I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

“Hey! You idiot!”

I, who was shaking, couldn’t stand it and screamed out loud. In front of me, Bein stood with a miserable face, biting his lower lip in shame.

“Does it make sense that you can’t get a single shot after three days?”

“…”

“Even if Madrenne shot with her toe, she got one in the target!

In the past, I had once taught Madrenne for a while because she begged me to learn how to shoot. Despite learning half-heartedly, she shot pretty well. She suddenly shot with her toe, wondering if she could target like that. Interestingly enough, she got one shot at the target. Still, I scold her for blaspheming the gun.

Anyway, this guy, Bein, was not as good as Madrenne’s toe.

“You’re not good at it. Stop wasting bullets.”

“Baroness… One more time…”

I screamed. “I won’t! I can’t do it anymore! I can’t do it because I’m so frustrated! Practice by yourself!”

I couldn’t stand it and got up from my seat, then left.

Bein was really wronged. There had been nothing he couldn’t do since he was born and until now after he made up his mind to do something. Whether it was writing or calculating, he used his brain perfectly enough to be called a genius. However…

“I’m… not good at it?”

He thought he could master it perfectly in half a day if he learned how to shoot… Although he was thin, he was tall and had as many muscles as he needed. His physical condition wasn’t different from hers. But he couldn’t understand why Baroness Devit could do it and why he couldn’t.

It was a moment when he realized that God didn’t give him everything. Bein’s eyes redden involuntarily. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes to relieve his eye fatigue.

“Are you crying?”

Arianne, whom he thought had left, returned. Bein screamed out of rage. “Who do you think is crying?”

“You’re not? Even though it is okay to cry?”

Arianne covered her mouth with her hand and pretended to hold back her laughter. Seeing this, Bein’s face turned red with shame.

“I told you I’m not!”

“Bein can’t shoot~ Bein can’t shoot a gun~ He’s crying~ He’s crying~”

“Baroness!”

Where did she learn such a commoner song? In addition, it was a song that scratched people’s pride quite a bit. Bein, who was teased, stared angrily at Arianne. Arianne’s eyes widened when she met Bein.

This. Seeing this, Bein was stunned. He belatedly realized that he was in a state where he took off his glasses. It’s a big deal. Now that woman…

The face of Bein hidden behind the glasses… was truly magnificent. Under the thin, long eyelashes were the mysterious sky-blue eyes that could only be seen in the shallow sea with white sand beaches. How beautiful those eyes were. On top of that, it exquisitely matched his thin and long body line, exuding a more luxurious feeling.

Anyone who looked into his eyes fell in love with him unconditionally, regardless of age. Since he was young, he suffered a lot because of his eyes. Dozens of times he had been dragged into the alley. It wasn’t just women who dragged him in.

“What’s wrong with you?” shouted Bein, struggling to get away from the opponent who dragged him.

“Why? You seduced me with those eyes, and now you pretend not to know?”

“Who seduced whom…”

As he cried at the unfair and fearful heart, his opponent bit their lips and pulled him more roughly. Even the tears in his eyes were so tempting.

At that time, he thought that he would rather be buried in the snow. After picking up the glasses that were worn out to the point he couldn’t see clearly, he was able to avoid that kind of thing. Maybe that’s why he became attached to the glasses, to the point where he slept wearing glasses.

That woman saw those eyes. Perhaps she will try to harass me just like everyone else… They said he seduced them when they only just made eye contact. But he couldn’t get away from her now. Do I have to live like this for the rest of my life as a plaything for that woman? The moment he thought gloomily like that.

“What kind of eyeballs look like that?”

“Pardon?”

Bein wondered what this woman was talking about. When he raised his gaze, which had been looking down, he suddenly met Arianne’s eyes again. Then Arianne frowned and said, “No. The color of your eyeballs is a hit… I’m sorry, by any chance, are you blind?”

“It’s not that I can’t see.”

“Really? Then that’s fine.”

Arianne said thank God, and she sighed invisibly. No matter how arbitrary she was, she wasn’t a rascal who casually picked up other people’s wounds.

“…Is that all?”

“Then, what do you want me to do?”

Huh. Bein laughed in vain. What I want her to do… Ha.

She was the first person who didn’t have a crush on her even after looking into his eyes. For some reason, tears seemed to come out of the relief that was pouring in.

This woman was someone who couldn’t be judged by his standards. Although she seemed easy to handle, she knew how to cut someone coldly like a knife. Her words and actions were not like noble, but she seemed to be nobler than anyone else. Even though her viciously extraordinary head was hidden by her beautiful appearance and her endless greed, she was more humble than anyone else. Nevertheless, Bein didn’t hate Arianne. Even her eyes were under his chin— her extremely subjective evaluation of her who didn’t know his appearance.

“Then, don’t you need this?”

What she held out was his glasses. A very old, dusty glasses not his own.

“This…”

“I brought it from Sebastian in case you can’t see well because of those old glasses.”

“Then, what about Sebastian?”

“I don’t care.”

“What?”

Bein almost laughed again at the thought of Sebastian, who would suddenly stand there with his glasses taken away.

I noticed Bein’s thoughts and said with a grin, “I’m kidding. I heard he has extra glasses.” The truth is, I just stole it. There was no way the butler of Duchy had only one pair of glasses, right?

“Yes, I see. Thank you for your concern, but my eyes are normal. I didn’t wear these glasses because I have bad eyesight.”

