I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

“What else is this?”

 

A shrill sound came out of my mouth, startled by the man who suddenly grabbed my wrist. The man who smirked at my words stood up from his seat, still holding my wrist.

 

I knew his legs were long enough to block the alley when he was sitting, but when the man stood, he was bigger than I thought. Facing the dark gray short hair, tanned skin, and yellow eyes like those of a wild beast, I felt the chill in the man’s eyes.

 

“What is it?”

 

Paku looked down at Arianne’s sharp question without saying a word.

 

What… is this? I grabbed this woman by her wrist without realizing it.

Paku himself wondered why he grabbed this woman’s wrist. Perhaps it was to say a word to the wicked woman who was about to step on him rather than help him. There was no need to do that, but he seemed angry for some reason. 

By the way… I grabbed her wrist, but what should I say now?

 

“What are you doing! Can’t you let go of my hand right now!” shouted Arianne fiercely.

 

Arianne felt a moment’s fear at the man’s size and gaze. Still, from the moment he took hold of her wrist without permission and had no intention of letting go, she expressed her anger at the man.

 

This… woman has a pretty face. But her personality is so fierce.

Usually, most women were scared the moment they faced Paku. However, this woman seemed scared, but she was shouting as if she wouldn’t lose to her scare, just like a kitten raising its fur straight toward its enemy.

Interesting. 

 

Paku’s playfulness kicked in when he saw the little, sassy woman-like kitten looking up at him full of thorns.

Should I scare her in moderation? 

After the little intimidation, he was going to admonish her on what it means to be minimal as a human being.

 

“Lady, do you have some time?”

 

What? Ha! As expected.

Drunk in broad daylight, lying down in the alley, means his life at the bottom of society. I wasn’t a woman that scared of molesters. Because I knew how to deal with big men. I immediately kicked the man’s shin without mercy.

 

Paku had never thought that the small, fragile kitten in front of him would dare to attack him, so he was attacked in a defenseless state.

 

“Urgh!”

 

Paku’s center of gravity was disturbed by her unexpected sharp attack. Just as Paku grabbed hold of his shin, Arianne’s wrist loosened from his grip, so she wrapped her right hand with his left hand and raised her right elbow as hard as she could toward the man’s chin.

 

Tak. Crack.

 

Paku’s eyes were dizzy at the sound of his bone cracking.

 

Wow. This is really… a ferocious kitten.

It was his last impression before he lost consciousness. The strong shock that struck his brain caused Paku to faint.

 

“Kyaa! Lady! Did you break his bone?”

 

Madrenne screamed and made a fuss belatedly. I, who confirmed that the man had fallen, stared at Madrenne and said, “What are you saying now? My clothes are torn like this because I moved this much. Tsk.”

 

I grumbled, looking into the torn in armpit. Anyway,

 

“Where the hell is the jeweler!”

 

A few minutes later.

 

Paku opened his eyes. After confirming that he was the only one in this messy alley, he smirked.

 

“It’s ridiculous.”

 

It wasn’t even funny to be knocked out by a poor Harpion woman.

 

“I can’t even tell this anywhere else. The news that Paku was beaten up by a woman and fainted. Pfft, hahaha.”

 

Only a loud but pitiful laugh rang out in the alley.

 

* * *

 

“Good work, Sir Dale. Let’s go now.”

 

There were ups and downs, but I did a satisfactory deal at the jeweler, and I felt better when I changed into the light sky blue dress that I liked in the boutique.

 

The banquet dress was originally meant to be customized, but they couldn’t finish it until the day of the banquet, which was in the next few days. I picked one of the dresses on display, mended it to fit my measurements, and got it delivered on the morning of the banquet. I should be satisfied that I could get the dress ahead of everyone else, thanks to Charter’s information.

 

When I returned to the duchy, Sebastian greeted me with a somewhat uneasy expression.

 

“Lady Arianne. That… Lady Layla is waiting for you.”

 

The mansion’s servants noticed that Layla and Arianne’s relationship wasn’t good. Of course, they were all on Arianne’s side, but for now, Layla was staying as a precious guest, so it was pretty confusing for them.

 

I said with a friendly smile to Sebastian, who carefully conveyed her words with an apologetic expression.

 

“Really? I see, Sebastian.”

 

Sebastian then looked at me with a worried look on his face.

 

Thank you for worrying about me.

 

I pretended to be okay, but my mood subsided, which had been soaring with satisfying shopping.

 

As expected, Layla was still out of her mind.

 

I wondered if she could just quietly sit in the corner of the room… But it looked like she wanted a dragon to kick her out as soon as possible.

 

When I entered the parlor, Layla was sitting on the sofa with her eyes closed, and behind her was a maid staring at me.

 

Why is she staring at me like that? 

I was stunned to see a maid staring at me. However, it didn’t seem like the maid was staring at me. It was Madrenne who the maid was staring at.

 

“Madrenne, who is she?”

