After the mysterious lady had left.
Bertus wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
‘What a mistake.’
A cold sweat ran down Bertus’s spine at the unimaginable disrespect that he had inflicted beyond the bounds of common decency.
If someone did such a thing to him, he would have felt the urge to kill them. Bertus had never seen, heard of, or imagined the act of spitting tea into someone’s face.
As such, it was a rude gesture that crossed the line.
However, the girl had just seemed embarrassed, rather than furious..
Her response was just too ridiculous.
Her hands were shaking so much that he wondered why someone who didn’t know his true identity would be so nervous.
She had even tried to cover it up by saying it was due to alcoholism.
That reason did not match her elegant appearance at all.
Her attire was not very luxurious but rather ordinary. Although it was unclear what was in the baggage, it didn’t seem like it contained anything expensive.
Perhaps she was a well mannered commoner.
She had distinctive silver hair that seemed to shine, and delicate facial features that looked as if they were drawn like a painting. She wore heavy makeup, but it didn’t feel out of place.
In many ways, she was a strange person.
Even from a distance, he could remember hearing that sharp voice amidst the noise as he walked towards it.
‘Huh, you’re the kind of bastard who throws a punch at the slightest provocation, huh?’
‘Are you sure about that, you punk?’
It didn’t sound like something a fine young lady would say, no matter how one looked at it.
He was distracted.
“Um, Your Highness….”
“Er, you may sit down.”
Bertus was startled by the man in front of him, who was accompanied by two others.
Even though Bertus had said nothing, they had knelt in front of him instead of sitting on the chairs. Bertus crossed his legs and folded his arms, looking at the three kneeling people in front of him.
“What did you think you were doing, exactly?”
“We beg your forgiveness!”
“Was my command to maintain the safe operation of the mana trains and each station not properly understood? Not only were you creating dissent among the citizens, you even went so far as to use force against them?”
“We beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty!”
This was the man who couldn’t contain his anger and raised his hand to strike the young lady from earlier.
These three were not just ordinary troops, but vassals of Bertus.
In other words, they were knights of the Duke of Salerian.
Bertus chuckled.
“How much did you get paid to do this?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, luckily nothing serious happened. If you’d actually laid a hand on her, I’d have heard from the head of security that the men I brought in had just beat up a citizen, and the whole week I’d spent working would have gone up in smoke just like that, while my half-sister would have done nothing but watch me self-destruct. It’s a good thing she was good enough to stop your slap with one hand, huh? It’s a good thing she didn’t make my week of hard work go to waste, huh?”
“I beg your forgiveness. I didn’t think it through.”
“I don’t understand, unless you were paid by Charlotte or something, why would you even do this kind of thing. Hey tell me, how much did you get paid by my half-sister?”
The faces of the three knights of the Duchy of Salerian wilted at Bertus’s evil joke.
Right now, Bertus’ behavior was subtly reminiscent of Reinhardt’s.
“Please have me executed , Your Highness!”
Though the situation had gone awry, Bertus had no intention of killing these three.
Knights, especially those who were vassals of influential families, were above the law to a certain extent.
But there are those that think that it’s enough to excuse anything. So sometimes they become excessively ignorant and arrogant.
There are also such people among the knights of the Salerian Duchy.
They think it’s okay to kill a few citizens because they can talk down to guards and not be held accountable for killing people.
It was seriously stupid of them to try to hit a citizen in public.
“If you try to ruin my week like this again, we’re going to have fun.”
Bertus threatened with a murderous look on his face, and then dismissed them.
Those with excessively short attention spans were of no use even if they were talented.
Those who liked to fight could simply be sent to places where they could fight as much as they wanted.
Bertus had already decided which department to transfer those three to.
It was one thing to punch a thief in the face, but to hit a citizen who tried to stop the situation would have been disastrous.
Bertus didn’t get a good look, but he heard that the silver-haired woman had grabbed the knight by the wrist.
She didn’t seem like someone who could use any strength.
Not just strength, but she was able to grab the arm of a full-grown knight with just one hand. Of course, Bertus knew that physique and physical strength didn’t always correspond, as there were some cases that defied the norm.
What kind of person was she?
For the first time in his life, Bertus was very curious about the identity of the person whose face he had spat out tea at.
‘I’m sure I’ve seen her before…’
And somehow, she felt familiar.
It’s not about her face or her expression.
