I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

“Hmmm~ Hmhm~”

It was Madrenne who put on an apron and stirred the pot while humming.

“Is the meal done?”

“There you go again. Just wait a bit, Father~”

“What? Father~? What nonsense is this?”

Viscount Girol was fed up with Madrenne, who pretended to be his daughter-in-law out of the blue as if she was crazy. What a crazy woman. What on earth is Dale doing, leaving me alone with this insane woman and wandering off somewhere! He knew that Madrenne calmed down only when Dale was there.

Whether or not Viscount Girol shuddered, Madrenne was immersed in playing the newlywed couple.

“He’s late today. I’m worried that something might have happened…” Madrenne stopped stirring the pot and sighed, worrying about her husband, who had left work.

“Worry about your brain more. You really have an abundance of nonsense.”

Madrenne looked at Viscount Girol pitifully and said, “What should I do? Our Father’s eyesight is deteriorating, and his words are getting rougher… It seems he’s losing his mind.”

“What? Such a cheeky woman—”

It was then. Click. As soon as she heard the sound of the key unlocking the door, Madrenne ran toward the door, fluttering her skirt.

“Honey! Are you here now? How worried I… Huh?”

Madrenne tilted her head at the man standing behind Dale.

“Why are you here? What about Baroness?”

“Are you playing house comfortably?”

Madrenne blushed at the pitiful gaze sent by Bein.

“What? This is a disguise!”

“What kind of disguise is this?”

“Be quiet!”

Madrenne screamed at Viscount Girol’s reply.

“Dale, you bastard! How could you leave me alone with that crazy girl? If I continue to stay with that bitch, I will have a mental illness that I didn’t have before!”

Viscount Girol lamented his situation and blamed Dale. He’d rather be locked up in a solitary cell. Because if he continued in the same space as Madrenne, it felt like he might be strangled by her.

Madrenne did not blink an eye at the desperate screams of Viscount Girol. She could only see Dale’s worried face. “What’s wrong with your expression?”

“Come here.” Dale left Viscount Girol and led Bein with Madrenne into the one and only little room.

“What happened? Why is he here again? Is there a message from the Baroness?”

Dale closed the door and opened his mouth with a grave look. “Duke and Baroness are missing.”

“Yes? What happened? Didn’t they go on a honeymoon?”

“What honeymoon during the war?”

At Bein’s rebuke, Madrenne curled her lips inward.

What else can’t be done? They say that even during a war, love can sprout, and children can be born. She just thought like that. But she feared that she would be regarded as a strange woman if she brought those words out of her mouth. Madrenne didn’t know that Dale had already regarded her as a strange woman.

“How did they go missing? Are you looking for them?”

“The imperial family has dispatched a search party. They’ve probably crossed the border by now.”

Madrenne found something incomprehensible in Dale’s words. “Crossed the border? No way! Did they even get captured by the enemy?”

As Madrenne stamped her feet with excitement, Bein rebuked her for being careless. “Lower your voice. This is confidential. It’s not clear if they were captured by the enemy. Since they were swept away by the river, a search party is planning to search the area.”

“A river? What river? No way… River of Death? Oh my gosh.”

Madrenne slumped as if her legs gave out, and Dale supported her and put her into the bed.

What are the odds of coming out of the River of Death alive? Don’t tell me… they’re dead? That lady? The venomous person that seems like the needle would bend if she was stabbed by it? No… it can’t be.

For some reason, Madrenne burst into tears and buried her face in bed. Bein and Dale decided to leave Madrenne alone for a while and continued their conversation from a distance.

“So… I’m going to go find them. There’s also an official letter of cooperation from His Majesty, so maybe…”

“It won’t be easy.”

“I have to make it happen. If… so…”

Madrenne couldn’t concentrate on the conversation. She only had one thought. Lady…

* * *

Larut led me to a poorly built hut.

“May I do a body search?”

“You may.”

At Larut’s glance, a woman approached and began to examine my body from corner to corner.

“Hey! No, it’s a bit itchy there.”

Despite my groan, the woman’s touch didn’t stop. In the end, I could only enter the hut after being searched and feeling exhausted.

“You’re the Baroness of the Harpion Empire?”

The man who asked me seemed to be in her thirties.

“Yes. I’m Baroness Devit of the Harpion Empire. Excuse me, may I ask your name?”

At my words, he wrinkled his brow, revealing his displeasure. “Are you trying to find out if I’m royalty?”

“Yes.”

He made a shocked expression at Arianne’s confident answer. Normally you have to relieve the other person’s guard with excuses, right? But she was so confident in revealing her true intention that he couldn’t use the lines he had prepared in advance to intimidate her.

“…For what purpose did you come here?”

The war of nerves has gone out of the way, so we went straight to the point.

“I’m here to give you a chance.”

“Chance?”

I clicked my tongue inwardly as I saw his expression that he didn’t know what I was talking about. It seems like you can’t hide the fact that you’re royalty. It wasn’t just because your tone sounded like royalty.

