I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

Charter was facing Count Bornes with a blank face of courtesy. Count Bornes called him up as soon as he was about to return to Arianne after talking with Luiden.  

“Duke Kaien, it’s been a long since I saw you.”

To be honest, he thought he wouldn’t have a conversation with Count Bornes even if they met today, but it seemed Count Bornes to be braver than he expected. Seeing that he came to Charter even though he joined the crown prince’s faction.

“I’m worried that my daughter might cause trouble to you. It’s because she grew up preciously since she was young, so she doesn’t know much about the world.”

The lady who grew up preciously knocks down an adult man and drives out gangsters with a gun? Charter put up with the ridicule and only watched Count Bornes. He was trying to find out if the Count was really worried about his daughter or if he had other ulterior motives.

Charter, who had been silent, opened his mouth. “Did you know that your daughter had an accident at the theater not too long ago?”

“What do you mean by accident?”

Count Bornes looked at Charter with an expression that he didn’t know what he meant. In fact, he really didn’t know. After selling Arianne to Charter, he stopped paying attention to her.

“The man who had a grudge against Count tried to harm your daughter.”

Charter waited for his response. But Count Bornes showed no sign of concern or surprise.

“…did that happen? As a father, I can’t express how miserable she must be. That’s why I wish she could stay quietly at home as usual…”

Charter’s eyebrows wiggled. Now he got it. The reason why Arianne was unable to do so many things. Why just the smallest things could make her happy. He finally found out what the reason was.  Count didn’t let her out.

If he truly cared about his daughter, he should have done better to keep her safe by guarding her thoroughly rather than just locking her up in the mansion. But he didn’t spare his daughter enough to go through such trouble. No, maybe… He treated her like a thing he owned, just like other men do.

Charter felt unpleasant as he learned that she was just like a property owned by her father. Knowing that she had grown up without affection, he recalled the bitter lingering feeling behind her smile, which made him feel as if there was a weight in his heart. With that, Charter’s eyes darkened.

Immediately, this Count… He wanted to get rid of this Count immediately, but Arianne was still his family.

After we get married, I will get rid of you first. After marrying Arianne, he had already chosen the first thing he needed to do.

Even though it was only for a year, the Count would still be his father-in-law, so he thought before that he would leave him alone even though he knew his personality. Charter knew it wasn’t like himself, but he thought it would be okay to break one of his principles for her sake. It wasn’t like he betrayed Luiden, and it wasn’t unreasonable to leave the remnants of the crown prince’s supporters alone.

But the story would be different if the Count had raised Arianne that way. After joining the crown prince’s side, which was opposed to Charter, he hadn’t even given an eye to Charter, let alone a greeting. However, the Count greeted him first and talked to him, even though the crown prince was there? Judging by his behavior, it seemed the Count wasn’t satisfied with the mine.

Looks like he’s going to use Arianne to get Luiden and me. The Count was like a bat. Just in case, he was putting himself on both the crown prince’s and the second prince’s sides. It would have been nice if he had stubbornly sided with only one side. His greed knew no bounds.

I shouldn’t leave such a person alone for the sake of the Empire. Charter wouldn’t have known if he had shown any affection for Arianne. But now, Charter had already decided to dispose of him.

As expected, I knew her beautiful appearance would come in handy anywhere. Still, I did well to take her as my daughter. She’s opening up a way for her father’s life. Count Bornes was unaware of Charter’s decision. He was just pleased with the anticipation of his bright future.

Charter suddenly felt a gaze, raised his head and saw Arianne standing there. Her gaze reached her father, Count Bornes. Her beautiful face was colder than ice caps. As expected, I was right.

Charter didn’t even feel the need to ask for permission for Count Bornes. He just walked past him and headed towards Arianne. For an instant, Count Bornes’s face hardened.

Charter wanted to ease Arianne’s mood. He wanted to see a clear smile blooming on her face.

“Arianne, can I dance with you for a song?”

Arianne looked at him as he held out his hand to her. Her eyes were quite serious, but she looked a little mischievous with her slightly raised eyebrows.

Pfft. A laugh came out.

The corners of Charter’s mouth went up.

“If you want, okay.”

