I Should Have Told Her Before She Found Out
‘I should have told Miss Diaz before she figured it out.’
I had been far too complacent.
If I were to make excuses, the reason I had simply let it slide when Lina first called me Everett Rohas was because I never imagined our relationship would develop like this.
Since I thought we would never meet again, I saw no need to correct her misunderstanding.
As our encounters continued, the awareness that I was using a false name gradually faded.
And once our relationship had progressed to this point, I was so happy spending time with Lina that the thought never crossed my mind.
Lately, Edwin had been incredibly busy. The time he spent with Lina was carved out in mere minutes between tightly packed schedules, which had simplified his thinking.
Just get this over with quickly so I can make time to see Lina. That was the extent of it.
There were occasional days when it weighed on his mind, but those moments were brief.
Since his feelings for Lina were genuine, he hadn’t thought much of it.
There were even days when he found their relationship—built solely on seeing each other without regard for status—quite romantic.
His vision had been too narrow to deeply consider how Lina might take it.
Like a horse wearing blinders.
Edwin glanced sideways at Lina’s complexion.
‘Should I be the one to speak first?’
It hadn’t been intentional, but she might still feel hurt.
‘Especially if she learned about it through some other channel.’
Confessing now would probably disappoint her less.
While Edwin was still wrestling with his thoughts, Lina spoke first.
“Sir Rohas, is something bothering you?”
Edwin’s eyes shook violently.
‘Yes. It just appeared.’
Something along the lines of how exactly should I confess my true identity to Lina?
Lina’s question felt like the final chance she was giving him, as if she already knew everything.
Looking back, his relationship with Lina was like sugar syrup that had been left to harden.
Sweet, but shallow.
It was fortunate it hadn’t shattered yet.
‘I let my guard down for a moment and now I’m this anxious. Have I become too relaxed?’
Edwin scolded himself.
With the mindset of someone making a confession, he carefully organized his thoughts.
But strangely, Lina was still calling him “Everett Rohas.”
It was someone else’s name, yet lately he had been using it as if it were his own.
‘Was my guess wrong?’
If the person before him had been any other noble lady, he would have assumed she knew and was mocking him. But this was Lina.
She was far more likely to express her anger honestly than to resort to sarcasm.
‘That’s a relief, at least.’
He had gained the chance to confess before the worst-case scenario unfolded.
Even though it had never bothered him before, now that he was conscious of it, hearing Lina call him “Everett Rohas” felt uncomfortable.
While Edwin was busy guessing Lina’s intentions and feeling regretful, the silence between question and answer grew longer.
Before the quiet could stretch any further, Edwin hurriedly answered.
“It’s nothing.”
He felt like he should have added the qualifier not yet, but he swallowed it.
Lina looked at the extremely tense Edwin with pity in her eyes.
Perhaps that was why he felt a little braver—because it seemed like she would generously forgive his mistake.
‘Should I tell her the truth right now?’
This might be his chance.
‘Miss Diaz probably wouldn’t hate it.’
An emperor was surely a more plausible match than a commoner-born knight.
‘As a dating partner, at least.’
His heart was pounding without any regard for the situation.
Up to this point, Edwin had not even considered the possibility of being rejected.
That was simply what it meant to be part of the imperial family.
Having steeled his resolve, Edwin prepared to reveal his real name to Lina.
“Miss Diaz.”
“Sir Rohas.”
But as if fate were playing a prank, their timing overlapped once again.
Even though he had worked up considerable courage, Edwin readily yielded the turn to Lina.
“You first.”
“It’s nothing serious, but…”
Lina scrunched her nose a little sheepishly.
Still, deciding it was something she needed to say, she accepted his concession.
After carefully choosing her words, Lina began.
“I may not be of much help, but I’ll do my best to support you. If anything happens, please feel free to talk to me about it.”
She looked like she was pitying someone, or perhaps steeling herself for something.
‘Why is she saying this?’
It was a declaration of resolve completely different from what he had expected.
Edwin paused what he had been about to say in order to understand the situation.
‘Did she notice that I’m not actually Everett Rohas?’
To the slightly dazed Edwin, Lina added with concern.
“Don’t just brush it off. I mean it.”
Her intensity—almost as if she wanted to pinky swear—pressed down on him, and Edwin found himself answering without thinking.
“I’ll try.”
It was an answer packed with every ounce of social grace he possessed, reserved exclusively for Lina.
After all, Edwin was a man who possessed power, wealth, and martial prowess in equal measure.
There were almost no problems he couldn’t solve on his own, nor situations where he would need Lina’s help.
But it seemed the answer Edwin considered the best was not the one Lina wanted to hear.
With a light tone that masked her true feelings, Lina emphasized once more.
“You promised, right? Even if work is difficult, or even the smallest things like that.”
“Work?”
Edwin echoed the word that had been unusually stressed.
For a moment, he wondered if something had happened to Lina.
‘She looked deeply troubled. Could it be…?’
The subtle sense of unease that had been bothering him throughout their walk in the Summer Rose Garden finally clicked into place.
The completed puzzle looked quite plausible at first glance.
‘Was there something unusual going on in the Ministry of Finance?’
He couldn’t think of anything specific.
It had been after he had cleaned up the matter of Duke Camelot secretly amassing funds, and according to Kylus, the new head of the department Lina worked in was someone who knew how to protect himself.
Even so, Edwin couldn’t easily set his mind at ease.
It might not be something that would reach his ears in a report.
Still, it could be enough of a concern for Lina.
Edwin carefully observed her expression.
“Yes, work-related matters.”
At the same time, Lina was also observing Edwin.
However, both were so focused on watching the other that neither noticed they were being watched in return.
Somehow, the conversation continued.
Each interpreting the other’s words through the lens of their own assumptions.
“Can you be more specific?”
Edwin cautiously cast out a line first.
If Lina would just tell him, he was prepared to turn the entire Ministry of Finance upside down to fix it.
Like reflections in a mirror, their inner thoughts were symmetrical—though in the end, it was almost exactly what Lina had been hoping for.
Lina answered carefully, hoping not to sound too rude.
“There are all sorts of things that come up when working in the imperial palace. Being given tasks so difficult they seem impossible to complete, or making a major mistake that ruins an important project.”
Edwin etched the hints she gave him firmly into his mind.
Gathering up every bit of gentleness and affection inside him, he offered them to Lina.
“Even difficult tasks can eventually be resolved with help from those around you, and as for making a mistake that derails something important… well, everyone makes mistakes.”
Edwin was not usually the forgiving type when it came to errors, but in this moment, he meant every word.
Yet after hearing his answer, Lina only looked slightly relieved.
“That’s a good attitude.”
After the compliment came a request.
“Even if something difficult happens, drowning it in alcohol won’t solve anything. Right?”
Edwin wasn’t the type to relieve stress with alcohol.
More precisely, he was wary of anything that clouded his reason.
“That’s true.”
When Edwin agreed so easily, Lina instead looked frustrated.
As if she thought he was answering important matters half-heartedly.
Needing time to gather her thoughts, Lina looked up at the sky for a few seconds.
It didn’t seem to help much.
After hesitating several times, unable to spit out what she truly wanted to say, Lina finally burst out.
“Especially during important missions!”
Edwin felt like a husband being strictly managed by his stern wife and simply smiled.
“Don’t laugh.”
Apparently displeased with Edwin’s unserious attitude, Lina pouted.
“I heard His Majesty has been rather prickly lately. What are you going to do if he doesn’t tolerate any mistakes?”
At first she had spoken lightly, as if joking, but gradually Lina’s expression grew stiff.
As if the mere thought of the emperor terrified her.