Jetri couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the mind or a genuine shift in his orientation, but today Vya seemed…

unusually soft.

Though they rarely touched during their interactions, Jetri distinctly sensed that tangible softness radiating from him.

“So why did you choose this kind of…” Jetri hesitated mid-question.

“Hmm?” Vya tilted her head up from nibbling her snack, eyes flicking toward him with innocent confusion.

That angle, that gaze—Jetri couldn’t withstand it. His words tangled, choked off, then dissolved into a defeated sigh. “Never mind. Forget it.”

“What exactly… is it…?” Vya paused her eating, curiosity glinting in her eyes.

She’d used that coquettish lilt on purpose—testing Jetri’s reaction.

Jetri admitted the petulant tone sent shivers down his spine.

But what terrified him more was the sudden, inexplicable softening in his own chest.

“I wanted to ask…” Jetri murmured as if bewitched, his voice distant, “why disguise yourself as a woman?”

“This way, no one would ever suspect,” Vya replied casually, as if it were perfectly logical.

But—

What sane man enjoys crossdressing?!

Jetri eyed Vya suspiciously. Yet after barely two seconds of staring at that face—so similar to Victoria’s yet undeniably feminine—he quickly looked away.

He feared what might happen to Victoria tonight if he didn’t.

But if Victoria were a woman…

*No. Stop that!*

But men were more…

*—AHHHHH JETRI, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!*

He wanted to rip his brain out and command it to shut up.

For a fleeting second, his mind had conjured Victoria: flushed cheeks, half-naked, lying on a bed.

Beside him, the very real Vya simply tilted her head.

Jetri had gone utterly still—like his soul had been vacuumed out.

“Jetri?” She poked his arm.

“Huh?!” He jolted, eyes snapping to hers too sharply.

Vya flinched back, startled.

“N-nothing. You just… zoned out,” she said, smiling innocently.

Before Jetri could reply, his attention snagged on a tiny smear of cream at the corner of Vya’s lip.

*Would a feminine Victoria be… too much to handle?*

Shaken by the thought, Jetri didn’t realize his own fingers were already drifting toward her mouth, obeying some deeper impulse.

Vya watched his approaching hand, puzzled but unflinching.

Then—a tingling brush against her lip.

Jetri’s fingertip had wiped the cream away.

But as his mind wandered, a sudden sweetness bloomed on his tongue.

*Huh?*

The world seemed to rearrange itself. Before him stood Victoria—not Vya—face flushed with surprise, eyes wide. Jetri hadn’t grasped what happened until the source of that sweetness hit him.

His eyes flew open in shock.

“Ahem. I… should’ve bought one for you too…” Vya spoke first, easing the tension.

The Valiant Hero looked flustered, yet remained composed—unlike Jetri, a mere small fry.

Beneath her calm exterior, shame and panic warred within her. But she showed nothing.

“A-ah…” Jetri stammered, words failing him.

“Uh… want the rest?” Vya offered the cream-filled pastry bite to his lips.

“N-no! I’m fine!” Jetri recoiled awkwardly.

“Mm.”

Still drowning in embarrassment, Jetri stole a glance at Victoria. The man showed no reaction—just kept eating calmly.

Vya was steeling herself against the blush threatening to surface, determined not to give Jetri any ideas.

An awkward silence thickened the air between them as they walked side by side through the crowd.

*—Guess tonight’s confession is unavoidable,* Jetri realized suddenly.

Though he’d mainly planned to bid Violette farewell, he desperately needed to unburden himself now.

Before, he’d only wrestled with guilty thoughts about Victoria’s almost-too-beautiful face for a man.

Now, Vya’s gender had blurred entirely in his mind.

Neither clearly man nor woman.

Jetri had met stunning beauties who conquered both men and women.

But he’d never met a handsome guy who conquered women *and* men.

*This is terrifying.*

*I’m single, but I don’t want to become a pervert!*

He forced his gaze away from Victoria.

Yet eyes always drift toward beauty.

Especially when Vya had no intention of letting him escape.

“Jetri, you’ve seemed tense with Lilith and the others lately?” Vya asked casually.

At the name *Lilith*, Jetri’s brow instinctively furrowed.

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

He sighed. “It’s… complicated to explain.”

“About me?” Vya guessed instantly.

“Yeah.” Jetri nodded.

“No worries. Tell me. We’ll see less of each other soon anyway—and besides, aren’t we closest?” Vya smiled warmly. “I don’t really care what Lilith or Victoria think.”

Honestly?

Jetri felt a flicker of warmth.

No one had ever called him someone’s “closest.”

But…

He wasn’t just moved—he felt his heart skip.

*Ugh… Victoria, stop it! You sinful man, messing with your sister is enough!*

“So go on, I’m curious,” Victoria pressed, draping an arm over Jetri’s shoulders. His gentle smile inched closer at a soothing pace.

Jetri wanted to shrink back—but…

*He said we’re closest. I shouldn’t hurt his feelings.*

So Vya watched Jetri’s ears burn crimson as he forced himself to stay put. “Uh… alright…”

A new path to closeness had just revealed itself to her.

“Remember when I chased Lilith?” Jetri began, lips pressed tight.

“Mhm.”

“You know she rejected me.”

“Yeah.”

“After that, she treated me terribly.”

“Huh?”

“She apologized last night. Told me why.”

“Because of me?” A thread of unease tightened in Vya’s chest.

“Sort of. She thought we were dating—and that I was two-timing her.”

“Huh?!” Vya’s voice pitched higher, masking her anxiety.

“You think it’s absurd too, right?”

“A-ah! Yeah!” Vya nodded vigorously.

“She felt I stole you away while playing both sides,” Jetri summarized, frustration simmering.

He missed how Vya quietly withdrew her hand.

Because this mess? She bore part of the blame.

“How do you feel about it?”

“How do *I* feel?” Jetri blinked, startled. “I’m baffled! I’ve been single for years—suddenly I’m gay?”

“Uh… maybe a little… hurt?” Vya’s smile grew stiff.

“Well…” Jetri exhaled slowly. “Yeah, maybe. But whatever. My aim was too high anyway. Lilith’s out of my league.”

Vya’s expression darkened.

All her planned words died in her throat.

At first, she hadn’t meant to fake a couple’s dynamic with Jetri in front of the others. But her jealous reactions had accidentally staked a claim.

And when she realized how useful that illusion was? She let it linger.

So Lilith and Jetri’s fallout… she might bear the greatest responsibility for it.