After parting ways with Princess Vita, Cain continued wandering the royal palace according to his original plan.
Fortunately, despite his repeated hints that she should not follow him, Vita did not stubbornly cling to him.
Cain let out a quiet sigh of relief at that. Unless absolutely necessary, he really did not want to say harsh things to people—especially not to those original main characters who regarded him as the queen.
If he were to put on a hardline attitude and speak cruelly, it would most likely backfire, making them even more convinced that he and the queen were the same person.
If possible, Cain truly did not want to be treated as Corellia, that iceberg queen.
That queen clearly was not good at interpersonal relationships, and Cain had no desire to manage social connections on her behalf.
Being called “Mother” by the melancholic, beautiful princess was already absurd enough—Cain absolutely did not want to be called “Big Sister” by the bright and enthusiastic royal aunt as well.
However, even though Cain had wisely rejected Vita’s attempts at closeness in time and deliberately kept his distance from her, he ultimately did not get to continue strolling alone.
As for the reason…
Naturally, it was because his bargain-priced daughter, Princess Edwina, had decisively come looking for him after a full day of various lessons.
“…Good afternoon, Mother.”
On one of the outer corridors of the palace, Cain encountered Edwina, who was once again wearing her perpetually melancholic expression and radiating a heavy, oppressive aura.
Even upon seeing Cain, Edwina did not show much joy while walking. She merely stopped properly in front of him and then lifted her skirt to perform a perfectly proper curtsey.
From the height at which she lifted her skirt to the angle at which she lowered her head, everything was flawless.
That attitude felt less like a daughter greeting her mother and more like a foreign noble lady meeting a queen for the first time—there was no sense of familial warmth at all.
The liveliness and natural ease she had shown while chatting with Cain yesterday were completely gone, replaced by the same reserved stiffness as when they had first met.
This left Cain with complicated feelings. He could roughly guess why Edwina was acting this way, and he felt that if he took it seriously, he could probably resolve it. The problem was that he believed this was not something he should be the one to fix in the first place.
In any case, while maintaining a sense of safe distance, Cain gently comforted her:
“…Lift your head, Edwina. Studying must have been hard.”
“…Yes, Mother.”
Perhaps because Cain was still keeping too much distance, the melancholic princess showed no particular reaction. She merely tensed slightly and lifted her sorrowful yet pretty face.
“…”
“…”
“…Um, by the way, is there something you wanted to see me about? If not, you really do not need to worry about me.”
The familiar mutual silence returned. Unable to simply leave her there, Cain took the initiative to speak.
“Ah, yes, Mother. I am terribly sorry. I do indeed have something I wished to discuss with you.”
Although Edwina had raised her head, her gaze was not on Cain’s face. Instead, she was looking vaguely at his chest with her head slightly lowered.
Only when Cain’s polite—but not overly concerned—voice reached her did Edwina lift her head fully, looking up at him and offering a calm, elegant smile tinged with apology.
“I see. So what is it? It is not that you are tired of studying and want to sneak out, asking me to help you, right?”
In order to dispel the awkward atmosphere between them, Cain forced a cheerful smile and added a hint of teasing to his expression, deliberately poking fun at the princess who looked so repressed.
“That is not some trivial matter like that! How could I trouble you over such nonsense, Mother!”
Cain was obviously joking, but Edwina seemed to take it seriously. She shook her head solemnly and then fixed Cain with an overly heavy gaze.
It was as if she feared he might think of her as a troublesome, mischievous child.
“Ha… haha. You are right. Sorry about that.”
His joke falling flat, Cain could only laugh awkwardly. Once again, he confirmed that this princess’s reverence for the queen far exceeded what most people would imagine.
“Ah, no, this is not something you need to apologize for. Let us get to the main matter instead. Mother, if possible, I hope you will listen while we walk.”
Noticing Cain’s awkward smile, Edwina hurriedly waved her hands in flustered denial, telling him not to mind it. Then, maintaining her polite demeanor, she invited him to talk while walking.
What else could Cain say? He could only comply.
Thus, the two of them began walking in the direction Cain had come from earlier.
As she walked about half a meter beside him, Edwina began making small talk.
“Mother, how did you sleep last night? Was the room comfortable?”
“Very comfortable—flawless, really. I must thank Her Majesty for her generosity.”
Recalling the soft bed in that room, Cain answered honestly without much thought.
Although using the word “generosity” felt a bit odd, the truth was that he was indeed benefiting greatly from Corellia’s arrangements. That was simply a fact.
Seeing Cain’s relaxed and comfortable expression, Edwina, who had been carefully observing his reactions, felt a quiet sense of happiness.
From this, it seemed that Cain did not dislike Corellia, at the very least. That meant her plan of ‘letting Mother get close to Mother first, then getting close to me’ was not entirely without hope.
In fact, earlier that afternoon, she had deliberately gone to visit Corellia, trying to subtly probe her thoughts about Cain. However, she had failed. Corellia had offered no comments about Cain at all, only telling her to rest if she had nothing urgent to report.
Because of that, when Edwina took the initiative to seek Cain out, she had been worried that her plan might have no chance of succeeding at all.
Cain’s response put her at ease.
—See! Even a mother who looks so cold must be longing for warmth! Letting Mother be with Mother has to be the right move!
Cain had merely expressed a reasonable opinion.
But in Edwina’s eyes, he was clearly indicating affection toward Corellia.
This gave her even more confidence. Suppressing the joy in her heart, she continued in a serious tone:
“I am glad you are satisfied. However, Mother, you likely did not bring many belongings with you into this world. So, in order to prepare suitable clothing for you, Mother has already arranged for someone to take your measurements. Please do not worry—Mother will use the finest fabrics and the most skilled tailors to make clothes perfectly suited to you.”
“Huh? That seems like a bit much…”
Hearing Edwina suddenly mention taking his measurements, Cain looked rather taken aback.
Was that iceberg queen really that meticulous?
Accepting him—a suspicious man—was one thing, but spending money on him so extravagantly? Even commissioning custom-made clothes?
“No, no, this is only proper. Mother, you are Mother from another world. For Mother to buy clothes for you is the same as buying clothes for herself. All right, all right—we have arrived. Please go inside quickly.”
At some point, they had unknowingly reached the door of a room. Edwina naturally stepped in front of Cain. Despite being a princess of a nation, she opened the door for him like a maid and urged him inside with a rare, bright smile.
Seeing that smile—so unlike her usual demeanor yet charming in its own way—Cain hesitated for a moment before finally stepping into the room, where many people were already waiting for him.
After all, it was the queen’s goodwill. Refusing outright would be somewhat inappropriate.
He would accept it for now.
As Cain entered the room, Edwina followed and closed the door behind her. With her back to him, she did not forget to reveal a triumphant, excited smile.
Yes, the queen had given no such order. Edwina was acting in the queen’s name on her own initiative.
The purpose, of course, was to increase Cain’s goodwill toward the queen.
And she would continue doing such things until her two mothers were together.
As for how much money it would take to achieve that goal?
Spending money on Mother is only natural! A daughter’s money is meant to be spent on her mother, all right!
Holding onto this pure and simple belief, Edwina—who loved her mother the most—watched happily as Cain was quickly surrounded by maids and seamstresses.
Cain, meanwhile, soon came to regret his choice.
As for why—
That was because he had no idea that merely taking measurements would take two or three hours!
And he also had no idea which maid or seamstress kept touching him all over, either!
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