Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Chapter 358
She and the Information 4
“―― Freed, why are you laughing?”
“Lidi, you were doing some interesting by yourself again, so it just slipped. I’m home.”
As I thought, it was my husband.
I got up and like always jumped into his spread arms. It’s almost like a conditioned reflex. While I was ecstatic inside his arms, Freed’s hand stroked my head.
“Say, what were you doing? You seemed very into it.”
I didn’t notice Freed came back, so I have no doubt I was concentrated, but not noticing my husband who did his best at work is just too neglectful. I apologized to Freed, deeply remorseful for what I did.
“I’m sorry… I was writing a letter, but I didn’t know what to write… I was so troubled that I didn’t notice you came back, Freed.”
“I’m not particularly anger, neither do I mind. But, a letter… Was it addressed to Princess Ilya who you recently often correspond with?
“Yup, that’s right. I was thinking of how to tell Ilya, “I found your beastman acquaintance,” but I couldn’t think of anything… What would you, Freed?”
Since it’s him, I wonder if he could tell me some good ideas. Thinking so, I looked expectantly at Freed, but for some he looked at me with a surprised face.
“A beastman acquaintance? Princess Ilya’s?”
“? Yup. Ms. Tithi is a rabbit beastman and old Ilya’s acquaintance, so I was thinking of telling Ilya that… Nn? Huh? I didn’t tell you about Ms. Tithi, Freed?”
“… Yup. It’s the first time I hear it.”
Oops. I absolutely felt like we’d talked about it. But certainly, if I think about it, I have no memory of telling him.
Having my name called in a suspicious voice, I hurriedly said what I had to.
“S-Sorry. E-Er, Ms. Tithi hides it, but in fact she’s the daughter of the patriarch of the rabbit Sol clan… Ah, that said, she wasn’t kidnapped, she came to Wilhelm on her own volition. Er, and apparently, she’s Ilya and Philia’s acquaintance!”
I sounded disorderly from the hurry. Nevertheless, Freed seemed to understand and slowly nodded.
“If I remember correctly, the woman called Tithi was a brothel-keeper, right? She took care of you in the past… But Lidi. Was it alright to tell me about her?”
“Eh, yup. Saying that my husband must be reliable, she gave me permission.”
Otherwise, I wouldn’t talk about her. Even before, I thought of asking Freed for what to do because we’d already discussed it.
“Ms. Tithi said the world was surprisingly small. And then, she agreed to help with searching for her old friend.”
“Ooh. Lidi, you’ve worked quite hard for Princess Ilya.”
“After all, we’re friends!”
It’s only natural to work hard for your friend.
“When I met Ms. Tithi at the curry store today, I heard that she couldn’t learn anything. Of course, she hasn’t given up yet, and she said she’ll search more. You know, she hopes to obtain information by indirectly asking the brothel clients.”
“Certainly, it’s a good idea to obtain information in a different way from us…”
As Freed spoke ambiguously, I nodded to him with a serious face.
“If Ms. Tithi could find her, it would likely mean she’d become a prostitute. I know that. Ms. Tithi also said that she felt complex, since it would be better if she didn’t find her in that sense.”
“… Yeah. And? Lidi, you wanted to tell Princess Ilya that?”
We finally caught up with the conversation.
“I think Ilya will be delighted to hear about Ms. Tithi. However, if I write a letter, it will be inspected, right? I can’t tell others that Ms. Tithi is a beastman, so I need a way to slip the truth to Ilya under the eyes of the inspectors. I’m also looking for a way to tell her that Ms. Tithi agreed to help…”
“So that’s why you were shouting things like invisible ink.”
“… You heard that?”
He heard the part I didn’t want him to hear the most.
When I looked up at Freed feeling quite embarrassed, he laughed while reminiscing and said.
“Yup. I was thinking you were doing something interesting again. I didn’t imagine you were thinking of writing a letter with invisible ink to the Crown Princess of another country though.”
“I just lost myself in the moment…! I wasn’t serious!”
If I actually did that, the Crown Princess of Wilhelm would appear like a weirdo to people of Irvine. No, it’d be still good if they thought of me as a weirdo. What if they decided to cut off contact?
“I won’t do it! I only said that because I was a little troubled!”
“I understand that. And then, you said something about ciphers?”
“So you heard that too!!”
I’m sick of Freed’s overly sharp ears.
“That’s just how troubled I was. I wouldn’t do it! Say, Freed, what would you do? Any good ideas? A way to get through inspection without raising suspicion while properly conveying the information to Ilya.”
“I know, right? That’s why I said it was difficult… You do!?”
Just what kind of method is that? When I expectantly looked up at Freed, he wryly smiled and spoke.
“Hendrik knows the circumstances, so it’s fine if he learns that, right? Then it’s simple. I just need to write a letter. To Hendrik. If I give it the official seal of Wilhelm, nobody but him will be able to open it.”
I spontaneously clapped my hands.
I see. There’s that method.
I exchange letters with Ilya privately. But, if an official letter is sent instead, it will have the national seal of Wilhelm. Letters with the national seal aren’t subject to inspection. It will definitely arrive to the addressee unopened.
“But, isn’t it wrong to use the national seal for personal correspondence?”
I’m grateful for the proposal, but isn’t that mixing public and private affairs? I understand it’s not a good thing to use the national seal for my own convenience.
“It’s alright. Actually, I’ve been planning to send Hendrik a letter with the national seal. There won’t be a problem if I add what I heard from you at the end, right, Lidi? Hendrik will definitely pass the message to Princess Ilya.”
It should be just barely permissible if he adds it at the end.
I want to tell something positive to Ilya, who’s doing her best alone in a distant foreign country. Thinking so, I asked Freed.
“… Could I request it of you?”
I thanked Freed from the bottom of my heart as he nodded immediately.
“Don’t mention it. I’ll do anything if you ask me, Lidi.”
He laughed as he said that, but I understand more than enough that he was serious. He’s a very kind person. He’d really do anything for me.
Of course, I’d also do anything for Freed, I don’t simply want to presume on his kindness.
I again decided in my heart to do whatever I can.
I twisted my body to separate from Freed.
“Hey… Let go. I have a souvenir.”