"Lidi, His Highness is returning tomorrow. Prepare so that you can go to the castle first thing in the morning"
"Yes"

As the dinner came to an end, Father mentioned that as if he just remembered.
It"s been about a month since Freed left because of Tarim.

"Even if Lidi doesn"t go there, that Free will just rush off… Huh, this is amazing"

As we were eating desert after the meal, Brother joined in the talk.
By the way, the dessert is "strawberry daif.u.ku" that I introduced the other day when I went to Delris-san. I shared the recipe with Head Chef Thomas, and it was unveiled today.
Exactly as Brother said, the other day he really came back and decided to return to being Freed"s close aide right away. Seeming extremely pleased with strawberry daif.u.ku, he tossed another one in his mouth.

Upon hearing Brother"s remark, with that"s unthinkable Father knit his brows.
However, only his expression is severe, the strictness was ruined by starch stuck around his mouth.

"What are you saying. Lidi is His Highness"s fiancée. It"s natural she should greet him"
"Well, he"ll be absolutely delighted if she goes, ain"t that fine"

Hearing Brother"s light tone, Father lamentably looked up at heavens.

"You really are… That"s right, you also have to come along tomorrow. As you returned you have to greet His Majesty and His Highness"

While saying this, Father picked up the new work "salted beans daif.u.ku". I tried to surprise them by debuting it along with strawberry daif.u.ku, and it seems it"s become Father"s favorite.
Brother nodded strongly to Father"s words.

"I"ll go, I"ll go. I"d be stupid to miss the main event "emotional reunion scene". Why do you think I came back. Anyway, I"ll take over with Glenn afterwards, even if I don"t wanna… By the way Lidi, this is seriously delicious"
"… Thanks"

Wasn"t I just treated nonchalantly.
I tried scowling at him, but he picked up yet another strawberry daif.u.ku.
I"m getting heartburn just by watching. Has he eaten 5 by now…?
Despite his exasperated expression, Father stuffed his cheeks with salted beans daif.u.ku.
They"re the same… They"re certainly a parent and child… Ugh.

"Just what are you looking forward to…"
"No, that Freed"s usual calmness will break. I feel like laughing just imagining it"

It was amusing to even hear him talk, with these words Brother reached for salted beans daif.u.ku this time. But, Father stopped him.

"Ah, what was that for"

Raising his beautiful eyebrows, Brother reproached Father.

"That"s rude to His Highness. And, this is mine"
"… Old man, you"re stingy"

Even though it was no big deal, Brother objected.
Having s.n.a.t.c.hed salted daif.u.ku from Brother, Father laughed fufun with satisfaction.
But wait a minute. What they"re doing is nothing but a low level struggle over daif.u.ku.
What are these two grown-up men with social status doing.

"Anyway, it"s tomorrow morning. His Highness will come tired, so heal him as his fiancée"

While chewing on the daif.u.ku s.n.a.t.c.hed from Brother, Father said so with a serious expression.
… I seriously feel like stopping listening.

"Heal, you mean with her body? Haha. If that happens, he won"t let her go home, right?"

Obtaining daif.u.ku freshly brought by a cook, Brother made a beaming smile.

Brother of mine, that joke is not a laughing matter.
Imagining it a little I sank into silence, and with daif.u.ku in his hand, Father"s eyebrows twitched.

"Alex, everything you"re doing is vulgar"
"Hee hee, Old Man, don"t worry about minor details. If those two meet that happening is inevitable"

Easily dodging Father"s anger, Brother quickly ate up salted beans daif.u.ku.
While saying "Ah, this is good" he took another one. Just how many does he feel like eating.
Seeing Brother not care at all, Father"s voice roughened.

"It"s about discipline of the ducal house"s successor. When will you get used to it!!"

No, either get angry or eat.
Astonished by Father who despite his fury never let go of daif.u.ku, I called out to him.
By the way, I gave up on eating long ago.
Seeing how those two eat, I lost appet.i.te.

"Father, please calm down. Elder Brother"s nature is like this. I do not think his somewhat vulgar manner will change"
"My, Lidi and Alex are both harsh"

When I spoke my true feelings, Mother, who"s in front of me, let out a high-pitched laugh.
Mother also finished eating. She only had one strawberry daif.u.ku. That"s right, normally that much would be satisfying.

