I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

Charter was taken aback extremely. The moment he realized that she had closed her eyes and was waiting for the kiss, he had to hold onto himself, clenching his teeth and holding on to himself, shaken by the unbearable desires. He wanted to kiss Arianne’s lustrous red lips right away.

I want it? Huh. I must be crazy. Charter wanted to treat Arianne dearly, but isn’t it against morality to do that with a drunk woman? He could have said it with consideration for her, but to be honest, he was scared. Arianne was drunk now. What if Arianne didn’t like him?

So he gritted his teeth and endured, thinking what if she felt ashamed of what happened today or even disappointed in him for being impatient. But the moment he met her purple eyes, he realized he could never stand it. So, instinctively, he pressed the blood vessels in her slender neck and knocked her out.

“Haa, what should I do with this?”

Charter looked down at Arianne, who had passed out leaning against his arm, and let out a low sigh.

“It will be a mess when she opens her eyes tomorrow.”

There was no way that Arianne’s fiery temper would just let go of what happened today.

Charter, who was frowning, soon smiled and looked at Arianne’s face as if he had never felt worried. Glowing fair skin, neat eyelashes, voluminous… red lips under her high nose.

“Haa, why are you so…”

Lovely? Precious?  I don’t know. Is this the feeling of love? Whatever this feeling is, it is clear that I have good feelings for her.

Love. All his life, it was just a ‘word’ that had nothing to do with him. But after meeting this woman, he thought that maybe it wasn’t a simple word. There was no other way to express the feeling of missing someone day and night. He wondered if it might have been lumped together with the word ‘love’.

Has he ever cared about someone so much? Did he ever not want to miss someone’s every action or word? No. Luiden even told him, who was extremely cold to women.

“You too will meet the woman of your destiny someday.”

There seemed to be something called destiny.

“A year or so…”

He couldn’t believe he only had a year to be with this woman… He couldn’t accept it. Fortunately, he knew too well what she wanted.

Even so, he decided to put Arianne to sleep comfortably for now. He gently hugged Arianne and went to bed, then laid her gently. Sweeping her silver hair that hid her face, he looked at her for a while. And it wasn’t until dawn that he left her room. Even that left a lot of regrets.

* * *

“Uumm…”

I opened my eyes. Blink, blink.

What is it? I feel a bit uncomfortable…  “How did I fall asleep?”

I, who was pondering the situation before going to bed, quickly jumped up and shouted, “Charter!”

“I won’t leave you alone! I mean it!” I screamed when I heard Charter had left the mansion early in the morning. It was none of my business whether the passing maids were surprised or not.

“How could he set the mood first and knock me out?”

While I was upset, I held my hair, remembering that he hadn’t kissed me until the end. She even pushed her lips into the man that had no intention of kissing her… Is this what it means to die of embarrassment?

It’s alcohol. That’s right, it must be because of alcohol. “If I drink again, I’m not a person, but a XXX.”

Madrenne, who noticed my strong spirit, opened her mouth, “Baroness, calm down and listen to me.”

Madrenne had been calling me baroness since yesterday. A strange situation in which the young lady she served became a baroness. Nevertheless, my lips smiled until my ear and could hardly go down.

“I’m not in the mood to listen to you right now, so be quiet.”

“Please listen. In a few days, the queen of the Britana Kingdom will come to the Empire.”

I gritted my teeth and looked back at Madrenne. “I told you to be quiet. Whether the queen or the king comes, what does that have to do with me!”

Madrenne replied with a stunned look. “Because the queen is Baroness’s sister-in-law.”

“…”

Damn it.

Sipping the iced tea to calm my anger, Madrenne came over to me.

“Baroness, your aide has arrived.”

“Why is he coming late again?”

At my words, Madrenne shook her head and said, “From what I heard, it seemed like he walked for two hours.”

“What? Why?”

Madrenne spoke with a blatantly puzzled face as if she really didn’t understand how I couldn’t know the reason. “That. Because his house is at the top of the hill, the carriage can’t go there.”

“Ha. There are so many annoying things.”

There’s not a single thing I don’t like. My fiance knocked me out of the blue and ran away. My sister-in-law suddenly planned to come here, and my aide… Let’s not talk about it more. I needed a change of pace. What should I do to refresh my mood?

“I can’t stay like this. Shopping. Let’s go shopping.”

My father said people could betray you; however, land and buildings won’t betray you.

* * *

“Did you say… you would buy a building?” Bien asked in bewilderment.

She said he would go shopping today and suddenly said she would buy a building, so he couldn’t help but be surprised at the scale.

“Yes, I just happened to see a place.”

The place where I wanted to buy a building was an old residential area about 20 minutes away from the center of the capital. Buildings that were built more than 100 years ago made up the state, and they were mainly inhabited by commoners.

The reason why I had to buy a building in such a place was because of Count Bornes’s plan. Before my contract with Charter, I closely watched Count Bornes’s land plan.

If I were to become independent someday, the real estate side would definitely be the one I could use among many plans. I wouldn’t be able to make a living by working in the underworld.

Hearing him talk to Madam Irene, it seemed that there would be a reorganization of the capital under the leadership of the imperial family. I’ve heard him say that he would buy an old residential area cheaply, build a decent new building with the imperial subsidy, and sell it at a higher price.

One of the four districts planned for reorganization was District 3 to visit today. I, who looked around District 3 with Bein, was satisfied. Even though it’s a commoner’s residence over 100 years old, the capital is still capital. The buildings looked a little old, but the road was well-paved and a good spot with good sunlight.

