âHonestly, Lidi. You donât understand at allâ
âHaaâŠâ
While hearing Freed grumble such complaints, I was led along to a man of high status who looked to be past forty, and a woman who appeared to be his wife.
When he noticed us, the manâs eyes happily sparkled.
Unconsciously I fascinatedly watched the man who called out to Freed with a charming smile.
The man in front of me who has darker blond hair and gives off a more composed impression compared to Freed is looking here with a sweet smile similar to Freedâs. The smiling faced built upon his experiences in life is wonderful.
With his self-introduction I matched him to the portrait in my memory. Of course I know of him.
Garay-sama. Freedâs uncle. The current Kingâs younger brother.
Currently second in line to the throne, following Freed. His wife certainly came from a marquis house.
âI am sorry for the late greetings. I am Lidianaâ
Itâs not the time to be fascinated. I straightened myself in panic and returned my self-introduction.
âWhen I said I want to introduce you to someone, it was about my Esteemed Uncle. I believe thereâll be many opportunities to meet from now on. I want to little by little increase your acquaintancesâ
Apparently for the sake of me not used to the Royal Palace, Freed seems to have tried to introduce royalty close to him. I appreciate this thoughtfulness.
âLidi will have to do lots of things as my Princess Consort. If thereâs something I can do, Iâll spare no effortsâ
Seeing Freed stroke my head with narrowed eyes, Garay-sama made a greatly interested face.
Or rather, Garay-sama, itâs absurdly refined.
I felt dizzy just watching him ooze mature sex appeal.
â Hou . Iâve heard rumors that Freed is obsessed, but it looks to me they arenât necessarily lies. Itâs wonderful you appear closeâ
âI donât know what youâve heard, but Iâm literally obsessed. Esteemed Uncle is also the same as everâ
âHaha. I guessâ
He readily agreed and pulled his wife towards himself. Their splendid appearance made me remember something.
Freed said the Royal Prince set the precedent, probably he meant him.
Sarah-sama who was hugged obediently settled inside his arms. She seems like an obedient petite person.
As Garay-sama has a large firm physique, in his arms she looks even smaller.
Sheâs wearing a calming moss-green dress with a thin stole on top and has elegant pale features.
âFreedâs âKingâs Flowerâ is a blue rose, huh. Itâs a matter of course, but itâs a splendid âTrue Kingâs Flower'â
While hugging Sarah-sama, Garay-sama observed my âKingâs Flowerâ and said so.
ââTrue Kingâs Flowerâ?â
âWhat Freed, you havenât explained yet, huhâ
Hearing this phrase for the first time, I made a questioning face and Garay-sama poked Freed in astonishment.
âI explained the gist of it. But certainly, I havenât explained about âTrue Kingâs Flowerâ. Itâs a mere name, so itâs not an important talkâ
âWithout doubtâ
Saying so Freed shrugged his shoulders, and Garay-sama nodded.
âLidiâs âKingâs Flowerâ has a beautiful color, right? That trait appears only in the direct line of descent, moreover only in the first-born sonâs âKingâs Flower'â
âItâll be quicker to show than to explain. Sarahâ
âYesâ
Interrupting Freed who tried to explain, Garay-sama looked towards his wife.
Sarah-sama who until now was silently following her husband, when called out took a step forward.
âLidiana-sama, thisâ
When she took off the stole, there certainly was the âKingâs Flowerâ on her chest, but⊠how should I say it, overall the color was poor? I understood the flower symbol was anemone, but the color could hardly be called brilliant.
âAnemone, isnât it?â
When I asked to confirm, Garay-sama nodded.
âThatâs right, its color is purple. But, itâs considerably different from Princessâs, right? The clarity of the shape and color of the âKingâs Flowerâ signifies the thickness of blood. Freedâs âKingâs Flowerâ is so brilliant because heâs the direct descendant and the first-born sonâ
âLidi has only seen Motherâs âKingâs FlowerââŠâ
âI seeâ
Their talk made me recall Queenâs âKingâs Flowerâ. Certainly, her âKingâs Flowerâ was a splendid white lily, it had a beautiful color.
âLidiâs or Motherâs âKingâs Flowersâ are specifically called âTrue Kingâs Flowerâ. It means the âKingâs Flowerâ of the first-born son in the direct line of descentâ
âIs it really just a matter of naming?â
âThatâs rightâ
Seeing Freed nod, I became convinced for now, but honestly Iâve never thought of the difference between âKingâs Flowersâ until now. Itâs probably same for Older Brother and others.
