Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! 367

She and the Mask

“...”

Without making a voice, I looked up at Freed as he came over. He calmly smiled at the man.
I understood from that smile that he was quite displeased and angry.

―― Wow, Freed is angry.

It was obvious from the fact that he showed himself, but I became convinced.
Yup, it’s better not to provoke him any more. Thinking so, I warned myself to be quiet.
Still smiling, Freed told the man.

“She’s a woman I had a prior appointment with. Excuse me, but could you resign?”
“…”

The man slowly turned his face to me. I nodded to his questioning gaze.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. As a matter of fact, I’ve had an appointment with him. ―― Right, Apollo?”

At the end I added the pseudonym of his current form.
I was a little puzzled by Freed’s way of talking that I hadn’t heard since the last masquerade ball, but mine was similar, so I decided not to mind.
Come to think of it, when we met for the first time, we both were hiding our nature to a great extent. The mask slipped quickly, but certainly, the beginning felt like this.
While I was fondly remembering the conversation with him that had given me chills, Freed turned a bewitched smile to me, pleased by my agreement.

“I apologize for being late, Diana. Now, shall we go?”

Freed presented his hand to me. In silence, I placed my hand on his.
The man, who had only been watching that, said in a fluster.

“Eh… Um, I was talking to her… Isn’t it the breach of the rules?”

The man brought up the Etiquette of Men and Women, but Freed didn’t flinch.

“Speaking of the rules, you’ve lost the right to court her now that she’s taken my hand. It’s common sense to obediently give up after being rejected by the woman, right?”
“…”

The man stared at Freed, and Freed told him.

“I don’t know what you are thinking, but I think there’s no need to wear another person’s mask when going to a place like masquerade ball. If you want to court women, you should attempt it in your true form. You can manage to catch women without pretending to be me, right?”
“…”
“Or, do you have some reason to not expose yourself? Like for example, you normally couldn’t participate in this evening party.”

The place buzzed. Freed’s voice resounded extremely well across the evening party venue that, unnoticed by me, had fallen completely silent.
Everybody who heard Freed understood the man was a sham and directed harsh look at him. Sensing the hostility that could be felt even through a mask, the man realized he couldn’t stay here anymore and clicked his tongue.

“Ah…! Shit… He didn’t appear for half a year, so why is he here now…! How was I supposed to predict that?”

And then, he turned around and fled the venue. His decision was so fast that people inside the venue couldn’t react in time and let him escape.
I pulled Freed’s arm in a fluster.

“I-Is that fine? He ran away…”
“Cain is chasing him. There’s no problem.”
“I see… It’s fine then.”

Aside from that, was it alright for Freed to appear?
The sudden event turned the venue into something that couldn’t be called a masquerade ball.
The participating young ladies received a shock when they realized the man who they crushed on was actually sham. Moreover, they directed passionate looks at Freed.
Freed noticed the women’s looks but ignored them all, and he held my waist as if to show off.

“Now, let’s go.”
“Eh… Go where?”

Freed told me, who seriously didn’t understand, with a smile.

“To another room, of course. It’s typical on such occasions, right? After all, this is a masquerade ball.”

And so, without minding everyone’s attention, Freed unashamedly took me to another room.

◇◇◇

Freed took me to another room, and as soon as we entered it, he pulled me towards himself and initialized a magical art.
In the twinkling of an eye, the scenery turned familiar.
Seeing the bed I and Freed always use, I felt relieved that I came back to our room in the castle, but at the same time I worried if it was okay to leave Cain behind.

“… We’re back? What about Cain?”

When I asked so in a fluster, Freed irately took off my mask. At the same time, he tore off his mask. Freed flung the masks on the bed and tightly hugged me.

 “We’ll exchange information tomorrow morning, so you don’t need to worry. More importantly, I’m glad you’re safe, Lidi…”
“I-I’m fine.”

Freed came before anything could happen, so I didn’t feel particularly scared.
I was just frustrated that I couldn’t fulfil my role.
While tightly hugging Freed’s back, I told him.

“I’m sorry. Although I’d talked so self-importantly, I couldn’t find out who that man was. Like this, there was no point in forcing you to let me participate.”

I volunteered because I was confident that I would be helpful. I feel guilty that this is the result.

“No, that’s not true. Lidi, thanks to you this man’s existence has been made public. I think that alone is a success. That man is probably not an amateur. As you guessed, Lidi, I think he participated in masquerade balls with some objective.”
“… He was outstanding at the art of conversation. I think he’d have gotten various information out of me if I hadn’t been careful.”

When I told him about the impression from actually talking with that man, Freed nodded.

“He probably isn’t a Wilhelm noble. When I realized that, I went to pick you up. I couldn’t leave my precious Lidi with a suspicious person.”
“… Yup. Thanks. I was just thinking of withdrawing, so it helped me a lot.”

I was thinking that I had to somehow escape. Thanks to Freed, I was able to quickly get away from that man.

“With my appearance, everybody should recognize that man as a sham. In this situation, he won’t be able to go to another masquerade ball next week. Rumors spread in no time. It should be impossible for him to meet your friend, Lidi, and he’ll never be able to impersonate me again.”
“Yup, he looks like a degraded version compared to the real thing.”

He could only pretend to be the real thing because the real thing hadn’t been seen for half a year.
After Freed left the intense impression, he was immediately exposed as a sham. That’s how strong Freed’s impression is.
The masquerade ball next week has a different organizer, but the participants will overlap, so if the sham comes, I’m convinced he’ll be exposed at once.

“I see… I’m glad.”

