She Is a Daughter Raised As the Son of a Duke

‘Is it Clovin’s doing?’

‘Why do you think that?’

‘Even if Galley and Velta don’t know, doesn’t Clovin have a reason to defeat May?’

‘Young Lady Nazret?’

‘Yes.’

Could Clovin be the culprit who stole my pouch?

I know it’s not good to suspect without solid evidence. But hasn’t Clovin tried to steal my pouch before?

As I kept an eye on Clovin, he sneered at me as if mocking me.

“Young master Flotina, congratulations on ranking 29th. You must be happy to be in the top ranks.”

He openly ridiculed, showing no intention of hiding his hostility.

I didn’t just stand there and listen.

“Clovin, I never expected you to be in the top ranks either. When I saw the number of beads in your pouch on the first evening, it wasn’t even enough to rank 180th.”

Upon hearing my words, Clovin failed to control his expression. The mocking smile on his lips disappeared instantly, and his face stiffened.

“Why do you speak as if I stole someone else’s beads and ranked 18th?”

“You’re exaggerating. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Are you accusing anyone just because you lost your pouch? If I had stolen Young master’s pouch, I should have ranked within the top 3, not 18th. After all, you had two pouches.”

“Who knows? Maybe you threw away some to avoid arousing suspicion.”

Thud! Clovin slammed the table with both hands.

“Look, Young master is accusing me of being a thief-“

I cut off Clovin’s words.

“Don’t get too excited, Clovin. The more you overreact, the more suspicious you become.”

There’s a saying that a thief is most startled by his own feet.

Clutching his fist while suppressing his anger, Clovin said, “Well, it might not be you. Jed and second prince were also eyeing my pouch.”

Jed and Diego, who were listening, looked at me with surprised eyes.

“Among the three of you, there must be a thief. Who could have done such a thoughtless act?”

Diego objected with a bewildered tone, “Why include me? I said it before. I’m not the one.”

“Me neither, May.”

I knew from their previous conversation that Jed and Diego were not the culprits.

But I didn’t pay attention to their words, just like back then.

“None of you have an alibi. Who would know if someone pretended to enter my tent and steal the pouch?”

Jed had said something similar before. When Diego falsely accused May of being a thief of Glie-gon’s scales that didn’t even exist.

He said this.

“I remember. I saw Lord leaving the building. He went back to the main room.”

“Yeah, I remember too!”

“But that doesn’t prove young master’s alibi.”

“Why not?”

“He could have come back in after leaving.”

I acted like Jed back then. It was a kind of revenge.

“I don’t know who the culprit is, but it’s good to remember this. There’s no second chance after being a victim once.”

This time, I will never let my beads be taken.

With a warning like that, I cheerfully invited Isabella to play a board game.

“Princess, would you like to play a board game with me? It looks fun, buying lands and paying tolls.”

Isabella happily jumped in place, agreeing.

“Whatever game I play with Sir Duke, I’m fine with it!”

Diego said as if he couldn’t believe it.

“May, after accusing an innocent person of being a thief, you suggest playing a board game to Isabella? Do you really want to play a board game in this situation?”

“I don’t understand how that relates to a board game. Shouldn’t a person who has been stolen from be allowed to play a board game?”

“You accused an innocent person of being a thief.”

It was amusing to hear such words from Diego, who had accused me, an innocent person, of being a thief.

“What you said doesn’t seem to be what you once said Prince, who accused me of being a non-existent thief.”

I wanted to ask if that meant he wanted revenge, but Diego was dumbfounded and couldn’t speak.

Jed calmly defended us.

“We’re really not the culprits. It’s true that we planned to get rid of your pouch, but in the end, we didn’t touch it.”

“So, is the culprit Clovin?”

As I glanced at Clovin, he averted his gaze and his pupils trembled.

It seemed that he was the culprit and didn’t expect this aftermath.

Clovin’s voice trembled.

“It’s not me…! I mean, I just collected the beads with my ability.”

I shifted my gaze to Jed.

“See, everyone says it’s not them. Whose words should I believe?”

Upon hearing that, Diego frowned and called Clovin.

“Clovin, come with me.”

He got up and left.

