She Is a Daughter Raised As the Son of a Duke

Some time later, May grew exhausted from crying and fell asleep. Stella laid her down on the sofa and instructed a maid to bring a blanket to cover her.

About a month later, Milo, who heard of May’s visit, came to see Stella and they had a conversation, with the sleeping girl on the nearby sofa being the topic.

“Is she going to be out of the Flotina, Lady?”

Milo’s gaze was fixed on May.

“I don’t think so. I have deep affection for her, how could I do that? Even though we declared isolation, the Duke won’t remove May from his family register.”

“Will she go back to Flotina?”

“I don’t know. If the Duke and the guardian spirit there sincerely apologize, she might return someday… But no one knows when that will happen.”

May also has accumulated love for her father and the guardian spirit, so it’s certain she will miss and long for them eventually.

“Having cried so hard with sadness, I guess I’ve said all there is to say.”

“May’s father is Maquis Matherojin Kisel, right?”

Seeing Milo’s expression, Stella sensed that he wasn’t a good person.

“Why? Is he not a good person as May’s father? I’ve never heard of him before.”

“If I recall correctly… he’s the man that Hestia admires the most.”

“Hestia…?”

Stella was surprised, and her eyes widened.

“He approached her intentionally to seek revenge.”

“Right. He infiltrated Penso as a spy for Hestia.”

“I found out something back then. Hestia likes men much more than what the rumors say.”

“She’s said to prefer beautiful men, and it’s rumored that the knights of the 3rd Division are all handsome.”

“Not all, but about a third of them seem to be like that.”

“Well, he traded with Penso to obtain handsome male slaves, and even installed explosion magic in a neighboring country… I’ve said enough.”

If that were to lead to a war with the Kelesha Empire, even if Hestia was a guardian spirit, she would have to face the consequences of her actions.

Milo’s face showed concern.

“Marquis Kisel is the person who receives the greatest affection from Hestia, and I’m worried because he is May’s father.”

He probably wouldn’t be a good father.

“Don’t worry about May. Don’t tell her about it. Her mind is already complicated enough, and we don’t want to make it even more complicated.”

Telling May that her father was someone’s spy would definitely not be something she would want to know.

Milo believed that May would make the right decision about her father on her own.

“All right. I believe Lady will make a wise judgment.”

On the other hand, Stella massaged her temples as if her head was hurting.

“Even though it feels refreshing that May left Flotina because her parents were not good, seeing her cry in my arms makes me realize that family is important. I hope they reconcile soon, but May’s feelings are what matters…”

“At least I hope Lady won’t hesitate to return to Flotina because of her father’s existence.”

Stella looked at the girl who had cried herself to sleep.

“Our May will make a good judgment, I believe…”

“Whatever choice she makes, as long as she is happy, that’s enough for me.”

“I feel the same way. I just hope she doesn’t get hurt in the process of finding happiness.”

She has already suffered and been hurt enough.

Now, she deserves to be happy.

* * *

Three weeks after May turned sixteen.

The day had come when all three divisions of the guardian knights completed their knight selection and began their training together as new recruits.

Becoming a guardian knight required a mandatory month-long training together.

“The purpose of the guardian knights is to benefit the lives of the Stacia Empire’s citizens. So, give your best effort in training!”

After the induction ceremony, they entered into full-fledged training.

On the first day, they focused on basic physical training.

While the 1st and 2nd divisions had easily recruited individuals with potential as guardian knights and trained them at ease, the 3rd division, who had chosen based solely on appearance, was struggling.

“Come on, keep going!”

Seeing some of them give up during basic physical training, a few of the knights couldn’t help but sneer.

“Can they become guardian knights with such a weak mentality? How are they going to save civilians if a war breaks out?”

“They’ll probably run away, saying they’ll live on their own. After all, there’s that famous incident where Crown Prince lost his right arm.”

“My twin brother trained seven hours a day because he wanted to become a guardian knight, but he wasn’t selected. And yet, they are chosen just because they have good looks…”

One of the knights turned their gaze to Jed Bloche, who was running at the front.

“Come to think of it, Lord Bloche has everything. Good looks, skills, status, wealth… there’s nothing he lacks.”

Then Diego caught up to him.

“Then, Second Prince also has everything. In fact, he’s even better off in terms of both body and status.”

They looked at each other and sighed.

“The world is so unfair…”

After running around the large training ground for a while, they finally had their lunch break.

The training camp’s cafeteria was bustling with knights who had already become familiar with each other, chatting away.

The knights sitting around me kept stealing glances at me while I ate alone, as if trying to figure out why I appeared as a girl. I had released the mental magic that concealed my gender, but they still seemed curious. I thought about the sharp deduction that someone who could handle Flotina’s mental magic well turned me into a boy to raise me as a son, but no one could answer why the mental magic was lifted in the first place.

It seemed they were curious but couldn’t come to me directly to ask. I realized that Flotina was quite dignified. They might not know that I’m not Flotina anymore.

Then, a couple of troublesome guys approached me. As I looked up from my meal, I saw three of them smirking at me.

“Excuse me, Lord Flotina. Oh, should we just call you Lady May now?”

One of the ruffians, who seemed to be the leader, asked me impolitely.

“Have you been abandoned by Lord Flotina?”

“… What?”

My impression of the rude and clueless question made my face frown. The guy saw my expression and smirked.

“It’s weird that you suddenly released the mental magic. Even if you couldn’t give your daughter a noble position, why did you do that? It makes me feel bad.”

He told me not to feel bad. It was absurd advice, and my expression hardened.

I checked the badge on the guy’s top.

A purple badge… So, he’s from the 3rd division. It seems Hestia really does recruit knights regardless of personality. It was true.

“You may not know what you’re talking about.”

“You have to know to treat people differently. You wouldn’t want to be treated the same way you treated Flotina, would you? If you were abandoned, you would be a commoner. Or are you a slave? I don’t know what your status was before adoption.”

When he spoke, the two guys who followed him laughed.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, a silver aura swept over them, and their ankles were bound and pushed against the ceiling.

They dangled upside down from the ceiling, begging for their lives.

“Pl-please, spare us!”

The owner of the silver aura was Diego.

Everyone’s eyes were on him, but Diego walked casually, displaying his composure and elegance.

He sat down next to me as if he were boasting.

“What are you doing now…?”

Causing such a commotion on the first day. No, I had already told him that I didn’t want to get involved with him again. Why did he come to me again?

Diego glanced at the three upside-down troublemakers.

Then, he uttered a strange remark.

“Who dared to touch my people.”

My people? Wait, who said I were your people?

I looked surprised, but Diego arrogantly crossed his arms and crossed his legs.

“I wonder what I should do with you. Should I break your ankles?”

The silver aura around their ankles tightened. The guys screamed in agony and nodded their heads repeatedly.

“We’re sorry! Please spare us!”

“Well, it’s hard for me to forgive you since you’ve seriously annoyed me.”

Everyone in the cafeteria was now staring at us.

‘What’s going on…? This is embarrassing; I can’t eat my meal.’

Feeling that I couldn’t eat anymore, I stood up from my seat, holding the unfinished plate in my hand, and was about to leave.

“Wait.”

Diego grabbed the edge of my clothes. Although he acted like a psycho to those guys, his eyes when he turned to look at me were as gentle as a lamb’s.

“They should apologize to you.”