Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! 448

She and the Last Day of Her Stay

It was finally the last morning of my stay in Irvine.

“… Sleepy.”

Freed got strangely excited last night, so I barely got any sleep. I drank Ms. Delris’s stamina recovery medicine that I’d secretly brought with me, but it didn’t make my sleepiness go away, so my condition was still far from perfect.

“… I think so every time, but you’re really vigorous, Freed.”

I looked at Freed lying next to me while I wearily rubbed my eyes. His expression was incredibly bright.
It was so refreshing that nobody would think that he’d stayed up all night and what’s more was active for all that time.
His skin was shiny and fresh, and there were no dark circles under his eyes. Even his stamina seemed to have perfectly recovered.
Why is that, considering he works out so hard every night until morning? I’m always left wondering that.
When I expressed my sincere doubt, Freed said with a smile.

“Lidi, embracing you heals me in various ways, so it feels like both my spirit and stamina are endless.”
“Endless… I-I pray that you are imagining it…”

As if something so ridiculous could happen. Supposing that it’s true, my body won’t last. In the first place, humans are creatures that die without sleep.
For the sake of living a long life, I wish Freed would strictly adhere to sleeping at least six hours, but he’s the very image of health itself! When he looks like this, it’s difficult to persuade him.

“Freed, I feel like you go against the providence of nature…”

When I half-seriously said that, Freed spurted out.

“What’s that? Let me tell you just in case, every royal in the past who had found a mate resembled me. It’s seriously not an exaggeration to say that intercourse with a mate is the best way to recover. That’s how special the existence called mate is to us.”
“Yet another thing mate does, huh…”

―― He just needs sex to be energetic?

While I was shaking in fear over how convenient it was for Freed, he said in amazement.

“What are you saying, Lidi? When I tried to mention it, you told me to teach you about those things as they come, didn’t you?”
“…Come to think of it, I did.”

I recalled what I’d told Freed before we got married and hung my head.
I see, I reap what I sow.
Anyway, I understood that as long as Freed can embrace me, he’ll be healthy. And so I thought – “Eh, then what about me? What will happen to me? I get sleepy and tired like a normal person.”
I know that I get to rest in the morning, and the power of the Royal Flower significantly reduces my fatigue, but I wish being a mate gave me such a convenient bonus too.
I’m incredibly jealous of Freed being up and running from the early morning.
Be that as it may, it can’t be helped, and I wished to marry Freed myself, so I don’t regret it.
I came to the conclusion that it’s fine as long as Freed is lively and decided not to think about it any longer. Then, I looked around the room.
Both the court ladies and guards were busy with preparations to go back to our country.
The plan for today was to prepare to leave in the morning and say goodbye to the King. Afterwards, we would go back the same way we came, via the transfer gate.
Ilya and Levitt would have time to talk in the short period between saying goodbye to the King and us leaving.
Prince Hendrik wouldn’t allow for anything more, but I still felt grateful that he permitted it.
The court ladies were packing diligently. Some of the guards were busy carrying the packed luggage towards the transfer gate.
The stay in Irvine seemed long but was over before I knew it. Watching everybody preparing to go back, I really felt like I was going home.
The souvenirs I were bringing back were Raid’s book, coffee beans, a dress that the Queen said she’d love me to take home, and the takoyaki pan.
I couldn’t just throw away the takoyaki pan that I put effort into creating after using it once. I was planning on taking it back to Wilhelm, and when I saw an opportunity, I’d host a fun takopa.

“First of all, I have to procure octopus… I wonder if I can obtain it in the port town. But, I’d have to leave the Royal Capital for that…”
“Lidi, are you thinking about something strange again?”
“Uegh!”

A breath was blown on my neck from behind. I jumped up and looked back in a fluster. Freed was there, staring at me.

“You surprised me… Jeez, don’t do that anymore.”

I put a hand on my chest and exhaled. Freed wrapped me in his arms from behind.

“Sorry. I got curious because you were muttering to yourself with a serious face. Lidi, what are you planning?”
“I-I’m not thinking of anything bad. I just thought that since I finally have the takoyaki pan, I want to have a takopa in Wilhelm.”
“Takopa?”
“An abbreviation for takoyaki party.”
“… I see.”