Itâs a well-known story, but inside the Wilhelm Kingdom, with exception of the âKingâs Flowerâ, chest tattoos are treated as irreverence to the Royal Family and are punished as lese majeste.
Especially imitating the âKingâs Flowerâ results in severe punishment, no citizen would attempt it even as a joke.
That is to say, a chest tattoo on a woman almost definitely identifies her as Princess Consort.
Thereâs no way something as rude as approaching a woman and staring to confirm her âKingâs Flowerâ is possible. So, thereâs no opportunity to learn of the difference in color or shape.
After finishing the explanation, Garay-sama and Freed began talking once again.
It seems their talk got lively since they met after a long time. Freed also has happy expression, surely theyâre close as an uncle and nephew.
I and Sarah-sama took a step back to not hinder their talk, but they still were interrupted at once.
With the surroundings becoming noisy, a young man with arms entwined around two beautiful women who exuded charm walked here.
âAndre!?â
Itâs Garay-sama who noticed before everybody else. With eyes wide open in astonishment, he intently stared at the man called Andre. At the same moment Sarah-samaâs complexion became pale.
âWhyâŠ? Is this child hereâ
While seemingly trembling, Sarah-sama muttered. Looking next to me, Freed also stared at the man with severe gaze.
âFreed?â
ââŠâ
Even when I called out thereâs no reply. The three of them stared at the man without moving.
The man accompanied by two beautiful women confidently came this way and stood in front of Freed.
âFreed, itâs been a long timeâ
Despite greeting itâs been a long time , his eyes arenât smiling at all.
On the contrary I sensed hatred.
âAndre⊠Why are you hereâ
âWhat. Is it strange Iâm here. I was also royalty originally. Whatâs wrong with coming to congratulate my excellent cousinâ
He said heâs come here to congratulate, but his voice doesnât sound like that at all.
The man spoke challengingly in a voice filled with hatred, then moved his gaze to me.
Corners of his mouth distorted. Even though he has orderly looks, for some reason I felt intense disgust. Reflexively I clung to Freedâs arm.
Freed changed his position to protect such me.
âThis princess is who you have feelings for, huh. Well, sheâs pretty flat, but itâs not like nothing can be seenâ
âAndre! What are you saying! Apologize to Princess Lidiana right now!â
Freed twitched at those excessive words and was about to respond, but Garay-sama shouted faster than him.
âWhy are you here. You arenât allowed here. I shouldâve said it already. Never come here again. Why did you do something so self-centered!â
âFather, youâre annoying. No matter what I do Iâll be self-centered, wonât I. You know, I was a little interested. What kind of woman did Freed, who looked at me like that, fell in love at first sight withâ
I couldnât help but find the eyes of the man sending fleeting glimpses here disgusting.
As I strengthened my grip on Freed, he pulled my shoulder close as if to make me feel safe.
Feeling relieved I breathed out and weakened the grip just a little.
Seeing my unusual, frightened state, Freed directed a gaze filled with fury at the man.
The man didnât even flinch at Freedâs threat. On the contrary, with his arms still wrapped around two beauties, he scowled at Freed.
âHmph. What do I have to fear at this point. Absurd. Itâs pathetic you of all people were declawed by such womanâ
âI wonât forgive you for insulting her. Itâs one thing to selfishly resent me, but would you stop involving herâ
The man strongly responded to Freedâs words.
âResent!? Wrong! Thatâs you, bastard!!â
âAndre, thatâs enoughâ
Garay-sama stood between Andre and Freed.
He turned towards Freed and lowered his head a little.
âIâm sorry, Freed. My son said a terribly rude thing. My sonâs misconduct is my responsibility as the parent. I donât mind however you punish me later, so could you leave it to me nowâ
âButâ
As Garay-sama seriously said that, before I noticed Sarah-sama also moved here and silently bowed her head.
Seeing this I pulled the hem of Freedâs clothes.
âFreed⊠I donât mind itâ
As I looked up at him while saying so, Freed blinked and reluctantly let go of his anger.
â⊠I got it. If Lidi says so, Iâll leave it to Esteemed Uncle. Esteemed Uncle, Iâll leave him to you only once. If thereâs the next time, Iâll absolutely act on my ownâ
Garay-sama strongly nodded to Freedâs clear declaration.
Sarah-sama also bowed her head even deeper.
âOf course. Iâm sorry. Iâm indebted to youâ
âIf you want to be grateful to somebody, itâs Lidi. I havenât forgiven himâ
âThank you, Princess Lidiana. I will return the favor one dayâ
As a look filled with determination was turned to me, I slowly shook my head.
âNo, I do not mind itâ
Bowing my head a little, together with Freed I left the spot.
