"Ha? What was it? Prince Maximilian did?"
"… Nn?"

I and Freed embraced each other literally until the sun rose, and I finally got a little sleep in the early morning.
I then woke up to Freed"s tense voice.
Apparently, while still hugging me, Freed was talking via telepathic communication to someone. Having noticed that I woke up, he made an apologetic face.

"… Sorry. Did I wake you up?"
"Nn… It"s alright, what happened?"

When I asked Freed while rubbing my eyes, he said, "Wait a moment," and fell silent.
Looking at his face, I realized he resumed telepathic communication.
However, should he really use telepathic communication while hugging me?
Feeling like Freed was talking about something very important, I tried slipping out of Freed"s arms to not disturb him, but on the contrary the strength in his arm holding me increased.

"Wah… Freed… Let go."

My voice wouldn"t be heard by the other side of telepathic communication, but I still lowered my voice to a whisper.
But Freed glared at me as if he was rebuking me.

"Jeez, where are you going? Lidi, I need you in my arms."

I wanted to be tactful, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on him.

"I-I was thinking I was a hindrance…"

Still, when I roughly told Freed my reason for trying to move, Freed said, "You don"t need to worry," while strongly hugging me.

"I"m talking with Alex. I"ve simply received a report… Or rather Lidi, I"m troubled without you by my side, so don"t move willfully."
"Hyan…"

I was kissed on my forehead, and then Freed"s hand touched my breast.
We fell asleep while embracing each other, so naturally we aren"t wearing night clothes. We"re both still naked. I"m just glad we didn"t fall asleep with his thing still inside me today.
… It"s a funny story, but sometimes it really happens, and I"m incredibly surprised when I wake up.
Anyway, Freed is still br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vigor despite not even sleeping an hour. I moved away his hand and asked.

"Freed… You can"t. Hey, what about the telepathic communication? Are you done already?"

When I blocked the other hand that begun moving outrageously, Freed made a blatantly disappointed face.

"Yup. I"ve mostly heard the story. However, it doesn"t seem like I"ll have time to go back to sleep. I was thinking of sleeping a little, but I have to go to the office now."
"… Eh… Haven"t you hardly slept? Are you alright?"

Yesterday, he should"ve had a considerably tight schedule.
Coming to save me, recovering Andre, going to war… and having s.e.x with me until morning. No matter how robust Feed is, there is a limit.
But, defying my concern, Freed said while stroking my head.

"I"m alright. I got my fill of Lidi last night. I replenished my spirit, so at least for today I"ll persist."
"That"s not the problem… Ah, and, did something happen? Err, I don"t really mind if you can"t tell me though…"

I realized it might have been an awkward thing to ask with this flow and hurriedly corrected myself. But Freed smiled and said.

"It"s alright. I was talking with Alex a moment ago… He contacted me about the King of Sahaja"s death."
"Eh!?"

When I became startled by the unexpected story, Freed nodded, "Yup."

"Just now, the announcement came from Sahaja. That yesterday, the King died in a sudden accident. And Prince Maximilian, their Crown Prince, will soon ascend the throne."
"…"

So that"s why Freed uttered, "Prince Maximilian did," before.
Despite being convinced, I was still surprised, but Freed continued talking.

"Taking the opportunity, that prince seems to have declared that the abrupt aggression against Wilhelm was his father"s arbitrary decision that didn"t pa.s.s through the parliament. And that the King planned to a.s.sa.s.sinate Wilhelm"s royalty, but he dealt with both matters by himself. He withdrew the army and prevented the a.s.sa.s.sination plot. As the next King, he doesn"t intend to provoke Wilhelm due to the armistice. Eventually, he wants to make peace with Wilhelm… He"s got the nerve to say something so insincere. It"s so astonis.h.i.+ng that it"s even impressive."
"… He"s really something."

Even I can tell it"s all a lie. Especially since I saw what kind of person Prince Maximilian is first-hand, I can easily imagine he has zero intention of making peace.

"He pushed everything inconvenient onto his dead father… Is that it?"
"Yup. Dead men tell no tales. That man wants to make the most of his father"s death. I thought things would turn difficult when he became the King, but it happened faster than I imagined."
"Hey… Perhaps, despite it being his real father, Prince Maximilian… you know?"

