refuted Garlan’s words, and he glanced at Kaijos.

You may leave now. “

Kaijos shrugged, then turned and walked out.

The little paw pulled the clothes on his back, the little black mouse hung on his back, turned his head and stared at Garlan with his small dark eyes, squeaking as if saying goodbye.

The child laughed suddenly, raised his hand and waved to the little black mouse, saying goodbye to him.

However, as soon as he waved his hand, the little lion nestled in his arms grabbed the wristband of his hand and pulled it down, as if he was very unhappy for Garlan to wave at the little black mouse.

Immediately afterwards, he squirmed back and forth in Garlan’s arms coquettishly, with an arrogant look of ‘I’m angry, come and coax me’.

However, before he succeeded in acting like a baby, a hand stretched out from the side.

The slender fingers grabbed the back of his neck.

The little lion who was grabbed by the back of his neck was like a critical spot, and his whole body was paralysed.

Heimos grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him up. The paralysed little lion couldn’t fight without any effort, so he could only open his eyes, staring at Garlan eagerly, and let out a little wailing scream.

The little fluffy body was carried and swayed in mid-air and the whole lion looked pitiful.

“Wait a minute, Heimos…”

Before Garlan finished speaking, Heimos had already carried Nergal and threw him out of the house.

The fluffy lion cub rolled on the grass, then stopped. He didn’t react for a while and sat there with his rattled brain in a daze.

When he finally reacted, he screamed and ran towards the door again.

As soon as he rushed to the door, he was about to return to that warm embrace. Immediately, with a bang, the lion cub slammed into the wooden door that was suddenly closed, and slid down the door.

After driving out the eyesores, the teenager picked up a snow-white cloth towel, dampened it in the basin, wrung it out, and walked towards Garlan.

“Give me your hand.”

He originally wanted to plead for little Nergal, but before he had time to say it, Garlan, who had watched Nergal being thrown out by Heimos, waved his hand.

He said, “No need, I can do it…”

…myself.

Before the last word was spoken, Heimos grabbed a hand that was still in the air, and dragged him over.

Heimos grabbed him and wiped his face, shoulders, arms, and even his fingers carefully. Dust including Nergal’s fur that was sticking to his clothes was completely wiped clean.

Heimos, when did you become the same virtue as Ziemuer’s obsessive-compulsive disorder?

The child who had been rubbed by Heimos couldn’t help but complain.

After he was wiped clean, the boy sat down by the bed and handed him a box, which seemed to have been brought by him.

As soon as the box was unscrewed, a pile of small squares made of black and white agate jade fell down. In addition, the surface of the unscrewed box had crisscross patterns.

“Uluer chess?”

This was a kind of chess handed down by Aaron Landis since ancient times, and it was extremely popular among nobles and commoners.

But only a few people seemed to play in the palace, and he had only played a few times. It felt a bit like a combination of military chess and Chinese traditional chess.1

“Do you know how to play?”

“En.”

“Then play a few games with me.”

“Okay~”

Seeing this chess piece, Garlan was intrigued for a while, and he sat cross-legged on the bed and started playing chess with Heimos.

Heimos sat on the edge of the bed, and the chessboard was placed on the bed, between the two of them.

Not long after Galan was immersed with great interest, he heard the door creaking and screaming. He subconsciously raised his head and looked at the door, presumably Nergal who was behind the door was scratching the door and wanted to come in.

He was a little worried, a bit distracted, and a little absent-minded when playing chess with Heimos.

Heimos looked at the inattentive child who looked at the door from time to time.

He put down a black agate stone chess piece and said, “It’s your turn.”

“Huh? Ah…oh.”

Garlan quickly put down the white agate pebble in his hand.

There was another creaking and wailing sound at the door.

Garlan took a peek at Heimos.

The teenager lowered his eyes, and shreds of black hair were scattered on that handsome face. It was not known if he didn’t know or didn’t care about the sound of scratching the door.

“How about… letting him in?”

“No.”

Garlan choked back.

He played a few moves and then glanced at the door covertly.

Heimos looked at his absent-minded appearance and pressed his lips, revealing a bit of displeasure.

Garlan thought for a while, and continued, “But if you don’t let him in, he will keep scratching the door, keep scratching and keep howling ah—”

He said, trying to persuade Heimos to let the little lion in.

The teenager raised his eyes and looked at him like a golden-red jewel on fire.

On the handsome face that was shining like the brilliance of the sun, the corners of his slender eyes slightly curved upward.

He suddenly leaned forward. One of his hands still on the bed, the other on the chessboard, and his upper body leaned in close to Garlan.

His sudden movement got him so near. His face was only slightly lower, and the fringe on his dark forehead almost touched the tip of Garlan’s nose.

Then, the teenager’s thin lips suddenly opened.

“Awo owo.”

Suddenly, there was a low howl.

Right under Garlan’s eyes, just below the tip of his nose, a low voice sounded.

It was low and he couldn’t tell why, it was an inexplicable tingling voice after hearing it.

“I also know how to howl.”

Suddenly, the young teenager’s golden-red eyes stared at him without blinking, and said.

While Garlan…

“…”

“…???”

“!!!”

There must be something wrong with the way Heimos and him play chess!

Pretty nice and heartwarming chapter. Cutesy Nergal’s appearance and Heimos at the end of the chapter (Why does he sound like LJF in MTW? HAHHAH)

I’m still having quite a busy time at work so I’ll only be releasing 1 chapter a week for the next 1-2 weeks. I’ll be able to stock up chapters during this period as well. So, in February, I’ll be releasing chapters more frequently. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Jeanie

Military chess and Chinese traditional chess also known as Xiang Qi