Freed nodded despite making a complicated expression.

“And, you’re having trouble with octopus, Lidi?”
“Yup. I haven’t seen it in Wilhelm, but I don’t think the climate makes it impossible to catch them. That’s why I want to go to a port city to make sure of it. But to do that, I’d have to leave the Royal Capital, so I was thinking of what to do.”

The port city Freed’s uncle, Lord Garay, governs – Dakkart – hosts the Wilhelm navy headquarters, and Lord Garay is their commander. I’ve met him several times, and he struck me as a handsome, elegant man.
I honestly expressed my wish to go to Dakkart while looking up at Freed, and he pondered with a frown.

“I see, to Dakkart… I think Dakkart is the closest place to Lindwurm to check if octopuses can be caught, but… Lidi, there’s no way you’d be thinking of going alone, right?”

Being under his gaze, I desperately shook my head.

“Of course I wouldn’t do that. I realize I can’t do whatever I want as your wife.”
“Really? Didn’t you think you’d be fine only taking Cain along?”
“I didn’t, I didn’t.”

I know that even if I’m allowed to walk around the Royal Capital, I mustn’t go outside it.

“Freed, I won’t do anything that would worry you.”
“I see. That’s fine.”

When I clearly declared that, Freed’s expression finally relaxed.

“You probably won’t know if octopuses can be caught in Dakkart unless you go there yourself. In the first place, I have no idea if they are called octopuses or if they are considered edible.”
“Of course… Hmm, I wonder if I just have to give up. I wanted to invite Mother-in-law and His Majesty and have a takopa in the castle courtyard though…”

I wanted to introduce takoyaki to everybody in the town, but before that, I wanted to treat Mother-in-law to it.

“I also wanted Will, Glenn, Sion, and Rena to eat it… What a shame.”

I hung my head in dejection.
It’s unfortunate I can’t move around freely as the Crown Princess, but it’s what I chose myself, so it can’t be helped.
Freed not letting me go alone is natural, and I don’t feel like doing something so unreasonable either.
After all, just supposing something happened to me, Freed would explode. As the Crown Princess, I can’t put the future of Wilhelm in danger… No, I’m not kidding.
As scary as it is, it’s seriously one of my worries.
Freed seemed to think for a moment and eventually looked at me like he gave up.

“… I can go back and forth in an instant if I use the transportation art, so it should be possible as long as I set aside a day for it, I guess. However, I can’t just go to Dakkart for no reason. I have some business to do in Dakkart soon, so I’ll make sure to get everything ready so that we can go together, Lidi.”
“Eh… Is that okay?”

Since I’d nearly given up, I lit up at Freed’s suggestion.
Seeing that, Freed gave me a wry smile.

“It is. I don’t want to deny you the things you want, Lidi. And as long as I can cooperate, I will. Let’s go on a daylong date in Dakkart in search of octopus.”
“Thanks!”

My heart beat fast from the unexpected suggestion.
I think using the return art to leap to Dakkart is normally impossible, but in this case, that can be disregarded. If Freed, with how broken his magic is, says he can do it, that means he can.
More importantly, the unexpected Dakkart date made my heart flutter.

―― Wow. I’m happy my first visit to that town will be a date with Freed!

I wonder how Dakkart is. I’m looking forward to it very much.
The most important thing is to search for octopus, but I’m happy I can have a date with Freed at the same time.
As I was getting excited, Freed said.

“Then let’s get ready and go say goodbye to His Majesty the King. Afterwards, you have to be present for the talk between Princess Ilya and Levitt, right?”
“Yup.”

That’s right.
When I looked back at the court ladies to ask them to get me ready, they looked all ready for that and just waiting for me to come.

“… I’m sorry.”

No matter how I looked at it, they were waiting for me, so I felt awkward and apologized.
The court ladies giggled and shook their heads.

“It’s nothing. You were having a pleasant conversation with His Highness, so it would be boorish to intrude. However, we’re starting to run out of time, so we were thinking of speaking up soon.”
“I see… Then, please take care of me.”
“Certainly.”
“Then, I’ll get ready too. See you later.”
“Yup.”

I saw Freed off as he left the room. Since I’d be changing clothes, the court ladies also drove the guards out of the room.

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