I Don’t Want to Be a Lady

“It’s the same.”

 Moyak thought so. She hoped it would have changed so much that she couldn’t recognize it, but this place was no different from when she left.

Moyak craned her head and tiptoed up to look over the fence.

“Why are you peeking like that? Chief?”

“Gosh!”

As Moyak turned around in annoyance, Are, with his bright red hair, asked with a mischievous smile. “Why are you so surprised? Did you hide a lover?”

In response to Are’s question, Moyak opened his mouth with an expression that asked, ‘What kind of trash are you talking about?’

“I thought I already told you not to follow me.”

“You did.”

“But?”

“When have I ever listened to the Chief’s words?”

“…”

Even in the Kelteman Empire, Moyak couldn’t do anything to this crazy guy. No matter how much he was beaten or how much he starved, it was no use. She could have tamed even a beast, but he was more vicious than a beast.

“I should have just killed you like Ralph said.”

She thought if she just rolled him around and ragged him around like her own, he would fall over on his own. Who knew he would survive, stick to her like a leech, and not fall off?

“I will never die, Chief. Until I defeat you.”

“You have great ambitions.”

He continued to challenge Moyak for the chief’s position despite him always being pushed to the ground. Although his will was high, he knew such a thing wouldn’t happen in this life, considering his skills were far below her level.

“So where are we?”

“A place where you don’t even need to know. It’s nowhere.”

Yeah. Nowhere. She didn’t have any intention of going in anyway, so she’ll go back now.

Moyak shook off her lingering feelings and moved on. She didn’t forget to rub Are’s feet and step on it.

It was then.

“Lady?”

Moyak’s feet, which were moving loudly on Are’s feet, stopped. She hardened herself without looking back or walking out.

Are, who was bracing himself to get his feet hurt, slowly lowered his head and looked at Moyak’s face.

Are thought as he looked at the magnificent four-story mansion towering in the distance.

Even though Are didn’t know what it was like, looking at Moyak’s distorted face now, he insensitively felt that this was the situation he needed to escape.

Are let his foot off Moyak’s feet and quietly disappeared.

“…Lady. You’re Lady Merillin, right?”

Moyak said nothing. But she ignored the voice calling her and didn’t even leave.

“Oh my gosh… Lady! Where on earth have you been all this time?”

A middle-aged woman, who had been carrying a basket full of something, dropped the basket on the ground as it was and ran to grab Moyak’s hand. Surprised by the warmth of others, Moyak finally came to her senses and tried to shake off her hand in a hurry but soon gave her hand to the watery voice she heard.

“I was so worried because you left like that and never contacted me…”

The woman burst into tears. And Moyak looked at her with an unknown expression.

* * *

That evening, Moyak sat at the end of a large table that could seat about 20 people.

From high-end dishes baked with chicken in turkey and quail in chicken, she felt simple feelings at the table packed with all kinds of fruits and vegetables that are hard to see in barren grasslands.

“Where have you been all this time?”

Moyak’s gaze turned to the left. He had neatly combed half-white hair, a well-maintained appearance, and a sluggish physique. He was someone who reminded her of someone she knew a long time ago who would look like this when they got older.  

“Did you look for me?” A harsh word popped out of Moyak’s mouth.

Instead of reprimanding Moyak, the other person held out a bottle of alcohol and asked if she would like a drink. Moyak silently held out the glass. Anyway, it’s her opponent.

Seeing the red liquid in her glass made her mouth water because she couldn’t wait to taste it. The Surg and alcohol were inseparable.

“It would be better to ask about places I haven’t been to.”

“…”

Moyak was unable to raise her glass and closed her mouth.

“I was worried.”

She got choked up. Because she knew he really meant his words.

Her father and uncle, who were close brothers, trained together and walked the path of knights. It was nice to see her father proud of her uncle, who was appointed as the commander of the imperial knights.

Her father died young. He thought it was just a cold, but he couldn’t get up from his seat for a long time and ended up leaving this world. And Merillin argued for legitimacy by using loopholes in the imperial law to continue her family. Still, the custom and perception of belittling women were higher than the law.

