I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

Grrrr. As Are gritted his teeth and applied force, the sword’s blade slipped and made a scratching sound.

Paku didn’t waver at all, even as he met Are’s burning eyes. In fact, Paku didn’t care about Are at all. Whether it was 3 years ago or even at this moment.

“You little…”

Are felt it too. That Paku didn’t feel threatened by him at all. He only saw him as a nuisance, not a threat. How did I live because of you! But what about you!

Grrr. Are gritted his teeth to the point they were about to break. It didn’t matter that the emperor cared for Paku. Because his pride is more important than the emperor’s order. If not today, he never knew when another opportunity would come. So today, he would definitely take that guy’s life.

“I can’t stand it anymore.”

Are’s eyes turned upside down at Paku’s ambiguous words, which were neither sympathy nor sarcasm.

“Uaaaa!”

Are’s muscles were swollen greatly, and the blade of his sword began to tilt. His blade slowly leaned and soon found itself resting on Paku’s shoulder. But Paku remained indifferent.

“I’ll cut off your arm. It’s repayment for the scar on my face.”

Facing Are’s mad derision, Paku let out a low sigh. He’s still the same. His unknown hatred and madness caused Paku to sigh. Paku had no feelings for Are. He was just one of his many siblings, and he had never thought they’d run into a big deal or invade each other’s territory… But for some reason, whenever Are saw him, he rushed to him as if they were enemies.

“Wasn’t the wound caused by you missing the sword?”

Seeing Paku’s expression that seemed to question why he was the one being blamed, Are felt as if his insides were turned upside down.

“If you hadn’t blocked the sword, I wouldn’t have this scar!” shouted Are.

“So, you’re saying I should just let the flying sword hit me?”

“Urgh.”

Are wanted to destroy Paku’s nonchalant face. Why are you always making a face that’s bothering me? You even have everything! Just why?

Are’s mother was a slave. Due to his birth, Are was forced to do all sorts of dirty and filthy jobs by his other siblings.

“Someone has to do the dirty work. Of course, you know you’re the right person, right? Lowly.”

Are started at the bottom of his siblings. And Paku was at the top. It was an absolute difference that could never be mixed. However, Paku said that he wasn’t happy with all the wealth and glory he enjoyed.

While others possessed things they couldn’t even dream of, Paku had them without any effort. It made Are feel disgusting. Paku could easily inherit the throne without any effort, but he rejected it and went to the battlefield. Thanks to that, the siblings started tearing each other apart like demons, using and killing each other. In the end, only one would remain to claim the throne.

The emperor watched his children’s competition, scheming, and tricks with indifference.

“Prove it. Your values.”

He was driven away without a break. To the battlefield between life and death. Are had to prove his worth. That was his way of living, his purpose, and the reason for his existence.

“You still have a dissatisfied face even after kicking away the glory you have. Really, you’re disgusting.”

Paku laughed at Are’s words. Glory…

Are didn’t know the fact that the position he considered as honor was far from glory. In fact, it was a seat reserved for the most vile and despicable.

Damn it. Unlike him, who did everything in his power to the point his face reddened, Paku still looked relaxed. Are began to feel anxious when the blade of his sword didn’t penetrate Paku’s shoulder, no matter how hard he tried.

There was only one way for him to do it. He had to catch Paku off guard. Are quickly released one of his two hands holding the sword, pulled out the dagger tucked into his waistband, and stabbed it. No, he was about to stab him.

“Keugh.”

Are saw the arrow penetrating his hand and looked back while gritting his teeth. “Dondon…” He glared at Dondon with cold eyes.

“One. Two.”

Plop. Before Dondon could count to three, Are collapsed.

“Stop using anesthetics on people. Isn’t that for beasts?”

When I pointed that out, Dondon replied with an expression asking what’s the problem.

“Dat person is a beast.”

Is that so…? Wait! Then what about me?

Without hiding it, I showed my dumbfounded and displeasure, and Dondon spoke without looking at me. “Now dat the work is dun, come out.”

What did she say?

“Don’t you have to open it for me to come out?”

Dondon looked at me at my irritating words and replied. “It wasn’t even loked from the beginning. Yu idiot.”

Oh my god… I opened the cage door and trudged out without saying a word in vain and shame. When I suddenly remembered throwing myself out of the cage earlier, I was thinking of breaking Dondon’s neck, the main culprit of this incident. But shame was rising to the top of my head now.

“Charter!”

I ran to Dondon at once, grabbed her by the collar, shook her off, and shouted. “Where is Charter! Release him quickly! I mean, let him go!”

“Ouch. This. Let go… Keugh! Let go!”

I, who was kicked in the shin by Dondon’s kick as she floundered in the air, furrowed my eyebrows and put her down as if throwing her away. Dondon, tidying up her crumpled clothes, muttered. “I was going to rilease him anyway! Yu ignorantly strong thing.”

Dondon gave a short and bold order to her subordinate. “Take out the bleck one and put that red one.”

“What are you putting in! Are you going to kill him?”

At my question, Dondon asked with a questioning face. “Then? Spare dat? If I let him go, he will cause troble again.”