 

“Ah, she’s just a maid who shares a room with me. She turned out to be Lady Layla’s exclusive maid. She helped me to adapt here.”

 

Madrenne said as if it was not a big deal.

 

It looked like Madrenne had taken action in the meantime. Perhaps sooner or later, she will take over the servants of this place as well. Madrenne had the ability to do so. That’s why I brought her along.

 

“Well done.”

 

This kind of thing deserves praise. I didn’t bother to hide the raised corners of my lips and approached Layla.

 

“Have you waited long? Lady Layla.”

 

At my call, the corners of Layla’s lips twitched and rose. If she can’t laugh brazenly, she will just stare at me. I felt sorry for Layla, who tried to pretend to be educated.

 

“No, I just sat down. Where were you going?”

 

Seeing if there was anything in Madrenne’s hand, she seemed curious about what I had done.

 

“Just, I’ve been looking around the town.”

 

I had no intention of giving Layla advance information about the upcoming banquet.

 

“It seemed I was disrespectful yesterday, so I would treat you to a cup of tea.”

 

“Disrespectful? What are you talking about?”

 

Layla’s face hardened when I asked with a look of not knowing which of the many disrespects she was talking about.

 

What the hell will she do when she can’t control her expressions?

 

Layla, who saw my bored face, tried to raise the corners of her mouth and continued.

 

“I want to apologize… for showing that side of ‘me and him’ in front of his fiancée. It’s something I’ve always done, so I acted without thinking. Still, ‘for now,’ his fiancée is you… so I think you must have been offended.”

 

After finishing speaking, Layla took a sip of tea and examined my reaction with a look of anticipation on her face.

 

This is it?

 

Layla’s provocation was simply at the level of a ten-year-old child. Saying that I’m his best friend, so you don’t have a place to fit in.

 

By mentioning the words’ me and him’ and ‘for now,’ she seemed to want me to feel jealousy or a sense of crisis in my position as Charter’s fiancée. But Layla didn’t know about my contract with Charter, so she targeted my feelings. There should be emotions to be hurt, but without them, Layla’s provocation was completely useless.

 

“Oh my gosh. Lady Layla, I guess you still haven’t figured it out. Your boy friend was with me in my room last night. There’s nothing uglier than a woman who grieves for a man who has already lost his heart.”

 

Layla widened her eyes and said, “Did you spend the night together?”

 

I covered my mouth with my hand and said shyly, “He doesn’t even want to be away from me even for a second.”

 

Layla’s mouth opened wide.

No way. That Charter… embraced her?

 

Charter has been a man who wasn’t swayed by the temptations of any women, including herself. Even when his cold eyes, which contain no emotions at all, looked at her didn’t stop her from seducing him.

 

But what so special about this girl that he got engaged and spent the night together? Anything else than a little prettier?

Layla, unable to bear her anger, trembled her hands and then spilled the tea into her dress.

 

“Kyaa! Lady! Your dress…”

 

Layla’s maid jumped in surprise. The dress that Layla wore today was her most prized expensive dress, so the maid was worried it might leave stains on it.

 

“Lady Layla, let’s hurry up and go upstairs before you ruin your clothes. I enjoyed talking to you today.”

 

With Arianne’s relaxed attitude, Layla glared at her as if she was going to rip her to, then turned her body enough to hear a swish and left the parlor. There was nothing she could do with that cheeky woman right now, and she couldn’t stand the stains on her favorite dress.

 

“Leni! Follow me quickly!!”

 

After Layla and her maid left the parlor, I said, leaning my back on the sofa, “It’s annoying… I should hurry up and chase her away.”

 

Madrenne, who was watching from behind, said, “By the way, Lady. You slept alone last night, didn’t you?”

 

“What do you know? We were indeed in the room together.”

 

I finished speaking, took a cup of tea, and leisurely sipped it. The sweet scent of flowers spread in my mouth.

Ah. So sweet.

 

Anyway, it’s not an ordinary bet.

Madrenne thought she could see many exciting sights if she was by Arianne’s side. The anticipation of what else Arianne would do in the future and how to face she could go was raising her expectations.

 

As a maid, can there be anything more proud than the master you serve at the pinnacle of society? That would also raise your status.

 

Madrenne saw that potential in Arianne. No, she was sure about it. That Arianne will be more famous than anyone else in this empire. That she will show off her unrivaled presence more than anyone else.

 

But for a while after that, Arianne couldn’t do anything interesting. It was because the premarital class from Madam Kaien immediately began.

 

There were more things to do and care about the life of a noble family than I had thought. Time passed in an instant without even taking a moment to catch my breath. I had to learn everything from managing the family budget to small family customs and etiquette. A week later, as madam went to the meeting, there was a chance to take a breather.

 

“Madrenne, let’s get out. I can’t let this go because my body feels heavy.”

 

“Where are we going? Are we going shopping?”

 

At Madrenne’s hopeful question, I said, raising the corner of my lips, “No. To the shooting range.”

 

Madrenne’s lips popped out sulky.