She Is a Daughter Raised As the Son of a Duke - Side Story Episode 3

Side Story Episode 3

When she woke up, the dawn had already broken. Neither May nor Diego, who was lying behind her with his arms around her, were wearing any clothes. May’s waist hurt, but thanks to the warmth of the source of the pain, it seemed a little less painful.

Looking at the clothes scattered on the floor, which they had thrown off embarrassingly the previous night, May let out a sigh.

‘In the end, I couldn’t sleep properly…’

His stamina was so impressive that sharing breath with him had been exhausting. On top of that, she had spent a lot of energy hunting during the day.

The funny thing was, even though it was tiring, it had been good.

‘Was it about two years after Diego left? Stella told me that she seemed to really like Diego.’

Back then, May couldn’t admit it, but considering she hadn’t been interested in any man for the past four years, it might be true.

‘Of course, it’s not like I’m thinking this because last night was good…’

It had been good though.

“Are you awake?”

A soft voice from behind, Diego’s voice, reached her ears. He had woken up before May, but he was still lying there because he wanted to keep holding her.

May tried to turn her body to see Diego’s face, but due to his embrace, she failed.

“Engagement, marriage. I can wait no matter how long.” 

He was saying this in advance, probably fearing that these things might become burdensome for May and distance them.

“I just want to be by your side.”

“Even if you have to wait for 6 more years to get married?”

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll wait. But why 6 years?”

May turned around to face Diego.

“Before that, it seemed like my father wouldn’t give permission. When I was sixteen, my father told me he would allow marriage only after ten years. Since there are six years left until twenty-six, it’s six years.”

Of course, even when that time comes, Persis might still refuse the marriage. But even then, if their feelings for each other remained unchanged, Diego had thought about leaving the refuge of love and having a wedding.

“I can wait.”

Diego gently kissed May’s forehead.

Whether it took 6 years or 10 years, even if it took a lifetime, Diego had resolved to follow May’s wishes. He valued being loved by her.

“I’ll gladly wait.”

“I’ll be watching.”

May smiled slightly, and Diego smiled in response.

*  ** 

“At first, Duke Flotina opposed their marriage, but in the end, he gave his permission. There’s a saying that parents can’t win against their children.”

Having heard the story of May and Diego from Mirocagon, Iris thought it was romantic.

“Diego is more of a romantic than I thought. If what I’ve heard is true, then May’s happiness is assured.”

Cassius also thought it would be fine if May’s partner was Diego.

“If he’s strong enough to have gone for long-term training, then he should be recognized as May’s husband.”

Iris agreed with Cassius’ words, nodding her head. Suddenly, she thought of Jed.

“Oh, then what about Jed? What happens to him? When I saw him before, it seemed like Jed liked May.”

Either he didn’t know at all or he was surprised by Iris’ question, Cassius’ eyes widened.

“Jed likes May?”

“He couldn’t take his eyes off May during the hunts.”

When Iris asked about Jed’s situation, Mirocagon answered.

“Like any unrequited love, he’ll probably give up on May as time goes by.”

As long as May only looks at Diego, and Diego remains by her side, Jed won’t be able to get closer. He was destined to eventually give up after looking from afar for a while.

“If Diego didn’t like May, May wouldn’t have liked Diego either, so she probably would have married Jed.”

Iris and Cassius found this intriguing.

“Really? That’s interesting.”

“How did it end up that Jed got married?”

“Probably… they’ll end up getting married in this direction.”

* * *

Jed looked at May whenever and wherever he could, but he kept his distance and watched from afar.

May had been trying to ignore Jed’s gaze, but because they were in the same order of knights, they often crossed paths. This led to situations where they were alone together, and during such times, May found it difficult to ignore him.

Even if she didn’t like him anymore, it didn’t mean they had no history together.

Then, one day, when May was in her third year as a guardian knight, she found herself alone with Jed in the mountains while carrying out guardian knight duties.

May tried to focus only on hunting, but it didn’t go as planned. Eventually, while paying attention to Jed, she couldn’t avoid an attack from a monster, and she ended up with a wound on her knee.

“Ugh!”

After defeating the monster before it could launch a bigger attack, when May looked at her knee, blood was already seeping out from her torn pants.

