It"s the general area that I don"t visit much anymore.
I"d left the royalty quarter, and led by two royal guards I was heading to a guest room.

Having obtained the permission to visit from Freed, I decided to immediately see the two of them.
It"s no fun to be worrying in the room alone, and I felt I wouldn"t be able to reach the conclusion if I stayed still like that.
If I talk with somebody else I might hit upon something.
Since it"ll also serve as a change of pace, I"ll be killing two birds with one stone.

I continued being led by the royal guards.
The soldiers arranged by Freed seem to have heard the destination in advance, and without having to tell them anything they took the lead in guiding me.

"It"s here. Princess Consort"

The second floor on the south side of the general area. The two soldiers stopped in front of the innermost room in the section with guest rooms.

"We will stand by here. Please call us whenever you need something"
"Thank you. I don"t think I"ll take long"

They didn"t just lead me, they also seem to serve as my escorts.
Although his status is that of a guest, the person I"ll be meeting now is a man.
No matter what permissions I receive, as the fiancée of the Crown Prince it"s impossible for me to meet him without prior arrangements.
Understanding that they are here in case I raised a loud voice if something outrageous happened rather than me needing something, I nodded.
Be that as it may, I"m not worried. Because Sion isn"t such a person.

"Feel free"

When I knocked, I heard Sion"s calm voice from inside.
He was reported the time of the visit in advance. As he replied, I slowly opened the door.

"… Good day. Sion and Rena. I"m sorry for not visiting immediately"

Among guest rooms of the general area, this one is particularly wide.
The room for special guests is quite bright. A big window is slightly opened, and a brightly-colored curtain is swaying in the wind. On the whole, the room"s coloring could be summarized as bright.
It being a special guest room, there"s more than one section; I can see a door in the back. Probably it leads to the bedroom.
Sion is comfortably sitting on a beige sofa. He"s dressed like a n.o.ble son with the underlying black theme. Rena is standing near him.
It seems Rena herself sleeps in the room next to his, but out of her wish to take care of Sion she"s wearing the castle"s court ladies clothes.
The appearance of a tiny beastman girl wearing court ladies clothes is, to sum it up in one word, cute.
Because Freed gave orders n.o.body is trying strange things, but still she"s so charming it"s worrying.
… Yup, I wonder if I can pet her a little.
Having unconsciously almost reached out my hand, in a fl.u.s.ter I turned my eyes away and continued surveying the room.
Every single piece of furniture in the room given to Sion is very high-quality.
The landscape painting too is on the level where it wouldn"t be strange if it decorated an ordinary n.o.ble residence"s parlor, the scarlet carpet with a complex pattern is another fine article.
If a commoner was given such a room they should feel restless, but according to what I"ve heard from Freed, in Tarim Sion seemed to live in a residence befitting a duke.
Because of that Sion is unperturbed, and feels truly at ease.
He must have been told in advance to spend time freely while waiting. Holding a book in his hand, Sion seems to be spending the afternoon while drinking tea.
Sion checked the watch, and while standing up placed the book on the table.

"Right on time. I apologize for the delayed greeting"

Sion calmly smiling still remains in my memory.
But, I"m not captivated by him anymore.

"No. Have you been troubled in any way? If it"s difficult to talk with court ladies, tell me. If it"s something I can do, I"ll cooperate. Rena, how about you? Has something troubled you?"

I also asked the girl who looking at me stiffened.
She looks like she didn"t expect me to address her, and sprang up a little… Oh no, what should I do. She"s insanely cute.

"E, err. Me? Um, nothing in particular. As long as I can be near Lord Sion… Rather, I wonder if I shouldn"t improve… I"m a beastman, and yet"
"That doesn"t matter. His Highness said he"ll receive you as a guest. It"s unthinkable, but supposing there"s something that makes you uncomfortable, speak up freely… I will beat up that idiot with all my strength"
"Beat up…? Eeeh!? I"m alright…"

Seeing Rena shake her head in astonishment, I felt relieved that she really seems alright.
Beastmen are rare in this country. I was worried whether she wasn"t hurt by some strange teasing. I absolutely wouldn"t forgive bullying such a cute child.
For me, fluffiness is justice next to military uniforms.
With all my power I would remove anything that brought sorrow to fluffiness, just now I decided that on my own.

"Fufu, that"s enough, right. Welcome, Princess Consort"

I returned to my senses and wryly smiled as Sion spoke those words.

"Ara? I"m Princess Consort this late? Actually, I"m still the fiancée, and if possible, I would be happy to be addressed Lidi same as before"
"Even if you say so, this is the Royal Palace. Besides, I"m just a guest right now. I can"t be so impolite"
"It can"t be helped. Then Sion, do as you like"

Thinking he"s got a point, I answered so.
Starting from Freed, through the likes of Brother and Will, only people with higher status call me Lidi in the Royal Palace.
It"s easy to imagine there would be many people who would knit their brows at Sion, who"s just a guest, calling me, who"s recognized as the Crown Prince"s Princess Consort, by a nickname.
When I nodded, Sion showed a smile.

"Oh my. You understand. Thank you very much"
"… Don"t expressly mention that. It makes me feel like running away"
"Excuse me for that"

Here, please, invited so I sat on the presented spot. Sion sat in front of me.
After confirming both of us sat down, Rena brought us tea with surprisingly experienced movements. As Rena finished serving us, with "Yes", I handed her a small package.

"Here, a gift for Rena"
"Eh… What is it?"
"It"s called strawberry daif.u.ku. Rena is a girl, so I thought you"d probably be okay with sweet things, but I wonder if you might be weak with them?"
"Eh… For me? But…"

Rena glimpsed at Sion. He nodded as if to encourage her.

