Chapter 16: Another Master?

When only Kane and Corellia were in the room, the atmosphere had been somewhat eerie.

However, with Vita’s arrival, the tension lightened significantly.

In her quest for revenge against Corellia and Kane, Vita not only sought to develop her own relationship with Kane but also aimed to bridge the gap between him and Corellia. Thus, she actively drove the conversation, constantly searching for new topics.

If it had previously been a dialogue between Kane and Corellia, it had now transformed into a four-way conversation with the addition of Vita and Altina. Of course, while it was technically a group discussion, it was mostly Vita and Kane doing the talking.

Corellia and Altina rarely spoke.

Although Corellia appeared passive, the fact that she hadn’t immediately kicked them out suggested she was at least somewhat interested. Had it been Vita alone, Corellia would have dismissed her long ago.

The conversation proceeded with Vita discussing this world while Kane spoke about the world of the original work.

Initially, being surrounded by three beauties of different styles made Kane feel like it would be easier to find an excuse to leave. However, because Vita was truly skilled at conversation and the quiet Altina added supplementary explanations at key moments, chatting with them proved helpful in deepening his understanding of this world.

As a result, Kane abandoned his plan to depart and gradually focused on the conversation itself.

As for Corellia?

She mostly stood silently in the room, watching the others interact without saying a word. What exactly was crossing that cold and beautiful face was something the other three in the room certainly didn’t know.

***

At the same time Kane was chatting with the others, Princess Edwina was busy with her own plans.

After finishing her morning studies and eating lunch, Edwina couldn’t wait to personally inspect the first batch of custom-made clothes. At her strong insistence, the professional tailors had worked through the night to produce several sets of male clothing, which were brought to her room by a maid.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the skill of the professional tailors; she simply wanted to perform one final check herself.

The person wearing these clothes would be her Mother from the other world. Effectively, these were private garments for a King, so as a daughter, she naturally had to be meticulous.

“Mhm, this one is good. And this one meets my expectations as well. Mother will definitely look wonderful in it.”

“…But this one seems much worse than I imagined. No, it’s better not to give this one to Mother.”

Facing the seven or eight sets of male clothing laid out on her bed, Edwina was as dedicated as if she were picking clothes for Corellia herself (even though Corellia had clearly stated she didn’t need Edwina to prepare anything).

The melancholic and quiet Edwina occasionally smiled and nodded with satisfaction, and at other times, she furrowed her brows and pursed her lips in discontent. That focused and serious look actually made her appear somewhat like a member of the royal family handling government affairs.

However, because she was so preoccupied, Edwina didn’t notice the knocking at her door.

Receiving no response from within, the maid standing outside was at a loss. The maid intended to keep knocking, but she was stopped by a young girl standing beside her.

“…Don’t bother. I’ll go in myself.”

“Ah, yes, Your Highness.”

Entering a princess’s private room without permission was normally strictly forbidden for a maid. However, the newcomer’s status was equally extraordinary, so the maid stepped aside with a sigh of relief.

The girl then pushed the door open without knocking and walked in… successfully catching Edwina still muttering to herself in front of the pile of male clothing.

“…Edwina, what on earth are you doing? Is the reason you didn’t hear the knocking because of these men’s clothes?”

Edwina, who hadn’t realized anyone had entered, suddenly heard a cold voice mixed with a hint of exasperation coming from behind her.

Recognizing the owner of that voice, Edwina turned around in a panic. What met her eyes was a white-haired girl wearing a silver armored skirt.

The girl was around her age, about 16 years old. Although her hip-length pure white hair was tied into cute twin tails, her doll-like exquisite face carried a maturity that didn’t belong to her age group.

A pair of red eyes, similar to Vita’s, stared into Edwina’s. With one hand on her hip, she possessed the aura of a ruler. Combined with the sword at her waist, she exuded a natural, intimidating authority.

Despite being the same age, this white-haired girl dressed as a Holy Knight possessed a powerful presence that far surpassed Edwina’s.

The moment she saw her, a trace of inferiority surfaced on Edwina’s equally beautiful face. Her eyes darted away, not daring to look her peer in the eye.

“S-Sorry, Vanessa. I was too focused and didn’t hear your knocking.”

“…I obviously know that. I’m asking if the reason you didn’t hear me was because of these male clothes?”

Even though Edwina, as a princess, had taken the initiative to apologize, the girl named Vanessa had no intention of backing down. Instead, she maintained a cold, expressionless face, questioning Edwina as if applying pressure.

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

Feeling overwhelmingly subordinate in the other’s presence, Edwina fidgeted with her fingers and kept her gaze averted.

Indeed, this white-haired girl who bore some resemblance to Corellia was the Queen’s other adopted daughter, Vanessa.

Unlike Edwina, who specialized in magic, Vanessa focused on swordsmanship, which was why her attire leaned toward that of a knight. However, she wasn’t a literal knight, but rather a princess styled as a Holy Knight.

For the past few days, she had been acting as the representative of the royal family (or rather, Corellia’s proxy), attending events hosted by local nobles in other cities. She had only returned to the capital today.

As soon as she returned to the palace, she heard people talking about Edwina ordering custom male clothing. Without resting, she immediately came to see what was going on.

Now seeing that the rumors were true, Vanessa didn’t hide her thoughts. As she approached Edwina to look at the clothes, she immediately offered a harsh critique.

“…These are just some tacky, common clothes. What, did Mother find you a noble fiancé? Are you preparing a gift for him?”

“Ugh…”

Hearing such a statement, Edwina bit her lip harder. She clearly took issue with the evaluation, but in the end, she offered no explanation.

“…Say something. Still as gloomy as ever, I see. Why don’t you learn a bit from our aunt? You’re making it look like I’m bullying you. You wouldn’t hide such a small matter from me and force me to disturb Mother, would you?”

Since no response came from beside her, Vanessa looked at her sister’s exquisite, melancholic face with some dissatisfaction.

‘Please, just say something. Why does she have to make me look like a villainess in a story?’

She didn’t want to bother her great Mother over such a trivial matter.

Or was it something else? It wasn’t a fiancé chosen by Mother, but a man Edwina had secretly taken a liking to herself? Was that why she was embarrassed to explain?

‘…If it has nothing to do with Mother, then I truly don’t care. The man is probably someone strange anyway. Besides, men are inherently vulgar and shady creatures.’

Rather than such boring things, she wanted to do more to earn Mother’s praise.

‘Ah… how will Mother praise me? I’m so looking forward to it — ‘

Indeed, just like Edwina, Vanessa was also obsessed with her mother. Despite her usual cold and man-hating mature facade, her expressions became quite vivid whenever she faced her beloved Mother, almost like a child’s.

It was precisely because of this that Edwina didn’t know how to speak to her sister.

Their adored and respected Mother had recently… multiplied. And the extra one happened to be a male Mother.