I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

“How much time has passed?”

To Paku’s question, Dondon glanced at her brilliant golden watch and answered. “It’s bin less than an haur.”

“Why can’t I see her yet? Could it be that something is wrong?” Paku was in the process of regretting to death that he hadn’t been able to stop Arianne.

There was no way to stop Dondon. Once she made up her mind, she had to follow through no matter what. Not even the emperor could stop her stubbornness, so there was no way she would listen to him.

Dondon watched the chaotic frenzy movement inside of the tent from him, who couldn’t stay still. She then spoke. “Is she even your waif? Her husban is staying still, but why are yu being restless?”

Only then did Paku turn his gaze to Charter.

“Why are yu fidgeting like an anxius dog when he’s calmly waiting like dat?”

Paku snorted at Dondon, who gave him a sarcastic remark. Does that look staying still in your eyes? Don’t you know that person is destroying your favorite sofa?

Dondon didn’t know because her vision was blocked. Still, the left armrest of the sofa Charter sat on was already terribly crumpled. It had been long since the golden armrest, about as thick as a woman’s wrist, had lost its original shape and bent.

Whether she succeeds or not, it’s not okay for that human being to turn angry.

Dondon’s collection was the only valuable item that only had one on the entire continent. The price for destroying it… It’s none of my business.

Whatever happened to Charter, it was neither worth nor affordable to care for. Paku felt like his heart melted just from worrying about Arianne.

It was then.

“Your Highness, a movement has been seen in the canyon.”

“Huh? What? Are dey trying to slit her nek?”

“!”

“!”

At Dondon’s words, Charter and Paku’s sharp eyes landed on her.

“Huh? Why? If yu don’t wan yur eyes pluked out, take away yur gaze.”

“I’ll remember it.”

In spite of Charter’s subdued voice, Dondon replied with an expression asking where the dog was barking.  “I haven’t seen somewone who keeps deir promises despite saying ‘let’s wait and si’.”

If it seemed like he would become troublesome, she would have killed him from the start, so there wouldn’t have been any need to wait and see. It was a statement that overlooked the fact, but it was true.

“Get los. Don’t blok sunlight in front of me.”

Charter glared at Dondon once more and took an angry step.

“She’s… alive?”

Dondon widened her eyes as if she was really surprised and brought the telescope closer.

“The Chewing Kingdom army is coming out behind her. It looks like they’re trying to surrender.”

“No way…”

Frankly, Dondon didn’t have the slightest expectation that she would solve this problem. She was just spending her time for fun. She’s really succeeded?

Charter, who glanced at the bewildered Dondon, sneaked into the tent to avoid the soldiers’ eyes. No one sensed him moving except for Paku.

Paku could see through Charter’s movements without even needing to turn his head. Even Dondon, his blood relative, didn’t know about it, but Paku had senses that transcended humans. He had been listening to the conversation between Arianne and Charter the moment before.

There’s going to be an uproar. Well, it doesn’t matter. After all, what they were going to do was nothing more than trivial things. Of course, only Dondon was the exception.

(All. Be on alert!) At Dondon’s shout, the soldiers lined up and surrounded the Chewin Kingdom army.

“I’ll trust you,” said Enok once again, kneading his empty fingers.

“It’s already the fifth time you’re saying that. Just take it easy. Keep your hands still.”

Even flies bother Arianne less than he did.

At Arianne’s rebuke, Enok looked at his hand disapprovingly. “Did I really have to throw away all those ornaments?”

Arianne’s brows furrowed at the words that were still full of lingering feelings. “You must have forgotten what I said? You know what’s going to happen the moment she finds those ornaments, right?”

“…I haven’t forgotten. However, I’ve never taken off my rings since I was born…”

The Chewin royal family never took off the rings from birth until they died and were buried in their graves. It was because they were revered as sacred beings by the people. Each ring on each of the ten fingers had its own meaning, so taking it off was like giving up divinity.

Arianne suggested that he abandon that divinity if he wanted to live. Enok replied that he couldn’t do that, but in the end, he had no choice but to follow her will.

“What? Divinity? You claim to be a living god, yet you couldn’t even anticipate the enemy’s invasion and were about to abandon the citizens who followed you, all while seeking personal gain. If you ascend to the divine realm, I highly doubt you’ll earn any respect.”

“…”

He had nothing to say. As she said, the Chewin royal family was busy fleeing with their possessions as they were pushed back by the Kelteman Empire’s army and handed everything to Enok.

It was believed that the royal family of the Chewin Kingdom ascended to the world of gods after they died. However, even in this life, he has lived without a presence because he was pushed by his father and siblings. There was no way that his life would improve even if he ascended to the divine realm. He knew very well that after his death, his tomb would only be built in the shabby tombstone, not in a royal tomb, like other royal families who didn’t inherit the throne.

Even so, Enok didn’t regret that he stayed. Although he was far away in the line of succession and ignored by his other siblings, he loved his kingdom and his people.

“Your Highness! Is there a reason for you to be in this humble place again? If you call for me, I should rightfully come to you…”

“How can I tell you to come and go when I know you guys are busy. Don’t mind me. Just finish what you’re doing.”