“Oh no…”

She had already been a knight for three years, and she couldn’t even defend against such a shallow attack. May was angry with herself, but her priority was to stop the bleeding for now.

May sat down on a nearby rock and untied the white ribbon that had been tying her long hair, intending to use it to stop the bleeding.

“Are you okay?”

Seeing May hurt, Jed rushed over and knelt down in front of her, grabbing her leg before she could refuse, and licked the wounded area.

“!”

The warm sting was enough to startle May.

Even though he must have known that May would be surprised by his sudden action, Jed didn’t stop and continued licking.

“Are you crazy? What are you doing?”

May struggled, but she couldn’t overcome Jed’s strength.

“Since I’m healing, just endure a little.”

Healing magic flowed from his lips, and thanks to it, May’s knee was restored as if the wound had never existed.

Sometimes, when you receive magic power, you can replicate the techniques of the one who gave you the magic. That’s how Jed was able to use Iris’ healing magic.

‘Is this the privilege of a male protagonist…’

May thought, as not even the other guardian knights could use healing magic, and only Jed could.

Jed wiped the blood from his mouth with his finger and looked at May. May didn’t want to talk to him, so she quickly stood up from her spot.

“I’m grateful for your help with the treatment, but I’d prefer if you didn’t do this again. It’s uncomfortable when you touch my body so freely.”

The returning response sounded rather forlorn.

“If I can’t get closer to you, can’t you at least use me for something like this? I won’t ask for more than that.”

“Even that feels like giving you a chance, which I dislike. Don’t care whether I’m hurt or not.”

May left without even glancing at Jed.

As Jed watched her retreating figure from a distance, he was already a mess inside. After realizing that he genuinely liked May, every day had been painful.

Because it seemed like she would never like him back.

For the past three years, he hadn’t been interested in anything other than May, and he had only had eyes for her. She must have felt his gaze too.

Still, May had steadfastly ignored him.

If there had been a monster with the ability to turn back time, he would have gone to it immediately to rewind everything.

To go back to the time when she liked only him, and they shared love purely.

He didn’t despise her with a wicked heart, nor did he try to manipulate her feelings…

But the fact that he couldn’t undo any of it was gradually wearing him down.

After healing May’s knee and a little time passed, while wandering through the mountains, Jed encountered an S-class monster as if it was fate.

Arthogon, who appeared as a dignified blue dragon. Although he didn’t possess the ability to rewind time as Jed desired, Arthogon had a power of curses.

“Human who stands before me, what kind of curse do you need?”

With a grand and majestic voice, May, who was nearby, rushed to where Jed was.

May was taken aback and surprised when Arthogon entered her field of vision.

“Oh, it’s Arthogon…?”

It was because they hadn’t encountered an S-class monster since Gliw-gon and Mirocagon.

‘What should I do? Should I capture it?’

Guardian knights were taught that monsters displaying harmful abilities to humans should be killed. Arthogon’s unique ability was ‘curses’, so it was only right to subdue it.

‘But it seems difficult to handle alone…’”

Gliw-gon managed to defeat one by himself, but Arthogon was stronger among S-class monsters, unlike Gliw-gon.

Moreover, Arthogon could unleash terrible curses.

‘Jed is strong, so we should be able to defeat it together.”’

May had thought of joining forces with Jed to defeat Arthogon, but…

Jed glanced at May approaching and then seemed to make up his mind. He addressed Arthogon.

“Grant me the ability to feel excruciating pain every time I touch May recklessly.”

For a moment, May thought she misheard. She couldn’t have imagined that Jed would ask for a curse to be placed on himself.

‘What is he saying right now…?’

Is he crazy? What’s wrong with his head?

As May approached, Jed spoke before she could stop him.

“And curse me to love only May for a lifetime.”

By the time May reached them, Arthogon had already granted Jed’s request.

“Understood. So shall it be.”

A blue aura emanated from Arthogon and enveloped Jed.

“Jed, no!”

May attacked Arthogon in an attempt to stop the curse, but Arthogon vanished in an instant. The blue aura seeped into Jed’s body.

With a shocked expression, May looked at Jed and asked if he had gone mad, but Jed didn’t show any reaction.

Jed believed this was the only way to make May look at him. With such a curse, at the very least, she wouldn’t be able to ignore him.

If he possessed such a curse, she would have to pay him some attention.

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