I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

“Let’s start the class.”

A voice quieter than the cries of a baby mouse coming out of a mouse hole dispersed in the air.

“Hey, did you hear what happened at the Department of Knights yesterday?”

“Ah. What kind of crazy person did that? The reason was funny, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I heard he wanted to see the torture room.”

“Looks like his actions are worth his gloomy face.”

“Ah, speaking of his face…”

Sosime sighed softly as she looked at the students, chatting as if they hadn’t noticed her appearance until now. Ten minutes had passed since the moment she entered the classroom. Then she quietly turned back, raised her hand, and wrote each letter on the blackboard.

[-Historical Class Guidelines.

1 penalty point for being late or absent

3 penalty points for speaking other than in response to a question

If cumulative penalty points exceed 10, you will be referred to the personnel committee and subject to expulsion.]

“What is that…?”

Someone noticed what Sosime had written on the blackboard and said, “What? Expulsion from the school? To be expelled from school just for being late a few times and saying a few words?”

The student sought the consent of the other students in a rousing voice. However, when they saw the professor checking something on the paper that appeared to be the attendance book, they bit their lips in despair.

Sosime opened her mouth, trampling on the student’s heart, who was hoping it wasn’t like what he thought. “Shoot Gun, 3 penalty points.”

“A-are you crazy?”

“Shoot Gun, 3 penalty points, 6 cumulative points.”

Shoot looked at Sosime with an expression of disbelief.

But he couldn’t say that question out loud. Because he wasn’t an idiot who didn’t know that 3 penalty points would be added when he opened his mouth.

“Now that it’s quiet, let’s begin class. I’m Sosime Mani, a professor of history.”

Looking at Sosime, who was casually continuing her class, Shoot suddenly trembled as goosebumps spread all over his body.

And the moment he turned his back again and saw the small back with curly brown hair writing on the blackboard, for some reason, he remembered what his father had shouted at him as soon as he got home, throwing down his coat.

Even his father, who was famous for his stubbornness, lost to a lady. That person was Lady Sosime, who served as an aide to Countess Proud. Surely, she couldn’t be the same Sosime, right?

The name of Sosime isn’t that uncommon… right?

An unknown anxiety came over him. Come to think of it, she’s a female professor, right?

Shoot was surprised when he realized the professor was a woman.

And this thought was not just his own.

Everyone glared at Sosime’s back with dissatisfied faces. Someone also clicked their tongue as if telling her to listen. Even though they couldn’t speak, there were plenty of ways to express their unpleasant feelings.

And Sosime, who was accustomed to others’ blatant gaze and criticism, wrote one more line in the instructions for her history class with a completely nonchalant expression on her face.

[-5 penalty points for disrespectful speech and behavior towards the professor]

?

!!!

And as soon as Sosime’s history class ended, her entire class burst into the department head’s office.

“Department Head! What on earth is going on? A woman becomes a professor?”

“This is a problem! It’s impossible to ask us to learn from a woman!”

“Besides, that person is a bit strange!”

Univer, the head of the department, responded to the students’ anger with a kind smile. “If you don’t like it, just leave.”

“…Pardon?” The student representative made a dumbfounded noise.

“If you don’t like the policies and professors of this education center, you can leave. There are too many people who want to come in anyway, so we have nothing to regret.”

…

Only then did the students realize. At this education center, they’re thoroughly disciplined. Even if your father was a duke or even the emperor, nothing would change, thinking about the founder of this National Education Institute.

“That’s… Then the penalty points…” While everyone was speechless and devastated, Shoot carefully asked the professor about his business.

“Oh, has a student already received a penalty point? Well, nice to see you. These are rules established to ensure the smooth work process and human rights of our department. It’s unlikely that such a thing will happen to those with intelligence. Still, we ask that everyone cooperate to prevent the unfortunate event of being expelled from here.”

Shoot’s mouth opened wide.

Shoot, who had a conversation with the department head, barely managed to keep his mind from becoming dizzy and left the department head’s office.

“It’s already 6 points…”

If you score more than 10 points, you will be expelled.

5 penalty points for speaking and behaving disrespectfully toward the professor. It was a score that could have resulted in expulsion from school with just one mistake.

