Free Web NovelChapter 12: What a Filial and Devoted Daughter!
In the dead of night, several magical cargo carriages pulled through the back gates, their horses drawing them into the slightly spacious warehouse where Cain stood waiting alongside a few trusted servants.
The heavy wooden doors creaked open, and the horses trotted inside.
At that exact moment, Matthew swiftly materialized from the shadows.
"My Lord... I have brought every single item available, precisely as you requested."
The servants immediately went to unburden the carriages, meticulously unpacking the bikinis one after the other.
Cain felt a sudden wave of intense nervousness washing over him. Imagining Lucy’s flawless, near-perfect figure in each of these pieces was overwhelming; it felt as though every single garment held a dangerous level of temptation. Feeling himself rapidly losing his composure, he instantly ordered the servants to leave the room, instructing them to lay everything out so he could review the selection entirely alone Before they left.
For a split second, he felt like he had regressed back to his teenage years, secretly wishing to isolate himself with a stash of women’s lingerie... though he would never, under any circumstances, admit that to himself.
Honestly, failing to select the absolute best, most fitting bikini for Lucy would be a genuine tragedy.
Moments later, the servants were all stationed outside the warehouse. Cain stood entirely alone inside the grand space of the palace, which had suddenly been transformed into a bizarre, high-end bikini exhibition.
And so, "Expert Cain" officially commenced his work. Instead of spending the entire day mindlessly stamping official seals, he finally had something of true, vital importance to attend to.
The inspection of the merchandise.
He flushed bright crimson just thinking about it. He hardly looked like a supreme being who had just ascended to the Truth Level.
And thus, the grand journey of evaluation—no, the scientific inspection—began.
"This... this is completely indecent..."
His eyes locked onto a particular black bikini. It was made entirely of delicate lace, and it was, without a exaggeration, downright scandalous.
Cain’s hand shot out, instantly storing it away into his System Inventory.
"This... this is hazardous to my mental state. I must banish it from existence immediately."
Deep down, he knew his excuses were entirely hollow.
Desperately trying to suppress his body’s natural, involuntary reaction after vividly picturing that specific bikini on Lucy’s body, he cursed himself silently. If that terrifying yandere villainess ever found out he was fantasizing about her like this, she would undoubtedly be furious.
Cain spent the next hour meticulously refining the entire arrangement. He took the time to reorganize the collection, strategically placing the black variants right in the center shelves to ensure they were the most prominent and eye-catching pieces. The other colors were shoved to the back, slightly hidden away.
As for the one-piece swimsuits, he fiercely contemplated burning them on the spot, but begrudgingly allowed them to remain scattered among the shelves.
However, when Cain’s eyes fell upon a few full-coverage, modest swimsuits tucked into the pile, his expression darkened. He instantly resolved to punish Matthew later for his absolute foolishness. Before doing anything else, he incinerated those conservative suits, erasing them from existence entirely.
With the venue flawlessly prepared, his only remaining task was to bring the mother and daughter here. He had, of course, secured swimwear for Amelia as well, but those were just standard, adorable children’s clothes placed off to the side.
Naturally, he would never tell them that he was the one who bought all of this. He would simply claim that this was an old, leftover collection belonging to his sister, and had absolutely nothing to do with him.
To say otherwise would be utterly humiliating.
He literally prayed to God that Lucy would choose the specific bikini resting right in the center of the shelves. It was a piece he had meticulously handpicked himself—a flawless blend of majesty, raw temptation, and pure elegance.
Cain gave himself a firm, serious round of applause, completely admiring his own hard work as if he had just accomplished a monumental, historic feat.
Meanwhile, back in their chamber, Lucy and Amelia had finally returned from their walk, which had left Amelia thoroughly exhausted from touring the massive palace grounds.
The moment the heavy doors shut behind them, Amelia collapsed backward onto the bed, sprawling her limbs out in the shape of a starfish.
"I am so tired... I honestly want to sleep from now until next year."
As she spoke, Lucy casually dropped her disguise, stepping out of Maxi’s appearance and returning to her true form.
Earlier, the servants had informed them that Cain would be taking them on a summer vacation to his luxurious villa in the capital, which boasted an entirely private, exclusive beach.
"Does this mean you won’t be coming tomorrow, Mother?"
"Who said that?" Amelia chimed in, her voice muffled by the mattress. "Of course I’m coming. There is no way I am leaving my mother alone... I need to prevent any human wolves from getting close to you. If they try, I’ll beat them until they see stars spinning over their heads."
Lucy smiled, deeply touched by Amelia’s fiercely protective words. She didn’t actually need protection, of course, but her daughter’s sweet sentiment made her heart swell with genuine happiness. freewebnovёl.ƈom
She walked over and sat on the edge of the mattress.
"Hey, Mother... why do you think he suddenly wants to take us to the capital with him? I don’t see how he stands to gain anything from this..."
Lucy shrugged her shoulders, her milky-white hair cascading elegantly over her frame.
