I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

Author: alyalia

Clatter.

“Careful! You said we’d die if we got caught!”

Arianne’s complaint made Paku’s body stiffen.

“You should be careful,” said Charter, stretching the corners of his mouth. Paky gritted his molars and burned his will.

I will definitely make that man kneel before me.

Charter and Paku have been competing with each other in everything they do since they were together. I also noticed their competitive spirit but pretended not to know. I was just too hungry to meddle in anything like that. What’s the point of spending your energy on useless things?

Charter, Paku, and I moved like crawling forward. All around us was low grass and land. Unlike the Harpion Empire, this place didn’t have common trees, fancy rock cliffs, or at least large rocks. In other words, there was no place to hide your body.

This place was an open plain, almost deserted. No matter how dark it was, our movements seemed to be clearly visible, so we lowered our bodies as much as possible and moved. I was very anxious though.

“Stop. I can see their tents now,” said Paku, who took the lead and stopped.

I carefully raised my head to check, and there was something in the distance that looked like a dot. Is that a tent? How good is his eyesight?

Paku explained as if he had read my thoughts. “The nomadic people have very good eyesight. They can recognize their surroundings until this distance, so we have to be more careful in the future.”

I nodded and said, “Anyway, it’s too open that there’s nowhere to hide, so how do we get there without being noticed?”

Paku opened his mouth, looking ahead. “To be honest, there is no way to approach without being caught.”

“What do you mean?”

Why did he say that after we came all the way here? I grabbed a handful of grass before me and trembled with anger.

“Someone has to be the bait.”

The power of my grasp was loosened. Taking a moment to think, I said, “You said someone would die if they got caught?”

“Nine out of ten will die,” replied Paku indifferently.

I thought while looking at him, who said such a serious thing as if he was talking about someone else’s business. Should I kill him? No, it’s not worth killing him like this. Anyone had to be considered dead the moment they became bait. In that case…

Arianne’s eyes turned to Paku. Paku calmly accepted her gaze as if he knew what she was thinking. He had already made a decision to be the bait. His life had already been saved by her once. If he used it for her, he considered it to be worth it.

Paku said, pointing to the riverside. “It will be safer to approach the river as the moonlight reflects on the water. I’ll run the other way.” After speaking, he moved his body without delay, as if he had no regrets.

Tuk. There was a hand holding the hem of Paku’s clothes.

“Wait a minute.”

It was Arianne.

“I never asked you to be a bait. Let me think for a moment.”

Of course, I thought about it, but I never said it out loud. It was something that should never have happened.

I didn’t want to be blamed. I knew the most efficient way was to sacrifice him, but I had bought some time out of reluctance for some reason. Maybe we wouldn’t find out the other way. And… umm…

Oh my gosh. No matter how I think about it, is there only one answer? If he came forward again, I wouldn’t stop him this time. So I just need to hold him back once, right?

Paku felt good inside. In many ways, she was worried about his safety in a situation where he would be the bait. But things weren’t going smoothly. It was either two alive or all three died. Whether Charter died or not was none of his business. But Arianne was different. He wanted to save her.

Paku had foolishly pretended not to know his feelings, but he already knew. That he loved her. Otherwise, why would he jump into the battlefield, into the river, just to save her? The feeling was too deep to consider it just as payment for the benefactor who saved his life.

However, he intended to hide his feelings. It was a feeling she wouldn’t accept anyway. That’s why he chose to shut up, thinking that he would only add a burden on her heart. But there was something he needed to say. He came all the way to the border to tell her this.

“Soon, we will move 3 million troops from the Kelteman. Please take shelter in a suitable place.”

“What do you mean? 3 million…” I asked in bewilderment.

“No way. Have they already subjugated the neighboring kingdoms?” Charter muttered low.

He couldn’t take any more time. Paku tried to move again. However, my hand gripping his clothes’ hem became strong again.

“You. Why are you saying this? No way, is this a will?”

It was an extremely confidential matter. As the prince of the Kelteman Empire, telling the enemy of their plans was tantamount to treason.

I was confused by the incomprehensible situation. Why did Paku volunteer to be the bait? And why did he hint at their secret plan?

Paku looked at me warmly as if he was trying to remember me for the last time. Then he said, smiling mischievously, “You seem to consider me as a softy.  I’m not a man who grew up as beautiful as Duke Kaien. It’s not even a difficult task to outsmart them. Don’t worry; just steal their horse and go home.”