I don’t have to worry about Freed being imitated anymore, and that man won’t sink his poisonous fangs into Marianne either.
In the end, I couldn’t learn who he was, so I couldn’t do anything. But, the result is as I desired, so I won’t complain.
Besides, Cain is chasing after that man. I’ll learn who that man is and what he’s aiming at tomorrow, so I won’t think about it any more.

“… I’m really glad nobody touched you.”

Freed stroked my back with a feeling of relief.

“I was watching from the ceiling, but I felt uneasy. Everybody was aiming at you, Lidi.”
“Eh… I don’t think that’s true.”
“Lidi, you stood more than anyone inside the venue. It goes without saying that my wife is charming, but that doesn’t mean they can look at you with lascivious eyes. There was no way I wouldn’t get angry.”
“Freed.”
“I regret that I gave you the permission very much.”

Freed’s hand stroking my back stopped. He fixed his eyes on my face.

“Lidi, I realized once again that you must be by my side.”

I nodded to those words.

“Yup.”
“After all Lidi, you’re my wife. You absolutely can’t be with another man.”
“You’re right.”

I wouldn’t allow a woman other than me by Freed’s side, so I understand his feelings.
That’s why, I looked Freed in the eyes and clearly said.

“I want to be the only one by your side, Freed.”
“Yup, I know that. Lidi, I love you.”
“Me too. I love you.”

We looked each other in the eyes.
As the mood finally turned sweet, Freed’s hand raised my chin. Following the lifting movement, I closed my eyes and received a light kiss.

“Nh…”

Freed’s heat was transferred through the touch of our lips. It was so terribly lovely that I couldn’t resist.

“Freed… Again.”
“… Yup. I won’t stop at one time.”

Answering my request, Freed pressed his lips to mine many times. As if he couldn’t endure, before long his tongue intruded into my mouth. I accepted it with a smile.

“Nnh… Nnn.”

We rubbed our tongues together and exchanged saliva. While I was enraptured from the intense physical contact, his hand naturally reached for my dress.

“Ah…”

Our masks were removed, and we were on the usual bed, but strangely, I recalled the first time I was embraced by him and uttered that.

“Lidi, what’s the matter?”
“Nn, I recalled something…”

When I honestly said what I was thinking, Freed pushed me down on the bed and said.

“Actually, I was thinking the same thing. You were wearing the same dress back then. Of course, you were wearing a mask, so it’s different from now.”
“Which reminds me, Freed, you said you wanted to remove the mask because it was in the way of our kisses…”

Back then I was startled. I didn’t expect I’d be asked to remove the mask despite going to the masquerade ball to remain incognito, 

“It’s natural I’d want to see the face of the person I’d fallen in love with, right? Lidi, I got to embrace you, so I wanted to see your face directly. Of course, if you had taken off the mask, I’d have done the same.”
“… I didn’t want my identity exposed, so it was an extremely scary statement.”
“What was there to be afraid of? Your partner was your future spouse, so there was no need to worry, right?”
“… Yeah.”

In reality, he caught me afterwards and we married, so I can’t say anything. As I made a complicated face, Freed picked up the mask that was laying on the bed and put it on me.

“? What?”
“I thought of reproducing it a little.”
“… Idiot.”

I watched in astonishment as Freed similarly wore a mask. However, his appearance that was the same at that time felt nostalgic, so I obediently accepted it.

“Nh…”

I exchanged a kiss with the masked Freed. His tongue slipped inside my mouth. I accepted it, and while entangling my tongue with his, I opened my eyes and looked at Freed. It was natural, but I saw the mask from up close.

―― Somehow, it’s strange.

It’s as if we really went back half a year.
The dress I’m wearing is the same, and the situation is similar, making me feel mysterious.
Freed’s hand went around my back to take off the dress. Since I wore innerwear today, it was a little complicated. With me raising my upper half in cooperation, Freed somehow took off the dress. Then he made a delighted face.

“Lidi, this is essential, after all.”

Freed ecstatically touched the Royal Flower, that had grown big enough to cover the left side of my chest. He must’ve really disliked it being hidden. He kisses it again and again.

“Nh… Jeez, it tickles.”
“And then, this too.”
“Ah…”

Hanging over me, Freed rummaged through the pocket of his trousers. Then, he took out the ring I’d entrusted him with.
Freed took my left hand and put the ring on the fourth finger. He then took out his own ring and put it on his finger.

“Ah, you took it off too, Freed?”

I didn’t notice he had done that until now.

“I took it off immediately after I decided to show up at the evening party. I hated it, but I’d have been troubled if the ring had exposed my identity.”
“Yeah.”
“But, that’s not necessary anymore. It’s the ring that matches mine, so it’s no good if you aren’t wearing it, right, Lidi?”
“… Yup.”

I nodded and looked at the ring Freed put on me. I felt relieved to have it back where it should be.

“I’m glad…”

When I unconsciously said that, Freed uttered, “Nn?” and asked me to elaborate with his eyes.
Despite feeling embarrassed, I told him.

“Somehow, I felt restless without the ring… So I feel relieved. Freed, it’s an important ring from you, so it’s natural, isn’t it?”

“Lidi.”
“Freed… I love you.”

I reached out my hands and hugged Freed.
I was a little worried that we were both still wearing masks, but I felt satisfied clinging to my beloved.
Hugged by me, Freed laughed happily.

“Hey, isn’t this mask in the way of our kisses? … Should I take it off?”

I unconsciously smiled as he reenacted those words.
At that time I found it outrageous and refused.

Then what about now?

I drew near Freed’s ear and whispered.

“―― Yup. Take it off.”

Of course I didn’t refuse.

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