She Is a Daughter Raised As the Son of a Duke

Jed came before me without hesitation.

“I came to tell you about tomorrow’s schedule.”

“Schedule… You came to inform me.”

Though I felt down, I tried not to show it. If I openly showed sadness, wouldn’t I look pathetic?

Jed, with an indifferent expression, proceeded to tell me about the plans for tomorrow, the last day of the founding celebration.

“Tomorrow, we’ll bring Milo to the celebration venue.”

Thanks to the precious herbs he used, Milo had completely recovered without a single scar and had no trouble moving.

“Tomorrow, His Majesty the Emperor will also attend the celebration. When he comes, Diego and I will expose the misdeeds of Count Pensog and reunite with Milo. I’ve already sent a letter to Marquis Nazret, instructing him to attend the celebration tomorrow.”

“…It will progress smoothly.”

Looking down for a moment, I gathered courage and asked him.

“Jed, is that really the only reason you came to tell me?”

Jed was clearly aware that I had something else in mind.

He moved to my side and stood in front of the railing. Every time his dark purple hair fluttered around, covering his face like a mask, my heart skipped a beat.

He opened his mouth.

“This terrace is said to grant love to those who enter with their beloved and share a kiss. On the contrary, if they leave without a kiss, their love will never come true.”

“Yes, that’s why I brought you here. I wanted to make sure of your sincerity.”

Jed turned his body, and our eyes met. His violet irises seemed to penetrate me, making it hard to breathe.

“…I’ll show you my sincerity.”

Jed removed his mask, revealing a noble face.

I used to think the night sky was beautiful, but compared to his face, the night sky was nothing.

Could a person’s beauty be so enchanting?

His handsome face came closer and closer. I purposely approached, sharing our breaths. As if waiting for him to try to kiss me.

But then…

“…”

Our lips never touched.

When I opened my eyes in disappointment, Jed had somehow put his mask back on.

The definitive answer to my unrequited love came afterward.

“This is my answer.”

Only then did my heart sink, realizing my disappointment.

I had asked for too much from my subject.

It was impossible for someone who wasn’t even a noble to become Jed Bloche’s lover. The social status gap was enormous.

Facing reality, I pretended to be fine. After all, this was the reason I brought him here, to put an end to this one-sided love.

I didn’t want to make a pitiful expression over something I had initiated.

“Thank you for showing your sincerity now.”

When you smile, you’ll probably think it’s foolish. However, I showed him a smile because if I didn’t, I felt like I would burst into tears.

“See you tomorrow, Jed.”

I rushed out of the terrace as if escaping, still wearing the mask. Naturally, Jed didn’t stop me.

My unrequited love ended so easily.

I wandered around the building after coming out of the party venue.

Since there was no one around, it became difficult to maintain my composure. As I walked, tears started to flow uncontrollably.

“Why…? Why am I crying?”

In an instant, one tear turned into two.

I knew that his actions toward me were not sincere. But still, why am I crying?

“Being disappointed… that’s what it is… sometimes unrequited love can fail.”

Honestly, even if it was a crush at first sight, I fell for him more as he treated me well.

In the midst of that, now that I knew his actions were not sincere, these tears… were partly due to a sense of betrayal.

I was too tired to walk any further, so I stopped and took off my mask, wiping away the tears with the back of my hand. It was right at that moment.

“May Flotina.”

Someone called that name from behind me. As soon as I heard the name “May,” my tears stopped.

They called me now… How do they know…?

I wasn’t dressed as a man at the moment.

I tried to pretend I didn’t hear and walked away, but someone followed me and grabbed my wrist, causing my attempt to fail.

When I listened closely, the voice sounded familiar.

“Why are you running away?”

This voice…

With no mask on, I recognized him right away. It was none other than Diego Stacia.

“Your Highness…?”

Since I wasn’t wearing the mask, he could easily recognize me.

As he came closer, I could smell a faint scent of alcohol from him. It seemed he had abandoned the party and was enjoying alcohol alone in the nearby garden.

As I wondered if there was no one else around, Diego took advantage of my moment of vulnerability and removed my mask.

“!”

His pupils widened when he saw my made-up face. He seemed momentarily stunned, but then quickly regained his composure and spoke.

“…As I thought, it’s you. Quite daring of you to cross-dress and come to the party.”

Seeing Diego, who could look androgynous despite dressing up as a woman, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“Did you really know it was me?”

“How you carry yourself, your walk.”

I was a bit surprised by his answer.

“You figured it out just from that?”

“I can tell just by looking.”

Just like how I recognized my crush at first sight, perhaps Diego was the same. Even with the mask on, he still noticed someone leaving the terrace in a hurry and following them outside the party venue.

“Once you’ve confirmed it’s me, can you let go of my wrist, please?”

He casually ignored my words.

“Just now, you were on the terrace with Jed, and from the tears I saw, I guess you confessed, but got rejected?”

“…It’s none of Your Highness’s business.”

As I drew the line, he smirked and pulled my wrist towards him firmly.

“…!”

Quickly regaining my composure, I was relieved that I almost ended up hugging him.

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

“Then don’t let it bother you.”

“Yes…?”

His angry expression turned somber.

“You bother me so much, what should I do?”

…He bothers me? Why?

I was perplexed. When did I do something to make him bother me this much?

It was you who came to find me, invited me, accused me of being a non-existent culprit, and poured whiskey on my head when I was minding my own business.

Recalling those incidents, anger welled up, and I stared straight at him without averting my gaze.

“You hate me so much that anything I do bothers you, huh? You should fix that hatred first.”

Diego’s eyebrows twitched as if dissatisfied.

“Do my eyes look like I hate you?”

“No? Ha, then you bothered me just for fun? For your own amusement?”

As I said that with determination, his grip on my wrist tightened.

“I wish you had. How nice it would be if you were just a toy I played with for my amusement. Then I wouldn’t have wasted unnecessary emotions on you.”

I couldn’t understand his intentions at all. My wrist was starting to hurt, and thinking that he might be drunk, I tried to break free from him.

“As you wish, Your Highness. I want to be alone after being rejected by Jed. So please, just let go of me.”

Diego seemed to be getting annoyed, his face contorted, and he bit down on his lip.

“Why do you like that bastard? What’s so good about him?”

His grip on my wrist grew stronger, and it hurt even more.

“Ugh…”

Frowning, I let out a short groan before he finally flinched and released his hold on me.

I gently rubbed my reddened wrist. If he had applied more force, it would surely have bruised.

Diego looked down at me with a somewhat defeated expression.

“Why are you a man…?”

I swallowed the rest of his words as he gave me an absurd command.

“Just disappear from my sight.”

“What?”

I was so taken aback that tears almost welled up. He was telling me to disappear right in front of him.

Then he seemed to realize he misspoke and averted his gaze, brushing his hair back.

“…Take this.”

He threw the mask to me, and I caught it reflexively. It was the same mask he had taken off earlier.

“This too.”

He quickly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it to me.

It was a navy blue handkerchief with a royal emblem embroidered in silver, completely new and never used before.

Confused, I asked, “Why…?”

Ignoring my question, he only said what he wanted to say.

“Go home. Don’t show your pitiful self to others.”

Pitiful self? What’s wrong with my appearance?

Diego picked a fight with me and left. As he walked away, I glared at him for a moment before shifting my gaze to the handkerchief.

“Did my makeup smudge from crying…?”

Using the handkerchief he gave me, I wiped away the tears that had fallen earlier.