"Mother, I only said the truth"
"There is no problem, Alex"s feigned innocence does not lose to yours. I only worry how will that Alex bring a bride home"

I fully agreed with Mother as she said when will I get to see my grandchild with a sigh.

"This is a difficult question, Mother. No matter how bold the person, I believe she would run off, even barefoot"
"The-re-fore, look at yourself. Or rather, speaking of att.i.tude, Lidi, you too, but even old man is completely different in the castle"

As I talked with Mother about the problem of Brother"s wife, Brother forcibly cut into our talk.

Suddenly it"s hard to believe Father in front of me is the person called the cool-headed Prime Minister.
Nagging, noisy. He"s completely different.
I thought so, but Father objected.

"Because you two always use such tone I end up shouting!!"
"Unpleasant. Please don"t lump me with Elder Brother"

Again I was lumped together with Brother. As I couldn"t allow that I protested, yet Brother talked back that he couldn"t agree.

"No, I don"t remember manipulating my surroundings as much as Lidi?"
"Likewise"

Scowling at me in vexation and perhaps finding it bothersome to talk, Brother ignored me and picked up yet another strawberry daif.u.ku.
I felt more and more disgusted and averted my eyes.
I think there is a separate stomach for sweets, but I believe there"s a limit.
Why is he not gaining weight.

"… Eei, you siblings resemble each other. Why don"t you not realize how much you keep making me worry…"

I wish Father at least wiped his mouth of the white powder before saying such a self-important line with a sigh.

It"s truly pathetic, but this is the truth of the number one ducal house in this country.

Father is the cool-headed sagacious Prime Minister, Brother is the successor of a ducal house with a promising future as the Crown Prince"s close aide.
Normally they"d only enjoy sophisticated conversation, so why did this room descend into chaos.
Father and Brother are childishly fighting over daif.u.ku, what they"re talking about is also beyond ridiculous.
It"s completely like a talk at ordinary people"s table.
No, certainly they"re talking about the Crown Prince, but.

If this was known to other n.o.bles, I have no doubt we"d be so embarra.s.sed we couldn"t show our faces in public. The reason why our security system is so strangely strong might be so that our servants don"t expose their employer"s disgrace. I have such a hunch.

"Dear, it is fine to stop worrying excessively, you know?"
"Rosina…"

With Mother"s consolation, Father finally calmed down.
Taking the opportunity of the pause in the conversation, I quickly left my seat.

"Then, I shall excuse myself with this"

Please eat daif.u.ku to your heart"s content.
I wonder how long you can keep going.

Leaving the two of them who still wanted to eat behind, I returned to my room.

"Ahahaha! Princess"s conversation was amusing"

When I returned to my room, Cain was holding his stomach in laughter. It seems he"s heard the stupid conversation some time ago.
When I wondered where the heck he was, he lightly replied that he was above the ceiling.
Is he a ninja!

… He is a ninja, yup.

I wonder where he goes and what he does when he"s apart from me.
Come to think of it, since we formed the contract, Cain casually disappeared from my side many times. It"s not like I don"t worry about where he goes, but I won"t deliberately bring it up. I don"t want to tie him down, I think it"s fine if he does what he wants.

"Even the Prime Minister and the ducal house"s successor are actually like that. What a mess. You must"ve been surprised"

As I sighed, while still laughing Cain shook his head.

"Rather than surprised, I couldn"t believe it. I often sneaked into n.o.bles" mansions for work, but it"s the first time I"ve seen something so interesting. Well, thinking about it, they"re Princess"s family. This much is natural, huh"

That "work" he mentioned must be his previous a.s.sa.s.sination work.

Recently I learned that Cain"s morality is to be honest broken.
As he escaped from the a.s.sa.s.sin"s guild, I thought he got sick of killing, but that doesn"t seem to be the case. He said he only wanted to fulfill his father"s last wish, and that he has no qualms about killing.
Rather, isn"t it fine to get rid of hindrances? He"s like that.
"Kill" is the number one measure he comes up with.

"Are you going to the castle tomorrow?"

