I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

The moment Dale left the cabin in the forest to get something to eat, eyes were watching him.

“Now is the time. Deal with Viscount Girol. I will take care of that knight.”

Orders came from the mouth of a man who was the only one in the crowd not wearing a mask. The masked man nodded and moved in perfect order. The sound of fallen leaves being stepped on the quiet forest hinted that something was about to happen to this forest.

“Oh my, Viscount Girol. Oh my gosh! You have someone else to trust~ How can you trust Count Bornes and hand over your land documents? Really, you’re a blind man.”

At Madrenne’s rebuke, Viscount Girol exclaimed as his face reddened. “What do you know? And where does a woman dare to teach a man! As long as I get out of here, I won’t let you go bitch!”

Madrenne widened her eyes and covered her mouth, pretending to be surprised. “Oh my! Why are you being so scary? Do you know who you owe your life to?”

Viscount Girol shouted with a huff. “Did the goddamn Duke Kaien tell you to treat me so carelessly! I will never forget what happened to me today!”

Madrenne covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. As expected, it was fun to tease him. There’s nothing fun more than touching hot-tempered people. Huh?

At that time, something rustling was heard in Madrenne’s ear. Something is coming. That’s a lot of people too. It mustn’t be Sir Dale.

Madrenne had a fairly sharp hearing. It was because she had to always pay attention to her hearing to prepare for the unexpected situation of her master while working as a maid.

Madrenne quietly grasped the gun she had placed on the table. When Viscount Girol saw this, his face became contemplative, and began to stutter. “D-don’t tell me! N… No. I-it looks like I was excited a little while ago. C-calm down.” Viscount Girol apologized hastily after seeing Madrenne’s smiling stiff face.

Madrenne turned to him, put her index finger to her lips, curled up the corners of her mouth, and said, “Shh.”

Viscount Girol’s face turned pale.

Standing in front of the cabin door, four masked men exchanged glances. Nod. A man carefully opened the door.

Creek. The old, ungreased wooden door opened with a sound. The man quickly looked inside and entered the cabin. When he opened the door and entered, there was an old table in the middle, and a chair beyond it was strewn with cut ropes.

“They must have noticed. Search all over the building.”

Soon, those who entered through the back door also scattered and began searching inside the building. Since it was a small cabin in a secluded place, the only space was a living room, one bedroom, and a kitchen.

“Here.”

One of the men beckoned as he saw the skirt hem sticking out through a gap in the room. The men approached cautiously, one grabbed the door, and the rest held daggers behind them.

Creek. As soon as the closet door opened, the men threw their daggers at it.

“This!”

“They aren’t here.”

At the same time, the closet door across from them burst open, and gunshots were heard.

At the same time, the closet door on the opposite side burst open, and the gunfire spread. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Madrenne hit exactly one person per shot. She came out of the closet after confirming that the men had fallen. She then glanced at men, wearing only chemise, and looked around.

When Viscount Girol saw the masked men lying on the floor, he slumped down on the floor and shouted, “They have come to kill me. I will die!”

Madrenne, who checked the fallen men, was startled and then scolded Viscount Girol. “Be quiet! There could be more of them! We must get out of here quickly!”

“They’ll come to kill me! Wherever I’m, they will come to kill me!” Viscount Girol lost his senses and began to shout.

In response, Madrenne slapped Viscount Girol on the cheek and said, “Shut up if you don’t want to die at my hands right now. Did you get it?”

Viscount Girol seemed to have returned to his senses only after Madrenne slapped him. Without even realizing that the maid had slapped him in the face, he grabbed Madrenne’s skirt and began to beg. “I’ll give you anything you want, as long as you get me out of here alive! T-that’s right! I will buy you a house and a carriage.”

Madrenne held on to her own skirt and said, shaking her legs to shake off Viscount Girol, who was holding her skirt. “We have to get out of here quickly, so let’s stop this…”

Damn it. Madrenne was speechless. It was because she made eye contact with three masked men entering the room. They saw their fallen colleagues on the floor and immediately held their daggers. Viscount Girol didn’t notice the appearance of other masked men and was still holding her skirt.

I can’t even run away in this state!

I can’t die like this. Viscount Girol, I’m sorry, but can you die…? The moment Madrenne thought of shooting Viscount Girol and ran away through the window, the masked man groaned and fell down with a sound.

“Uh?”

One of the masked men, who sensed something strange, collapsed at the same time. And finally, a long line of blood was drawn on the neck of the man facing Madrenne.