I soon found a nearby broker. Then.

“What? A small house is 500 gold?”

As I shouted in surprise, the broker wiped the sweat off his forehead as if he were sorry.

“That’s… Recently rumor has it there will be a reorganization of the imperial capital. The price has more than doubled in the last two weeks.”

Two weeks. I wish I could turn back to two weeks earlier… Count Bornes probably bought it for less than half of this price. I felt my stomach ache. For me, seeing Count Bornes doing well was the hardest thing. Still, there’s nothing I can’t buy now. I would probably gain double of the price if the imperial family announced the reorganization plan.

I told the broker, “It can’t be helped. Can I see what you have for sale?”

“Yes, of course. Just in time, two items came out today. Let’s go see it together.”

Walking behind the broker, a rather old building caught my eye. No way. It’s probably not that building. The broker stopped walking in front of an especially old building among the many buildings around. I knew it.  

“This is the building for sale. It’s a bit worn out because it’s been empty for a long time, but it’s actually good for investment.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “That’s right. Can I see the other one?”

“Of course. It’s a little far away, but the house is tidy because it was inhabited until a while ago.”

The broker looked at my face and started to guide the way again. He said it was a little far, but it was really far away. Did I walk for five minutes? Among the small houses, I saw an exceptionally small and sloppy house. The broker, as expected, stopped in front of that house.

“This is the house. The owner is a very neat person, so the garden and the house are generally clean.”

I looked at the little house for a moment. There was a small yard in front of small-two story house, and a small tree that looked like a fruit tree was also planted.

“Hmm.”

As I looked interested, the broker began to act actively. “First of all, would you like to take a look? It’s now empty as the owner moved to the outskirts two days ago, and it’s empty now.”

I nodded, and the broker opened the gate of the shallow fence and began to guide me. The small and shabby garden seemed to be better maintained than expected. Small yellow flowers were planted under the hedge of the short-cut lawn. Entering the house, I scanned the house disheartened. The broker, who saw my expression, became more talkative.

“Even though this house looks small, it has everything. There is a small parlor, kitchen, and dining room on the first floor and two rooms on the second floor.

“What about the bathroom?”

The broker wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, “That… the bathroom is in the backyard. But it’s right next to it, so it won’t be too uncomfortable.”

I spoke with a still expression on my face, “So how much is this house?”

The broker’s eyes shone. “Yes. As I said before, it’s 500 gold.”

At the broker’s words, I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, then said, “Do you think I’m a fool? That’s the price for places closer to the center of the capital! Anyone can see this building is on the outskirts.”

At Arianne’s blow, the broker wiped his forehead with a handkerchief that was already wet and couldn’t longer absorb sweat. I can’t say this place is outskirt… However, it seemed that he would be at a loss if he answered her one by one. He knew very well that when dealing with nobles, it would be good if he admitted his own mistake.

“Ah, yes! That’s right. I was confused for a moment. This building is… 400 gold.”

A land as big as rat poop is 400 gold? He must be thinking of me as a pushover. “300 gold.”

“Pardon?” The broker’s eyes shook greatly at the low amount I threw.

In fact, the price offered by the owner was 320 gold. However, the greedy broker was visibly embarrassed because he was trying to rob this lady’s wallet.

“Oh my, Lady, 300 gold for a building in the capital is ridiculous.”

Then I asked him while raising my eyebrows, “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes? I don’t k—”

I curled up the corner of my lip. “Arianne Bornes. I’m the only daughter of Count Bornes.”

“Gasp!” The broker’s eyes were shaking incomparably compared to before.

As expected, it still worked. There are times when I use my father’s reputation. How dare you try to rob me?  I have to use my cards well. I hate my father terribly, but the reputation he had sometimes came in handy.

“300 Gold.”

“…Yes. I will sell it for 300 gold.”

He would lose 20 gold, but what’s the big deal? He should think that it was cheap for the price of his life. The broker, who had already started to get involved, just wanted to get out of this contract quickly.

“And that building earlier. How much is that?”

“It’s 500 gold.”

The broker was sweating like rain on his forehead as I looked at him. His handkerchief had long since lost its function.

“That’s really 500 gold.”

That? Look at this. He tried to inflate the price of the houses. Judging from the broker’s bewildered attitude, the building seemed to have been reasonably priced. Well, what kind of fearless fellow would dare to trick Bornes’ family? It was disgusting that he tried to deceive me a while ago. Still, I decided to forgive him because I found a better-than-expected building.

“Great. I will buy both.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Like a person who came back from the dead, the broker expressed his gratitude over and over again.

That’s right. If you thank me like that, can you show me some sincerity?  “How much is the brokerage fee?” I glared at him while asking that question.

“Fufu, what do you mean by fee? I am just grateful that you did business with me. Then, I will prepare the documents right away.”

“I see. You can leave first. We will take a look around some more.”

“Yes, I understand. Please take your time to see.”

The broker hurriedly left the house as if his butt was on fire. It was none of my business whether he climbed over the gate and fell over or not.

After that, I, who was looking around the house, said to Bein, “What do you think?”

“What do you mean? If you’re talking about investment value, the previous building is fine, but I don’t think this house is a very good choice.”

I opened my eyes and scolded him. “No. Are you really unaware? This will be your house.”  

“Yes?”

This time, I could tell without looking at this guy’s expression through those blurry glasses. I promised myself that someday I would see that guy’s surprised face. I won. However, my proud face was crumpled by Bein’s next words.

“I will decline.”