The moment we entered the victory celebration party venue inquisitive looks gathered on us.
As soon as I stepped inside escorted by Freed, the place became noisy in an instant.

… Woah. Everybody is staring hard.

The gazes piercing me are too painful.
But, it"s no use worrying over them. I pa.s.sed by them with a single sigh, and sat on a seat arranged by Freed. No matter how you look at it it"s the Crown Princess"s seat, but I gave up on bringing up that I"m a fiancée and sat down.
I guess it"s no problem since the "King"s Flower" is drawing everybody"s attention.

I felt everyone"s gazes gather at the "King"s Flower" that"s unveiled in an official place for the first time.
As I started feeling predictably uncomfortable, Freed on my side spoke to me.

"Lidi, you don"t need to worry about anything. Rather, it"s fine to show off"
"No, no matter what that"s ipossible …"

I sighed at Freed who had an evil grin on his face.
This party is purely for celebrating the victory over Tarim, it"s not Crown Prince"s fiancée debut party.
To be honest, I don"t want to stand out more than necessary.
Even if it"s not a usual evening party, the hurdle suddenly sprang on me is too high.

"We only need to finis.h.i.+ng greetings and the dance, and it"ll be over. I also don"t feel like staying long, so do your best"
"Yees"

As I was briefly taught the schedule from now on, I put my feelings of acknowledgement into a nod.
With Freed who"s today"s leading actor coming, the atmosphere in the venue instantly turned brilliant.
As I calmed down and surveyed the venue, Brother and Will were already inside.

"Ah, Will is here"

Will, who"s dressed in a similar evening wear to Freed, seems to be talking to Brother and Glenn.
Seeing the figure of my childhood friend for the first time in a while reminded me that he also came back. I feel truly guilty about forgetting about it until now.
Although he came back from fighting same as Freed, I did a bad thing like forgetting him. I must apologize later.

"Lidi, don"t call another man"s name when you"re with me"
"Eh"

Although I meant to just talk to myself, Freed next to me seems to have overheard.
I couldn"t conceal my confusion as he complained with a sullen face.

"No, I haven"t called… It"s not that big deal. I was just talking to myself"
"I still disliked it. You must already know, but when it comes to Lidi I become narrow-minded. I beg you, don"t make me worry"
"…"
"If possible, I wish you"d also stop looking. It"s okay if only I monopolize Lidi"s gaze"

That is to say he wants me to not take my eyes off him, I see.
With reproachful eyes I looked at Freed who made a nonsensical request.

"No, that"s impossible"
"I get it. Still, I want you to understand that I feel like this"

I felt instinctive fear from his dark smile that felt like he"d punish me if I overdid it. Just what punishment is he planning. Yup, scary.

"… I understand, I"ll be as careful as possible. But I think it"s not the time to be talking about that"

We conversed in whispers, but everybody could tell we"re having a secret talk by how our faces drew near. I noticed I attracted even more attention from the venue.

As I tried to get away in panic, Freed flashed a smile.
At that moment, a high-patched kyaa arose across the venue.
It"s unmistakably young ladies" reaction to seeing Freed"s smile.
Perhaps accustomed to such voices, Freed didn"t appear to care.

"I thought of flaunting my relations.h.i.+p with Lidi in front of everyone. So, I welcome this"

As I was drawing away, he said so and deliberately kissed my forehead.
The commotion inside the venue this time made me feel like crying.

Ah, I stand out…

Even though whenever I attended an evening party, I was always a wallflower who avoided standing out as much as possible, with this it"s all ruined.
With a gentle smile and an unbroken posture I awaited the end of this penance.

With His Majesty"s entrance, the opening of the victory celebration party was announced.
Then Freed issued a speech from the Royal Family to everyone.
While looking at Freed who"s speaking as the key figure of the victory and commander of the army I thought.

Yup. He"s really a prince.

Seeing him monopolize everyone"s eyes, I could strongly agree that he"s indeed the "Flawless Crown Prince". It"s natural as I"d avoided him, but I"d hardly seen Freed"s appearance as royalty. So I was observing him with fresh feeling.

"Lidi, a dance"

As Freed finished talking, he presented me a hand, and I obediently placed mine on it.
Because I"ve heard I have to dance to the first piece, I obediently followed Freed, and we began dancing in the center of the dance floor.
As soon as we began dancing, Freed"s eyes opened wide as if he was impressed.

"I"m surprised. You"re good at dancing"
"Right?"

I laughed fufun at Freed who was surprised that I could dance better than he expected.

