I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

That punk…

Does he really have to say that? It makes the commoners who hear it feel bad!

Instead of following the leader, Teil turned back and approached them. And he asked the noble boy from before. “Excuse me, which family are you from?”

The boy appeared out of nowhere and looked up and down at Teil, who was asking his family. He seemed to think that Teil was a noble because of his neat attire, so he answered quietly with a tremble.

“

I’m the eldest son of Viscount Konder. Then, which family are you from?”

Teil snorted inwardly. Among the many nobles of the empire, he had scarcely heard of Viscount Konder.

The capital’s back alleys were a sewer where all kinds of rumors about the empire gathered. Just by sitting still, you could hear someone from a certain noble family has done something. Who had an affair with whom? The words continued to reach his ears.

Teil lived in a slum in the capital. His main home was in the back alleys, so the family he didn’t know well meant they weren’t worthy of being included in the list of influential people. Then, it would be okay for him to act a little freely, right?

“Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I’m not a noble.”

“What? So, you’re a commoner?”

The boy’s face crumpled at Teil’s words. He was furious at the fact that he had spoken formally to a commoner, immediately blushed, and roughly pulled the cravat around Teil’s neck.

“

What kind of rude behavior is this?”

Teil, who was suddenly strangled, thought.

“Rude behavior? Do commoners expect courtesy from nobles? What a cheeky fellow! How dare you talk to a noble on the subject of being a commoner?”

On the subject of being a commoner. It was a phrase that had stuck in him since he was young. Until recently, he had not felt much emotion from those words. Class discrimination from birth was a law and standard that had to be followed. He didn’t even realize that he was in an unfair situation. Nobles were on a different level from themselves, and they were fearful beings with no mercy who could kill others whenever they wanted. Yes, that’s what he thought until a while ago.

Teil’s thoughts naturally led to Countess Proud.

Of course, Countess Proud was also a very terrifying person, but she was different from other nobles. She spared the life of a boy from the slums who threw dirt at her and instead spoke and acted as if she was exploiting his older brother; she gave his older brother a job and even provided him with a house to live in. Even she gave his older brother a title.

The countess shouted that it was not for him but for herself. However, it was always Teil’s family who benefited from it.

What is the benefit of helping the commoners? Although his older brother, Bein, was smart, there was nothing Countess desired from investing in him. She was a strange noble who was completely irrational and disingenuous.

“

What kind of disgrace is this at the entrance ceremony His Royal Highness the Crown Prince attended?”

A tall woman looked down at the boy, who was about fifteen, and Teil, who had been captured by him, with a playful smile around her mouth.

Teil looked up blankly at the arrogant, mischievous, but not hateful noble, but someone who wasn’t kind either and whom he usually didn’t want to encounter. Looking at Arianne, he swallowed his saliva.

“Ah, Countess Proud. How are you? My name is Terini Konder, the eldest son of Viscount Konder.”

“

”

Terini, who recognized Arianne, let go of Teil’s cravat as if to shake him off, causing Teil to momentarily lose his balance against his body and stumble. Suddenly, Arianne said as she grabbed Teil by the back and straightened him up.

“Gosh, you’re lighter than a feather.”

The back of Teil’s neck turned red as he thought it was clearly a joke to make fun of him, who was smaller than his peers.

Meanwhile, Terini was impatient with Arianne, who didn’t respond to his introduction. He was offended because she seemed to ignore him in front of the commoners. However, like a proper noble, he didn’t reveal his inner turmoil…

“What’s wrong with Viscount Konder’s eldest son’s face?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

He seemed to have failed to manage his facial expression.

“But did I ever allow you to introduce yourself?”

Terini was in a hurry and belatedly realized he had committed a rude act.

“I-I’m sorry. I met such an amazing person that I didn’t realize… Forgive me for being rude.”

“

”

When Terini saw Arianne’s head tilt to an angle, he knew something was wrong. His lips become dry.

No one didn’t know Countess Proud, one of the most influential figures in the current empire. The rumor about her spread even among the nobles on the outskirts.

Since she’s a difficult person to meet by chance, he planned to use this opportunity to appeal about his family. It seems like things were wrong from the start… but it must be only his mood, right?

“Why are you so nervous? In fact, you are a greater person than me.”

“Yes?”

What on earth do you mean?

“Thanks to Viscount Konder, this National Education Institute was able to open safely.” As Arianne spoke with exaggerated gestures and voices as if for everyone to hear, she soon began to attract attention.

Terini just blinked stupidly.