Eventually, the family passed over to her uncle, Silver Pattinson. And Moyak, who received the official document transferring the family name to him, packed her bags and left home that day. She did so even though she knew that her uncle wasn’t the one to use her as a marriage business or throw her on the street. This happened due to the blood and energy of her youth.

* * *

Silver took the family’s seal from his arms and put it in front of Moyak. “Take it. Now, a woman could have a title in the Harpion. This position was originally yours, so I should return it to its owner.”

Silver looked relieved to be able to shake off his old guilt and task. However,

“I won’t take it.”

Moyak refused.

“Why?” Silver had always been ready to give up this position, and her refusal was unexpected, so he raised an absurd question.

“I don’t want it.”

“But you…”

“Yes. It’s true that I left the house in anger because they said women couldn’t succeed in the family. However, now that I think about it, I wonder if this family really belongs to me.”

Silver didn’t understand what she meant.

Moyak said after refreshingly emptying her glass. “Isn’t it an extremely petty and personal way of saying I’m just a daughter to my father’s family?”

“Petty…” Silver repeated Moyak’s words.

“It’s archaic and illogical for an incapable person to inherit a family just because of bloodline. In fact, such a family will eventually collapse and disappear on its own.”

This thought came because the previous crown prince’s incompetent behavior had already spread throughout the continent.

The Surg people, of which Moyak was the chief, weren’t a people related by blood. The strongest person became the chief, and if an opponent who could defeat the chief appeared, that person became the next chief, and so on. And they accepted anyone as a family if they wanted. So Moyak also became a Surg.

A group formed by fugitives and abandoned people. There were countless fugitives and abandoned people, and the Surg tribe grew in size day by day. A bloody wind blew in the grassland when a cruel killer became the chief. When a person who was indifferent to others became chief, the grassland was peaceful.

And the Surg, led by Moyak, were having the most active and splendid period ever. From the perspective of the Kelteman and other peoples, they were a violent tribe that they didn’t want to encounter. Still, the Surg tribe was more tightly united than ever under the command of Moyak.

The thought of her men trying to drink even more before their chief returned made her want to go and join them as soon as possible.

Moyak stood up.

Silver asked, sensing that she was thinking of leaving. “Are you planning on leaving again?”

“Yes.”

“By any chance… Do you blame me?”

Moyak stared at him in the eye, then replied with a smirk. “I know very well that there is no reason to blame Uncle. I was young back then, right? So I wander around. And now I’ve found my place. That’s it.”

“You’ve found a place to be,” Count Silver spoke with mixed confusion and relief.

Moyak smiled as she thought of her tribe, who would have abandoned one of the capital’s taverns and set out to find another tavern. “Yes. It’s where I need to be.”

As Moyak walked toward the dining room door, Silver hurriedly spoke to her. “Come back any time. I will wait.”

“That won’t happen. So, just get married already.”

“Marriage… How do you know I’m single?”

When Silver asked with surprised eyes, Moyak said with a snivel. “I can tell when I see it. What is this? The vase that I decorated is still right there? Everyone made such a fuss because it was so weird.”

In the direction Moyak pointed to, there was a vase painted with a strange animal, not a turtle or a snake.

“That’s because you left it there, so I didn’t clean it up.”

“I’m telling you to clean it up now. Wouldn’t that allow you to live more comfortably?”

Silver smiled graciously at Moyak’s words.

The immature young lady, who only knew him, appeared as a decent adult. There was no need to ask where she had been and what she had been doing. Because he thinks she knows what that place means to her.

“So, have you started a family?”

“Of course. It’s full of kids who look like me and don’t listen to me.”

Moyak lied in a straightforward way. She didn’t get married or have kids, but she had a family with many family members to feed, so it wasn’t completely a lie.

“It’s really goodbye for now, Uncle.”

Now, she wasn’t a weak-hearted Moyak, but she felt like something was rising from deep within her. She left the mansion without ever looking back.

* * *

And at that time, Pierre opened the tavern door, excited at the thought of wearing a drink after a long time.

“Hey! One beer—”

Pierre couldn’t finish his sentence. Because there were people in the seats inside the tavern directing criticism and ridicule at him. They were his old friends.