Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Chapter 373

"Seriously? He… took us hostage…?!"

After listening to Freed's explanation, Brother grimaced. Seeing his clueless expression, I understood nothing had happened, but I still just had to confirm.

"Older Brother, is Tiris also safe? Has nothing happened?"
"Nn? Yeah, she's safe. Just… She was crying from the shock of being betrayed by her footman, but her escorts comforted her and they went home a while ago. She was sorry that she couldn't say goodbye to you or Freed, but it wouldn't be good to make her wait. I sent her home at my own discretion, but it was fine, right?"
"Yeah, Sahaja assassins must've withdrawn after Abel returned. There's no problem."

Cain agreed with what Freed said.

"There's no mistaking it. I can't sense assassin-like presences anymore… They withdrew, so I think it wasn't an official request. In which case, they had no reason to kill. You don't need to mind."
"I see."

Brother's expression slackened in relief.
I was also relieved she was safe, but my heart hurt from hearing that she had been crying.

"Tiris…"

I recalled Tiris paying attention to take out her footman who had pretended to be amnesiac. Just how hurt must she be after learning that the footman she cared about had not actually lost his memory but was an information broker?
It might have been better to keep her unaware. However, it was difficult to proceed while ignoring Seth's employer, Tiris, so it was necessary to teach her that much to convince her.
Brother patted my shoulder.

".. She's your friend, right? Once this is over, invite her to a tea party again. It should take her mind off it a little."
"Yup, I'll do that…"

I can't do more than that, but it's better than doing nothing. The next time I invite her, I'll prepare plenty Japanese confections. I'm sure she'll be pleased.

"I must invite Marianne too…"

Abel won't come to the masquerade ball next week. I'm sure Marianne will be depressed.
She was looking forward to the promised next time, after all.
I don't regret it, but I feel awful about making my friends cry.

"… But, why was Marianne targeted?"

I muttered what suddenly worried me.
I understand why other young ladies were. The conversation contents were complaints, so I'm sure it was as I predicted. But, Marianne only talked about me. Moreover, she didn't talk about anything problematic.
As I tilted my head, Freed answered

"Lidi, your friends were probably approached to obtain information about you. The objective was different from why the other young ladies were approached."
"About me?"

I understand them wanting information about Freed, but why would they want to know about me?
I frowned, not understanding at all. Freed spat out the words with a displeased face.

"If it's Sahaja's doing, it's unmistakably for the sake of King Maximilian. Lidi, he's aiming at you. It's the basics to have the latest information about a target, right? I think those two were used as the source for that information."
"Eh…"
"The information broker Kaleidoscope doesn't accept requests from royalty. However, he accepts requests from nobility. To butter up with King Maximilian, Marquis Westin's requests included investigating information about you, Lidi. In other words, Marquis Westin gave Kaleidoscope two different orders. One to find nobles who could betray Wilhelm and one to obtain the latest information about you."
"…"
"Really, he's persistent. Lidi, you're my wife, so he should just give up."
"You… are right…"

I recalled King Maximillian, whom I'd met several months ago.
He was still the Crown Prince at that time.
He was a beautiful man with eye-catching straight silver hair, however he had a cold atmosphere about him.
While knowing that I was Freed's fiancée, he invited me to his country.
It's natural to be captivated by me. It's natural that I'm the best. He was a person with absolute confidence in himself.
I didn't doubt that he's popular with women. I knew that, but I couldn't help getting angry at his way of speaking, and I had no interest in a man with eight side consorts.
I clearly rejected his invitation, but according to Freed, he hasn't given up on me.

"For Marianne and Tiris to be used to investigate me…"

I can't forgive that.
Not only were my precious friends used, but they were hurt as a result.
Since it's come to this, I want to win the bet with Abel no matter what and make him apologize to them directly.

"I'll absolutely win the bet!"
"Yup, naturally, I have no intention of losing either."

While I burned with determination, Freed said.

"At present we have no hints regarding who Abel is disguised as, so I want to move onto the other subject."
"Nn? The other… Ah, the subject of nobles who could change sides to Sahaja?"
"Yup, that's right."

Seeing Freed's serious face, I nodded. Certainly, I want to find Abel quickly, but at present we have no clues. Then, it's natural to go ahead with the matter than we can make progress on.

"Got it. Er, has anybody like that come up?"
"Yup. We investigated the people who overlapped on our list with the people you brought up, Lidi, and whose circumstances are preferable for Sahaja, that is holding an important position and being very likely to become a traitor."
"… Yup."

Freed turned his eyes to Brother.
Brother nodded as Freed prompted him and spoke.

"There are few people like that, but Count Tserrie is most suspicious. He's active in the castle as the Foreign Minister's aide and is famous as the Foreign Minister's absolute yes-man. Every day he curses at the Vivoir ducal house that his superior hates. Lidi, he seems to be complaining a lot because he dislikes you marrying Freed."
"Eh, me again?"

Brother affirmed with a bitter smile.

"To be exact, he dislikes everything related to the Vivoir ducal house. However, his superior doesn't seem to be particularly pleased with it and completely ignores him. That's why, everybody else seems to keep him at a distance, not wanting to be involved in his usual craziness."
"Normally, he'd be a hindrance at work. Why isn't he demoted?"
"You see, he's good at his work. So good that his disappearance would cause trouble. That's why everybody just says, "Yes, yes," without meaning it."
"Wow…"

That's rare.
He's good at his work, and yet he's a disappointing, or more like troublesome person aside from that.

"Because it's not something recent, Count Tserrie is only regarded as a repeating nuisance, but it's different for Sahaja, right? I see no reason for Marquis Westin not to move after hearing from Kaleidoscope about such a person being dissatisfied."
"I see… You're right."

Freed continued the story after Brother.

"But, think about it. Would Marquis Westin approach that foolishly honest Count Tserrie? With a little research you can find out that Count Tserrie is only saying that to curry favor. Would such a man be tempted to become a traitor? He's a quite timid person. There are too many uncertainties, so I think he's not fit to be seriously persuaded."
"Certainly…"
"It would be convenient for them to have somebody more reliable to become a traitor. And they should realize there. In the first place, Count Tserrie does that to please his superior."
"Ah."

My eyes widened as I understood what Freed wanted to say.
He nodded and clearly announced.

"That's right. It's not Count Tserrie he needs to approach. It's his superior. That is, the Foreign Minister, Duke Pellegrini."

Chapter end