After leaving the clothing store and saying goodbye to Belle and Vivian, all three of them had changed into gorgeous new outfits.
Walking down the main street, the striking trio of two women and one man drew countless stares from passersby.
"Wow, what a good-looking group!"
"For real. But don't you think that guy looks familiar? Like I've seen him somewhere before."
"Yeah, where was it? I wouldn't forget a face that handsome."
As the passersby buzzed with chatter, Geno got his first taste of the heady thrill of being the center of everyone's attention.
Watching Geno start to subconsciously adjust his clothes and posture beside them, Twiggy and Alice traded a glance and laughed.
"He really is such a kid."
"But isn't that part of his charm?"
The two women trailed about half a step behind Geno, chatting and giggling, while Geno strode ahead with his chest puffed out, completely oblivious to their little whispers.
Not that he would have cared much even if he'd caught them.
And just as Geno was still basking in his own glory, one of the passersby finally remembered where he'd seen that face before.
"I've got it! From the news a while back, isn't that the adopted son of the Timefield family, that famous scholarly household?"
"You've got it wrong. I could've sworn he was the grandson-in-law of the Timefield family."
"Uh, something feels off about both of those, but I swear I've heard them somewhere. Wait, where'd he go?"
After the crowd had gossiped for a while, they suddenly realized the very subject of their discussion had vanished without a trace.
With their target gone, the passersby quickly dispersed.
Tucked into a corner of the street, Geno watched the foot traffic gradually return to normal, then let out a breath and cautiously poked his head out.
"Phew, that was close. I almost couldn't get away."
"What? Scared now, are you?"
Twiggy teased him for looking so rattled. They'd already done the deed, so why fear a little gossip?
"It's not that. It's that if the three of us show up together, and someone says something nasty about you two, I couldn't stand it."
Geno scratched his head. He couldn't care less what happened to himself. He was thick-skinned and used to it by now.
But while the relationship between the three of them was perfectly fine both legally and emotionally, the public wouldn't see it that way.
And if anyone hurled insults at Twiggy or Alice, if anyone made them sad, well, then Geno wouldn't be such a nice guy anymore.
Even a pushover had a temper.
Hearing his answer, the two women froze for a moment, then felt a quiet, warm flush of pleasure.
This man was so dependable.
In matters of the heart, nothing was more poisonous than mutual suspicion and insincerity.
Geno had genuinely given both women his whole heart and had never once lied. That was one of the reasons Twiggy remained so at ease even after he'd found someone new.
Because she knew the love she received wouldn't shrink one bit. If anything, out of consideration for her, he'd only double his devotion.
"It's precisely because of that, that I can't go taking what belongs to someone else."
As Twiggy said these words that left Geno puzzled, Alice beside them wore a look of quiet understanding.
Twiggy was a strange one. She could easily have chosen to keep him all to herself, yet she tolerated, no, permitted, Geno falling for someone else.
Not only did she accept the situation herself, she even gave a portion of her own love away to Alice.
Back when Alice had come to have it out with Twiggy, bristling with hostility, she must have looked like a fool.
This once in her life she'd finally worked up the nerve to stand firm, only to run into such a bizarre character. There was simply no way to win against her.
Thankfully, it ended well, since Twiggy had never intended to drive Alice out in the first place.
On the contrary, she'd gone out of her way to share both her own love and Geno's with this adorable little rabbit.
The result was plain to see. Alice not only accepted Twiggy, she came to adore this special elder sister, and the three of them formed a perfect triangle.
The most unbreakable romantic bond had been forged!
"Hm, why do I suddenly feel like I'm a bit of a third wheel here?"
Watching the two women exchange glances and pass tender looks between them, Geno felt like something was off, and yet also like nothing was. He could only rub his head blankly, without the faintest clue.
Seeing him like that, the two women burst out laughing, then returned to his sides and linked their arms through his, one on each side.
"All right, stop spacing out. Let's hurry, the movie's about to start."
"Oh, got it."
Still a little baffled, Geno decided this wasn't half bad either.
Emerging from the alley, the three of them stopped minding the eyes of others and headed straight toward the cinema.
It wasn't as though no paparazzi had recognized Geno's group and tried to snap candid shots along the way, but afterward each of them was treated to an 'elegant' little conversation with a certain Wolf Thirren or one of the maids.
After that, a terrifying ghost story began circulating in paparazzi circles: anyone who tried to sneak photos of the Timefield family's scandals would be attacked by a werewolf in the dead of night.
Whether it was true or not, no one could say, but sure enough, never again did a single piece of news about Geno and his companions appear in the papers.
Geno wouldn't learn of any of this until much later, though, and even had he known, he probably wouldn't have reacted much. For him, the most important thing right now was what lay right in front of him.
"Do you, believe in gravity?"
"Uh... you mean, like, the pull of the earth?"
Reaching the ticket counter and faced with this strange line from the ticket seller, Hailey, Geno was a little at a loss.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Our Gravity Cinema has just renovated the main auditorium and it officially opens today. To honor seasoned film lovers like yourself with a visit, the cinema has decided to hold a series of events."
Hailey then let the three of them know that the first hundred patrons of the cinema would receive a VIP card.
Their interest thoroughly piqued, they bought tickets to the new auditorium from her.
"With a VIP card you get ten percent off every screening, plus a free viewing. That's a total steal!"
"So that's it. This is what they call a sales promotion? It's my first time experiencing one."
They say women have zero resistance to discounts and deals, and Geno had at least witnessed as much in Twiggy.
As for Alice, this young lady who'd never wanted for food or clothing since childhood and had never once been troubled by money, she was fascinated by this kind of commercial promotion at the cinema.
Geno didn't mind either way. He wasn't short a few coins these days, and as long as the two of them were happy, so was he.
Then, after a brief burst of excitement, the three of them settled in to focus on the film.
What they failed to notice was that in a back-row seat of the cinema, a man with grayish-white hair and a long-eared rabbit Thirren were leaning against each other in a rather intimate way.
____
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