Arianne folded her hand over Charter. The two headed toward the center of the hall.

For a moment, everyone’s eyes were on them. Arianne and Charter were such a beautiful couple. A mysterious silver-haired beauty and a handsome black-haired man that was known for his coldness. There was no shortage of them to be called the lover of the century. They were beautiful, like a pair of butterflies flying around the hall.

At that moment, people watched the beautiful lover, forgetting to breathe. How much time has passed? It was only after the song was over that the sound of breathing began to be heard when the couple left their place while holding hands. Some women said they wouldn’t have any regrets if they died after seeing Charter’s dance, and some men lamented that they were envious of the Duke who could dance with such a beautiful woman.

Amidst the murmur of such people, the emperor’s heavy voice was heard.

“That’s amazing. My eyes were pleased.”

The eyes of the people turned to the emperor. The emperor, who commented that, continued after a brief silence.  

“In two days later, a hunting competition will be hosted by the imperial family. It was prepared to welcome the prince of the Kelteman Empire. We will send an official letter to each family for details, so I look forward to your participation. Then enjoy the rest of the time.” After finishing his speech, the emperor left with the empress.

“A hunting competition?”

People began to rumble, and my eyes sparkled.

The Harpion Empire hunting competition was a special event. It was only held when there was a matter of celebration for the imperial, such as the emperor’s coronation ceremony, the emperor’s wedding ceremony, or the birth of the emperor’s child.

The last hunting competition was the crowning of the crown prince, so it was almost a decade ago. But such an important event was going to be held for the prince of another Empire? It was clear how the emperor was thinking of the Kelteman Empire.

Looks like the emperor isn’t stupid. That was what I thought.

The emperor was concerned about the Kelteman Empire, which had established a new empire and gained momentum to take control of its neighbors. He must have known there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t cross the Harpion Empire, and who knew, maybe they had already decided to invade it. That was why he treated the envoys as distinguished guests. To slow down the spark of the war as much as possible.

I don’t know if that’s going to work. It won’t work if they’re already decided to invade this empire.

Arianne and Charter had the same idea. However, how many of the nobles in this ballroom know about this fact? Except for a few seasoned nobles who acted as the empire’s main axis, everyone seemed unaware of this fact. They were just happy to hear the hunting competition would be held.

Of course, the reason why everyone was so happy was because of the prize of the hunting competition. The winner of the hunting competition would be given the title of Baron. Only the eldest son could inherit the title. Male nobles below the second son didn’t have the right to inherit the title. For such people, the hunting competition to win the title of baron was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Perhaps today, all the families in the empire would go into an uproar. Each family would do everything they could to win the hunting competition. In fact, it was common to use unfair methods. It was because this hunting competition was a great opportunity not to be missed. Anyway, the hunting competition two days later was also an opportunity for me. Because I was well aware of the weak points of this hunting competition.

The next day, an official letter bearing the emperor’s seal arrived at each family. I immediately sent Madrenne to County Bornes to steal the official letter. It wasn’t difficult because Count Bornes wouldn’t be interested in this official letter anyway.

「* Notification of holding hunting competition *

  Those who bring this letter and attend are permitted to participate in the hunting competition.  Only imperial nobles are eligible to participate.  Only one member of a family can participate.  Hunting tools are limited to portable ones.  When two or more candidates for first place have the same score, the weight of the hunting object determines the winner.  The title of baron is awarded as a winning prize.

Beirut Forte Harpion」

My mouth was smiling when I read the official letter.

“As expected, it hasn’t changed.”

The participants of the hunting competition were always limited to the nobles of the empire. Nobles of this empire weren’t only men. Still, since women were usually recognized as men’s belonging, it was automatically imprinted in their minds that women couldn’t participate. So, women didn’t even think they were nobles and could participate in this hunting competition. While the men were hunting, they only watched in the shade at the corner of the hunting ground. Therefore, a woman has never got a title in history.

But I didn’t intend to just sit and watch. I would participate in that hunting competition as a participant, not as a spectator.

“I’m looking forward to your reaction.”

Arianne’s hand moved pleasantly as she traced the gun, which was put on the table.

It was dawn on the morning of the hunting competition.