After strolling outside to admire the capital’s scenery, Kane accepted Vita’s invitation and ate dinner at a restaurant. The two of them returned to the royal palace together afterward.
It was already 7:00 PM by the time they got back.
After parting ways with Vita, Kane prepared to return to his room to ‘rest’.
Anyone else in this situation would probably pray the other party wouldn’t show up, but Kane hoped they would.
As long as the person dared to come tonight, Kane was confident he could take them down. He wanted to see who exactly was so bold as to impersonate the Queen.
‘Then, is it possible that the attacker is the Queen herself?’
A moment before he pushed the door open, this bold thought suddenly surfaced in Kane’s mind while his hand was on the doorknob.
This caused his movements to pause momentarily.
To be honest, while the possibility seemed slim, it did exist.
It was impossible to completely deny that possibility.
…But even if it really was the Queen herself, what Kane needed to do remained the same. He still wanted to ask the person involved what they meant by all this.
Then he would make his decisions based on her answer.
Thinking of this, Kane reaffirmed his will, pushed open the door, and walked in.
Only after opening the door did Kane realize that his room was quite lively today.
“Mother!”
“…”
Seeing Kane return, Edwina, who had been waiting in the room with a worried expression, immediately stood up in excitement. However, she soon lowered her head, her face flushing red with embarrassment because her voice had been too loud.
Vanessa, sitting in another chair, remained expressionless as usual. When she saw Kane return, she merely watched him silently without any intention of greeting him.
The attitudes of the two princesses, who had starkly different personalities, could be seen at a glance by anyone who wasn’t blind.
“Good evening, you two. Is there something urgent that you’ve come to my room to wait for me?”
While he was somewhat surprised, Kane maintained a gentle smile and quickly accepted the situation.
He didn’t rush toward them. Instead, he asked from the doorway why they were present in his room.
“Ah, th-that…”
Seeing that Kane was indeed unharmed and had returned normally, Edwina felt both relieved and so awkward that she didn’t know how to speak.
In fact, after learning that Kane had left the palace, she had quickly put on plain clothes and gone out to search the entire capital for him. However, because she had no leads, she failed to find him. She was eventually persuaded by Vanessa to return in the afternoon and had been waiting in the room until now.
If she said it out loud, Kane would surely think she was making a mountain out of a molehill, that she wasn’t composed, and that she didn’t act like royalty at all.
But if she didn’t say it, she truly couldn’t think of a reason for her and Vanessa to be in this room.
“…It’s because Mr. Liar left the palace without saying a word. Edwina thought you left for good and insisted on seeing you return before she could feel at ease. As for me, I’m just accompanying her to keep her from overthinking. I wasn’t worried about you at all.”
It didn’t matter that Edwina, who was prone to overthinking, didn’t know how to start.
Vanessa, who preferred being direct, had no intention of hiding anything and spoke the truth plainly.
“Awoo…”
This immediately made Edwina feel even more embarrassed. Her face turned red with shame, and her gaze quickly shifted away, not daring to look at Kane.
Although Vanessa’s statement sounded like a standard tsundere line, she really wasn’t worried about Kane. From beginning to end, only Edwina had been worried.
If anything, she was worried about Edwina’s state of mind; Kane didn’t matter to her.
“I see. That’s how it is. My apologies. It seems I’ve made you worry. As you can see, I was just casually strolling around the capital and decided to stretch my limbs while I was at it.”
Hearing them say this, Kane apologized to the two princesses while slowly walking toward them. He shortened the distance between them, stopping at a distance of about 2 meters.
“…I already said I wasn’t worried.”
Since she truly hadn’t been worried, the straightforward Vanessa decided to correct Kane’s statement.
“…Mother, don’t you find it troublesome?”
Edwina, on the other hand, was a bit nervous. She thought Kane would at least scold her for being too restless, but she didn’t expect that Kane had no intention of blaming or reprimanding her at all.
“If it happened every time, it would certainly be troublesome. But isn’t this only the first time? Rest assured, if I were to leave, I would definitely say goodbye to you.”
Kane didn’t respond to Vanessa’s ‘talking back’. Instead, he first addressed Edwina, who looked like she needed to be looked after.
He smiled politely and gentlemanly, his face showing no coldness at all.
“Ah, yes…”
Looking at ‘Mother’ like this, Edwina felt as though her heart was beating faster, but it was a bit different from the rapid thumping caused by her previous anxiety and nervousness.
Regardless, she lowered her head bashfully, standing properly with her hands clasped in front of her.
“…”
Unlike the smitten Edwina, Vanessa felt increasingly restless.
What was going on? Why did she feel like she was a third wheel?
…Even though she was indeed an outsider in this sense, Edwina should still maintain her distance from this liar, shouldn’t she?
The way Edwina treated Kane as if he were their actual parent really made Vanessa feel uncomfortable.
To be precise, every time she heard Edwina call Kane ‘Mother’, Vanessa felt it was a great disrespect to their mother, Queen Corellia.
Unable to bear it any longer, Vanessa decided to make things clear right here.
“…Since this is a rare opportunity, I have something to say. Can you please stop deceiving Edwina? And Edwina, get a grip. How does this guy look anything like Mother?”
If their status is unknown, then they are dead. If she is restless, then she is already on her feet.
Anyway, Vanessa stood up from her seat and opened her pale pink lips without hesitation, pointing out the situation she was dissatisfied with like a drawn sword.
She gave her warnings to both Kane and Edwina.
“…”
Kane’s reaction to this was a subtle expression, with a smile that was awkward yet polite.
It wasn’t entirely wrong to say he was deceiving people, but the problem was that he hadn’t wanted to be a ‘male mother’ either. This was even more awkward than being an older brother to Vita.
As for Edwina, she was even more blunt.
The shyness vanished from her pure and lovely face, replaced once again by confusion and worry. She pursed her lips and looked at her overly serious sister with incomprehension, as if Vanessa were the one with the problem.
“…Vanessa, what are you saying? Mother is Mother, isn’t she?”
—
I’ve been a lazy dog today. I owe one chapter and will self-punish with another. According to the rule of adding one chapter for every 10 monthly tickets, I’ve paid back 2 chapters and still owe 5. Including the self-punishment, I owe a total of 7 chapters.
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