Shoot took a shaky step forward, hoping that wasn’t like what he thought.

Immediately after everyone left fruitless, the Department Head Univer spoke with an unknown smile. “It’s spectacular from the start. Professor Sosime, as expected, I must have worried for nothing.”

No matter what, didn’t she have talent (?) to the point that Countess Proud personally came to ask for her to be taken away? Isn’t Countess Proud quite embarrassed by the fact that she’s so stubborn and constantly picks on faults regardless of whether that person is her boss or even the emperor?

Probably, Professor Sosime would be the scariest professor in this place.

Univer eventually burst out laughing.

* * *

“Your Royal Highness, when will you welcome your crown princess?”

“I don’t know?”

Luiden responded indifferently to the now-familiar urgings to get married.

“What do you mean you don’t know? If you act like this, we’re in trouble.”

“Trouble? Why are you having trouble when it’s about my marriage?”

When asked by Luiden, Alice glanced with her eyes to see if he really didn’t know it.

“What I’m saying is, since Your Royal Highness keeps putting off your marriage, why do you keep putting me on your side?”

Alice bared her upper teeth and trembled, looking very displeased. And when Luiden saw her expression, he blamed Alice with a face that he had been hurt.

“Hey. Your expression is… hurting me a bit.”

“You know it’s not true. Please get married, okay? My job has become more difficult due to the bullying of the young ladies.”

“What do you mean your work becomes more difficult? All you have to do is escort me.”

“I know! All I have to do is escort, but why do I have to explain to the ladies that it’s their misunderstanding? We have nothing to do with each other. Why do I have to make excuses everywhere you go!”

“

Dame Alice. First of all, I think you’re mistaken, so I’d like to tell you this. It’s not that I don’t want to get married.”

“Yes.”

Alice opened her eyes immediately, expecting even a lame excuse.

“I just can’t do it.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed again. “What are you saying now?”

Don’t you usually say the opposite?

“Huh. I felt a little hurt just now. You seem to often forget, but I want you to keep in mind that I’m the crown prince.”

“I haven’t forgotten it even for a moment.”

“Then I have nothing to say.”

Luiden shrugged and turned again to the papers. After becoming crown prince, he couldn’t even remember when he had a proper rest.

It was unfair, but he accepted his fate gently because he knew that it was only because Mozar failed to play the role of the proper crown prince.

“But why do you say that you can’t get married rather than just saying you’re not going to get married? There are more than 20 young ladies who want to become the crown princess right now.”

Luiden put down his pen at Alice’s question, smiled, and swept his head over. And he said, staring straight at Alice. “Because I’m worried.”

“Is it about a woman?”

“Yes. Countess Proud, to be exact.”

Alice rolled her eyes once and asked what she had to do with that. “Countess Proud is a married woman. Are you sure you had her in your mind? To do that, she has to go through the divorce process first…”

“Are you crazy?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you too.”

Luiden kicked his tongue nervously. “No, I’m worried. Wait, should I say that I’m scared? I can’t get married because I’m scared of Countess Proud!”

“She’s indeed a scary person, but what does that have to do with bringing in a crown princess?”

“I don’t want to lose.”

“…Pardon?”

Luiden continued with a disapproving look. “Right now, I can’t beat that couple, so how could it be okay if the crown princess was swayed by them? That’s why I can’t do it. I have no intention of marrying someone unless that someone can defeat Countess Proud.”

When Alice heard that, she thought profanely.

That’s right. No woman in this empire is more terrifying than Countess Proud, Arianne. And at that time, a woman, perhaps even more vicious than Arianne, entered the Harpion capital.

* * *

“Wow~ The new Harpion has developed so much without me.”

“Chief, have you been here before?”

A man with bright red hair and a long scar on his face asked as he followed behind the woman who was two spans below him.

“Have I ever been here? I don’t know.”

She’s supposed to say she had lived here before, right?

Moyak wasn’t exactly excited about her long-awaited homecoming. Because she also remembered having to leave her beloved hometown.

Half of her was hoping it would still be there, and half of her was hoping it would just collapse and disappear without a trace.

Should she take a look? Wouldn’t it be okay just to take a peek?

“Everyone, don’t follow me. I have to take care of my own business.” Moyak told his men so and moved on alone.