"I believe he is taking you along because you are his daughter. I am honestly so astonished by how much your personality mirrors his back during his academy days. It seems blood truly is thicker than water... You could say he’s taking you, and I’m just tagged along as an extra bonus in the bargain."
An odd, indescribable feeling stirred within Amelia’s mind. Do I... do I really resemble him from when he was younger? A being of his monstrous power like him?
She instantly rejected the thought internally. She was the supreme Star Empress! Even if he was a Celestial Level being capable of obliterating her entire past empire overnight, she was still entirely unique.
She was a reincarnated soul! No genes, no biological nonsense called "bloodline" could ever interfere with her magnificent, one-of-a-kind existence. She had almost allowed herself to believe she was crafted directly in heaven... though she honestly couldn’t recall when exactly she had developed such an intense inner arrogance.
"Hah... I don’t resemble anyone, Mother. Except maybe you. No one else is worthy of being compared to me... If anything, everyone else is just a flawed copy of me."
Lucy let out a soft, knowing smile as a specific memory suddenly flashed across her mind.
It was back during the grand tournament of the Three Great Academies. Cain had boldly stepped onto the stage, violently snatched the microphone from the announcer’s hand, and crushed it to pieces in front of the entire, stunned stadium.
"My voice does not require a microphone to be heard by the likes of you..." his voice had echoed with absolute dominance. "Whoever possesses the foolish courage to stand in my path... you might as well send your condolences to your parents right now."
She vividly remembered the terrifying, suffocating aura of absolute arrogance bleeding from his every word back then.
Looking at her daughter now... she realized that this sheer, unyielding arrogance was undoubtedly a hereditary trait.
The following day...
The mother and daughter walked down alongside Cain, who was personally escorting them to what he casually referred to as his "Sister’s Wardrobe."
"Since you both didn’t prepare any swimwear, my sister actually left behind a massive collection of swimsuits in the warehouse. They’re slightly neglected and nobody uses them anyway, so please, feel free to choose whatever you like."
They stepped into the warehouse, and Cain silently watched their reactions, waiting for them to be utterly stunned.
He looked over the display once more.
The arrangement was exactly how he had left it last night. However, the catch was... he had actually gone through over fifty-three entirely different arrangements before settling on this one. To be completely honest, he hadn’t made the final decision all by himself.
In the end, he had settled on Arrangement Number 22. While he was organizing the shelves last night, he couldn’t help but think that if Reddit existed in this world, he would have definitely asked the users there for advice. ƒrēewebnovel.com
And so, he refused to let that thought remain a mere wish.
With his bare hands, he literally ripped through the cosmic void, searching across dimensions until he located Earth. He actually managed to purchase a brand-new smartphone this way; he threw a handful of gold coins—worth double the phone’s actual price—at the bewildered vendor through the dimensional rift, and snatched the phone.
He had been deeply terrified of accidentally pulling some kind of world-ending, lethal entity from between the realms during the process.
But when his hand finally withdrew from the rift, he was holding a smartphone. He immediately took photos of every single display option he had set up, uploaded them, and wrote a post:
’How do I get my girl to pick this specific one?’
The replies came flooding in immediately, and after a fierce debate among the netizens, the internet collectively voted for Arrangement 22.
The only problem was that one of the Reddit users had actually asked him where he bought them because she loved one of the pieces and wanted to know the brand.
Having no proper answer, he simply replied that he manufactured them himself.
When she followed up by asking if she could purchase one from him, Cain promptly shut down the phone and hadn’t turned it back on since. At that point, the only thing that truly mattered was what Lucy would choose.
Right then...
The mother and daughter stepped fully into the warehouse, staring at the exquisite display laid out before them.
"Wow, Lord Duke, this is incredibly generous of you."
"Think nothing of it, Miss Maxi," Cain replied smoothly. "They are completely neglected anyway, and my sister has no objections since she possesses an abundance of them elsewhere."
Lucy stepped forward, hesitating as a whirlwind of thoughts crossed her mind.
’Which one would Cain love the most...?’ She was genuinely torn.
From Cain’s perspective, the moment Lucy’s gaze drifted away from the specific piece he wanted her to choose, the temperature in the room suddenly plummeted, turning icy cold.
But whenever her hand drew closer to the exact bikini Cain was praying she would pick, the atmosphere instantly reverted to normal—becoming warm, cozy, and beautifully pleasant.
This bizarre, shifting weather pattern within the room continued, leaving Amelia watching the whole spectacle with a look of pure annoyance. She easily noticed how Cain’s gaze was utterly glued to one specific garment within the display.
Amelia casually strolled over to his feet, gesturing for him to bend down so she could whisper to him.
"You can thank this young lady later..."
Cain didn’t quite catch her meaning, but he watched as his daughter turned around and walked straight over to her mother.
"Lady Maxi... this one would look absolutely stunning on you. What do you think?" Amelia suggested, pointing directly at the exact piece Cain had been sweating over.
Cain instinctively clutched his chest, nearly moved to tears.
’What a wonderfully filial, devoted daughter I have!’
