I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

Renoah or Noah lowered his eyebrows and put on a puppy-like expression as he explained his situation. “If I tell you it was an unavoidable situation, will you forgive me?”

I sneered. “Forgive you? After making me come here twice?” I then added, “Even the Emperor of Harpion can’t call me twice. Understand?”

Noah squinted his long, narrow eyes and smiled at my fierce gaze. “If I had revealed that I was Renoah Valutis on the spot, what would you have done?”

I responded definitively as if there was no need to think. “First, I would have shot you in the thigh. Then I would have warned you not to send such dangerous things again.”

Noah shrugged as if to say, ‘See?’

“You see? If I had told the truth on the spot, I wouldn’t be walking around now. Isn’t it usually the latter that comes first?”

Isn’t it right to shoot if a warning doesn’t work? However, not many people actually shoot, even if they should. Noah felt relieved, thinking it was good to follow his intelligence and instincts.

“By the way, I didn’t know that Renoah Valutis is the crown prince of the Kingdom of Seruan.”

I secretly felt relieved. If he hadn’t been so cunning, it might have led to a conflict between nations. It didn’t matter if a few nobles became disabled or died. The Harpion Empire was such a country.

But royalty was a different matter. Even an empire that flaunts the continent’s greatest military and financial power had to adhere to the minimum laws between nations.

“By the way, you still haven’t told me why you’re looking for me?”

Noah asked. “Why did you come looking for me? And with the intention of feeding me bullets.”

I looked at him as if to ask if he was pretending not to know. “You sent a bouquet, right? Along with a love letter.”

A bouquet? A love letter?

Noah looked at me as if wondering what she was talking about, and I asked, “Did you forget to send a bouquet to celebrate Rowina’s coming of age?”

Noah tilted his head and asked back. “

. Is Rowina just now coming of age? I thought she was much older because she was so arrogant and rude. Anyway, a bouquet… unfortunately, I wasn’t in such a leisurely position.”

Noah was in a situation where he couldn’t relax for a moment due to incidents and accidents over the throne. Although he could have eliminated all his siblings in one day if he wanted, he didn’t. They were his family, no matter how insignificant.

Thanks to his unnecessarily affectionate parents, he had twelve younger siblings. And with the weakened royal authority, the powerful nobles were seizing princes and princesses to join the battle for the throne.

The current situation was that nobles, not royal family members, were wielding royalty for their vested interests. The royal authority could be stabilized by dealing with these nobles, but the royal family was so incompetent and entangled in interests that they were in a sluggish state. This was also why they couldn’t immediately deal with the rampant slave traders.

Right, unless he wanted to die.

Noah imagined Rowina’s reaction to receiving his bouquet.

A chill ran up his body from his toes.

“Then what was that?”

At my question, Gallion, Noah’s chief chamberlain, stepped forward and answered.

“I sent it. It’s basic to make an impression on the key figures of other countries.”

“…”

“…”

Despite the cold stares from Arianne and Noah, Gallion kept smiling brightly.

“Like you said, but that guy is very suspicious,” I said.

“Yes. I never thought I’d learn the saying ‘the enemy is close’ firsthand.” Noah responded.

“?” Gallion tilted his head, pretending not to understand.

Although the result was somewhat different from his intention, Gallion thought he had done his part.

In Gallion’s view, Renoah Valutis was an extraordinary talent. Too precious to sink with this collapsing kingdom. So, he sought a way to send Noah back to the Harpion Empire. A clumsy act wouldn’t make him leave. Despite his appearance, Noah cherished his family dearly.

There was only one person who could move such a person. It was Rowina Kaien. The eldest daughter of Duke Kaien, the most prestigious family in the Harpion Empire, and a peerless genius born to the most infamous villainess in history.

Sometimes, when Noah was alone, he would look at her picture, revealing where his heart was headed. If she had come in person, maybe she could have pulled this promising young man out of this mess. But…

Though it was bewildering, Gallion thought he could use this situation well. No matter the means, achieving the goal was what mattered.

* * *

Noah held onto me who said I would return with a disappointed look. “Since you’ve come from afar, why don’t you stay a little longer? I can spare two more days and accompany you.”

Despite the crown prince’s unexpected proposal, I replied indifferently. “Well. This kingdom is so tiny. I’ve already seen everything.”

Noah laughed.

Compared to the great Harpion Empire, it wasn’t wrong to call it tiny, but still, that wasn’t something to say in front of royalty, was it?

He didn’t know that Arianne said whatever she wanted, even in front of the Emperor of Harpion. Still, he thought it was understandable. She was Rowina’s mother, after all.

Noah felt they needed something special to keep this extraordinary person here.

“Your Highness, there are mercenaries, right?” As if waiting for this moment, Gallion whispered.

“

. Are you interested in mercenaries?” Noah asked.

“Mercenaries? At my age, would I be interested in mercenaries?” I replied.

Seeing the sparkle in my eyes, Noah smiled and said, “Coincidentally, the Mercenary Union is holding a competition in our kingdom. How about attending it?”

“Only mercenaries can participate there, right?” I said reluctantly.

Noah whispered to me with a sly smile. “Who am I? As the crown prince, I can get a couple of mercenary badges.”

“Power is the best. After money, of course.”

I decided to gladly use that power for my dream.

* * *

It was two days later. Noah and I sensed something was wrong at the entrance of the grand hall where the Mercenary Union competition was held.

“This isn’t what I had in mind.”

This situation may not be his fault, but Noah replied, scratching the side of his head when she said that he should take responsibility.

“This isn’t what I envisioned either, but okay.”

Noah stepped forward to grasp the situation. “Hey, can you explain what’s going on?”

He approached one of the mercenaries, exuding a fierce aura at the door. The mercenary, with a face scarred horizontally, turned to him and, seeing Noah’s mercenary badge, readily spoke.

“Apparently, the royal family permitted it, but the nobles came and said they didn’t care and to get lost.”

“So is that why we’re stuck here and unable to enter?!” Another mercenary shouted in frustration.

“Damn, this kingdom is a mess.” My comment made the mercenaries turn their heads to me.

“Who?”

When I proudly showed my mercenary badge, the mercenaries nodded.

“She’s a mercenary.”

“A beauty.”

“So handful.”

Huh? Everything was fine, but what was with the last one?

Seeing the mercenary’s arms, as thick as an average adult man’s leg, belittling me, my purple eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

My fingers demanded to draw my gun and pull the trigger.

I, suppressing my fingers’ madness, rolled my eyes.

Meanwhile, Noah was equally furious for a different reason. What reason did the nobles have to block a competition authorized by the king? It was a challenge to the royal authority and a petty plot to disgrace the royal family.

Noah’s fist clenched, making a crunching sound as he gripped the mercenary badge.

In the three years he was away, the kingdom had rotted beyond recovery. Had he known things would get this bad, he wouldn’t have left.

It was already the past, and he knew he would make the same choice again. So, he had to solve it now, at this moment.

I moved from Noah to someone raising their voice in the distance. A rough-looking guy who seemed to have made a name for himself as a mercenary and a pale guy who looked like he had never seen sunlight.

“Noah,” I called Noah.

Still fuming, his slitted eyes turned to me.

“You don’t know anything about what’s happening here today. Got it?”

It will benefit you, too.

I stroked the gun on her thigh and walked away with a bright smile.