I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

Luiden had just received Charter’s message and visited his tent immediately. As he was about to open the tent and step in, he heard a man’s groaning.  

“Ugh! Uh, uh… Urgh!”

Luiden’s face hardened with embarrassment. Looks like I got the timing wrong again. She didn’t have time to disturb the couple’s private time, so he was quietly about to return.

“You’re here, Your Highness. That’s great. Let’s do it together with Your Highness.”

Arianne’s voice came from inside, and Luiden doubted his ear. Do it together? What? There was only one thing to do together in this situation…

Luiden seriously contemplated how to accept this. He didn’t know this couple had a preference like that, but he didn’t mean to criticize them. However, since he didn’t have such a sexual orientation, he was choosing how to refuse so that it wouldn’t be rude.

At that time, Charter appeared. He’s… wearing clothes. Realizing his misunderstanding, Luiden let out a dumbfounded laugh. But even after Charter came out, a man’s groans continued to be heard from inside.

“What is that sound?”

“I have something to show you.”

Charter nodded to Luiden as to follow him. As he followed Charter inside, he saw a man tied to the bed. The man lay naked, wearing only his trousers. His mouth is also gagged. What the hell is this situation? And what is Baroness Devit doing now?

Arianne didn’t even know Luiden was staring as she was absorbed in something.

“Let’s see if you will talk after this.”

Whenever Arianne’s hand moved, the man bounced and twisted his body as if having a seizure. However, whether he was moving his body, screaming, or shouting, it didn’t stop her. All he could do was groan and twist his body as he was tied to the bed.

“Baroness Devit. What’s going on here?”

Arianne finally stopped her hand and turned her head to look at him. “I’m torturing a sinner now.”

Sinner? What crime did he commit to be like this? And what on earth is that thing Baroness Devit is holding…

When Arianne saw Luiden’s gaze remain in her hand, she smiled mischievously, waved that thing, and said, “This one? It’s Charter’s quill pen… It’s a great tool for torture.”

As a master of torture, Count Bornes always developed a new and cruel method of torture. He first terrorized them mentally, then inflicted physical pain, and finally developed all sorts of cruel tortures that tortured both your mind and body. One of them was the so-called ‘laughing out of breath’ that Arianne was now using.

Luiden looked at Arianne with doubting eyes and said, “Is that so?”

Ariane decided to explain this effective method of torture to Luiden. “Everyone is mistaken, but inflicting pain isn’t the only way to torture. Does Your Highness know that unbearable pleasure also causes pain?” She waved the quill pen as she said it casually.

How on earth does she know about that… Luiden couldn’t understand what Arianne was saying, but judging from the condition of the man, it seemed that what she said was true.

“Ub! Uuuub!”

The man seemed to think that Luiden, who had appeared, might be able to save him. He looked at Luiden and began to scream.

“Ub! Ub! Uub!” Help me! Do something with this woman! Please! I will tell you anything, so please give me a chance to say something!

That crazy woman started gagging and torturing him without interrogation or anything. And the black-haired duke just watched her with cold eyes. Rather, the more he suffered, the more the duke gave an admiring look to the woman.

Both of them are crazy! They’re crazy bastards!  They should at least untied him and torture him. But what they did was shut his mouth, so how could he tell what he knew! The most terrifying thing was the madness in those purple eyes.

Did his desperation reach Luiden? Seeing him lowering his eyebrows and looking down at him in pity, the man’s eyes turned red.

Eventually, Luiden’s mouth opened. “This side must be the one he’s sensitive to the most…”

The man’s eyes widened. “Ub! Uuuub! Ub!” Hey! You punk! These crazy people! They’re devils!

And Arianne’s torture continued until the man fainted.

“It looks like he’s fainted.”

Arianne said regretfully at Charter’s words, “I haven’t even started yet? If he fainted at this level… he’s weak.”

If the man had heard it, he would have foamed his mouth, but fortunately, he had long lost consciousness.

Only then did Luiden demand an explanation from Charter. “Can you explain what on earth happened?”

Arianne, who tortured the man with a wicked smile, had no mercy, so he didn’t dare to interfere with her work. It was the moment he realized there was a scarier way to torture using a quill pen than stabbing someone.

Charter then said, “Last night, Arianne and her aide found Duke’s Krow spies.”

Luiden asked, widening his eyes. “Duke Krow’s spies?”

Charter nodded his head.

“Where is the rest? We have to deal with them before Count Blanc sees it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of them. He’s the only one who survived.”

Luiden let out a sigh of relief and slumped back in the chair. “Krow. He moved.”

