I Don’t Want to Be a Lady - Chapter 38

Author: alyalia

The next day, the imperial meeting room inside the imperial palace was buzzing from the early morning.

“Absolutely disagree! What do you mean by women getting a title? Does that even make sense!”

“That’s what I’m thinking too! I don’t know what the emperor was thinking.”

“He must have been possessed by a ghost. If not, how could he have thought of giving the title to a woman?”

“What kind of nonsense is that? Hasn’t the emperor corrected it yet?”

“Otherwise, why did he do that? I’m saying this because I don’t understand.”

Nobles in the meeting room were raising their voices.

“Quiet. Be quiet.”

Then, the silent Duke of Krow opened his mouth. At the words of Duke Krow, a powerful person in the empire, other nobles shut their mouths at once.

Duke Krow was in trouble now. This was because the situation had rolled like a snowball and got out of control due to the crown prince’s arbitrary actions. He was even told that the emperor threatened to abdicate the crown prince’s position if his nephew failed to bestow the title on the woman.

Duke Krow couldn’t let a woman have a title. However, he couldn’t just watch and see his nephew come down from the crown prince’s position. Because it could have given Luiden room to become the next emperor.

“My head hurts.”

It didn’t matter if the crown prince was stupid and selfish. He could continue to live like that if he later became the emperor and solidified his power. However, You fool! How could you get into an accident like this…

The crown prince went into hiding after the incident. He was absent from the imperial meeting, but no one was looking for him.

Duke Krow stared at the second prince and the expressionless Duke Kaien sitting opposite him. It’s more of a headache since I don’t know what that cunning guy will do.

This was a golden opportunity for the second prince to take over the crown prince’s position. Thinking that the clever prince wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, Duke Krow made a tough decision.

In the end, I have no choice but to give that woman a title. It was better to allow a woman to receive a title rather than give up the throne. It was something he only had to allow exceptionally this time. Later, the rules of the hunting competition should be changed so that this would never happen again.

“Your Majesty the Emperor is entering.” The chamberlain announced the emperor’s arrival.

The emperor, who entered wearing an unusually fancy uniform, sat at the top and quietly looked over the faces of the nobles who attended the meeting. The cold energy in his eyes caused the nobles who made eye contact with him to lower their heads without realizing it. As soon as she made eye contact with Duke Krow, he only stared at him for a moment with an unknown expression but soon turned his eyes away.

“Let’s start the meeting.”

At the emperor’s words, the nobles only looked at each other. Some glanced at Duke Krow, hoping he would represent them. However, Duke Krow couldn’t bear to talk. It was because what the nobles here wanted wasn’t what he had to say.

In the end, Luiden, who had been relaxed all along, opened his mouth first. “The agenda of this meeting, as you know, is about awarding title to Arianne Bornes, the winner of the hunting competition that took place just yesterday. If you have an opinion, please speak up.”

At the end of Luiden’s words, Marquis Hood opened his mouth. “

“We absolutely can’t let this happen! What do you mean by a woman receiving a title? This cannot be!”

“That’s right. How on earth did Count Bornes educate his child to let this situation happen?”

There was no answer from Count Bornes. It was because he was absent from the emergency imperial meeting today.

Upon hearing the news belatedly, Count Bornes realized that the bird in the cage, which he thought was docile, turned out to be a baby of a hawk. Although her cunning and meticulousness resembled his, Count Bornes was furious that she had lowered his prestige.

That day, rumors spread that an unknown scream had been heard all night in Bornes County. And about he missed the meeting on the pretext of being sick.

“You can tell just by his absence from the meeting. Isn’t that like father like daughter?”

Viscount Wales, usually jealous of Count Bornes’s power, undermined him.

“This hunting competition must be nullified!”

“That’s right!”

Count Merionus, who had been clearing his throat and seeing an opportunity among the nobles who mentioned the nullification of the hunting competition, opened his mouth. “Is there a need to nullify it? Wouldn’t it be nice to just change the winner?”

“Count Merionus, are you saying this with your son in mind?”

Count Merionus shrugged his shoulders at the words of Marquis Hood. “In fact, if it wasn’t for His Highness’s event, wouldn’t my son’s victory be certain? Let’s see… What did Lord Robin catch? Ah! Was it only just a deer?”

“Ahem,” Marquis Hood gave a hint of discomfort and continued. “Then, is it true that your son caught all the wolves by himself? Didn’t he catch it with the second son of the Wales family he has always been with?”

