The character of the Tragic Prince in the original work had a younger half-brother. Kane usually referred to him as the Second Prince.
In stark contrast to the Tragic Prince, who was outwardly polite but maintained a deliberate distance from everyone, the Second Prince was a textbook example of a flirtatious and cheerful man.
Sunny, outgoing, and instantly familiar, he had approached the Female Protagonist at first sight to flirt and praise her beauty. Just as the Female Protagonist felt a slight flutter in her heart, she quickly discovered that he was equally passionate toward every other woman, causing her favorability of him to plummet to rock bottom immediately.
Then, predictably, it turned out that the seemingly frivolous and unreliable playboy was actually quite dependable. In critical moments, he would discard his flirtatious attitude and reveal a serious face, having saved the Female Protagonist from crises on many occasions.
The Second Prince used his reputation as a “useless prince” to deceive the world and avoid unwanted attention, while simultaneously demonstrating through his actions that he had no interest in the throne.
While his relationship with the Tragic Prince couldn’t be called close, he held his brother in high regard.
If the player, acting as the Female Protagonist, chose to pursue the Second Prince’s route, the Tragic Prince would die once more in that storyline to protect his brother. The Second Prince would then be consumed by self-reproach until he was healed by the Female Protagonist—whom he had always helped—and they would eventually defeat the Final Boss together to usher in a brand-new future.
It was a very traditional, royal-road script.
Through the contrast of being a flirtatious playboy who became reliable and steady in key moments, only to reveal a vulnerable side that needed the Female Protagonist’s care during his low points, the Second Prince’s popularity was quite high.
Because he was essentially an excellent individual, Kane had thought about skipping the sacrifice phase entirely once he realized he had become the Tragic Prince. He intended to simply support the Second Prince’s succession to the throne.
Unsurprisingly, in this parallel world where the major characters were gender-swapped, the Second Prince had become the Second Princess.
Her personality was similar to the original; at first glance, she seemed careless and completely unreliable. However, because she possessed equally exceptional beauty, her first impression remained that of a cheerful, talkative, and sunny beauty.
But if anyone looked down on her, they would surely be shocked by her later “hidden tiger” plot twists.
After all, no black-haired, red-eyed beautiful girl or woman was ever simple.
Since he couldn’t deceive her, Kane laid his cards on the table. He explained to her that he could basically be seen as a parallel world version of Corellia, but ultimately, he was an isomer from a parallel world and not truly the same entity.
He hoped she wouldn’t mistake him again.
“…I see, I see. I completely understand. In short, even though Mr. Kane is my half-brother, you are actually my sister, right?”
After listening to Kane’s explanation, the Second Prince… no, the Second Princess… well, since Corellia had ascended the throne and adopted a daughter, that wasn’t quite accurate either. Vita, who should be called the Princess Sister, blinked her blood-red eyes, a warm and friendly smile appearing on her face.
“…Well, I suppose you could put it that way. But looking at it from another perspective, you could also say that Princess Vita and I have no relation at all. You can just treat me like an ordinary person; there is really no need to be so polite to me.”
Because Kane had decided to stay in the royal city for only a short time before leaving, he didn’t want to have too much interaction with the important characters of the original work. At this moment, he naturally smiled and took the initiative to distance himself from the Princess Sister.
He hoped she wouldn’t get too close to him. It would be for the best if she considered him an “outsider” from the start.
“That won’t do. Even a Majesty from another world is still a Majesty. How could I lose my manners? Instead, don’t you be so polite to me, or I’ll chase you around calling you ‘Big Brother,’ okay? Not by a cute little sister, but by an adult woman like me chasing you and calling you ‘Big Brother’?”
However, Kane’s attempt to proactively create distance didn’t have the slightest effect.
Just like the two people before her, Princess Vita not only immediately stated that his request was impossible, but she also used an extremely strange method to force him to change his attitude toward her.
She wore a flirtatious smile, as if she were about to pull a prank, and looked at Kane with an ambiguous gaze.
Kane tried to imagine it for a moment.
Actually, it wasn’t exactly a terrible thought. After all, Vita was indeed far removed from the word “cute,” but being chased by a black-haired beauty with long legs and a large chest who happily called him “Big Brother” wasn’t exactly a punishment.
As long as he could endure the shame and embarrassment, there wouldn’t be a problem at all.
The main issue lay in the fact of being called “Brother” by the Princess Sister.
Kane could no longer claim to be a prince to others; Vita doing this was no different from causing him a mountain of trouble.
So, he could only accept her coercion.
“…That really is a nightmarish vision. Although being called ‘Big Brother’ by a beautiful woman like you isn’t bad, Vita, I shudder at the thought of the male version of you from my world doing the same thing.”
With an embarrassed but polite smile, Kane gave in under the Princess Sister’s pressure. His respectful attitude shifted into something much closer.
This shouldn’t have been a big deal; only his tone had become more intimate. Kane didn’t actually intend to become close to Vita, and he believed Vita should be aware of that as well.
However, upon seeing him like this, Vita wore an expression of disbelief. Her lips were slightly parted and her eyes were wide, as if she had seen a ghost.
“…No way? It actually worked? Shouldn’t you have refused to change your attitude no matter what I did? Shouldn’t you have just stood there in silence, staring at my unrefined self with eyes so cold it felt like you were looking at trash?”
Because her description was so detailed, the image of the ice queen Corellia looking at someone with a cold face surfaced in Kane’s mind.
*Sss…* It felt like the air temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees.
“…Haha, that’s why I said Her Majesty and I are not the same entity. It’s still not too late for me to change my attitude back, Princess Vita.”
Kane smiled politely, trying to take the opportunity to re-establish distance from the Princess Sister.
Since she recognized that he and the Queen were not the same person, it would be better if she didn’t pay him so much attention.
“No, no, no! Please continue calling me Vita. I just didn’t expect you to be so easy to talk to. Ah, does this mean Her Majesty is actually easy to talk to as well? If I just ignored her freezing gaze and went up to rub her chest, would she just sigh and say she can’t do anything about me?”
Coming back to her senses, Vita first waved her hands hurriedly to signal Kane not to change back. Then, she slapped her hands together as if she had reached a sudden realization, speaking words that were practically a death wish with a look of pure innocence.
“…No, I think that is still highly unlikely. Even if you could successfully perform that action while ignoring everything else, the most likely outcome is Her Majesty raising her hand to slap you while scolding you for whatever madness has suddenly taken you.”
Kane tried to simulate the scene in his mind. No matter how he looked at it, the Vita who proactively sought her own doom would definitely be rewarded with a slap from Corellia.
“Ahaha, you’re right. I was just joking, though. Even I’m not stupid enough to actively seek my own death.”
Seeing Kane wear an awkward expression as he actually visualized that scenario, Vita laughed brightly while scratching the back of her head.
In just a few minutes, she acted as if she had known Kane for a long time, interacting with him with total naturalness.
This was the flirtatious, cheerful, sunny character… or rather, a social terrorist.
Likely, only someone like Corellia, who explicitly refused to communicate with anyone, could be immune to her advances.
Watching her “foolish act”—which was clearly a calculated effort to quickly close the distance with Kane—Kane couldn’t help but feel relieved that the original Second Prince had no ambition. Otherwise, the Tragic Prince would likely have had several more death endings.
However, Kane also forgot one thing.
Just as there were differences between him and Corellia, there were also differences between the original Second Prince and Vita.
Kane was currently unaware of the wicked thoughts hidden beneath the Princess Sister’s cheerful and flirtatious exterior—thoughts that she could never speak aloud to anyone.