"I was contacted by His Majesty. It appears Friedrich is returning victorious."
"Eh? Already?"

As the conversation turned to me having dinner with Mother-in-law and staying in her room tonight, Mother-in-law said that.
It seems what I thought was her falling silent, was her talking to the King via telepathic communication.

"It appears Sahaja withdrew. I don"t understand the situation yet, but it seems certain that he"s coming back."
"Freed… is coming back."

Although he said he"d be quick, it was war. With the last war with Tarim in mind, I thought he might not come back for half a month. And yet, I was told he"d return when not even a day pa.s.sed. I couldn"t hide my surprise.

"It"s surprisingly fast. Um, what about postwar cleanup…?"
"It appears he"ll perform it from here. That child can use the return magical art, so it will pose no problem. From the start that child only returned after postwar cleanup because he didn"t want to come back here. Now it"s the opposite. He wants to see you as soon as possible."
"Ah."

My face turned red from being teasingly told so.
I"m happy.
I"m very happy that Freed is coming back because he wants to see me.

"U-Umm… I will go meet him."

Recalling the time he"d returned from fighting Tarim before, I said so to Mother-in-law.
If he"s coming back through that large transfer gate this time too, I want to welcome him there.
Seeing me begin to stand up, Mother-in-law looked at me with gentle eyes.

"My son is sure to be delighted. I"ll come with you. I"ll call Clara to prepare. But, Lidi. You must be careful."
"Be careful?"

Not understanding what Mother-in-law was saying, I tilted my head. She then said with a serious face.

"I"ve heard men are quite spirited after returning from war. I am sure my son will also desire you… But you must not go along with my son"s desire. In the worst case, you will see the morning sun without getting a wink of sleep."
"Err, y… yes."

Unable to say that it regularly happens regardless of him returning from war, I nodded vaguely. I felt Mother-in-law would get angry if I said it.
You are letting my son do as he pleases too much. It"s necessary to say no sometimes… Stuff like that.

"I understand you truly love my son and that there is the medicine. However, no, therefore you need to be considerate of each other. You don"t need to satisfy my son"s endless desire."
"I-Indeed."
"Indeed. Tell him you don"t want more at a suitable time. My son wouldn"t want to earn your dislike. When he"s moderately satisfied, quit."
"Y… Yes."
"To be specific, let"s see. He should be satisfied with four, five times. Aim at that."
"Y-Yes."

… It"s specific.
What she"s saying is incredibly specific.

The only thing I could do was nod to Mother-in-law"s words.
After all, Mother-in-law is saying it for my sake.
However… Right?
I dropped my eyes to the floor.
Sorry Mother-in-law, but to begin with I don"t dislike when I and Freed embrace each other many times.
Because, I"m happy to be desired by my favorite person. Thanks to the Royal Flower it"s not hard on my body, and even if I end up slightly sleepy, I want to satisfy my beloved"s desires.
But Mother-in-law doesn"t know that fact. Although the distance between Mother-in-law and the King is shortening little by little, it doesn"t seem to have yet reached the point of them embracing each other, which means she hasn"t been taught about the reality of the Royal Flower.
That"s why she"s seriously worried. She"s concerned about the burden placed on me.
I feel extremely apologetic for that.
There seems to be a rule not to teach about the matter of the Royal Flower until it changes, so while I feel very sorry, I can"t tell her that on my own.

"Thank you for your concern, Mother-in-law. I am thinking of satisfying him to an acceptable degree."
"Yeah, do that."

It was a somewhat roundabout way of expressing it, but since I didn"t lie, it"s fine.
I hope Mother-in-law"s Royal Flower changes quickly.
I feel so from the bottom of my heart.
But, it won"t be easy. At any rate, it had been fifteen years. But I expect this time for sure her husband, the King, will do his best.
While talking to Mother-in-law, Clara came. I went to the dressing room together with her and changed clothes, then met up with Mother-in-law, who made similar preparations, and we headed towards the transfer gate.

"Elizabeth, so you"ve come too."
"Lord Johannes."

By chance we met the King in a corridor on the way to the transfer gate.
The King had Glenn and several knights with him as his escorts. The King too must intend to welcome Freed. Seeing Mother-in-law, he showed a surprised face.

"How unusual. You don"t usually appear. What kind of turn of events is this?"
"… Lidi said she"d go welcome Friedrich. Although she"s just going to welcome him, it"s better to not leave her alone, right? I came thinking that, but is there any problem?"
"No. You"re right. Freed will be delighted."

I"m sorry, but I found Mother-in-law"s aloofness that still didn"t completely go away a little cute.
And the King must"ve felt the same, as he chuckled.
Witnessing that, Mother-in-law raised her eyebrows and said.

"Lord Johannes, why are you laughing?"
"No, I didn"t laugh."
"Lord Johannes!"
"Don"t get so angry. It spoils your lovely face. That"s right, Elizabeth. It"s a rare chance, so let"s go together. Do you mind?"
"… If that"s what you want, Lord Johannes."
"Yeah, certainly I want that."
"I-Is that so?"

Although Mother-in-law averted her eyes, she nodded. However, her cheeks were faintly red. I immediately understood she was just bashful.

―― Mother-in-law, you"re unbelievably cute.

Mother-in-law is unused to being honest, yet in her own way she"s making efforts to meet the King halfway.
They hadn"t had interactions for years, so it"s a start. I think it"s inevitable that it will take time.
The King also nodded with a delighted face.

―― Hmm. Like this I"m the third wheel here.

I scratched my cheek.
What should I do? I wonder if it"s correct to leave secretly.
I tried to slowly move back.
Having noticed my movement, Glenn gave a small laugh.
Mu. He"s awful to laugh. Isn"t withdrawing the only choice in this situation?
"Sorry," he apologized in a whisper as I glared at him.
But his face is laughing. He absolutely doesn"t think he"s in the wrong.
"Mumumu," while I was groaning, Mother-in-law noticed I wasn"t next to her and called out to me.

"Lidi? What are you doing? Come here."
"E-Err. Y-Yes."

I didn"t want to disturb them, yet I was found out because of Glenn.
I once again gave Glenn a censuring glare and with an apologetic face went to Mother-in-law. When the King noticed my expression, he smiled wryly.
And so our escorts also joined together, and the three of us walked to the transfer gate.
Noticing us, court ladies and gentlemen, as well as n.o.bles one by one bent their knees and bowed their heads to show respect.
As expected, no one complained about the combination of the King, Queen, as well as the Crown Prince"s fiancée who will marry him next month.
Everybody was bowing their heads in silence until we pa.s.sed.