‘Huh, you’re the kind of bastard who throws a punch at the slightest provocation, huh?’
‘Are you sure about that, you punk?’
Somehow.
That tone seemed somewhat familiar
But the impression of the young lady with silver hair was so strong that Bertus could not think of anyone else.
Her look of being completely taken aback and unable to gather herself when faced with him was somehow cute.
‘…It would be best if the honorable sir didn’t find out this one’s name.’
And somehow, it felt like she knew who he was even though he had never told her. Of course, it wasn’t like his face was completely unknown, so it wasn’t particularly strange that she recognized him.
Who could it be?
What was she doing right now?
Bertus became troubled by the sudden occurrence of events.
When I coincidentally ran into Bertus, I already had a bad premonition. But it was even worse to think that if I’d just watched the kids get beaten up and walked away, nothing would have happened.
This.
At first this was just a character to separate myself from Reinhardt, but now that I was living it, it felt like I actually became this person.
No, but it wasn’t right to beat kids like a dog, was it?
…Even though that was the right thing to say, I feel like I was the last person to be saying something like this..
Let’s not worry about it.
There’s no way Bertus would come to see the cross-dressing contest. He was supposed to be working on something important, rather than enjoying the Temple Festival, so he wouldn’t be able to step foot in Temple.
The closer I got to Temple, the heavier my steps became.
I really….
I really don’t want to go….
But I still have to go.
This is all for my own good.
I have to go….
The luggage also felt heavy, as if I was dragging a block of iron.
At least there was one thing that I had made up my mind about.
If I continued to act out like I did just now, something strange would happen.
Anyway, no matter what happened, I should just endure it. If I don’t, things could get even worse.
“Why am I…”
Kono Lint was staring blankly into space with blank eyes. He was wearing a woman’s dress that had been provided by the event organizers.
Kono Lint wanted to cut off his own tongue for saying something unnecessary.
‘It’s the day of the cross-dressing competition, right?’
‘So what?’
Heinrich von Schwarz, Cayer Vioden, Erich de Lafaeri, and Kono Lint.
The four of them were enjoying themselves, wandering around the festival and having fun.
‘They said they’re accepting applications for that until tonight.’
He brought up the story simply because of a wicked thought that he wouldn’t be the one to lose.
‘How about this? The loser of rock-paper-scissors has to apply.’
Boys sometimes bet their lives on strange things.
Or, to be more precise, they go on futile adventures to see other people’s ugliness.
‘…What? Why would we go do something like that? Are you crazy?’
‘Why, it’s fun, isn’t it?’
The loser would be humiliated.
Seeing them do things they would never want to do in front of a lot of people. Seeing the shame on their faces.
A lifetime of teasing awaited them..
There was no reason not to watch the cross-dressing contest. Of course, everyone gave a lukewarm response.
Until Kono Lint said those words, it was definitely like that.
‘As long as it’s not just me, it’s fine, right?’
There are four candidates. So the probability is one in four.
It’s a gamble you can’t help but take.
Before having a chance to second guess himself, Kono Lint spoke up.
‘If you don’t agree, you’re a coward!’
And the result was….
“….”
All of that explained why Kono Lint was in the waiting room behind the auditorium where the cross-dressing contest was taking place.
He thought that it probably wouldn’t be him, but some other guy. The other guy became Kono Lint though.
The odds were with him, but strangely, in cases like this, the one who suggested doing it was usually chosen and Kono Lint regretted being the one to suggest it.
“Hey, asshole, will you shut up?”
“Oh, okay….”
“Look at your face. What’s wrong with your skin? You don’t even wear makeup. Pfft.”
Liana de Grantz was applying makeup to Kono Lint’s face.
Normally, Kono Lint was treated as insignificant, but now he was basking in the glory of having his makeup done by the Duchess Liana de Grantz’s own hands.
Normally, he would be moved to tears and his heart would beat fast with excitement, but Kono Lint was only dying in real time.
‘What? A cross-dressing competition?’
‘You guys have that kind of hobby?’
‘A punishment game?’
‘Oh, him?’
‘Heheh. Alright, sounds fun! Ahaha! Makeup? Sure, no problem! Where is it? Today?’
Although he didn’t intend to wear makeup, his friends, who became enthusiastic about the matter once they weren’t at risk of dressing in drag, cooperated wholeheartedly with his makeover.
Knowing that Ellen and Cliffman were supported by Liana for Mister and Miss Temple, everyone went to find her.