Enok knelt down and raised the helpless farmer.

“It’s never easy to grow something in this barren land. If you need anything, come to me anytime. I will help as long as it is within my power.”

“Your Highness’s words alone are enough. I apologize for my inadequacy in not yet achieving significant results.”

Kingdom of Chewin. The reason why the kingdom could be built on this barren land was because of the gold. Placed at the point where the river slowed down, the kingdom ranks first in gold production in the continent. However, they were always short of food supply, so the Chewin Kingdom had to buy food from the Harpion Empire at a high price.

50 years ago, the king of Chewin started a war. This was because the price of food demanded by the Harpion had skyrocketed unbelievably. Their tyranny, which demanded nearly equal weight of gold for a piece of wheat, angered the king and sparked a war. The result was they were defeated. After that, Chewin Kingdom fell into a vassal state of Harpion.

The old farmer, who was ordered to grow the wheat of the Harpion Empire in this land by the king’s order, struggled for decades but continued to fail because the soil quality and quantity weren’t suitable. Their worries piled up day by day. The king had no patience, and they never knew when he would call them in to deliver results. If they failed the king’s order, god might abandon them.

“My father made an unreasonable demand.”

“Your Highness!”

The old farmer looked around hurriedly.

“Your Highness, please refrain from speaking that. I fear that it may incur wrath on you.”

The old farmer respected and followed the royal family as he should, but he respected Prince Enok with all his heart. Enok didn’t distinguish between human and divine realms like other royalty but rolled up his sleeves and cultivated the soil together.

“Your Highness…. this small man will sever you wholeheartedly until the day he dies.”

Enok smiled kindly at the old farmer’s sincere words.

“Then I will protect you until the moment I die.”

He forgot. That he has people to protect. Isn’t he really pretentious? Didn’t he just say he would protect them, but in the end, didn’t he value his honor more?

Enok willingly gave up his divinity to protect his people. If he didn’t give up his divinity, it was clear they would risk their lives to save him. At Enok’s declaration of giving up his divinity, the kingdom army became confused. But soon, it calmed down. It was because Enok begged them with all his heart.

“Please, don’t throw away your precious lives just because of me. I just want to live with you.”

Fortunately, the kingdom army accepted Enok’s sincerity and decided to surrender.

Arianne, who was looking at Enok with a much-relieved expression, spoke. “Well thought out. It’s best to avoid unnecessary sacrifices. What’s the big deal about pride? Survival comes first. Then you can break the back of the heads of those who abandoned Your Highness.”

“You’re… really hard to understand.”

“I’m just being realistic. We cannot move forward unless we acknowledge and accept the reality.”

“…Yes.”

Enok looked at Arianne again. She was also a noble, belonged to the ruling class, and possessed wealth and power. Those with such privileges had to constantly suppress and distort reality to protect what they had. They had to isolate and suppress their ideology by mobilizing all means, such as law and religion, so that the ruling class couldn’t dare to be greedy. Just like the royal family of the Chewin Kingdom did.

Enok too was vaguely aware of the absurdity, but he didn’t dare to step forward and do something. He thought that he didn’t have the strength to do that and the world wouldn’t change if he did anything.

But where did this woman get her confidence? Oddly enough, what she said didn’t sound like the nonsense of an immature person. Maybe, if he was with this woman… wouldn’t it be possible to change the world just a little bit? It occurred to him that.

Isn’t it worth trying?

He’s from a royal family, and if he succeeded to the throne, he would have the power to change the whole kingdom. Rather, despite having a better background than this woman, didn’t he not even have the courage to face reality properly? He felt guilty. At the same time, he was motivated. Just because he was far from the line of succession didn’t mean he had no chance in the first place, right?

Divinity and royal authority were hereditary, but succession to the throne wasn’t all about rank. He also realized that ascending to the throne wasn’t impossible if he worked hard.

What a strange relationship. He wouldn’t have thought of changing anything if he hadn’t met this woman today. He would have just accepted his death, and innocent people would have been hurt.

Enok though, raised his hand to block the blinding sun. Maybe there is a god indeed. Seeing how I met his woman.

He was the one who was worshiped as a god, but he wasn’t sure about the existence of god. However, when he got the opportunity to avoid death, which he considered inevitable, his faith naturally sprang up.

Aren’t human beings… truly hypocritical?

The sun, which greeted him as a full human after giving up his divinity, was exceptionally hot and overwhelmingly seething. He felt hollow without his rings, but seeing his hand that more perfectly blocked the harsh sunlight, he felt a strong conviction. Even a very small change definitely changed something. By the way,

“My neck is a little empty too…” His necklace, made of dozens of jewels, weighed about 3 kg. Enok spoke with a strange sense of separation and liberation on his suddenly empty neck and light shoulders.

“It’s far better to feel empty than to lose your throat. So lower your head right now. Because you’re not a royal at this moment.”

“…I understand.”

Perhaps she was a woman who was very direct in every word she said. Enok decided to keep his mouth shut.