She swished her feet that were dipped in the water.
Focusing on the water swirling around her legs…… Frea let out a deep sigh.
Deep inside her chest and in her heart a heavy sticky feeling had settled over everything.
She understood. She understood it well but she could not allow herself to admit it.
Because she had been 『abandoned』 by him……
Then in the distance came a massive explosive boom followed by thick clouds of dust rising into the air.
For a moment she thought it might be the celebratory cannon fire but the dust was coming from the direction covered by trees.
She concluded that the captain had gotten carried away and done something again.
With Lutte absent the soldiers standing guard around the waiting area looked at her with eyes that asked 『Is this alright?』 but Frea lightly shook her head and chose to ignore them.
Even if it was not alright there was no way for her to stop Captain Noie. The only person who could do that was currently attending 『his』 wedding.
(It’s wanting what you cannot have isn’t it.)
Thinking that she leaned her body back and covered her face with her arm.
(Argusta-sama will never let go of the captain no matter what happens. He has made a firm resolve to stay by her side…… that is all there is to it.)
She understood. It was that 『simple』 of a reason.
Yet the unrest in her heart would not stop. It felt so unpleasant that she wondered if insects had begun swarming inside her chest.
(Not everything in life ends happily. For every happy ending there is also an unhappy one.)
She had simply been the unhappy one this time.
It was no one else’s fault. It was simply Frea von Crostpurge’s turn.
Thanks to being abandoned by him she had gained her freedom.
From that day from that moment…… in a way the invisible chains that had bound her had disappeared.
She had only been removed from the list of candidates for his official wife yet she could still meet him and talk to him like this with such 『freedom』.
(It’s wanting what you cannot have isn’t it. Really.)
Just how greedy and shameless of a woman was she at her core…… Frea scolded and despised herself.
That had become something of a habit for her.
Where did I go wrong?
Was it from that moment ten years ago?
Was it from the time I lost my best friend?
Or was it from the moment I met him?
No matter how much I ask myself I cannot find an answer.
The only thing I understand is that I can never go back to that time.
To those days when I lived as a candidate for his official wife. To those days when I admired him as my older brother.
「It really is sickening……」
Frea sat up and dipped her feet into the river once more.
The clear water flowed from here picking up all kinds of dirt before eventually reaching the sea.
Where would this dissatisfaction she was pouring out now flow to?
No matter how much she thought about it she would never find an answer.
That was exactly why she asked herself the question whenever she had a spare moment.
『Why have I become able to treat human lives so casually?』
-0-
「Onii～chan it’s terrible～」
「Yeah.」
「It’s incredible～ That thing over there～ It’s super big～」
「It really is.」
Camille kept comparing the chest of Lutte whom she was clinging to with the chest of the person in question.
Even Lutte who usually showed clear disgust whenever someone called her 「big-breasted」 had taken one look at that and muttered something terrifying like 『Mine can still grow more……』 while comparing it to her own.
In the wedding venue some of the noblemen were bent forward in an odd posture.
The bride of her idiot aniki…… Lady Richina von Milnhitza was walking forward wrapped in a dress that seemed to show off her abundant chest to its absolute limit.
Her cheeks were bright red but it was unclear which emotion was causing it.
Walking down the aisle while watched by so many people must be embarrassing the dress itself was a bit much and above all thinking about the kiss that would come after made those feelings completely understandable.
Still the muscle daruma standing right next to the beautiful bride was in the way. She wanted to tell someone to wrap him up like a bamboo mat and throw him out.
In a glamorous place like this one wanted to look at beautiful things not a familiar daruma that was an eyesore.
「Lutte.」
「Yes?」
「That thing next to her is in the way so shoot it dead.」
「Just how many impossible tasks are you going to push onto me before you are satisfied!」
「You are such a fool～. Life is nothing but a pile of difficult problems until the day you die you know?」
The old lady from my neighborhood in my original world used to say that often. It really is a wise saying.
The bride walking quietly and gracefully draws all eyes to her chest first but when looking at her overall…… she has a lively healthy appearance with a slight tan.
「Is it because she’s from the south that she has a tan?」
When I asked that after hearing she was from the southeastern part of the kingdom thinking 『Maybe that’s why?』 onii-chan shook his head from side to side.
「Just between us she is quite the tomboy apparently.」
「Huh?」
He continued with a wry smile.
「Officially she came to the royal capital and stayed out of sight while learning proper etiquette but in truth she would sneak out of the mansion ride horses and wander around wherever she liked.」
「……」
She certainly suits my idiot aniki but it feels like together they might charge forward twice as wildly in the wrong direction.
「Hmm～」
「What is it Argusta?」
「Hm? Oh. This is just my personal opinion but…」
「Go ahead and say it.」
I thought it might be rude but since he urged me I decided to speak honestly.
「I think that girl would be better off with a different kind of person as her husband.」
「Oh?」
He nodded looking somewhat impressed.
「Then who do you think would be good?」
A merciless question came flying at me.
Since I had already said something I might as well be completely honest and get it off my chest.
「Personally, I think Frea-san would be perfect. She seems like the type who could firmly hold the reins of that wild horse.」
「That is true.」
Onii-chan gave a faint smile and seemed to agree.
「However」
When I shifted my gaze I saw his profile as he looked up at the stage. He was so elegantly handsome it was hard to believe he was the king’s son.
「The old Frea was shy timid and very withdrawn.」
「……Are you joking?」
That Frea-san? No way.
But onii-chan did not say anything more.
He simply turned gentle eyes toward the stage.
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