"It"s her precious kindness, so accept it. Sweet things are you favorite, aren"t they"
"In that case I"m glad"

Since she"s a little girl I thought chocolate confectioneries would be better, but unfortunately this is the only thing I could prepare immediately.
Because I"ve been obsessed with variations of youkan recently, I"ve only been gathering ingredient for that, but I simply couldn"t give such a little girl youkan.
I thought it"d be alright to bring her strawberry daif.u.ku, but I wonder if she"ll be happy.
… Ah, I don"t really think of anything like feeding or petting her as thanks… Probably.

"T, thank you. Umm… May I open it?"

Her ears are shaking. Uu… I want to touch them. Cute.
I smiled as amicably as possible
At heart I was desperate to not make at least this child wary.

"It"s something I made for you. So of course, please do. I"d be happy if you ate it quickly before mochi gets hard. I apologize if it doesn"t suit your tastes. To tell the truth, I wanted to bring chocolate confectioneries, but I had no time"

Even though I had the time to make them, in the end I lacked the time to solidify them.
Next time, let"s plan properly.

"Uwaa"

Having opened the box, Rena raised a shout of joy.
Hearing her honest voice of admiration, I felt accomplished.

"Amazing, it"s the first time I see something like this. Uwa, there"s a strawberry on it. M, may I eat it?"
"Feel free"

When I nodded, Rena gingerly took out a strawberry daif.u.ku from the box. She put it in her mouth. After chewing it, Rena let out a deep breath.

"Delicious…"
"Do you like it?"

Satisfied by her bewitched expression I asked her a question, and with her eyes wide open Rena nodded over and over.
Each time, her fluffy pink hair swayed. I desperately endured reaching out my hand.

"Amazing! It"s amazing! I"ve never eaten anything like that. Was this made by Princess Consort?"

I nodded to Rena"s simple question. I felt ticklish having her pure sparkling eyes directed at me. I don"t remember ever feeling so happy having my cooking praised.

"That"s right. Cooking is my hobby"
"… How wonderful. As expected of the original recipe owner the Vivoir house is proud of. May I also have one?"
"Of course. I"ll be happy if you two eat it together"

Sion stood up, and muttered while peering into the box held by Rena.
Huh, I thought about his words.
Me being the daif.u.ku original recipe owner should be a considerable secret. It doesn"t really matter if it"s exposed, but I didn"t expect Sion, who was a travelling singer, to know.
Maybe the question showed on my face, as Sion said while picking up a daif.u.ku.

"Your daif.u.ku is famous as the specialty of the Vivoir house. Since you made it, there"s nothing strange in thinking you are the original recipe owner, right?"
"Eh… Aah, you"re right"

… I see, certainly.
Having convinced me, Sion ate daif.u.ku and broadly smiled.

"… It"s very delicious"
"… T, thanks"

Hearing Senpai tell me my cooking is delicious for the first time, I blinked my eyes in surprise.
It"s the first time, both in this and previous life.
The pa.s.sage of time is amazing. That Senpai who wouldn"t say anything, reached the point of saying things like delicious.

"Rena. I"m sorry, but could you prepare new tea? I feel like another tea would suit it better. Right, for example the one from yesterday…"

Rena knowingly nodded to Sion like she remember the variety of tea.

"Aah yes, that! Certainly! But, I left it in the kitchen, so I can"t make it right now… No, I understand. Could you wait a moment? I will go bring it now"
"Sorry, but please do"

Certainly! Saying so the little girl vigorously left the room.
Sion sat back on the sofa, and asked me "Could you wait a little while" with a smile, but I shook my head.

"I"m sorry. I don"t intend to stay for long. Besides, isn"t it wasteful to specially make the tea?"
"It will be delicious with this. Thank you for expressly bringing a gift for Rena"
"It"s fine. It"s not a big deal, and I thought it"d be good if she didn"t feel uneasy in an unfamiliar country"

I simply hoped the sweetness would ease her anxiety, even if a little.

"That child is strong. She"s doing well"
"I see… Then I"m glad"

I breathed out in relief at Sion"s words. And then, I tried asking him about what I wanted to hear directly.

"Um, listen, Sion. Are you doing alright here?"
"Am I alright? What in the world is that about?"

Tilting his head, Sion seems to have no idea.
The other day he strongly insisted he has an objective to accomplish, so I wonder what this change is about.

"… At that time, you said you would be leaving Wilhelm. You have some objective, right? I wonder if it"s alright for you to stop here"
"Aah, it"s about that"

Understandingly nodding, Sion showed a calm smile.

"There are no problems… Or rather, I understood it seems like it will be easier to fulfill my objective if I stay here. That"s why it"s a secret from His Highness, but there"s no need for testing, I already practically don"t mind being reemployed here”
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Please keep it a secret from His Highness Friedrich for now. When I see the opportunity, I will talk with him myself"
"I have no problem with that, but…"

I don"t intend in getting involved in their employment contact.
There was no hint of hesitation in Sion"s voice as he clearly said he"ll remain here.

"Then, one thing… Your intention now is to stay here?"
"Naturally"

I was relieved by his words. Yup, that"s fine.

"I see… I just wanted to hear that. It looks like Rena isn"t back yet, however I will excuse myself with this… Because His Highness is a very jealous person, I don"t want to make him worry too much"

Slipping a giggle, I asked him to give Rena my best regards and stood up.
From the start that"s all I wanted to hear.
If I stayed too long I"d feel sorry for Freed who had given me permission to visit, and I don"t want to be misunderstood either.
Even without that, lately Freed"s state has been strange.
I don"t want to give him more material to be uneasy about.

"… You really are fond of His Highness Friedrich, aren"t you"