While I was feeling a little complicated, Cain confirmed my schedule.
It seems he"s heard it there too.

"Yup, since Freed is coming back, I"ll greet him the first thing in the morning"
"The rumored Princess"s fiancé. I thought about it before, but you call him by a pet name. Are you unexpectedly getting along?"
"Because, he nagged me to call him this. But, that Freed is returning from Tarim"s suppression"
"Wilhelm"s custom, winter Tarim"s suppression, huh…"

Saying so, Cain folded his arms like he tried to remember something.

"Wilhelm"s Crown Prince… Ah, that. The guy with the impressive nickname "Flawless""
"So you know? About the Crown Prince"

After all I have the nickname "Red s.h.i.+nigami", it seems my guess was correct, so this guy is Princess"s fiancée - he said with sparkling eyes filled with admiration.

"According to rumors, the Crown Prince is nonsensically strong, isn"t he? Even in Sahaja I often heard about him. Rather, it"s said Sahaja can"t carelessly attack here due to that Crown Prince"
"Hee"

I"ve heard from Brother he"s strong, but it"s to that degree, huh.
Perhaps interested, Cain leaned forward and asked.

"Hey, what kind of guy is that Crown Prince?"
"What kind…"

Troubled, I repeated. Just how should I answer.
My impression of Freed?

First of all, his appearance is outstanding. Each part is terrifically well-proportioned, he"s a rarely seen beauty. Blond hair, blue eyes, tall, trained slender body with well-defined muscles. His personality has a wicked aspect, but it"s fundamentally gentle. Ah, but it"s a pity his s.e.xual disposition is unequaled, perverted, brutal.
He"s skillful at s.e.x, but he mercilessly attacks, even when I say it"s already impossible, he doesn"t stop.
Ah, but once it"s over he pampers me with all his heart. It"s comfortable being hugged by him, and I like having my hair stroked. When he smiles at me with the charmed face… Huh…?

"Uwaaaaaaa!!"
"O, oi… Princess?"

What was I thinking about just now!!
I want to bang my head against the wall. I can"t believe I had such frighteningly erotic thoughts. What corrupted me. Pull yourself together!!
Cain looked at me breathing hard worriedly.

"Is, is everything okay?"
"… I"m okay, there"s no problem"

Aside from what"s in my head.

"I, I see"

I regained my breath and awkwardly smiled.
Let"s gloss over it.

"… Well, Freed"s situation doesn"t matter. Err, and? Cain, will you also come tomorrow?"
"It"s natural I will accompany my master. It"s the first time I"ll be going to Wilhelm Kingdom"s castle, so I"ll go ahead to investigate lightly"
"The first time in this country, does that mean you"ve infiltrated castles of other countries?"
"Ah, yeah"

Because I was outstanding, when Cain easily affirmed so, I dropped my shoulders with so it was like that after all.
In the end, I haven"t told Father about Cain.
There are too many shady things about him, as I"d honestly be troubled if he was investigated, I intend to stay completely silent until he"s discovered.
As long as Cain won"t blunder and get exposed, I already got perfectly accustomed to it.

"… Even if I say that you can"t, you won"t listen, isn"t that right. I won"t stop you from coming, but please make sure you don"t get discovered by the castle guards"
"Hah, who"d blunder like that"

Cain laughed fufun, still I reminded him.

"Even if by any chance you get discovered, you are absolutely prohibited from things like erasing the witnesses"
"…"

No reply. Why is he staying silent.

"Cain?"

When I pressed him, he clicked his tongue, then reluctantly nodded.
Dangerous. This child absolutely feels like killing.

"… If Princess says so. I understand. When it can"t be helped and I have to get rid of memories of me, I"ll stop at half-killing"
"… T h a n k y o u"

He doesn"t seem to understand much. Castle guards being half-killed by a suspicious person. That will absolutely cause a trouble. And the culprit is somebody related to me. I persuaded Cain with a serious face.

"… I truly implore you. You absolutely can"t get discovered, okay?"
"Ye, yes"

When I put my hands on Cain"s shoulders and said so while putting strength into them, his face twitched slightly, still he replied firmly.

I wonder if Cain truly won"t blunder somehow.
Although he promised, I felt strangely worried and could hardly sleep that night.