I recalled that Bein said in the carriage the other day that his glasses were not meant to be seen. Is it to cover his eyes?

As if feeling sorry for him, I said while lowering my eyebrows. “Then is it because of the color of your eyeballs? Because they look like rotten fish eyeballs?”

“Yes… Yes? Rotten fish eyeballs?” Bein was taken aback. Everyone used to praise his eyes, saying they were seducing them or strangely attractive eyes…  “Rotten… fish… eyeballs…”

For some reason, Bein felt miserable. He felt it strange that Arianne didn’t fall in love with him, but on the other hand, he felt sad that his appearance didn’t work on her. It seemed that he felt regret that his appearance didn’t work.

Human beings were so cunning. Information about Arianne was updated in Bein’s head. That her eye for appearance was really bad.

“If it’s not an eyesight problem, take off your glasses and try again. I’m so frustrated that I feel like I’m going to shoot you,” said Arianne while pointing at the target.

Take off my glasses… Will it be okay? For Bein, taking off his glasses was a great adventure. He felt a strong rejection of the fact that he had to reveal something he wanted to hide. However, he was tired of shooting into the air for three days. His pride has plummeted.

Bein took off his glasses and aimed at the target, just as Arianne said. The target was clearly visible in his eyes. He held his breath just like how she had taught him.

Bang.

In the distance, a servant waved the flag and said, “You got it right! It’s 5 cm to the down and 3 cm to the right!”

There was considerable joy in the voice of the servant in the distance. He had been missing the target for three days, but this one shot made the servant very happy. A smile bloomed on Bein’s face.

As expected, it’s not that he can’t do it. It’s because of his glasses. I nodded my head once and said, “Well, that’s fine. Though not as good as Madrenne’s toe.”

Bein’s brows twisted mercilessly. Toes? Huh…

“Then practice more. I need to rest. You can leave after practicing a little bit today.”

“Yes.”

Bein clenched his teeth and aimed the gun at the target. At that moment, Arianne’s face was overlapped with the target. Bang, bang, bang, bang. The bullets containing his anger lodged in the center of the target. A distant servant’s voice announced that he had hit the target.

“Anyway, he’s a guy who needs a lot of hands. He even made me borrow these glasses unnecessarily.” Although she never borrowed it.

Now, inside the Duchy, Sebastian, whose glasses had been missing out of nowhere, was frantically trying to find extra glasses.

Anyway, I was tired, so I was about to take a nap, but then I changed my mind and headed to the greenhouse. Like in the mansion of Count Bornes, my resting place in this Duchy was the greenhouse. It didn’t have the cozy and cute taste of the small greenhouse I had decorated before, but the large, well-kept greenhouse had its own charm.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the greenhouse was the appearance of exotic palm trees growing high, as if they were reaching the top of the greenhouse. Every time I saw it, I was amazed. This tree only grows in hot countries…

“As expected, money is the best.”

I began to look around the greenhouse, making my own comments. Inside the greenhouse, hydrangeas, summer flowers, were in full bloom. The hydrangeas reminded me of the purple hydrangeas that madam prepared for me at my receiving title ceremony.

“The flower language is sincere… right?”

But was I really sincere? At first, I planned to leave after receiving alimony when the contract marriage was over. But now, I don’t know. Sometimes I just wondered what it would be like to stay here with these people. Madam, Sebastian, Korel, other servants who treat me with their heart, and Charter.

“But this is not my place.”

I shook my head. I wanted to live with my own power. Now, my father couldn’t longer bother me recklessly. Although I wasn’t equal to him, I was no longer his own, with me receiving the title.

Honestly, I didn’t even have to keep my contract with Charter anymore. I was given a 1,000 gold allowance every month, and it was uncomfortable for me to stay here by deceiving those who didn’t know anything. Still, why do I keep doing that? The reason why I stayed in this mansion on the pretext of alimony.

“Do I want to be… their family?”

For the first time in my life, I entered the fence called family. The sense of protection I could feel within the fence was a temptation I could hardly let go. And Charter…

“I don’t know.”

It seemed like I liked him, but I couldn’t figure out if I liked him as a family or as a man. I, who had been pondering, shook my head.

“Not as a man.”

Because she didn’t feel excited. Arianne, who learned love only through books, was mistaken that falling in love was someone who fell only at first sight. She knew too little to know that there was also love that was getting wet little by little like clothes getting wet in the drizzling rain. She only knew a little about the real world outside the book.

At that time, the figure of someone woke me up from my thoughts. Layla was heading somewhere with her maid, Leni, at a quick pace.  “Come to think of it, I forgot to kick her out.” No matter how busy I was, I had to do my job. I thought it would be better to get rid of that cocky woman soon.

“My precious eyes got dirty after seeing the bad things, so I should wash them off after seeing the pretty babies.”

I turned my eyes and walked inside the greenhouse little by little while looking at the flowers in the greenhouse. I liked the way they were perfectly managed at any time.

“If I get my own mansion, I should start by building a greenhouse and hiring a gardener.”

However, when I entered the greenhouse, there was already an uninvited gray-haired guest.

“Prince Paku…”

Then I saw that person. He was still here. It was a fact that I had completely forgotten. Let’s get out of here. Because I only get tired when we run into each other.

I was about to leave in a hurry, but he looked this way at that moment, and our eyes met. I pretended that I didn’t meet his eyes and tried to sneak away.

“Our eyes already met, so come this way.”

My lips pouted out. I should hurry up and chase him away first.