I understood the man looked past Garay-sama at me with a hateful scowl.
Afraid of his gaze with insanity mixed in, once again I strongly clung to Freed.
âââ
âHey, who was that person? I heard he was Garay-samaâs son, butâ
I walked down the corridor together with Freed.
Originally, the plan seemed to be to withdraw after greeting Garay-sama. As the timing was good, we slipped out of the victory celebration party right away. Now Iâm walking together with Freed back to his room.
He was a disgusting man.
His appearance characteristic only of royalty with blond hair and blue eyes made him a beauty similar to Garay-sama, but his gaze filled with intense resentment and dark circles around his eyes ruined everything. Iâm confident I remember most noblesâ faces, but I canât remember him at all.
âThat manâs name is Andre. Esteemed Uncleâs eldest son⊠Iâve talked about it before. If you cannot obtain the âKingâs Flowerâ, you will be chased out of the Royal Family. Andre is thatâ
âSo⊠thatâs how it isâŠâ
Come to think of it, Garay-sama had two sons. I recalled one of them had the name Andre. Surely the story goes that heâs undergoing treatment for an illness and shouldnât have been seen in years. I couldnât recognize him since his impression changed too much, but he doesnât seem to resemble the portrait from several years ago.
âBecause the matter of âKingâs Flowerâ is a secret from citizens, officially heâs undergoing a treatment for an illness. It looks like instead of a partner, heâs having women serve him to do something about divine power. It looks like itâs not going too well thoughâŠâ
At those words, I thought back on Andreâs state. Certainly, he had two plump beauties serve him.
âI never again wanted to be involved with him, this wasnât the plan⊠But, royalty who fail to acquire the âKingâs Flowerâ are banished to the outskirts and are supposed to remain under house arrest until death, and yet how in the world did he come here⊠And if he was found out to have come here forcibly, heâd be driven away, he should have understood that and yet⊠What is he thinking?â
Looking at Freed he was pondering a little, then apologetically said sorry.
âIâm sorry for involving Lidi in our stupid quarrel. It was unpleasant, wasnât it. You donât have to care about what he saidâ
âIâm fine, butâŠâ
A line Andre said is on my mind a little.
His eyes when he said to Freed âThatâs youâ. His gaze that seemed to say the main cause of resentment is this made me feel sick.
Iâd be lying if I said I donât want to hear it. However, Freed probably doesnât want to talk.
I understand that from the atmosphere.
So I wonât ask, butâŠ
â⊠Are you okay? You arenât depressed?â
âEh?â
I called out to Freed whoâs walking next to me. Ever since meeting Andre, his state looks obviously different.
Freed must have not expected to hear that at all. As I anxiously looked at him, he incessantly blinked and muttered in a soft voice I give up .
â⊠Youâve noticed, huh. I was only recalling the past a little. Sorry. Iâve made you worry, havenât Iâ
Thereâs no usual force in Freedâs smile as he said so and looked into my eyes.
My chest ached terribly. I didnât want a forced smile like this.
Not being able to look him in the eyes I extended my hand in silence. And like that I simply stroked his hair.
âLidi?â
â⊠Good boy, good boyâ
â⊠Iâm not a childâ
Without caring about Freedâs bitter smile, I continued earnestly stroking his hair.
The softness of his hair felt good.
â⊠Donât force yourself to smile. However, I think human hands can heal and make one feel pleasantâ
I meant to say it seriously.
Not sure what he thought, but Freed strangely returned to himself.
â⊠Then, not only with your hands, I want Lidi to comfort me with your whole body. Ah, come to think of it, tonight I can embrace you until Iâm satisfied, right?â
â He âŠâ
The hand stroking his head was caught and fixedly stared at.
Freed brought the seized hand to his lips and just like that dropped his lips on my palm. My senses were aroused, and I leaked a strange sound.
âHyaâ
âSince I saw Lidiâs cute appearance during the day, Iâve been enduring, okay? Iâm depressed, right? Can you comfort me with your body?â
ââŠ!!â
This talk thatâs just like Freed rendered me speechless.
How, did he make that connection⊠I donât understand.
Even though I stared at him wanting to know his true intention, nn? Â I could only tilt my head and not say anything.
⊠Even so, in an instant I somehow realized that his words and actions are bravado meant to deceive me.
I thought that perhaps the line that he wanted to be comforted just might be true.
â⊠Fineâ
Before I noticed, I naturally nodded.
Silence fell only for a moment.
I smiled a little at the thank you that resounded after a short time.
Next two chapters are R18, please look forward to them~