As Clovin followed Diego, I turned my body swiftly and went towards Isabella. She asked with a worried expression.

“Who stole sir Duke’s belongings…?”

I nodded my head.

“Yes. But don’t worry anymore. Nothing will be stolen anymore. I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

Isabella tilted her head.

“No, if we find the culprit, I’ll scold them!”

“Thank you, Princess. Let’s go play board games again!”

“Yes!”

* * *

Jed sighed as he watched May play and have fun with Isabella while playing board games.

‘So Diego revealed that we planned to get rid of May’s pouch.’

Things got messed up. I tried to follow Diego’s orders and capture May’s heart, but we both failed.

When I think about it, May joined Nine because she wanted revenge for Diego accusing her of being a thief.

I thought she had always liked me at first sight and had forgotten about revenge, but that wasn’t the case.

‘Now, what should I do?’

How can I make her give up on revenge?

On the other hand, Diego called Clovin out to the corridor, fuming with anger.

“The culprit who stole May’s pouch, it’s you. Isn’t it?”

Clovin, who had pretended not to know or denied it, confessed out of fear of Diego.

“…Yes, it was me.”

“But why do you insist on denying it? Can’t you see that because of you, I’m being accused of being a thief?”

“But even if Flotina accused us of being thieves, what can we do? We can keep denying it and accuse him of trying to revenge against us, can’t we?”

“Are you in your right mind? He even cried in front of me because of you.”

Clovin couldn’t understand Diego at all.

“What does Flotina have to do with us?”

“What?”

“That’s right. Why should we care about him? We were the ones who wanted May to be eliminated in the first round. Isn’t it more satisfying that we tried to steal his pouch?”

Clovin looked at Diego with a puzzled expression.

“It’s strange. Are you really concerned about that?”

“… “

“You’re not someone who considers the feelings of the one you’re tormenting.”

“… “

“Instead of worrying about May Flotina’s luck, shouldn’t you be angry that he stubbornly collected the beads and made it to the second round?”

“… “

There was nothing wrong with what Clovin said. From the perspective of the Nine members who hoped May would be eliminated in the first round, it didn’t matter whether he cried or not.

In fact, it was even more satisfying. They were in a position to steal his pouch to make him discouraged.

Clovin looked at Diego and tilted his head.

“It’s strange. Are you really concerned about that?”

“… “

“Aren’t you someone who should be angry about the fact that he, May Flotina, persevered and made it to the second round instead of worrying about him crying?”

“… “

Diego clenched his fists because there was no flaw in Clovin’s words.

Diego also had no idea why he was acting like this. Did he really like May?

At that moment, May opened the door to the main room and came out into the corridor.

When Diego met May’s clear blue eyes, he felt frustrated and realized.

“Princess wants to play games with everyone. Will you play with us?”

He realized that from the beginning, he approached him because he was interested in him.

The first time he saw May Flotina, he was special in himelf. He received affection from Iris and Cassius to the extent that no other beauty could follow, and bravely defeated the giant pigling with an explosion magic.

But what struck Diego the most about May was his appearance.

He was remarkably lovely, beautiful, and gorgeous.

May exuded a pure energy that even the famous beauties couldn’t match.

Unconsciously, Diego felt an attraction towards May as a person of the opposite sex, even though May was supposed to be a man.

Diego couldn’t resist his curiosity and approached May. And he got angry at himself for doing that.

He had succumbed to the temptation of a cross-dressing man and ended up being ridiculed by his father for a while, unable to

 engage in a sexual relationship, but once again, he found himself attracted to a man who looked like a woman.

Diego vented his anger towards May. It was an excuse like being a knight and whatnot, but it was actually an outburst of anger. At the same time, it was a defense mechanism to hide his own feelings.

‘Did Jed know everything?’

Because he could see the truth, he knew exactly what the emotions were from the beginning to the end.

‘Maybe my emotion was jealousy, too, because May openly likes Jed.’

May likes Jed, and I… 

“If you’re not going to do it, Jed and I will.”

As May went back to the main room, Diego quickly followed her and grabbed the closing door.

“Ah, no.”

Surprised, May turned around.

“You’re going to do it?”

Diego momentarily lost himself in May’s beauty, then shook his head.

“Yeah…”