“There was their hiding place between the canyons. Maybe they were going to meet someone there.”

“Someone…”

Luiden’s eyes grew sharp. “Who are they supposed to meet secretly at this border?”

“That must be Kelteman people,” replied Arianne.

There was no reason to have a secret meeting if it was to discuss a truce. Because the truce was something to be officially announced and met. Because his intentions were impure, he must have secretly involved the spies.

“I can’t believe he’s trying to communicate with the enemy by taking advantage of the war. What on earth does the Harpion Empire mean to him?”

Still, isn’t the duke of this empire? How could he have communicated with the enemy! Luiden closed his eyes tightly in a melancholy mood.

“For him, this empire is something like this. A means and foundation for preserving his place.”

“I’ll never be played by him.”

At Luiden’s pledge, Charter also nodded.

“Did something like that happen last night?” asked Luiden with a serious face.

“Seriously, Arianne always goes beyond my expectations.”

At Charter’s words, Arianne rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what that means, but I take it as a compliment.”

Charter raised his mouth and smiled at Arianne. “Of course, it’s a compliment.”

Luiden’s mouth opened wide. It was the first time Charter praised others. Because there wasn’t even a swear word disguised as a compliment in his dictionary. The idle talk about what happened last night surprised Luiden even more.  

“You knocked a man down with your bare hands? What on earth…”

He couldn’t even laugh off what she said as a bluff. Because the witness was Charter Kaien.

“This level of self-defense is essential. In order for me to survive as the daughter of Bornes.”

At Arianne’s calm words, Luiden tilted his head.

“Uuuuub!”

Then, as soon as the man who had fainted came to his senses, he screamed.

“He seems to have come to his senses.”

Arianne’s eyes sparkled at Charter’s words. Luiden stopped her from picking up the quill pen again.

“Wait, I think listening to him first is better.”

At Luiden’s words, Arianne disappointingly untied the gag in the man’s mouth. The man who had been awakened by someone’s touch opened his eyes in amazement when Arianne’s eyes met him.

“Ask me anything! No, ask me! Please don’t use the quill pen!”

Arianne clicked her tongue in annoyance. “This is too easy. It’s not fun.”

There were a lot of good words, like I wouldn’t say anything even if you put a knife in my throat. Step on me or something like that, right?

Arianne looked at the man. Seeing her like that, the man became contemplative and shouted, “I’ll tell you anything!”

For some reason, the man was troubled by the feeling that this woman would gag him again and torture him to death while pretending not to hear him. Indeed, Arianne wasn’t satisfied yet.

Shouldn’t he have to hold out for at least two days? He’s too weak. I looked at the quill pen and gag in my hand disappointedly.

Charter looked at Arianne with warm eyes as if every one of Arianne’s actions were lovely. I can’t let him off the hook.

Luiden shuddered as if he had seen something terrible. If he left those two, the sinner might die before hearing his testimony. Luiden, who couldn’t let that happen, stepped up. “Tell me everything you know. Every single one.”

The man opened his mouth. “That’s… Actually, I don’t know much…”

The man exclaimed at the same time as my brows were frowned upon. “The man! That non-existent weirdo knows everything!”

That wasn’t a big piece of information. I looked down at him coldly and said, “If that’s all you know, I’d be very, very, very disappointed.”

The man gulped down his saliva. His master was a cold-blooded man who didn’t show mercy. However, no matter how scary his master was, he couldn’t be as scary as the woman in front of him. Among vague fears and immediate violence, the man gave in to the latter.

“Viscount Girol. At the direction of Viscount Girol, I followed that man.”

My eyes widened.

Viscount Girol. What a lousy man. He must have roughly guessed what Duke Krow was doing. Even so, the fact that he’s cooperating must mean that he has decided to ride the same boat with Duke Krow.

I recalled the old man who had been pointing and cursing me at the noble cabinet meeting. I didn’t want to get along with such a person, but I needed him to plan my future.

I said to Charter, “We have to save Viscount Girol right now.”

Charter asked me back. “Did you say that we should save him, not capture him?”

I nodded. “Since he had made a mistake, there is a high probability that Duke Krow will eliminate Viscount Girol and destroy the evidence. Before that, we need to secure him.”

Charter’s eyes shone sharply. “I will instruct the knights under my command right now. But even if they drive all night to the capital, it will take three days.”

I then replied. “He must be hiding somewhere. Because he knows that his life is precious. There is a place where I expected him to hide.”

“Where is that?”

The corners of my mouth went up slowly. “The mansion of Count Bornes.”