Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 24

“Are you worried about an affair?”

“It’s not just a simple romantic relationship I’m concerned about. His background and past are…”

Hinler pondered seriously before shaking his head.

“There’s not enough information to explain it accurately. Let’s just say I have a bad feeling.”

A bad feeling, huh. Most people would call that overprotection.

Esca inwardly scoffed and subtly snorted. Now they’re even doubting the chastity of the future princess, who has no privacy. It’s a well-known fact among the public that the Little Lady has never had a romantic relationship… Even Queen Lilliana wouldn’t have been this overprotective.

“I plan to go to the study now and persuade the Little Lady. You stay here and record every conversation without missing a word.”

With a snap of his fingers, an old-fashioned typewriter slid onto the desk in the listening room.

“Remember. Don’t miss a single word.”

“Understood.”

As Esca helped Hinler up from the chair, he secretly sighed in relief.

This scandal was partly Esca’s fault. He was the one who lured Prince Viett to Cochrun’s dormitory that night, and he was also the one who involved Viett in the plan to mess with Minute.

‘I thought I’d be dismissed immediately for that… Fortunately, the Master didn’t hear that I lured the prince.’

Now his adorable sons were guaranteed admission to the Royal Academy. If he could hold out until retirement, the viscount family could live a prosperous life under Aisad’s protection.

“Remember. Don’t miss a single word.”

After Minister Hinler left with a stern warning, Esca rubbed his stiff neck and sat down in the listening room chair. He looked at the old, rusty pipes and the clunky typewriter with a troubled expression.

Since becoming an agent, he had been assigned to all sorts of strange tasks, but he never expected to be eavesdropping using such outdated equipment.

“Making a living is so tough…”

Do my sons even know how hard their dad is working to protect the family? Damn father and mother. What was so important about seizing the throne that they sacrificed their only child to the organization?

Esca sighed with resentment and reached for the pipe. He opened the lid of the pipe connected to the study and inserted a new sheet of paper into the typewriter.

– Commander! Good morning!

The sound of Phenelity Cochrun’s cheerful greeting came through the pipe. He thought he heard Prince Viett’s irritated sigh. Esca chuckled as he typed. He could vividly picture the prince turning his head with a blank expression.

— Come on, you should say ‘Good morning’ back in situations like this.

The Little Lady tried to break down the prince’s solid wall without a care.

— Do you want some candy? Minister Heinz gave it to me, and it’s delicious.

— ……

— He always carries fruit-flavored candy because he stopped smoking. Why don’t you follow his example? You’re quite a heavy smoker, Commander.

There was the sound of a candy wrapper rustling. After the sound of a round candy rolling on her tongue, Phenelity’s cheerful question continued.

— By the way, did you get the necklace chain fixed?

— ……

— Hey, are you listening to me? My necklace. Hey!

When the prince remained silent, Phenelity muttered in a dejected voice.

— …My necklace…

“Viett, you clumsy fool. Stop playing hard to get and answer her already.”

Esca clicked his tongue and typed diligently. Only after he finished typing the last period did Viett’s blunt voice come through the pipe.

— I-if you were going to act like this, why did you insist on getting it fixed w-within a week?

— Huh? Why? I gave you plenty of time on purpose, so why are you complaining?

— I-I went to f-find you the day after the chain broke.

Viett raised his voice slightly in frustration. Phenelity’s surprised voice was louder than his.

— Really? Did you come to the field hospital yourself?

— ……

— Oh? Really?

The prince remained silent. Silence meant affirmation.

Esca shook his head with a sympathetic look. Miss Cochrun. Viett got kicked out of the hospital several times. The nurses would light up and try to chase him away whenever they saw him.

— Oh, I’m really sorry!

After a long pause, Phenelity exclaimed in a startled tone.

— I thought Lieutenant Peter, your aide, would bring the necklace.

— N-not me?

— I figured you’d be too busy preparing for deployment. So I told the guards and my colleagues to let me know immediately if Lieutenant Peter came to the hospital…

In that case, the field hospital guards and her fellow nurses were not at fault. Phenelity Cochrun had been waiting for the prince’s aide, Lieutenant Peter, and not the prince himself.

— … Even if I was b-busy, I still had ti… time to see you.

Viett’s voice was drained of energy. Esca, who was listening to the voice coming through the pipe, also slumped his shoulders. Hang in there, Vivi…

— I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy these past few days that I haven’t been paying attention to my surroundings. The captain said he would kill me, no, cancel my leave if I got distracted, so I’ve been working harder than usual.

— ……

— Huh? But that’s strange. How did I miss seeing someone as big as you? None of my fellow nurses even saw you at the hospital!

— ……

— In such a small hospital, if someone as noticeable as you were wandering around, I would have definitely seen you. Did you really come to the field hospital?

— ……

— The more I think about it, the stranger it seems. If you came to the field hospital, why was everyone quiet about it? I haven’t told you this yet, but many of my colleagues scream with joy whenever they see you. They all like your face.

— ……

— …Only your face!

Esca, who had been typing busily, slowly removed his ear from the pipe. Miss Cochrun… Now that I think about it, you really do talk a lot. Even the noise from a machine gun would be less noisy than this.

He rubbed his sore ear and inserted a new sheet of paper into the typewriter. Although it had only been a few minutes since the conversation started, one sheet of paper was already filled. Most of it was Phenelity’s words.

— C-calm down and please s-speak slowly.

Esca wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by Phenelity’s chatter.

— I-if you keep talking non-stop like that… won’t you g-get tired quickly?

— Don’t you get bored keeping your mouth shut, Commander? Your tongue might get stiff.

Viett let out a low sigh. It seemed he was thinking, ‘I shouldn’t say anything.’ There was a rattling sound, like chains being taken out.

— T-take it.

It seemed he handed Phenelity the necklace chain. Phenelity let out a high-pitched exclamation.

— Oh, it’s fixed neatly!

— The repairman did a pretty g-good job.

— Well, I won’t say thank you. After all, it was Your Highness who caused the problem, and Your Highness who fixed it.

— ……

— Why are you looking at me?

— Is it… not fixed w-well?

Viett asked in a downcast voice. Esca stopped typing abruptly. What’s with this guy? Why is he so downcast all of a sudden?

— No? I really like it.

Phenelity replied in a puzzled tone. Viett, hesitating and mumbling, asked in a sulky tone.

— Then… why aren’t you s-smiling?

Pfft! Esca couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He wanted to hold his stomach and laugh, but the mission came first, so his hands moved busily over the typewriter.

“So innocent. You’re so transparent!”

He chuckled, shaking his head vigorously. Is this childish man really the same person as the problem child of the royal family? Normally, Viett Hartmann wouldn’t have cared whether a woman smiled or not.

Moreover, Viett wasn’t even smoking his beloved cigars. Esca had expected him to relieve the fatigue from Phenelity’s chatter with chain-smoking.

‘This guy. He’s definitely changed.’

Esca quietly recalled when Viett’s change began. Although he had always been strange, he became even stranger since the day he anxiously held the broken necklace chain.

Phenelity Cochrun had also changed. She had never found Viett particularly difficult to deal with, but now she seemed to think of him as completely comfortable. To put it nicely, she treated him kindly like a child, and to put it bluntly, she was mischievous.

That evening when the scandal between the prince and the Little Lady caused a stir around the world. There must have been a peculiar atmosphere between them when the necklace chain broke.