Having finished speaking, Paku ran toward the other side of the river.

“You!”

I looked at Paku, who was already far away and gritted my teeth. Under the circumstances, it was right for Paku to become bait and turn the enemy’s eyes. But… I felt reluctant. An unknown discomfort disturbed me. Then a large hand was placed on my shoulder.

“Charter…” I looked at him with dizzy eyes.

Charter didn’t feel at ease either. But there was no other way. And like himself, he knew Paku wanted Arianne to stay alive.

“I think it’s better to steal their horse first and then find Prince Paku.”

My eyes widened at Charter’s words. I thought he’d calmly ask us to leave him. Judging from the relationship between Charter and Paku these days, I thought he would leave him behind or even abandon him. But did Charter feel bad about it? Or is this how men are supposed to be?

Charter was going to save Paku. He had to save him and ask him. Why did he give them such information? And what on earth did Arianne mean to him?

It was then.

“%&^*!^*&”

A voice came from afar.

“Looks like they’ve already found him. We must hurry.”

Charter and I lowered our posture and ran toward the river. After a while, a group of people on horseback disappeared toward the place where Paku ran. We approached the Surg tribe’s tents along the river.

“There aren’t many people left. Let’s find horses.”

We circled the tent to find horses, avoiding their gaze. There were about 10 horses left in the fence that had been woven together.

“Fortunately, there are horses left. Let’s go.”

We each mounted our horses. Charter took the reins of another horse. It was for Paku.

This is it! I drove the horse first, followed by Charter. It’s done.

At that moment, a group of people suddenly poured out from inside the tent. Then, they threw something that strangled Charter and me. It was a snare trap.

“Charter!”

I tried to get out of the snare, but it became difficult to sit on the horse when the snare began to pull the rein. Eventually, I fell off the horse.

Biii. The impact of falling to the ground made my head go blank, and I felt tinnitus for a moment. Although I was distraught and in pain, I quickly got up and threw off the snare. Shaking my head a few times to try to come to my senses, I looked for Charter.

Pow. Pow. Fortunately, Charter seemed to be safe. He had already loosened the snare and was fighting with several men. In an instant, three of the men who were confronting him fell to the ground.

I glared at the man approaching me, but I jumped at him first. As I grabbed the careless man’s leg and knocked him down, I banged his head on the ground, which made him let out a painful groan. As soon as I tried to finish up the man, I witnessed other men approaching me.

I’m gonna get caught at this rate. I quickly glanced around and saw a woman. Even in the midst of this commotion, she had a relaxed attitude, not knowing what the situation was. It’s you!

I approached the woman, avoiding the men running toward me. Then, I hugged the woman from behind. With one hand, I pulled out the gun from my thigh, pointed it at the woman’s temple, and shouted, “Stop right now! Otherwise, I will shoot her!”

As I expected, I could see the men hesitated. Since women are precious to the nomadic people, she’s perfect for a hostage.

I turned left and right so that they could see the gun I aimed at the woman. Then I whispered quietly in the ear of the woman who must have been frightened.

“I won’t hurt you, so don’t worry. We’ll just talk and leave.”

It didn’t matter if the woman didn’t understand me. I just meant to let her know I didn’t mean to hurt her. And the gun pointed at the woman’s head was just for intimidation. The gun soaked in the river was already useless. They wouldn’t know the truth, so we would have taken the horses with this momentum.

I shouted at the men. “Let him go!”

Although our language was different, the men seemed to understand what I wanted. They stared straight at me, then willingly moved away from Charter.

“Get three horses ready! I will release this woman in the right place!” I pointed at the horse with my fingers and opened three fingers.

Charter then approached me. “Arianne, are you okay?” His eyes were suddenly stained with astonishment.

At that moment, I felt the woman I was holding pull my arm strongly. In an instant, my body collapsed, and the world turned upside down.

Puck. I groaned naturally at the pain that I felt in my back. “Ugh.”

I’m going to die. Once when I fell off my horse, and now again. I couldn’t come to my senses when I fell to the ground twice in a row.

The woman from before looked down at me, who was groaning on the ground, and said, “I thought you were just a horse thief, but you’re from the Harpion Empire, right?”

The woman smiled, showing her teeth as if she had found something very interesting. I thought the woman’s sharp teeth were like the fangs of a beast.