As Angela and Rei were talking, Rei suddenly stopped as he turned his gaze towards the door.

「Rei? What’s wrong?」

「……It seems like she’s come.」

Seeing Rei’s expression as he spoke, Angela seemed to realise who it was. She hurriedly got up from the sofa she had been sitting on as she went over to the door.

Exiting the cabin, Angela saw a group of people approaching.

Seeing Frizione in the middle of the group, Angela quickly went over.

「Your Highness Frizione. You’re quite early.」

「Really? It’s almost evening……」

「Eh?」

Hearing Frizione’s words, Angela looked around and saw the red clouds, dyed by the setting sun.

The autumn evening evoked a somewhat melancholic feel.

However, Angela had no time to be sentimental.

She had been tasked to see what kind of person Rei was, but it seemed that she had completely forgotten about it after becoming engrossed in conversation with Rei.

Frizione seemed to notice Angela’s state. She gave a small smile as she spoke.

「From what I can tell, it seems you were able to deepen your relationship with Rei. So, what do you think of my future brother-in-law?」

「……I’m not sure how to put it.」

「Oh?」

Frizione was surprised as she sensed a little dissatisfaction from Angela at the mention of ‘brother-in-law’, a reaction that only someone who had known Angela for a long time would notice.

(Could it really be possible?)

Of course, she didn’t think that Angela would have fallen in love with Rei in such a short period of time. However, she could still sense that Angela now held some feelings towards Rei.

Regardless, Frizione continued speaking without revealing her thoughts.

「Fufu~, just kidding. We’re running out of time, so let’s keep it short. What was Rei like as a person.」

「Right, of course. He has surprisingly little walls between himself and nobles. Although walls doesn’t really seem to be the right word.」

「That’s the same as what Widele told me.」

Frizione glanced over at Widele, who was nearby, as she spoke.

However, Angela shook her head at Frizione’s comment.

「No, it was even more than I expected. ……I got the feeling when talking with Rei that he views nobles no differently from commoners.」

「……Rei, is it? You seem to have become quite close in this short time.」

Frizione noticed that Angela had called Rei’s name without any honourifics and gave her a smile.

「W-Well, that is……I thought it would be better to do that in order to know him better.」

「Fufu~, I’m not blaming you or anything, so it’s fine. But don’t take it too seriously, okay?」

Frizione spoke with eyes that seemed to remind her about Vihera.

Angela understood her look and nodded back silently.

The probably thought that Rei couldn’t hear them talking outside the cabin……and in quiet voices as well.

And if Rei had been an ordinary person, that would be correct.

However……

(I can hear them though.)

Rei’s senses were far sharper than those of a normal human, so even though they were talking quietly outside the cabin, the door hadn’t been completely closed, so Rei could almost hear their entire conversation.

Seeing their conversation come to a close, Rei walked out of the cabin.

Seeing Rei, Frizione smiled as she spoke.

「It’s nice to meet you……is what I should say. I saw your face during the fighting tournament, but this is the first time we’ve met in person.」

「Yeah, that’s fine.」

Rei’s blunt response caused several of the White Rose Knights who had come with Frizione to look at him in shock, gazes sharpened.

Those who knew what Rei was like, or those that could have predicted his response, such as Frizione, Angela, and Widele, didn’t feel offended, but were still somewhat surprised.

It was fine to be blunt to a noble. ……Well, generally speaking, it wasn’t that fine, but it was still understandable.

However, they never expected the same attitude towards even Frizione, a member of the royal family.

Widele was the only one present who had seen Rei, Vihera, and Mercurio talking in the same room, but even she hadn’t expected Rei to use such casual language with Frizione, who he was meeting for the first time.

In the end, Frizione was the first to speak again.

She spoke with a gentle smile.

「I’m glad to hear you say that. I also wanted to greet my sister’s lover properly.」

「……Lover?」

Rei seemed confused by Frizione’s words, which she spoke as if it were fact.

OF course, he was aware that Vihera had feelings for him. It was only natural considering how blatant she had been about it.

But, even so, Rei had no intention of accepting her feelings right now.

……That said, it was Rei’s fault that he had only told her that once.

「Yes. She’s a good girl, but I was worried about her strong quirks. She already has enough strength to overpower others, but she won’t give in to anyone unless they are stronger than her……seriously.」

She gave a gloomy sigh, ignoring the fact that she herself was already in her mid-twenties and not engaged, let alone married.

「Since you seem to have misunderstood, I’ll just say this, Vihera and I are not in that kind of relationship.」

「……Oh? Did I mishear you?」

「No, you didn’t mishear. I said that Vihera and I are not in that kind of relationship.」

Frizione was frozen in confusion at Rei’s assertion.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, she spoke with suspicion.

「What’s unsatisfactory about her? She certainly has a strong personality and a bad habit of fighting strong people. But, needless to say, she’s beautiful and has a body that men like. She’s also caring and smart. ……Honestly, I know I shouldn’t say this, but she’s too good to be an adventurer, isn’t she?」

The way Frizione spoke so seriously about her little sister reminded Rei of Mercurio, and he thought that they were siblings in the end after all.

