“…Fine. If you don’t want to say, then forget it. As long as it’s not something that will cause trouble for Mother.”
Seeing Edwina’s somber, gloomy expression as if she had some unspeakable secret, Vanessa did not continue to press her.
At the same time, she subtly emphasized one thing: she must not cause trouble for their Mother.
Their Mother was already busy enough as it was, and it was no exaggeration to say she managed a myriad of daily affairs. She shouldn’t be bothered with trivial, boring matters.
Vanessa didn’t consider herself a bully, and in reality, she wasn’t. She simply had a very serious personality and did everything by the book.
Even if she didn’t exactly love her, she didn’t hate her sister, Edwina.
If favorability could be expressed as a numerical value, her rating for Edwina would be sixty points.
As a side note, a completely strange woman would be zero points, while any man would be -100 points. As for Queen Corellia? That was naturally an unquestionable 200 points.
“…”
It seemed Vanessa had backed down, but the problem was that what Edwina planned to do would definitely cause trouble for their Mother.
Because of this, Edwina felt quite guilty.
Of course, she believed that bringing the two Mothers together was for the best for everyone. Mother would gain the best partner who could understand and support her, the male version of Mother would find a place to stay, and she herself would receive double the motherly love.
However, she was somewhat aware of whether this would cause trouble for the two of them.
She just felt it was a necessary sacrifice.
Ever since Vanessa entered the room, Edwina hadn’t dared to look her in the eye, primarily because of this.
If Vanessa found out about her plan, Vanessa would likely suffer a total mental breakdown and faint on the spot from the sheer inability to comprehend what was happening.
And once she did understand, Vanessa might try to stop her. After all, Vanessa harbored a great deal of hostility toward men… Even if he was a male version of Mother, Vanessa would probably find it hard to accept him being with their beloved Mother.
In short, Edwina would say nothing. At least, she wouldn’t say a word to Vanessa until it was a done deal.
That being said, staying completely silent would only make Vanessa more suspicious. Therefore, Edwina decided to say something.
“…A — Actually, these clothes are being prepared for an honored guest. Mother gave her permission.”
Normally, it would be better to just change the subject, but in her nervous state, Edwina couldn’t think of anything else.
So, she simply told the truth, albeit while hiding Kane’s true identity to prevent Vanessa from having a breakdown.
“An honored guest? Is it a young noble from a foreign country? Since you’re personally selecting the clothes, Edwina, their status must be extraordinary. But didn’t he have his servants bring extra clothes? To think we have to prepare them ourselves…”
Hearing Edwina say this, Vanessa was somewhat confused.
What kind of noble expects the host to prepare their clothes when they travel? Was there really such a noble? Could it be someone from the Church?
If it were a young bishop from the Church, it would be understandable. Even a bishop didn’t wear divine robes all the time, and it was reasonable to wear the local nobility’s attire when they weren’t specifically emphasizing their status.
“Ah, yes… yes.”
Since she didn’t know how to explain and didn’t want to try, Edwina’s eyes continued to wander as she nodded in agreement with Vanessa.
Vanessa wasn’t the type to be careless or dense; Edwina’s obviously suspicious reaction definitely made her wary.
The truth was certainly not that simple.
However, since Edwina didn’t want to speak up, it meant she had her reasons. It wasn’t right to force her to speak; after all, she was also Mother’s daughter.
Vanessa decided not to pursue it for the time being. Anyway, if the person was in the palace, she would run into them sooner or later.
“…Since Mother has permitted it, I have nothing more to say. Regardless, I’m relieved to see you’re still in good spirits. It was indeed my responsibility for barging into your room, so let me offer an apology. However, if possible, I do hope you’ll hear my knocking next time.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
“…It’s not something you need to apologize for to that extent. Just try to pay more attention to your surroundings. Get back to your work; I won’t disturb you any longer.”
Looking at her sister’s humble, small-animal-like appearance, Vanessa felt somewhat helpless.
It wasn’t as if Edwina was a talentless mediocre person. Her talent in magic was outstanding, to the point where even Vanessa had to admit defeat.
Edwina could easily be more confident and poised, yet she was always gloomy, somber, and unconfident.
It made things difficult for anyone talking to her.
It seemed it would be better for her to leave this room sooner; it would be good for both her and Edwina.
With that, after saying goodbye to Edwina, Vanessa began walking toward the door.
Her long, white twin-tails swayed with her movements, flickering through Edwina’s field of vision.
“Ah, speaking of which, Vanessa, you should know a lot about swords, right?”
Just as Vanessa was about to leave the stifling room, her sister’s proactive voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
This gave Vanessa a start, and her confident, elegant stride in her silver-white high-heeled combat boots came to a halt.
It was rare enough for Edwina to initiate a conversation, but for it to be about swords?
“…Of course. While I don’t know as much as Lady Altina, I am still quite familiar. What is it? Are you planning to buy a magic sword?”
Turning around, Vanessa looked at her sister again, curiosity appearing on her normally cold face.
“Ah, yes, I’m a little interested. If possible, could you teach me how to pick out a good magic sword?”
Having rarely taken the initiative, Edwina didn’t deny it. She just looked at Vanessa with a bit of embarrassment — looking at this excellent sister who she believed was more favored by Mother than she was.
“I just got back, so I was going to say wait for a while… but since you’ve rarely asked for anything, Edwina, I’ll agree.”
Without thinking much of it, Vanessa returned to her expressionless state and nodded her agreement.
“Really? That’s great. Thank you, Vanessa.”
Edwina hadn’t expected Vanessa to agree so readily, and a joyful smile appeared on her gloomy, pretty face.
‘This is great! Vanessa definitely knows more about swords than I do. This way, I can definitely find a sword that suits Mother better… Mother will surely be very happy!’
The reason Edwina had taken the initiative was, of course, because she wanted to give Kane a gift.
In her view, clothes alone were far from enough. A hip sword, shoes, and even horses were necessary.
Therefore, it was very necessary to choose a good magic sword for Kane with Vanessa’s help.
However, she still didn’t intend to say anything about Kane. Was it because she was worried that Vanessa, who hated men, wouldn’t be able to handle it… or was it because she was worried that telling her would cause Vanessa, who also admired Mother, to actively contact Kane, thereby reducing the attention Edwina received?
…Edwina herself wasn’t clear about this at the moment. She was simply making the choice that was most beneficial to her based on biological instinct, without even understanding it herself.
“…Mm.”
And Vanessa, unaware of Edwina’s internal thoughts, simply nodded and didn’t take it to heart.
After all, from her perspective, if Edwina could become more proactive and cheerful, it would reflect better on their Mother. It would prevent detractors from saying that commoners without royal blood lacked the temperament of royalty.
So, she certainly wouldn’t refuse such a small matter.
Everything was for Mother’s sake, after all.