Uh. That’s a bit difficult? Then what? It didn’t matter if that redhead died or not, but as a human being, morally, you shouldn’t throw a human to become the prey of a beast, right?

“What are yu doing? Put him in.”

“Wait!”

At my shout, Dondon and her subordinate turned their heads and stared at me with a look of ‘Why? What’s the matter?’

“Bury. Let’s just bury him.”

Dondon rolled her eyes and thought about it, then nodded her head as if agreeing. “Good. Then bury him. Dig the ground.”

At Dondon’s command, the subordinate ordered the soldiers to dig the ground. I, who was watching the scene quietly, turned my head and asked Dondon. “Have you forgotten something? Charter! Bring him here!”

Dondon said, giving off a troublesome look to my scolding. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Only then did my expression lighten. But as soon as I heard Dondon’s complaint, I couldn’t help but widened my eyes in disbelief. 

“What a waste. It’s time for the tiger to be hangry…”

This person is really!

“What? What on earth…”

Dondon rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t believe what she saw. I also opened my mouth in an incomprehensible situation.

“Grrrr. Purr.”

“What are you doing?”

At my question, Charter put his hand away from the tiger’s chin and raised his head. “You’re here. Somehow it just happened like this.”

As he removed his hand, the tiger bit his wrist lightly as if it didn’t like it. Then Charter put his hand back on its chin again. Charter spoke again while stroking the tiger’s chin. “Princess, I’d like you to open the door now. There was a noise from this guy’s stomach a while ago.”

“I wish yu had already been eaten.”

Dondon ordered her soldier with a regretful face. (Take out that black thing.)

Clang. Creek. As soon as the cage door opened, the soldiers drove the tiger into a corner with long spears.

Grrrr. The tiger was forced into a corner, and Charter was finally free. When he got up, he groaned as his body had been crushed by the huge tiger’s paws before.

“What happened?” Charter asked as he approached me, who was wearing a short dress that reached only to my knees. He blocked my way so that the soldiers couldn’t see me.

“It’s thanks to the mean princess. The work was done well.”

“I’m glad it went as planned, but I feel sorry that I couldn’t be of any help.”

He wasn’t locked up because he wanted to, but Charter was upset that he couldn’t help me. Noticing his feelings, I replied with a bright smile. “Rather than that, how can you handle the tiger? A beast like that tamed by a human hand?”

It wasn’t just Arianne who was curious. Dondon approached Charter slowly with her perked up. What is it? What’s the secret? It was a beast that was rarely tamed due to its strong wild nature. She was willing to offer a slight favor to that black stone-like man if he could tell her how to tame it. It was a bit regretful, but well, just a small favor…

“It’s just luck.”

“Cam on.”

Dondon thought as she pursed her lips in regret. I should have starved this tiger.

(We dug the ground.)

At the soldier’s report, Dondon nodded and walked out of the tent.

“What do they mean by dug?”

To Charter’s following question, Dondon answered by pointing at Arianne with the tip of her chin. “Dat’s what she asked.”

“Ah.”

Charter recalled the noise he had heard earlier and thought there must have been many casualties. He thought that kind-hearted Arianne would have asked to bury the deceased. A gentle smile hung around Charter’s mouth. However, his mind became confused when, a moment later, he faced the reality of the situation.

“Is there only one death?”

Though he had only heard the sounds, he thought the battle had been fierce. Yet, there was only one pit, and inside it lay a man with red hair in a somewhat unnatural position.

In normal funerals, don’t you lay the corpse flat and put their hands on their chest? But why is he… That person’s face stuck to the ground as if he had been roughly thrown from above.

It was then.

“What? This isn’t it. Did you think to bury him like that? Someone who’s still alive?”

Arianne began to complain to Dondon, and Dondon asked her. “Yu said to buri him? I’m duing what yu say, so what’s the problem?”

Ariane began to criticize Don Don, and Don Don began to question him.

Bury… alive person? Charter’s head went black. Could it be that they were burying a living person in the ground? And was it Arianne who suggested burying him?

“I didn’t mean to bury him like that. What I mean was…”

Charter closed his eyes tightly with a sudden rush of fatigue. In a spot where Dondon’s army had left, only a red-haired man was buried until only his head was visible. That man was still sleeping peacefully, unaware of his situation.

“Wow. Yu’re really ruthless. Dere’s…. no man in the Kelteman as ruthless as yu.” Dondon clapped her hand, praising Charter as if he had reached an untouchable level, filled with admiration for someone who had gone beyond the ordinary.

“What are you saying? Someone passing by will rescue him. Well, even if he wakes up, he won’t be a threat to us since he’s just a lone wanderer without an army or anything.”

Arianne thought the situation should be solved humanely, but this was still the territory of the Kelteman Empire, and they were in the middle of the war. Therefore, nomads couldn’t move their base right now and were hiding. Thus, Arianne thought no one would rescue him by chance.

“Anyway, let’s really go to the emperor. Okay?”

Three days later, Dondon’s army arrived at the Kelteman Empire Imperial garrison.