As if on cue, as soon as Kono Lint decided to participate in the cross-dressing competition, they succeeded in inviting Liana, who usually didn’t easily agree to anything.
Since she found these kinds of things fun, Liana personally did Kono Lint’s makeup in the backstage dressing room of the cross-dressing competition, and even picked out clothes for him.
Of course, Liana didn’t lend him her own clothes.
Having been dressed in one of the many women’s clothes prepared by the organizers, Liana was struggling to decide on his makeup and even tried on a wig, thinking carefully about it.
After much deliberation, Liana clicked her tongue and made a decision.
“What should I do?”
“What?”
“No matter what I do, it just ends up being funny.”
“….”
Liana giggled at the sight of Lint’s face, as if she couldn’t make it any less ridiculous no matter how hard she tried.
Similar scenes were unfolding around them. As the competition wasn’t that large in scale, the waiting room was just a huge hall behind the main auditorium. Some people were just sighing heavily while others, like Kono Lint, had someone doing their makeup for them.
Generally, their facial expressions were bad.
Some were frantically touching up their makeup while looking into the mirror, which made it harder to watch.
And over there, a huge human tank was standing there, wearing the largest dress there was, that still looked a little too small for him.
It was even worse to see him ashamed of himself, unable to bear the sight in the mirror.
This was hell.
Kono Lint wondered who was more evil: the demons of hell or the audience who came to mock them.
As only one person was allowed to assist with participants’ makeup and styling, it was fortunate that only Liana was there to laugh at the sight.
His mouth was the cause of all this.
There’s no point wallowing in self-pity when he couldn’t undo it anyway.
Participant number one.
Kono Lint had a badge with a number pinned to his chest.
On it, the number one was printed.
Even though they said the participants’ numbers were assigned randomly, and were not based on the order of application.
He had to go out as the first contestant because he was the last to apply.
Being first just made him more miserable.
“Why weren’t you born a little prettier?”
“Why is that my fault… Why should I have been born pretty… I am a man….”
“Is that so? But you’re not particularly handsome, are youI?”
“Please spare me….”
Liana was applying his makeup and giggled from time to time..
Who could he blame?
He could only blame himself for causing this hell.
In the midst of this hell of looking miserable together, in this slightly noisy waiting room.
Kono Lint saw someone sitting in a corner among people who dressed similar to him.
That person was wearing a robe.
It seemed like they were a participant.
The hood was pulled up, so he couldn’t see them clearly, but he could see that they had silver hair, a fine jawline, and glittering pink lips.
Even at a glance, the atmosphere around them was somehow different.
Someone approached the person in the corner, who wasn’t talking to anyone and was just sitting still.
It seemed to be someone from the organizing committee of the competition.
He couldn’t hear the conversation because it was so far away, but it seemed to be about their clothing, and then the hooded person nodded in understanding and then took off their hood.
For a moment, Kono Lint forgot what he was about to say.
That was also the case for the other participants who happened to have that person in their line of sight.
While they were having a conversation in that state, the event organizer nodded their head in understanding.
“What are you looking at?”
When she noticed that Kono Lint couldn’t take his eyes off of something, Liana became curious and turned her gaze in that direction. She then dropped the cosmetic product she was holding.
“…What? Women can participate too? No, that can’t be right, can it?”
Liana murmured absentmindedly.
Of course, she knew it was impossible, but she couldn’t help but say such a thing.
A girl.
No, it wasn’t a girl, but they looked like one nonetheless.
Once that person finished talking with the organizer, they pulled their hood back up tightly.
“That’s a man?”
Liana asked Kono Lint with a bewildered expression. Although her face was no longer visible….
“Don’t ask me….”
Both of them, as well as the other people that saw the participant with silver hair, were taken aback.
Kono Lint even thought that the girl(?) had made eye contact with him before they put on the hood.
He also saw the girl’s face turn bright red as they pulled the hood on.
“Surely not….”
Even though it was only for a moment, Kono Lint felt something in the girl’s face and attitude.
‘She couldn’t have fallen for me, right?’
Kono Lint was grasping at strange straws.
Contestant number 40.
If nothing else, he could see the number on the girl’s chest.
He could see that they kept muttering something under their hood, using only the shape of their mouth.
‘Why the fuck are those bastards here… Why the hell….’
Of course, he didn’t realize that it was mostly gibberish.
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