A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

It was noon, when the sun was shining brightly, and Garlan, who had just finished his porridge, was lying on the bed, drowsy.

He was a little depressed because of the injury. The doctor said that in order to avoid inflammation of the burned area and leaving scars, it was best to eat light food until the injury healed.

So for more than half a month, he ate fruit porridge, meat porridge, clear porridge, olive porridge... He ate them all. Tapti made various kinds of porridge for him in different ways, and he ate so much When I reach the porridge, I feel sick to my stomach.

In order to eat something tasty, he once put aside his self-esteem and acted coquettishly and cutely to the female officer Tapti. However, the female officer who used to do this was very determined this time and refused to agree to him no matter how coquettishly he behaved.

"Prince, you must endure this period of time, otherwise the wound will leave scars."

Just leave a few scars and leave them alone. There are only three of them anyway, and they are not serious. He is a boy, not a girl. It can be covered by his clothes. Why does Tapti have to look like he is facing a formidable enemy? ?

Garlan was very puzzled by this.

no! How could my little prince’s fair and tender skin have scars? I won't allow it!

The seemingly mature and steady female official was holding back her breath at the moment, determined not to let her cute little prince get a scar.

She urged the doctors even more powerfully than King Camos.

Although he didn't like eating it, he knew that Tapti was doing it for his own good, so Garlan still ate the bowl of porridge obediently.

Once his stomach was full, he felt sleepy.

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

But not long after he closed his eyes and drifted away, something kept touching his face, making him sleep uneasy.

Garlan hummed and turned his face to the other side, thinking that he could avoid the harassment. However, after he turned his head, he was quiet for less than a minute, and something kept touching his cheek.

Something kept brushing past my cheek, something soft and prickly, making my face itch.

Under the constant harassment of the unknown thing, the child struggled to open his eyes.

A fluffy little head came into his eyes. The little brown lion came close to him, licking him with its little tongue and humping him with its little head.

When he saw Garlan open his eyes, the little lion suddenly became happy. His long tail swung and the fluff on the tip of his tail trembled. It came up more and more happily and licked Garlan vigorously.

Gallan raised his hand and pushed away the little guy who kept licking his face.

A few months have passed since they met. The little lion Nerga has grown a lot and is much stronger. He really can't push it away without a little effort.

The little lion grew up so fast that he was no longer the little ball of fur he had been when he first met him. He could no longer hold it.

Especially the mane on the head and ears is longer and denser, and the outline of the face is expanded, giving it a bit of power. According to the maids who took care of him, this little guy was very majestic among his brothers and sisters. Almost all the other little lions obeyed him, and he was quite powerful and courageous like the king of beasts.

But Garlan couldn't see how courageous this little guy was, because whenever Nerga came in front of him, he was still like the furball he was when he was a child, rolling around in a cute way at him, asking for hugs and head touches.

Even the shout was ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong, soft and coquettish.

Gallan sat up, hugged the little lion that was approaching, and began to stroke its fur.

He turned his head and looked at Kehos standing at the door.

"Did you bring it here?"

Cayjos leaned against the door and shrugged.

"I don't have the time," he said. "It came here on its own."

Little Nerga was very active when she was not weaned. She always liked to run around and made the maids extremely anxious. As it grew older, it became even more naughty, but luckily Garlan was able to control it and make it obedient.

However, when Garlan didn't look for it for more than ten days, Little Nerga became anxious. Finally, he couldn't help it anymore and sneaked out of the zoo to find it himself.

As soon as Caijos entered the courtyard, he saw the little lion lying on the door panel, waving his two little paws and scratching the door vigorously, as if he wanted to scratch the door through.

The sight of that fluffy little body leaning against the door made Caijos unable to help but want to laugh.

He smiled and walked over.

Little Nerga glanced at him, probably because he often stayed with Garlan and seemed familiar to Nerga. It whined at him, scratched the door with its claws, and bared its teeth again.

Its meaning is obvious - open the door for me, uncle, or I will bite you.

Kehos held back his laughter and opened the door for him, and he rushed in, jumped on the bed, and started licking Garlan, who was already asleep.

I found it myself.

Garlan thought.

It's over. Once this little guy comes here once, I'm afraid he will come back again and again in the future.

While he was thinking, he slapped Nega's little head hard.

The little lion came into his arms, and he held him in his arms and stroked his fur. He squinted his eyes and flicked his tail in comfort.

Just when it was feeling comfortable, its head was suddenly slapped. It opened its eyes, tilted its head and looked at Garlan and let out a cry. The cute expression on his face did not look like a ferocious king of beasts. .

