I Don’t Want to Be a Lady - Chapter 39

With Arianne’s appearance, the meeting hall quickly turned into chaos.

“How dare a woman to enter the meeting room!”

“How can a woman without a title step into the sacred noble meeting?”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

“Huh. What the.”

A variety of complaints erupted. Seeing them like that, Luiden’s expression didn’t shrink at all. It was the same for Arianne. Since this was the reaction she had already expected, she wasn’t particularly flustered. Charter was just sticking to his expressionless face.

The emperor, who had been looking at Luiden, soon showed his affection for that child. It was different from the crown prince who committed and just watched. Nothing was missing in him, such as the ability to grasp the situation, the ability to cope, intelligence, and courage. He only had one flaw. The fact that he wasn’t the empress’s child and was the second son could be said to be the emperor’s fault.

Duke Krow felt the same way. What the hell is that needlessly smart prince trying to do this time?

“Everyone be quiet. Arianne Bornes, what are you doing here?”

“Your Majesty, I come here as the witness.”

Noticing that the situation was going strange, Count Merionus hurriedly said, “Even if you’re the witness, we cannot bring a woman into the sacred noble meeting. Moreover, the witness only comes from one side. Shouldn’t you call for a witness from my son’s side too? This kind of biased action is unacceptable!”

Luiden replied with a smile at Count Mariounus’s words. “Of course, Lord Drude was also called. He’s probably coming now.”

Count Merionus soon began to feel uneasy about Luiden’s confident attitude. What the hell is going on here? Could it be that Drude lied to me?

It was strange when he thought about it. There was no way that his pathetic son, who was busy chasing after women, taking the back seat in swordsmanship, shooting, or studying, suddenly improved his skills.

Hulteban was also an idiot who followed Drude, but for them to catch three wolves? It was impossible even for Robin Hood or Glock Colt.

To believe his words… I was crazy. Count Merionus belatedly realized his mistake. Even so, he couldn’t understand why Arianne attended this meeting as a witness.

Did she happen to see him taking away someone else’s hunt? Drude, you idiot! If you’re going to do your job, do it right. You made a mistake by leaving a witness.

Having no trust in his son, he was already convinced of his son’s wrongdoing. Now there was nothing he could do. If it was revealed that Drude had taken someone else’s prey… Our family will be doomed.

Count Merionus was dizzy with the feeling of losing blood in his head. He slumped to his seat and closed his eyes tightly.

After a while, Drude and Hulteban arrived and were guided to the pre-arranged seats. Arianne also sat down, but she wasn’t longer blamed for it.

Others also knew the situation was going strangely, so they couldn’t speak up hastily. They just wondered what had happened. Since ancient times, watching other people’s fights was the best entertainment, so they were just going to quietly watch it.

“Sir Drude, did you catch three wolves by yourself?” The emperor spoke first.

The emperor was already aware of how the board worked. Luiden, who planned all of this, was just simply watching. Of course, even if this didn’t happen, Duke Krow would have helped her to get the title on his own, but he was probably trying to make sure he didn’t get any backlash. The emperor asked Drude with a solemn face as if he knew nothing.

Shortly after Count Merionus left for the imperial palace, Drude visited the imperial palace with a servant coming from there. When he asked about what happened, the servant only said that she had nothing to say and repeatedly asked him to follow.

What’s the point of calling Arianne Bornes and Hulteban too? He couldn’t tell what was going on, so he was sitting in a daze when the emperor suddenly asked him.

Why is the emperor asking me about catching wolves? By any chance, is he trying to cancel that woman’s victory and give the title to me?  He had heard his father bragging about getting the title since last night, so he was expecting a little bit that he might really be awarded for it.

Naturally, Drude thoughts reached there. Looks like my father managed to make it happen.

“Yes, what I caught is correct.”

Drude looked at his father with overwhelming emotion and blushed. Father! But something was strange. As soon as he finished speaking, his father’s complexion was getting pale. Eventually, he closed his eyes tightly. What happened?

“So that’s it. Second Prince, Sir Drude said it was he who caught them. What’s going on?”

When asked by the emperor, Luiden looked at Arianne and said, “You will know that if you ask Lady Arianne, the person who caught the wolves.”

“!”

“!”

“!”

The eyes of everyone in the meeting hall were directed to Arianne.

“What do you mean… Hahaha… That’s so… Your Highness, what nonsense is that now?”

“That’s right. That woman alone caught three wolves? How can a woman do something that is impossible even for two grown men to do?”