It wasn’t until the last men fell that a man appeared. He wasn’t wearing a mask, but that blurry-looking person turned around. Madrenne never thought of pointing a gun at that man. All this happened at an unbelievable speed, so it was just eye-opening. And the man disappeared without saying a word.

“Please… help me… I-I’ll give you anything…”

The tactless Viscount Girol was still pleading, holding onto Madrenne’s skirt.

Then the man drew his right arm along with a dagger as he left the cabin. Despite the quite deep wound, the man didn’t groan, tied his wound roughly with a cloth to stop bleeding, and disappeared.

A long time later, Madrenne remained there with Viscount Girol hanging on her leg until Dale returned.

* * *

It was early in the morning when the dawn began to break. A hand gently stroked Arianne’s silver hair as she fell asleep.

“Um… Stop. No more. Get some sleep…”

At Arianne’s complaint, Charter smiled pleasantly.

He held her head in one arm and looked down at Arianne, who was asleep. It was so thrilling to know that this woman, who had no unlovable side, had become his wife. Even spending the night with her wasn’t enough. Charter only regretted why God made the night so short.

If Arianne knew how he felt, she might have freaked out and run away. That’s why Charter decided never to show his heart. So that she wouldn’t run away fearing him. He couldn’t imagine a world without her anymore.

It was then.

“Your Grace, there is a message from the scouts.”

Arianne’s eyes flashed open.

“I’ll be out soon. Wait at the command tent.”

At Charter’s words, his aide disappeared.

“It looks like there’s going to be a battle,” said Arianne as she sat up, sweeping her hair.

Charter sat behind Arianne and brushed her hair instead. He sloppily but carefully put it together, tied it with a hair tie, and then said, “Yes. I think the peaceful time is due today.”

Charter was very regretting it this time. Now, when the battle broke out, it was hard to expect time to be alone with Arianne.

Charter put his lips to the nape of Arianne’s neck and inhaled her scent. The sweet yet delicate skin made him want to hug her again. But he didn’t forget that he was the commander. Soon, he held his desire, got out of bed, and said, “You can rest a little longer and leave later.”

He left the tent first, caring for Arianne’s last rest.

“Battle…”

Lying back on my bed and staring blankly at the tent’s ceiling, I recalled my last battle. At that time, I was thinking of Charter and didn’t even realize I had murdered people. It wasn’t until I confirmed the safety of Charter that I realized it too late and became shocked.

I couldn’t tell anyone, but my mind was full of it for a few days. If a full-scale war breaks out now, with my sanity, I would have to kill people of my own will. To protect my country and my family.

“It’s easy to say…”

Handling the gun was so easy that I could do it with my eyes closed. However, the fact that my gun was no longer pointed at the target felt like a heavy weight was weighing down on the corner of my heart.

“Tsk. I’ll have to check my gun when I’m thinking about it. It’s the best way to get rid of useless thoughts.”

I began to check my gun. It took a lot of time as I meticulously checked it than usual. After a while, when I entered the command tent, many people were busy coming and going in the tent.

Shortly after Madrenne and Dale left for the capital, an additional 100,000 troops arrived from the capital. There was an opinion that there would be no immediate problem in defending the border with this amount of troops, but I couldn’t be relieved.

“You’re here, Baroness Devit. Overslept in this situation… Tsk.”

I smiled brightly at Count Blac’s comment, then approached Charter and asked. “I’d like to hear about the current situation.”

Charter gave his aide further instructions, gave her a chair, and said, “It seems they will reach the plain in about two days. Their size is estimated to be around 100,000 people.”

“Only 100,000?”

Charter nodded. “Even if the Kelteman Empire unified the neighboring kingdoms, it would be difficult to subjugate all of them quickly. The conclusion is that such a local war will continue over the next few years.”

“But 100,000 is less than I expected. Is there any chance that it’s a trick? The possibility of invading with a large army after that.”

Charter said with his eyes shining. “As expected, your insight is beyond my expectations. With that possibility in mind, I keep sending reconnaissance personnel, but no such large-scale movement has been reported yet.”

“If that’s the case, I’m glad…”

It was somewhat an unexpecting aspect even to her, a baroness who hadn’t received proper tactical training. The Kelteman side must have sent scouts in the same way, and they should have known that the Harpion side had far more than 100,000 soldiers.

But only 100,000 soldiers?

Charter looked at Arianne, who narrowed her brows and was lost in thought. I have an idea, so don’t worry too much. I’ve already requested additional troops from the imperial palace. And to the Britana Kingdom…

He didn’t say it out loud because he didn’t want to interrupt Arianne’s time.

It was exactly two days later. The army of the Kelteman Empire appeared on the plain.