Garlan rubbed its chin, and it immediately forgot about the slap just now, and hummed while rubbing Garlan's hand, seemingly enjoying it.

Garlan looked at it, suddenly remembered something, and turned to look at Kehos.

"Speaking of which, I remember that you seemed to have a little mouse, right?"

"Yes, I trained it to spread the word."

"Well, it's very smart." Garlan laughed, remembering the little black mouse who sent him a message when he was locked up in the cave of the Cult of All Things. He looked left and right at Caijos, but when he didn't see the little black mouse, he asked curiously.

"Kayhos, I don't think I've ever seen it around you? Is it still there?"

"Yes." The blond knight replied with a smile, "But usually I let it move around freely and don't stay around."

Saying this, Caijos looked at the sky, then took out a miniature piccolo the size of a little finger, put it in his mouth and blew a beep sound.

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

The little black mouse is smaller than an ordinary mouse. Its black fur is shiny and fluffy. Its big eyes are bright and move flexibly.

It stood upright in front of its owner and squeaked twice.

Cayjos knelt down and put his hand in front of it.

The little black mouse squeaked, ran to Caijos's hand, and stayed still.

Kayhos just held it with the palm of his right hand and brought it to Garlan.

The little black mouse stood upright on the palm of its owner, with its little paws retracted in front of its chest. It tilted its head and looked at Gallan. Then it raised a paw and waved at Gallan, and squeaked again, as if to greet him. Same as hello.

Garlan was immediately amused by it.

"It's really smart."

"Well, I have been trying to tame them since its grandfather's generation. It is the third generation and understands my instructions best."

Garlan thought for a moment, then took a piece of preserved fruit from the small table beside the bed and wanted to feed it to the little black mouse.

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

"It has been strictly trained and will not eat food that has not passed through my hands, in order to prevent it from being tempted by other people."

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

This time, when Garlan handed it over, the little black mouse held the preserved fruit in its two paws and began to nibble on it.

Just when the little prince was happily feeding the little black mouse, there was a sudden roar that startled Gallan, and the little black mouse was so frightened that all the preserved fruits in his hands fell off.

I saw the little lion who had been obediently leaning in Garlan's arms suddenly jumped out and snarled at the little black mouse.

It stopped in front of Garlan, as if trying to separate Garlan from the little black mouse, and glared at the little black mouse menacingly, so frightened that the little black mouse shuddered and crawled along Kaihos's arm. on the shoulder, and then shrunk behind Caijos's shoulder.

The next second, it secretly poked out its little head and looked at the movements of the little lion.

Little Nerga was still howling, baring his teeth and baring his teeth. Not only was he directed at the little black mouse, but Caihos was also angry at him, and he was growling at Caihos to get out of here.

Garlan hugged its neck and dragged it back. He couldn't laugh or cry for a while, so he could only keep stroking its fur to comfort it.

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

The little black mouse huddled behind his shoulder, its little eyes peeking at the little lion.

Although the little lion was being held by Garlan, he was still growling restlessly at Caihos and the little black mouse.

For a moment, the room became a mess.

At this moment, a loud knocking sound sounded in the room. Garlan looked up and found that Heimos had appeared at the door at some point.

He held a black wooden box in one hand, raised his other hand, knocked his knuckles heavily on the door panel, frowned and stared at the room, his thin lips pursed slightly, looking a little unhappy.

"Kehos." He stared at the little black mouse on Kehos's shoulder. "Don't bring dusty animals in until Garlan gets better."

Caijos was startled for a moment, then lowered his head slightly.

The blond hair tied into a bunch hung down his shoulders. The little black mouse raised his head and glanced at Heimos. The next second, he squeaked, as if he was frightened by Heimos, and shrank into Caijos's back. I won't stick my head in anymore.

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

"No, it's okay. I asked you to see it first."

Garlan waved his hand and said, "Besides, my injury is almost healed, so I don't need to be so nervous anymore."

The doctor said that his wound was completely scabbed and he just had to wait for the scab to fall off.

Now he no longer has to lie down and can sleep on his front.

"no."

Heimos refuted Garlan's words and glanced at Caihos.

"You go out."

Caijos shrugged, then turned and walked out.

The little paws dug into the clothes on his back, and the little black mouse hung on his back, turning its head to stare at Garlan with its small dark eyes, and squeaked, as if saying goodbye.

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

However, as soon as he waved his hand, the little lion nestled in his arms grabbed the wrist guard of his hand with a groan, and pulled it down hard, as if he was unhappy that he was waving to the little black mouse.

