Chapter 52: Despicable Adult Vita

After Vita left, Edwina clearly became much more proactive. She shared many more natural smiles while chatting with Caine.

This might have seemed strange at first glance, but there was actually no issue with it.

While Edwina and Vita appeared to have a relative relationship as aunt and niece, they were actually not close at all.

Before Caine appeared, the two of them rarely had opportunities to spend time together. Even when they did, it was usually in public with other people present, where neither Edwina nor Vita could truly relax.

Edwina felt she couldn’t be herself in front of Vita.

By the same token, Vita didn’t understand Edwina either.

After idling away some time, Vita prepared to return.

She was not in a particularly good mood because she had been hassled by an ill-mannered man while she was wandering around. Although the group around them had collectively stopped him shortly after he started his approach, seeing such filth still affected her mood to some extent.

When Vita returned, she discovered that Edwina’s position was significantly closer to Caine than when she had left. At this very moment, she was talking and laughing with him.

The already irritable Vita felt a sudden surge of dissatisfaction.

A clear expression of displeasure surfaced on her face.

‘Tch… give you a chance and you really make the most of it, don’t you? Must be nice, being able to laugh happily here while I was being hit on by a man who looked utterly cheap and vulgar. Is being alone with that man really that fun?’

‘I won’t let you keep having all the fun. Sorry, Edwina, but your special treatment ends here. I’m not handing this man over to you.’

After a cold laugh in her heart, Vita’s face quickly switched with a master-level face-changing technique that would make a stage actor call her a professional. She hadn’t even reached Caine and Edwina yet.

While she was still about 10 meters away, she waved her hand and shouted cheerfully to Caine and Edwina.

“Oi — Sister, Edwina — you’ve probably rested enough by now. We should keep going!”

Although there weren’t many people in the rest area, there were still some.

Vita’s extroverted behavior immediately made her the center of attention for everyone present.

People subconsciously looked toward the woman with the bright, cheerful voice, only to freeze when they saw she was dressed like a dowdy girl.

They froze again when they saw a young girl and a young man walking toward her.

Wait? Forget the outfit that completely clashed with her behavior, why was the so-called “Sister” a man? Surely that man wasn’t named “Edwina”? Was this some kind of special kink? The man must have tricked his girlfriend into dressing and calling him that.

From the perspective of an uninformed passerby, the most logical explanation was indeed that Caine and Vita were a couple, and that Caine had requested the cheerful Vita to intentionally dress in such a repressed, dowdy style while also demanding she call him by the strange title of “Sister.”

As for Edwina in her Western-style dress? She was naturally either Caine’s sister or Vita’s sister.

At the thought of this, the passersby looked at Caine with somewhat peculiar expressions, containing both disdain and envy.

This, naturally, was exactly what Vita intended to achieve.

“…The surrounding stares are quite piercing. I’ve probably been pegged as a pervert. You too, Vita, at least call me ‘Brother’ in front of others.”

Caine, who could feel the gazes of those around them, gave a somewhat helpless, wry smile after walking up to Vita.

He didn’t think Vita had done it on purpose, so he only complained casually.

“Ahaha — sorry, sorry — but it’s fine. Those people don’t know us; they’ll forget us soon enough. If you find it embarrassing, Sister, why don’t you just wear women’s clothing as well?”

Vita first rubbed the back of her head with a boisterous grin, then looked Caine up and down with a mischievous smirk, teasing him.

“…Wouldn’t that actually make me a pervert? Who would enjoy seeing someone who is obviously a man dressed in women’s clothes?”

Just as when he chatted with Edwina, Caine’s conversation with Vita was quite natural. His expression was calm as he coolly retorted to Vita’s joke.

“Is that so? But I’m totally okay with it.”

Hearing Caine say this, Vita made an “OK” sign with her hand and even gave Caine a *wink*.

That lively and playful appearance, combined with the contrast of her exterior, shouldn’t have been much, yet it inexplicably made a man’s heart skip a beat.

“…I see. Even so, I’m still not wearing it.”

Caine put on the expression of a big brother who was helpless against his lively younger sister. He placed one hand on his hip while mimicking Vita by closing one eye, his face full of resignation.

Despite his troubled look, the upward curve of his lips showed he wasn’t actually upset, because he knew Vita was joking.

While the two had such an intimate interaction, Edwina naturally couldn’t find a gap to join in. Since she was of a lower seniority and due to her personality, she could only stand by and smile politely.

In truth, she felt somewhat awkward and envied Vita.

Vita caught a glimpse of Edwina from the corner of her eye, and her feeling of annoyance eased slightly.

She even felt an inexplicable sense of pride in her heart.

‘Heh — see that, Edwina? This man is still closer to me. You’re just a child; go train for another 3 or 5 years before you try again.’

Despite being an adult in her early 20s, she was being so serious toward her 16-year-old niece. It could be said that Vita was being quite immature.

But Vita didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. In this world, one was already considered an adult at age 16. Furthermore, this was a battle that could not be lost. She wouldn’t show mercy just because the opponent was young or her junior.

However, Vita wasn’t the low-level type of manipulative woman who would suppress the other party and let them see it; she was far more sophisticated.

So, after intentionally excluding Edwina with her intimate interaction with Caine, she immediately put on a friendly attitude and said with a smile:

“Jokes aside, let’s keep browsing. It’s a rare opportunity, so how about we buy some clothes? Edwina? Oh, why don’t we even check out the lingerie section? How about I pick some out for you? I guarantee you’ll like them. What do you think, Edwina?”

“Eh? No… that’s not necessary.”

Edwina, not expecting Vita to suddenly bring up this topic, felt her cheeks flush. She looked troubled, but her eyes subconsciously flicked toward Caine. Clearly, she was actually somewhat happy.

“Haha, why be polite with me? Let’s go, let’s go. It would be a waste to come all this way and not spend some money. Let’s go — toward the world of adults! Sister needs to follow us too!”

“No, no, no, what are you saying, Aunt?”

“…As for me, I’ll pass. I don’t want to be seen as even more of a pervert.”

As Vita took Edwina’s hand and joked around, Edwina clearly forgot her previous awkwardness, laughing with a look that was seemingly troubled but actually joyful.

Watching the two of them, Caine merely assumed they had a very good relationship and didn’t think much of it.

The three of them continued their shopping trip, talking and laughing. It seemed as if no one was hurt, and everything was going well.

However, that wasn’t actually the case. Just as the three of them were happily shopping, a lonely-looking figure suddenly stopped in her tracks because she happened to spot them.

“…”

That person was none other than another princess who happened to be here alone by chance: Vanessa.

And one thing was certain — her current mood was not good.