In addition, the jeweled shoes with beads on them, the long jewel necklace that reached down to the navel, and the rings worn on ten fingers as if they couldn’t miss a single one were the typical outfits of the royal family of the Chewin Kingdom, famous for their extravagance. He seemed to be trying to slip away without revealing his identity. Still, anyone could see that man is of the royal family.

“Why is Harpion giving me a chance? The fact that you’re here means that Harpion also fell to Kelteman. I have no intention of accepting the proposal of someone who betrayed her empire and jumped into the enemy empire.”

Enok, Prince of Chewin Kingdom, had no intention of continuing this worthless conversation. He allowed the conversation just in case, but he couldn’t be fooled by the tongue of an unfaithful vassal.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. Harpion is still at war with Kelteman. There was a confrontation at the border, and I was swept away by the river during the battle and went south. Still, I didn’t betray the empire to join the enemy.”

“How dare you talk about lies! You’re obviously come out of the Kelteman camp!” shouted Enok, rising from his seat. It was obvious, but he was angry at the way she tried to deceive people by telling lies until the end as if she wasn’t ashamed of doing this.

“I joined the Kelteman camp for a reason and purpose.”

“Ha. Reason and purpose? Isn’t what you want for personal prosperity and wealth!”

“Of course, that’s the most important reason.”

“Get her out right away!”

There was no need to listen to her anymore. As Enok shouted, the entrance to the hut opened, and the soldiers rushed in.

“I’m here to suggest a way out alive for everyone.”

“!”

Enok, the prince of the Chewin Kingdom, was shocked by the completely unexpected words and forgot to breathe. Haa. Enok, who breathed heavily belatedly, immediately tried to comfort his trembling heart and asked carefully.

“Now, did you say there’s a way out for ‘everyone’ to live?”

“Yes. A way for everyone, including ‘Your Royal Highness,’ to get out alive.”

“Ho!”

Enok raised his hand and stroked his mouth. His mouth went dry, and his heart started racing. There’s a way for me to get out alive too?

When Enok beckoned the soldiers, the soldiers quietly left the hut. Enok’s hands were numb with tension, and he began to press his hands.

If you put on the ring like that, your fingers will feel numb. Realizing that I was looking at his hands with a pitiful gaze, Enok involuntarily pricked himself and quickly withdrew his hands.

“Ahem. So what’s the way?”

“Do you want me to tell you with my bare mouth?”

Enok felt both absurdity and shame at the sight of my cold face.

“How could that be? Do you want something from me? As you know, I’m a fugitive.”

I nodded slightly and said, staring clearly at him. “Yes, I’m aware of that. I also have a conscience. I have no intention of threatening you to give me even the jewels on your body. Let’s pay off this debt after this war is over.”

Enok’s body stiffened. All that was left of him right now was the jewels on his body, and he guessed she was aiming for those. But more than that. After the war? What do you mean?

Enok asked as he looked at her. “When this war is over, Chewin Kingdom may disappear as well as me. It’s unreasonable to say that you will collect the debt after that.”

“It will depend on how the war will end. I intend to end the war in my favor. That’s why I’m moving with the Kelteman Empire now.”

End war in her favor. It was a word that was impossible to guess or conclude. Does it mean that she will lead the Harpion Empire to victory and protect her own, or does it mean that she will cling to the Kelteman Empire and claim her share?

Enok carefully examined her eyes, expression, and gestures to find at least a little bit of the woman before him. But he shook his head at her relaxed attitude as if not feeling the slightest tension.

“Is it because the direction that benefits you will also benefit me?”

“That’s why I’m here to suggest it in person.”

What’s her plan? Enok was distraught. He had no way to retreat and couldn’t defeat the enemy, so he had no choice but to slowly die inside this canyon. It was his role to somehow hold out long enough for the rest of the royal family to escape safely.

Enok, who was fifth in the line of succession to the throne of Kingdom Chewin, was a person like that. A good card that is perfect to use as a way to show off to the public as a member of the royal family.

When informed by the king to remain in the canyon and fight, he accepted it. Because that was his position and role. But he never thought he would be shaken by the fact that she would give him a chance to survive. In fact, he wanted to stay alive.

Enok sighed in self-help. Right. I’m going to die anyway. What’s the big deal about being deceived by this woman? By now, all the royal family would have fled, so there was nothing to be caught.

It remains to be seen how to seize an opportunity when it comes, whether the string he grabbed was a rotten straw or a strong silk woven rope. It wouldn’t hurt to try it once.

“Alright, let’s hear your suggestion.”

“Before that, you must have something for me?”

Enok’s eyes widened at Arianne’s question.

“What are you talking about?”

“The proof that you owe me. Don’t you have anything like that? Like a royal seal, a royal family treasure, or something like that?”

“Ho?”

Don’t tell me she’s trying to trick me? Enok felt her suspicious gaze. His fingertips started to itch again, and he began to fiddle with his fingers. What is this feeling that makes it seem like I’ve definitely received an offer that I can’t refuse? Isn’t this probably the wrong thing to do?

“You don’t have something like that?”

A thought occurred to him that perhaps it would have been better to offer his neck to the Kelteman’s emperor.