“I agree! How can you believe that kind of nonsense? What the hell are you doing?”

“By any chance, is it because you’re trying to somehow grant a title for her because of your relationship with Duke Kaien?”

“You’re being utterly unreasonable. His Highness Luiden is not such a shallow person!” exclaimed Viscount Bening, one of Luiden’s vassals.

“Tsk, tsk. Even looking at the situation, can you say that? Do you really believe your words, Viscount Bening?”

“That’s…”

“Look at that. We didn’t prepare this place today just to hear such nonsense!”

As the complaints from nobles increased, the emperor spoke again. “Stop it. Now let’s hear the words from the witness.”

I, who saw the emperor nodding toward me, stood up and said, “Actually, I only caught two wolves.”

“Haha! What a shameless! How can you lie!”

“Two wolves! Don’t you know how great the sin of telling lies is?”

“This is why women are not given titles. What attitudes of absurdity, exaggeration, and shamelessness! Tsk!”

At my words, the nobles were furious. They denied my words and pressured me, asking if I would be going all the way like this.

I didn’t blink an eye. Whatever they thought, the truth didn’t change, and I have never lied. Charter looked worried at all the insults directed at me, but I raised the corners of my mouth toward Charter to reassure him.

“I have proof,” my words made the room fall silent for a moment.

“What is the proof?”

At Duke Krow’s question, I took out the bullet I brought and said, “This is it.”

“Isn’t that a bullet?”

“Yes. This is my own bullet, handcrafted by me. As you can see, I left a mark on my bullet. You can take the bullet out of the wolves’ bodies and compare them.”

Duke Krow received the bullet from me and examined it. The bullet was engraved with a long vertical line followed by two short lines across it.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be better to compare the bullets.”

Duke Krow began to step forward. He even felt grateful for the woman who returned the arrows that were about to rain down on him. He didn’t understand why the second prince did something that would benefit the crown prince, but he had to take this chance.

“Ah. Let me tell you, the other wolf must have an arrow wound, not a gunshot wound. Unfortunately, I don’t know who the owner of the arrow was, but there was someone who saved me in an emergency. Thanks to that, I was able to catch the other two wolves and survive safely.”

“Your Majesty, I think we should check it out too.”

After Duke Krow told the emperor, the emperor looked at Drude and said, “Sir Drude, tell me if you have any disagreement.”

But Drude couldn’t say anything. It was because what she said was probably true, and only his lies remained to be revealed. I never thought she would have left a mark on the bullet…

Now Drude would have to pay for lying in front of the emperor. The most severe punishment is the death penalty, right? The least would be being excommunicated. No, there was a high probability that his family would collapse. N-No!

Out of his mind, he shouted at the top of his lungs. “No, I didn’t do that! Lord Hulteban here instigated me to take her hunting!”

Hulteban, sitting next to Drude and just looking around, was stunned by his words and blinked. Why are you dragging me here? Are you trying to put the blame on me after he had done everything?

His father, Viscount Wales, shouted at Hulteban, who was sitting there foolishly without even being able to protest. “You punk! Hulteban! Is it time for you to shut up stupidly? Can’t you tell the truth?”

There was no way his son, who was usually weak and easily swayed by others, had instigated this.

Hulteban, who finally came to his senses, said, “It’s not me. I just followed what Lord Drude told me to do. To be honest, I stopped him, but he didn’t listen to me, so I couldn’t help it.”

“What do you mean! When did you try to stop me! Are you even in a subject to stop me?”

“Drude!!! Can’t you shut up right now!!!” Count Merionus, whose face was about to explode, shouted, shaking his fist.

“Will you come to your senses when you really see your family being destroyed?” Drude finally realized his mistake at his father’s exclamation and lowered his head.

I’m screwed. It’s really over. This is all because of that woman. She’s a woman, but to attend a hunting contest and even become greedy to be a winner! That bitch! If it wasn’t for that bitch! Drude lowered his head and glared at Arianne.

I was full of energy. Even in this situation, Drude seemed to be blaming others. That lump of filth was a waste that couldn’t even be used as manure. As expected, he is a guy who deserves this kind of trouble. I have no intention of giving him even the slightest bit of room to make him harbor such disgusting feelings in the future.

There was only one reason why Luiden did this, even though it could benefit Duke Krow. It was because Arianne wanted Drude to be punished.

“There’s no need to compare the bullets. The truth of this incident seems to have been revealed, so let’s go back to the original agenda. So, who’s the winner? To whom is it right to bestow the title?” the emperor asked the nobles in the meeting room.