Actually, in my previous life I longed for such aristocratic world, I truly loved stuff typical to n.o.bles such as ballroom dancing or etiquette.
Due to my tastes, when I was given a private tutor for the first time, I was delighted that I could finally learn etiquette. While at it, I recalled that my private tutor was astonished that it was his first time a girl would study etiquette with such enthusiasm.
Because of such circ.u.mstances and Father"s expectations, at present my court manners are perfect.

"Fufu. I"m especially good at dancing"
"Looks like it. Everybody is captivated by Lidi?"
"Why yes, thank you"

But, Freed is also skilled at this. When I pointed that out, he returned that it"s the etiquette of royalty, but he truly is extremely skilled at leading and easy to dance with.
As we easily finished our a.s.signed piece, a thunderous applause resounded.
The dignified dance like never before felt fresh. Despite feeling a little bashful, I left the dance floor escorted by Freed.
With that as a cue, other people began dancing one after another.

"… Tired"

Seeing the victory celebration party safely commence, I breathed in relief.
It"s my first time on the event organizers side, but I never would have thought it required consideration like this. I felt fatigue wash over me.

"Good job. But, endure for a while longer, okay. There"s a person I want to introduce"
"Person you want to introduce? Who?"
"I think it won"t be long… Ah, before that"
"Lidi"

Before Freed could continue, I heard Brother call out as he came here.
He"s together with Will and Glenn.

"Older Brother"
"Yo, we"re all matching"

Exactly as Freed said, everybody gathered here has a promising future.

The Crown Prince, the heir to a ducal house and the Magic Division Commander, similarly the heir to a ducal house and the Crown Prince"s close aide. Although the second son of a ducal house, a commander of a chivalric order.
Because every single one of them is a different type of beauty, I could only bitterly smile as I"ve heard sighs from all around.
Even my Brother, although it"s only for appearances sake, is playing the role flawlessly, but I could only laugh knowing what"s inside.

Everybody wants to become acquainted with them, but now that all those popular men gathered together, they seem proportionally as hard to approach.
Just by seeing the unexpected situation from distance n.o.body was trying to approach.
Taking advantage of that, I spoke in a usual tone.

"Will, it"s been a while. Sorry, I haven"t noticed you at all before. Will also fought, didn"t you. Thank you"
"… Yeah"
"!! Bufu!! You… suddenly dealing a finis.h.i.+ng blow… You"re in perfect form as always"

I said it to Will, but for some reason Brother who had nothing to do with it burst into laughter and tapped my shoulder. Glenn next to him also had a sour expression.

"Don"t touch me. And I don"t get what you"re saying… More importantly Will, were you injured anywhere? Are you okay?"
"… No problem"

I shook off Brother"s hand that did the usual thing and spoke to Will.
Seeing me and Will like this, with I see, Glenn agreed with something.

"So it"s like this, huh… I understand"
"Right?"

When Glenn deeply nodded, for some reason Brother answered with a self-satisfied look.
Despite finding that expression irritating, I tried talking to Will again, but unfortunately, I didn"t manage to. My arm was pulled from behind.

"Eep"
"… Lidi, too close. Get away"

I was hugged from behind and whispered to by Freed. Feeling his breath tickle my neck, I ducked my head.

"Hya?"
"Jeez, don"t make such a voice… Have you forgotten what I said before?"

… Punishment… As I was reminded of that word, I shook my head in panic.

"No no no, I wasn"t thinking of that!"
"No matter what you were thinking of, it"s no good. Lidi is my fiancée. Cheating is prohibited, okay?"
"Cheating, you say…"

Still hugging me tightly Freed didn"t let me go. I could feel the eyes of the surroundings focus on Freed"s abrupt action. Despite feeling unable to bear it, I reluctantly spoke to Will like this.

"I"m glad you weren"t injured. That"s right, I made a new product, make sure to visit soon… Hold on… Freed?"

"Ah, that"s right. My uncle and his wife seem to be coming from far away, I"ll come soon"

I was forcibly pulled away from Will.
I thought there"s no point going against it and called out to Will one last time.

"Bye, Will. Until the next time!"
"Lidi?"
"Hii…"

Freed glared at me with a smiling face. I solidified from being too afraid.
Taking the advantage of the unmoving me, Freed quickly led me away.
Brother and Glenn who watched this sequence spoke in whispers.

"See? It"s beyond expectations, right?"
"Isn"t that right. Or rather, Princess is like that, isn"t she"
"That"s why I said it. She"s obtuse"
"Older Brother too, a little more… No, at this point no matter what you say it"s pointless"

It seemed they were talking secretly, but I could hear some parts of it.
You idiot brother! Who are you calling obtuse!?

Although I wanted to say few words, since Freed who was dragging me away was frightening, I had to abandon that thought.