Immediately afterwards, it coquettishly moved back and forth in Garlan's arms, looking arrogant like, "Come and comfort me when I'm angry."

However, before it could successfully act coquettishly, a hand stretched out from the side.

His slender fingers grabbed it by the back of its neck.

The little lion was grabbed by the back of the neck, as if his fatal point had been stabbed all of a sudden, and his whole body collapsed.

Heimos grabbed it by the back of the neck and lifted it up. The paralyzed little lion couldn't use any strength to struggle. He could only open his eyes, look at Garlan helplessly, and let out a small moan. scream.

The fluffy little body was dropped and swaying in the air, making the whole lion look pitiful.

"Wait a minute, Heimos..."

Before Garlan finished speaking, Heimos had already picked up Nerga and threw Nerga out of the door.

I saw the fluffy little lion rolling on the grass and then stopped. He didn't react for a while and sat there with his head covered.

When it reacted, it immediately howled and ran towards the door again.

As soon as he rushed to the door, he was about to return to the warm embrace. Suddenly, with a bang, the little lion suddenly hit the wooden door that was suddenly closed, and slid down the door panel.

After driving out all the eyesores, the young man picked up a snow-white cloth, wet it in the basin and wrung it out, then walked towards Garlan.

"Give me your hand."

He said.

Gallan wanted to plead for little Nerga but before he could say anything, Garlan waved his hand as he watched Nerga being thrown out by Heimos.

He said: "No need, I myself..."

……Come.

Before the last word could be uttered, Heimos grabbed the hand that was still waving and pulled him forward.

Heimos grabbed him and wiped his face, shoulders, arms, and even his fingers carefully, including Nerga's hair that stuck to his clothes.

Heymos, when did you become the same kind of character as Shermer, that obsessive-compulsive mysophobia?

The child who was pressed and wiped by Heymos couldn't help but complain in his heart.

After wiping him clean, the young man sat down by the bed and handed him a box, which seemed to be the one he had just brought.

As soon as the box was unscrewed, a bunch of small squares made of black and white agate jade fell out, and the surface of the unscrewed box had criss-cross patterns.

"Ulur chess?"

This is a chess game passed down from ancient times by Aaron Landis and is extremely popular among nobles and commoners.

But few people seemed to play it in the palace, and he only played it a few times. It felt a bit like a combination of military chess and chess at that time.

"Can you play?"

"Um."

"Then play a few games with me."

"Okay~"

Looking at this chess piece, Garlan became interested for a moment, sat cross-legged on the bed and started playing chess with Heimos.

Heimos sat beside the bed, and the chess box was placed on the bed between the two of them.

Not long after Gallan got down excitedly, he heard the sound of creaking and scratching coming from the door, as well as hooting and hooting sounds. He subconsciously raised his head and looked towards the door. It must be Nerga who was locked out, scratching at the door, trying to get in.

He was a little worried and distracted for a while, and he started to play chess with Heimos a little absent-mindedly.

Heimos looked at the child who glanced at the door from time to time and was not paying attention.

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 stone in his hand.

There was another creaking and scratching sound at the door, as well as a whining sound.

Garlan glanced secretly at Heimos.

The young man lowered his eyes, his fine black hair scattered on his handsome face. He didn't know whether he didn't hear the scratching at the door or didn't care at all.

"How about... let it in?"

"no."

Garlan was choked back.

He played a few moves and glanced furtively at the door.

Heimos looked at his absent-minded look and pursed his lips, showing a bit of displeasure.

Gallan thought for a while and continued: "But if you don't let it in, it will keep scratching the door, keep scratching, and keep squealing-"

So saying, he tried to persuade Heimos to let the little lion in.

The young man raised his eyes and glanced at him with golden-red gem-like eyes dyed with fire.

On his face as handsome as the rising sun, the corners of his slender eyes were slightly curved.

He suddenly leaned forward, with his hands still on the bed and one hand on the chessboard, and his upper body came closer to Garlan.

He suddenly came so close, his face was just a little lower, and his dark forehead hair almost touched the tip of Garlan's nose.

Then, the boy's thin lips suddenly opened.

"Ouch."

Suddenly, there was a low whimpering sound.

Right in front of Garlan's eyes, right under the tip of his nose, there was a low sound.

It was a low, unexplainable sound that made the back of one's neck numb for no apparent reason.

"I can bark too."

The young man who suddenly let out a low whimper stared at him with his golden red eyes and said.

And Garlan......

"…………………………"

"...???"

"!!!"

There must be something wrong with the way he and Heimos played chess!