At the words of Marquis Hood, Count Merionus asked Viscount Wales, “You heard Marquis Hood talking like that. Is it really true that Lord Hulteban helps him?”

Viscount Wales hesitated for a moment to reply. “No, my son said it was true that Lord Drude caught them by himself.”

“Look at that. Isn’t it true that my son caught it alone?”

Marquis Hood’s face reddened at the words of Count Merionus, who was teasing him, and he was ready to attack him at any time like a raging bull.

“And why did Lord Robin participate? Even if he stays still, he will receive the title of Marquis, but isn’t he too greedy to take all the seconds sons of this empire to receive the title?”

“Are you saying you are participating in a hunting competition just for title? He participated for the honor!”

“In the end, are you saying he is participating because you couldn’t keep the honor?”

“That!”

Count Merionus laughed at Marquis Hood, who could no longer speak. Perfect, at this rate, my son is going to be the winner. He couldn’t stop smiling when he thought of his son.

Drude was a son he put aside, but he never thought his son would achieve this. In fact, a woman couldn’t receive a title, so he could just drive his son to be the winner.

“That’s right. It would be right for the second son of Count Merionus to be the winner.”

“I agree. We can’t give a title to a woman!”

The nobles began to take sides with Count Merionus. Lord Drude’s victory seemed to be set in terms of the atmosphere.

“By the way, speaking of Lord Drude… I heard an interesting story about him.” Luiden, who had been quietly watching the conversation, opened his mouth.

As his son’s name came out of the second prince’s mouth, Count Merionus looked at him with a puzzled expression. Marquis Hood also looked at Luiden, wondering what was going on.

“Those wolves. Is it true that Lord Drude caught them?”

To Luiden’s words, Count Merionus replied with a frown on his face. “I don’t know what Your Highness means by saying such a thing. Since my son said he caught them, of course, he caught them.”

Luiden ran his index finger over the top of the teacup in front of him, raised the corners of his mouth, and said, “It’s different from what I’ve heard. I heard he stole someone else’s hunt…”

Count Merionus finally couldn’t stand it and shouted, “What kind of baseless nonsense is that! No matter how much I tell you, you cannot undermine my son’s honor with such absurd words. Can you take responsibility for that?”

Luiden looked back at Count Merionus and said, “Can Count be responsible for your words?”

“Of course! Your Highness will have to take responsibility for insulting my son!”

Unable to hold back his laugh, Luiden bit his lip and covered it with his hand. At Luiden’s attitude, Count Merionus jumped up and shouted, “Are you playing pranks during the imperial meeting? Your Majesty! Are you going to leave His Highness alone?” The furious Count Merionus in the end raised his voice to the emperor.

The eyebrows of emperor and Duke Krow, who were quietly watching the nobles fighting, frowned. This was an era where the imperial power reached its peak, and no one dared to shout loudly at the emperor. It was Emperor Beirut and his brother-in-law, Duke Krow, who achieved that. However, such a lowly vassal raised his voice to such an emperor… It was an unacceptable issue.

Count Merionus saw the emperor’s expression and realized it belatedly, but it had already happened. There was no turning back. I can’t help it. I have no choice but to escape by citing the prince’s fault.

Count Merionus, who bit his lips, cleared his voice and spoke to the emperor. “Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was so furious to the point that I dared to disobey the sun of the empire. Your Majesty, what His Highness said is nothing short of insulting my son and my family. How can I just let this go? I beg your fairness to make a wise decision.”

The emperor, staring at Count Merionus with his head down, said to Prince Luiden, “Luiden, is what you said true? Can you prove it?”

The emperor’s low voice gave pressure. At the emperor’s words, Luiden rose from his seat and spoke politely, “How can I tell a lie at the sacred imperial meeting? I have the witness.”

“There’s a witness? If so, can you bring that witness here?”

Luiden answered the emperor’s words without delay, “The witness is already at the imperial palace. That person will come to the meeting room right away.”

The emperor nodded his head and allowed him to do so.

While the servant went to pick up the witness, Count Merionus began to panic. A witness? What the hell is going on here?  

The nobles gathered in the meeting room began to murmur. Everyone was about to wrap up the case with Lord Drude becoming the winner. Still, the situation became confusing when things took a strange turn.

“The witness has arrived.”

After a while, the attendant announced the arrival of the witness.

“Let the witness come.”

At the emperor’s instruction, the door to the meeting room opened, and a beautiful woman with silver hair appeared.

“That! That! What is that!”

The conference hall was thrown into chaos.

The witness was Arianne Bornes.