Even though they had different mothers and were only half siblings, it was clear from her words that Frizione loved Vihera.

「I know that. She’s too good for me. But……unfortunately, I can’t reciprocate her feelings right now.」

Hearing Rei’s words, Frizione somewhat understood the situation.

Even if she was a princess, she was still a woman. She lived in a society where rumours of love never ceased……in fact, they could be found everywhere.

However, unlike Frizione, there were some White Rose Knights who didn’t fully understand.

Or perhaps they understood, but couldn’t forgive the way Rei had spoken to Frizione since the beginning.

As one would expected from the White Rose Knights, they were female knights who trained themselves in combat rather than engaging in feminine fun or romance.

The disrespectful way Rei had spoken to their master, Frizione, the way it seemed to them that he was enjoying a love that they had never experienced before, and the fact that his partner was Vihera, the strongest female fighter in the Bestir Empire.

They already held those complicated feelings, but Rei’s words pushed them over the limit.

「You’re insulting Princess Vihera by not reciprocating her feelings……how disrespectful!」

「I agree with Princess Frizione. We should never leave Vihera-sama in the hands of a man like that!」

「Just because you’re pretty looking, you think you can just change women……」

「Vihera-sama must have been decieved!」

Rei gave a bitter smile, Frizione sighed, and Angela’s cheeks twitched as the White Rose Knights spoke one after the other, unable to contain themselves.

Angela especially had feelings for Rei, although she hadn’t quite understood what those feelings were, and couldn’t stand to see Rei being insulted.

The silver lining was that Rei wasn’t Mercurio’s special envoy, but was sent to guard Frizione and others when they went to join up with the rebel army.

If he was sent as a special envoy, the knights’ words not only have been an insult towards Rei, but to Mercurio as well, being the one to send him.

That said, even if he wasn’t a special envoy, it didn’t change that fact that Mercurio had decided to send him specifically.

「All of you, get your yourselves together! You’re being rude to Rei-dono!」

Widele was the first to explode out, not Angela.

She glared at the knights angrily.

Like Angela, Widele also liked Rei. But, unlike Angela, Widele’s like of Rei stemmed from the respect that he was significantly stronger than herself.

『S-Sorry!』

The knights, who had all been blaming Rei, bowed their heads in unison at Widele’s angry voice.

The reason they were so unified in their actions was probably because they had undergone rigorous training together.

「If you’re going to apologise, apologise to Rei-dono, not to me.」

『We are very sorry!』

「No, don’t worry about it. I’m just not good at using honourifics. If you’re still uncomfortable with that, I’ll try not to talk to you from now on. Would that be better?」

He turned to Frizione to ask, but Frizione shook her head in response.

「That’s not true. I have never met with someone who has treated me like you have before, but it’s refreshing and interesting.」

The men closest to her had always been the Emperor, Tragist, Kabajid, and Shurus. To a lesser extent, Mercurio as well.

Kabajid always used polite language and while Shurus was blunt, the feeling he gave off was different.

While Mercurio was also her brother, he was closer to Vihera than herself and not as close as Kabajid or Shurus.

As for her father, Tragist, they hadn’t had a proper conversation in the past few months.

There were also people like the Royal Knights and other nobles, but even those people were unlikely to talk to Frizione casually, given her position as the First Princess.

In that sense, Rei was a new experience for Frizione as well.

(I wonder if calling him my ‘first man’ would be bad in many ways?)

Although she was embarrassed inside, she didn’t show it on her face and pretended to be calm.

She was able to skillfully switch between different attitudes thanks to her upbringing as a princess.

「……Well, if that’s fine with you, then I don’t mind.」

Hearing Rei’s response, Frizione turned to the knights who had been throwing abuse towards Rei earlier.

「You all understand, don’t you?」

『Yes! We’re very sorry!』

The way they responded to Frizione’s words in unison and apologised was very similar to the way they had apologised to Widele earlier.

This was probably because Widele was their superior and Frizione was their master.

Frizione nodded in satisfaction as she looked at her knights.

「Well, everyone. If we talk in a place like this, we will stand out. Myself, Rei, Angela, and Widele will go inside the cabin. Everyone else, please be on the lookout. I think it will be fine, but if anyone from Shurus or Kabajid’s factions come over, make sure they don’t know that Rei is here and in contact with me.」

Seeing everyone nod at her words, Frizione smiled as she turned her gaze to Rei.

「Now then, let’s talk inside the cabin. I had wanted to have a long discussion with my future brother-in-law.」

「……No, I already said Vihera and I aren’t in that kind of relationship.」

Rei sighed but decided it was probably pointless to say anything more to the woman in front of him, so he went back inside the cabin with the others.

As he did so, he felt the gazes of the people who appeared to be gardeners at this back, probably because of Frizione’s presence.

Although Frizione herself didn’t seem to notice that at all.

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