He may be stupid, but he knew his stuff.

Arianne’s mouth opened again. “Providing free higher education to everyone costs more money than you think.”

Terini’s face went pale as he noticed the words coming from Arianne’s mouth.

“But his family, Viscount Konder, has donated a lot of money! Thanks to him, we were able to open this place safely. He even said he would give additional donations if we took good care of the young master. Really, we should be grateful, right?”

Everyone knew that the Nation Education Institute had a donation system. In fact, donation itself wasn’t a big problem because it could be seen as the sophistication of nobles. However, most donators donate large amounts of money to enroll their children who failed the entrance exam, and Terini was one of them. And because they considered this so shameful, they never wanted to reveal the fact that they had joined the school from the donation system.

“That means he fails the entrance ex—”

“Noisy!”

Terini screamed at his friend, who had joined the school together.

“What? Did you ignore us when you failed the test?”

“It wasn’t that difficult though?”

As the commoners who had been criticized by Terini a little while ago began to whisper, Terini’s face soon turned red. He felt like he was about to burst into tears out of shame as the people who gathered around wondering what was going on started whispering to see the face of the amazing student admitted from the donation system.

At that time, someone blocked Terini’s front.

“Stop it, Countess. We’re all the same students. Regardless of the entrance, we are not students learning together, so I hope you don’t cause unnecessary trouble.”

It was Teil.

Teil couldn’t bear to look Arianne in the eyes, but he expressed his opinion steadfastly. And he regretted it like crazy.

Although the words came out automatically, his opponent was Countess Prod. No matter how gentle she was to his family, he must have been crazy to go against someone who was noble, and even other nobles afraid of her. The others thought so too.

“Wow. That’s crazy. How dare he confront Countess Proud? Didn’t he say he’s a commoner?”

“I know. He’s no joke, right?”

Some people were surprised to see a commoner child confronting the powerful Countess Proud of the empire and closing their mouths.

Will she kill him? She’ll kill him, right? Onlookers who had heard the bloody rumors about Countess Proud sparkled their eyes in anticipation of the execution scene that would follow.

I glared at the top of Teil’s head. I thought he was going to be in trouble, so I saved him, but he went against me? What should I do with this brat? Does he want me to go crazy? Or does he want me to threaten him and make fun of him?

While I was thinking about how to handle him, something caught my eye.

His legs shaking pitifully as if he might collapse at any moment. And the hair on the top of his head rose very subtly.

I, who was looking at Teil, who was expressing his fear with his whole body, calmed down.

I touched my forehead and said as if I had forgotten it. “Oh gosh, I made a mistake. You’re right. Once you’ve entered the school, you’re all just the same students. Student Terini, I apologize for my rudeness.”

“N-no. It’s fine.” Terini responded to Arianne’s apology by waving his hand with a black, dead expression. To make Countess Proud apologize in front of so many onlookers made him think that his family might disappear tomorrow without even a rat or a bird noticing it.

When Arianne obediently admitted her mistake and apologized, everyone was shocked that they couldn’t keep their mouth shut.

Right. The devil is more humane than she is. Countess Proud is known for her viciousness that even the devil didn’t dare to be compared with her. There was more than one person who thought like that. On the other side,

No matter what people thought, Arianne was intoxicated by her own good deeds.

She’ll eat him right up to the bone marrow, just like she did to his older brother.

“But what are you all doing standing around like this? Hurry up and follow the leader, new students. And don’t fight. If I hear someone fighting… I’ll invite them to a specially prepared torture room?”

“!”

“

!”

No, this isn’t even a prison. What torture room? Unexpectedly, the faces of the students who heard the existence of the torture room turned white.

“Is… is there really a torture room?”

Then, a rather gloomy-looking boy asked with sparkling eyes. In response, I pretended to cover my mouth with my hands as if I was telling a great secret and whispered in a voice that was never small.

“That’s, of course. It would be difficult if such an important facility didn’t have a torture room, right?”

Of course, I didn’t correct my word by saying that the torture room wasn’t the torture room they thought it was but a place for those seeking advice.

* * *

Arianne left the place, perfectly satisfied with her amicable mediation.

In the midst of the confusion and murmur, the gloomy boy from before muttered. “I wanted to see the torture room… Then should I go fight first?”

* * *

Heili, who was watching everything from afar, asked Bein. “Why did Teil confront Countess Proud?”

Bein answered. “It’s because he got stabbed. Got stabbed in the heart.”

He had been caught red-handed. 

Teil was actually a student admitted from the donation system.