Cain said before.
That it wouldn"t be strange if the King of Sahaja died some time. And that Prince Maximilian would be behind it.
When I recalled that story and tried asking, Freed frowned.

"… The possibility isn"t zero… If anything, I think it"s high. Because of going to war, the number of soldiers inside the castle would be extremely reduced. He was awaiting the opportunity. And when the opportunity came, he did it… I guess that"s how it was. Of course, he"ll never admit it."
"Of course… I"m sure he won"t."

Even if it"s true, there"s no way he"d confess to patricide.
Although I can"t understand the idea of willingly removing own blood relative, it sounds like something Prince Maximilian could do.

"The sudden withdrawal yesterday was because they received news about the King"s death… I wonder if we can think that. I thought they were scheming something by suddenly withdrawing, but with this talk in mind, I can understand it."
"Yup…"

When I nodded, Freed regretfully said.

"And so, I really can"t go back to bed. If anything, I think busy days will continue for a while. The victory celebration party that was planned for tonight is also postponed. It will take place on some other day."
"Yup. It can"t be helped"

It"s an emergency. The higher-ups will be too busy gathering information to even think about planning the victory celebration party.

"You"ll come back tonight, right?"

When I asked just to make sure, Freed"s expression turned dreadfully serious.

"Naturally. I"ll come back. I absolutely won"t work overtime. In the first place, such a thing happened only yesterday. In truth Lidi, I don"t want to separate from you even for a moment, so there"s no way I wouldn"t come back, is there? I"ll come back no matter what it takes."
"Nn… I"m glad. Then, I"ll be waiting."

I was relieved to hear he"d come back. I could finally spend time with Freed, so I absolutely don"t want us to separate again either.
I brought my cheek to his chest. Hearing Freed"s heartbeat, my feelings naturally calmed down.

"Lidi, if you"re bored you can go out too, but always take guards with you when you"re outside the room. I know it"s an inconvenience, but until the situation clears up, I want you to do that."
"Yup."

I nodded to Freed"s words. It"s the fact that yesterday I was kidnapped by Sahaja, and it might happen again. I mustn"t let my guard down.

"You must never be alone. If anything happens, immediately call for me… Think about yourself first. Don"t give priority to anyone else."
"…"

I immediately understood Freed was talking about Milly.
At that time I prioritized saving Milly over asking Freed for help. Because it was a life-threatening crisis, even now I don"t think I made a wrong choice, and I would always make the same choice in a similar situation. However, it"s the fact I got kidnapped because of it.
I thought of obediently agreeing with Freed"s words, so that at the very least I wouldn"t worry him.

"I"ll take care not to get into such situations."

Hearing my answer, Freed frowned. It appears he wasn"t pleased by it.

"Lidi… You didn"t promise to prioritize yourself."
"Because… I can"t think or act like that."

In Milly"s case, it was an instantaneous decision. I can"t make a promise if I don"t know how I"ll act. I answered with that in mind. While still hugging me, Freed sighed.

"… Lidi, that"s just how you are, huh. Fine. Lidi, as I said last night, I don"t intend to restrict your behavior more than necessary. Just take guards with you. I"ll try to take the guards off you as soon as possible."
"Thanks."

When I thanked him, Freed gently stroked my head and raised his body.

"I"m going. I"ll let Clara know that you can sleep a little longer. There"s my barrier around this room, so you don"t have to worry."
"Nn… Please do that."

I gratefully nodded to Freed"s words.
I woke up, but it"s the truth that I"m lacking sleep.
My head is hazy and my body heavy. It"s true that I"m happy to be loved by Freed, but I can"t help being sleepy.

"Have a good day."

Freed lightly kissed my lips and stood up from the bed. I raised my body to see him off. Freed put on a robe that was nearby and walked to the adjoining main room. After a while, I heard the sound of the door opening and Clara"s voice.

"Your Highness, good morning… How is Princess Consort?"
"Good morning. She"s on the verge of falling asleep, so take care to not disturb her. She"s hardly slept. I want you to check on her before noon. She"ll probably be hungry, so prepare a meal."
"Certainly."

Clara replied solemnly.
While listening to them, I crawled into the linens.

"… Let"s sleep."

My body was tired. I was immediately a.s.sailed by sleepiness, and until Clara woke me up, I indulged in a sound sleep.