My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 144

“Isn’t the weather pleasantly warm?”

“Definitely better than the cold weather… Warm weather feels better…”

“Heh, true,”

Our morning and afternoon schedules ended early for a change.

After spending some time visiting a few museums, the Academy students were given some free time.

Initially, there was talk of checking out some nearby places with other friends, but in the end, it turned out to be just me and Karen heading out.

I thought Grace would join us, though.

Contrary to my expectations, Grace declined, saying she wanted to take a little nap because she was tired.

It wasn’t just Grace; most people turned down the idea of going out, which led to this.

“I actually prefer this trip to attending classes at the Academy…”

“…But you always went around alone before.”

“W-well… that’s true…”

“I’ve always said this, but you could have a bit more confidence, you know?”

“I know…”

I often found myself saying that to Karen.

Well, even if I said it, it wasn’t like Karen’s confidence would suddenly skyrocket.

If that were possible, it would have happened long ago.

“By the way, are you wearing that outfit I recommended last time?”

“You said Camelia looked pretty in it…”

“It looks super pretty.”

“R-really? Hehe…”

The outfit Karen was wearing now was similar to what I had recommended before.

A long skirt paired with a regular sweater.

It wasn’t off-shoulder like I’d suggested earlier, but it was still quite pretty in a basic way.

In fact, it would be weirder if it didn’t match when worn casually.

“By the way, it seems the Academy students are quite active around here…”

“Ah, that’s definitely true. Maybe because it’s close to the lodging and the streets are quite bright?”

“That could be it..! Other than a few back alleys, it’s always bright on quiet streets, even during the evening…!”

“This part is definitely nice.”

As we chatted, we slowly walked through the streets.

Even though it ended up just being Karen and me, I wasn’t bothered by it at all.

In fact, I really enjoyed just spending time with Karen without any particular plan.

“Karen, look, there are quite a few street stalls over there. Want to check them out?”

“They seem fine…! There aren’t too many people… and the smell is okay…?”

“Let’s buy something to eat. Once we go back to the room, we’ll have dinner… so I guess we should eat just a bit.”

Still, it was hard to ignore street food.

That unique strong smell that hints at being not-so-healthy—it wasn’t overwhelmingly strong, but it became more intense as we got closer to the stalls.

Holding onto Karen’s hand, we headed toward a stall where a few people were standing and eating.

It wasn’t unusual for young noble ladies to indulge in such street food.

Plus, after eating the greasy pasta or creamy dishes every day, munching on something sweet and salty felt quite refreshing.

I did eat spicy pasta quite often, so I usually didn’t go for street food.

“Looks like it’s just a sausage drizzled with ketchup and mustard.”

“Right? But I can smell more than just that…!”

“The owner definitely sprinkled some kind of powder on top of the sausage.”

After receiving a small collection of sausages from the stall, we sat on a suitable bench.

There were various types, including skewers, but I just bought the same thing the person in front of me had.

There were a few sausages on a small paper plate, topped with some kind of powder sauce along with ketchup and mustard.

“Hmm… the smell definitely seems appetizing, right?”

“I… I really like stuff like this. Salty things…”

“You’re right; you do seem to prefer food like this. You’ve always liked meat… and you also enjoy sweet and salty stuff?”

“Yeah. I prefer things that are rich… hehe…”

Karen had always loved such foods.

To be a bit more precise… can we say she preferred foods that seemed likely to pack on the pounds?

She liked salty and sweet things while genuinely favoring meat.

“……..”

“Um… Camelia? Why are you looking at me like that…? Is there something wrong with the taste?”

“Oh, no,”

I realized I’d been staring at Karen a little too much while thinking about her eating habits.

Just… I guess I understood a bit more about why Karen’s figure was like that.

“Well, shall we eat first and then stroll around some more? It’s still early to head back.”

“I think that sounds good! Once we return to the lodging, it can get too crowded… so maybe we should just go a little, then rest before heading back.”

Karen had a point.

Since there were quite a few people, it was generally quite lively.

This world didn’t have smartphones or TVs, and there were six girls around the same age living in one room.

It could even be harder to remain quiet in such an environment.

Of course, we had no choice but to talk a bit during the wee hours because of the schedule the next day. Still, dinner had been pretty raucous lately.

I suspected it had been even noisier than when we were chatting at the Academy club room.

“Heh… This is tasty…”

I watched quietly as Karen took bites of her sausage with a toothpick.

Her oblivious enjoyment was pretty entertaining, and it was nice to see her eating so happily.

“Hrmm…”

Even though it was the kind of flavor that kids usually loved, seeing her enjoy it made me recall something I had thought just a moment ago.

Fundamentally, unlike Ella, who had a solid build, Karen had a slightly softer body.

Her chest was definitely ample, but aside from that, her entire body had a kind of… softer overall vibe.

“Camelia, are you not going to eat that…? You’ve hardly touched it since a while ago…”

Suddenly, Karen asked out of the blue while I was lost in my thoughts.

I had indeed been staring at Karen and had not taken a bite of the sausage since not many bites had happened!

Not that I was spying, just observing her, really.

“Oh, um, I’m a bit choked up. It’s hard to eat without water… so I was planning to eat just this much.”

“W-well, can I have some…?”

“Of course! If you want it, you should eat it!”

“Hehe…”

It seemed the sausages were tastier than I expected.

Naturally, the mix of ketchup and mustard had a unique flavor that was far better than I had anticipated.

Even if they were somewhat confusing flavors… the taste of the mystery yellow powder sprinkled on top was surprisingly good too.

“Hey, I have a question. Can I ask you something?”

Watching Karen enjoying her food made me suddenly curious enough to bring it up.

It wasn’t anything major, but it might be a bit touchy?

“Of course…? What is it? Is it something important?”

“Um… probably not important, just a casual question?”

“I-I’m okay…! As long as it’s not something weird… uh… I’m fine…?”

It was really just a casual question, but since people had varying reactions to such things, I felt a bit worried.

What if I said that and Karen got upset or angry? I’d feel a bit guilty, you know.

“…What’s your weight right now?”

“Eh?”

*

When we returned to our lodging,

Karen and I walked in to find everyone comfortably sprawled out on the sofa, discussing the places we’d visit the next day while leafing through the travel brochures.

They greeted us warmly upon our return from our wanderings.

“Did you have fun?”

“Um… I guess we did…?”

“Why the question mark?”

“Haha…”

Right?

Um… how did this end up like this?

At first, I definitely felt it had been fun, but on the way back, something felt a bit scary.

Since I had responded that I was fine, I was sure I thought it was all okay.

And in a way, I felt somewhat wronged…

“What did you do out there?”

“I didn’t eat anything…”

“Huh…?”

“I just took a walk with Camelia… hard.”

Hmm…

Well… suddenly, I felt quite guilty.

I had only asked about Karen’s weight based on her earlier response, but I never knew she’d look so gloomy the moment I asked.

Her expression wasn’t just sad; her voice sounded incredibly down as she asked if I thought she looked fat, if she was like a pig, and if I disliked her, which made me feel even guiltier.

“But didn’t you say you were going to eat some snacks?”

“…But I thought I wouldn’t need to snack since we were going to have dinner.”

“Ah, I see.”

Karen was absolutely not fat.

I honestly didn’t even get a plump vibe from her. In fact, her height made her look quite mature.

Of course, while she did have a somewhat soft body… saying she was fat didn’t mean she was soft in a bad way at all.

She seemed to have that warm and cozy feel, like it would be wonderful to hug her.

“Uuuu…”

And that evening, Karen only ate about half of her usual meal.