78 – The Prince Who Fell to Darkness

“Are you even listening!?”

Siegfried furrowed his brow and closed in on me. Frankly, my attention was entirely consumed by Freesia wriggling under the blanket, so I couldn’t care less about Siegfried.

“Siegfried-sama! Brad-sama is exhausted. Please, let’s keep this civil…”

“What? I’m tired too! I went out of my way to come to Brad, and he’s just lying there, dealing with me? Unbelievable!”

He came here on his own, and this is how he acts…

Dealing with Siegfried was exhausting me, when I was supposed to be resting. Or maybe the real reason for my exhaustion was something else…

“Omoneil, you can step back. Dealing with an idiot must be tiring, right? Even though you received [Healing], don’t push yourself. Rest for the next battle.”

“But… an idiot… I mean, Siegfried-sama is emotionally unstable…”

Omoneil just flat-out called him an idiot.

I couldn’t agree more.

“Omoneil!!! You just called me an idiot, didn’t you!? Say it again, I won’t get mad!”

Siegfried claimed he wouldn’t get angry, but his furrowed brow and the bulging vein on his forehead said otherwise. He was definitely about to lose it. I watched the two of them, bracing for what came next.

“Then, with all due respect… Is it so wrong to call an oblivious idiot an idiot? During the recent monster subjugation, Brad-sama tried to let Siegfried-sama take the credit for his sake, yet you threw it all away. Truly deplorable.”

“What!? That’s not true! He set an obvious trap to frame me! That’s unforgivable!”

“Kukuku… Siegfried! You’ve lost. If it was such an obvious trap, why didn’t you see through it Omoneil’s calling you an idiot because you couldn’t even figure that out. Get a clue, you fool.”

“Even Brad’s calling me an idiot!? The one who calls someone an idiot is the real idiot!”

This elementary-school-level argument was giving me a headache.

“There’s no need to deal with this guy. Omoneil, go handle other tasks. I’ll take care of this idiot.”

“But…”

“That’s unlike you… Talking back to me?”

“My apologies… I still have work to do, so I’ll take my leave.”

“Good attitude.”

Omoneil left the tent.

Alright!

One less person.

With the blanket covering us, no one had noticed that Freesia and I were in the middle of some intimate bonding. But I wasn’t such a pervert that I’d continue with my brother or subordinates watching.

“Brad! I’m generous, so I’ll overlook your subordinate’s rudeness. But if you call me an idiot again, I won’t forgive you!”

Impressive, Siegfried.

He came here to beg for forgiveness, yet he’s talking down to me…

“Do what you want. If you’re done, get lost. Unlike you, I’m busy and tired.”

“You’ve got some nerve, acting like that when I went out of my way to come here. I’m speechless.”

Says the guy doing the same thing?

“If you’re pissed, then leave. I’m going to sleep.”

“What? What are you talking about? I’m not leaving until you forgive me. Get up already!”

Enraged, Siegfried tried to yank the blanket off me. I grabbed both ends to resist, but…

Riiip! Rip rip!

A horrible tearing sound rang out, and as I held onto the edges, everything from my chest down was exposed to Siegfried’s eyes.

“Ah, ah, aaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!”

There was Freesia, looking utterly satisfied, her secret garden clearly showing that my “sowing” had been completed.

Come next spring, our feelings would surely bear fruit!

…Or so the unavoidable situation seemed to suggest.

Even though I’d broken the engagement with her, Freesia, the object of Siegfried’s affections, didn’t spare him a glance and was instead “seeded” by me.

“No way… It’s a lie, right? Freesia, tell me it’s a lie! You and I were destined to be together, so why are you with Brad!? I can’t believe it. I thought you weren’t the kind of girl to do something so indecent…”

Siegfried’s knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. Meanwhile, Freesia, trembling slightly, was happily asleep in my arms.

“I hate everyone!!!”

Realizing the situation was impossible to overturn, even for a dimwit like Siegfried, he staggered to his feet and bolted out of the tent.

“Ugh… Brad-sama… Did something happen?”

Shortly after Siegfried fled, the most sinful saintess woke up.

“No, nothing at all.”

Stay strong…

In my heart, I sent Siegfried my cheers.

To sort out the current situation, Freesia and I were, to put it bluntly, friends with benefits.

It wasn’t exactly like we’d reconciled after breaking off the engagement.

If Freesia had just said she wanted to date Siegfried, I’d have been fine with that anytime… But according to her,

“I want to stay like this with Brad-sama forever…”