Since It's My First Time Being a Lady, I'll Cause Some Trouble - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Lady Does This for the First Time – Episode 21
I was the one who grabbed the item first. It wasn’t for nothing that the Swift Lightning Hand had earned its reputation.
Of course, I didn’t forget to drive my fist into Tatio’s solar plexus before he could cause any more trouble, watching him crumple.
‘Tsk. I’m not a thug, yet here I am beating people senseless all day long.’
But what could I do? They were the ones who practically begged to be hit.
While Tatio bent forward, trembling silently, I examined the contents of what I’d taken.
Inside the safe, exactly as expected, lay a Loyalty Oath Document.
Below the pledge to crown Penli as heir and swear allegiance, names of nobles from the Aristocratic Registry—ones I’d memorized alongside the Marquis Family Genealogy—were listed one after another.
There were far more conspirators listed than the roster Calderon had provided, and I let out an audible tsk of disapproval.
‘At this rate, the Aristocratic Registry is nothing but a list of criminals.’
The realm was truly being run into the ground.
At any rate, I was relieved to have found evidence of the rebellion.
I pocketed the oath document and looked down at Tatio, who glared at me with eyes full of resentment.
‘Now, what do I do with this man?’
Even a noblewoman raised like a hothouse flower can shoot a gun or jump from the second floor if necessity demands it. Being skilled in Unarmed Combat wasn’t exactly impossible to explain away.
‘But knowing the interior of a Social Club where only men are permitted to enter—that’s a different matter entirely.’
By the narrative I’d established, I was the first woman ever to set foot inside this Social Club. No matter how keen someone’s sense of direction might be, they couldn’t simply know what lay in the basement or find a hidden servants’ staircase on their first try.
‘And this man tested me while pretending to panic—trying to figure out if I also possess Pickpocketing skills.’
I’d answered, subtly confirming that I did.
Who else could I blame? Only myself, for being so foolish.
‘And most importantly, I’m inhabiting the body of a noblewoman.’
Far too suspicious for a lady.
Tatio was already the type to harbor doubts about Ulfina Nezert.
‘If I let him walk out of here like this, he’ll definitely try every trick in the book to dig into my background.’
That would become a considerable nuisance for me. And for the Marquis and Marquise Nezert as well.
‘And once I report the information to the client, news of the rebellion will spread far and wide.’
Moreover, the Court Chamberlain, who oversees the affairs of the Imperial Palace itself, wouldn’t have much difficulty identifying the client’s true identity.
‘And he’ll ask the client how the evidence was uncovered. The client, unless there’s a problem, will likely tell the truth.’
If that happened, it would be catastrophic.
‘The fact that the Marquis Nezert’s daughter is connected to the Resolution Guild would be exposed!’
Who else could know the interior layout of the club despite being an outsider, and know about Penli’s scheming?
Only a guild member who’d been commissioned to investigate the club’s blueprints.
Strictly speaking, I wasn’t officially a guild member, but such distinctions meant nothing from Tatio’s perspective.
‘Either way, the problem is that I’ve resolved a commission accepted by the guild.’
Aside from how quickly rumors would spread, there was a real possibility that Tatio would use this as leverage to pressure me and House Nezert.
‘If he did, the Marquis and Marquise would be furious, and my position would…’
It was all too easy to imagine.
‘There’s nothing for it, then.’
I smiled wickedly and spoke to Tatio in a commanding tone.
“Don’t take it too personally. I was just doing my job, after all.”
“…Your job?”
“I received a commission to retrieve an important item.”
“A commission?”
Tatio looked utterly bewildered.
He had every right to be. Those weren’t words that should ever come from a noblewoman’s lips.
“But, but you’re a lady—”
I laughed brightly and spoke with theatrical relish.
“Even if Lady Ulfina is agile and an excellent shot, she couldn’t be this skilled. Stretching it generously, even if she were—how would a noblewoman know the layout of a Social Club in such detail? How would she know Pickpocketing?”
“Stop with the clumsy act.”
Tatio pushed himself upright, his voice growing rough.
“Lady Ulfina, I won’t ask how you learned such skills, nor how you came to know this place’s interior. But if the item you have is equally important to the conspirators, you’re in danger.”
“Oh, that? It was a lie.”
“A lie…?”
I smirked at his disbelief.
“If House Nezert actually had such an item, they’d have used it by now and more. Would they settle for merely keeping their Marquis title? They’d have already made their fortune and then some.”
I beg your pardon, Master. But surely it’s far better for your name to be sold than for our House to be exposed to whoever that Court Chamberlain is and face danger. This is all to protect House Nezert and the realm.
“I know what you’re worried about. Don’t be. I hate rebellion as much as you do.”
“Lady Ulfina.”
“I’m telling you, that’s not who I am. You—did you actually verify my identity beyond hearing my voice in this place?”
I opened my mouth again, my smile thin and knowing.
“A voice is just a tool—I can change it whenever I please. People are simple creatures; they mistake whatever they believe for truth.”
From my throat came not the voice of Ulfina Nezert, but that of a middle-aged woman—her accent thick with the coarseness of the Southern Region.
Behind the mask, Tatio’s face drained of color.
‘Damn. I did it perfectly—just like Dusder.’
One of the young lady’s specialties was mimicking Dusder’s voice—the housekeeper of the Marquis household. She’d done it so well that nine times out of ten, everyone fell for it completely.
Because she was always doing impressions of the housekeeper, I’d grown so worn down by it that I’d begged her to stop, claiming it was giving me neuroses. But she’d only grinned and tormented me with it all the more.
Why she’d put such effort into this instead of studying was beyond me.
I’d more than once mentally clicked my tongue, wondering what on earth she thought she’d become.
‘And in the end, she decided to become a pirate—stole someone else’s body and ran away from home.’
Now that I thought about it, what was the young lady doing these days? I just hoped that if she became a vagrant, at least she wouldn’t end up discovered as an unidentified corpse.
In any case, Tatio seemed quite taken with my new voice. He was so overwhelmed he could barely string words together.
“So, Lady Ulfina was…… from the very beginning……”
“That’s right. It was me from the moment I came begging for your help.”
I lifted my chin and told him proudly.
It wasn’t a lie. It had been me all along.
Tatio’s lips pressed into a thin line. He looked both aggrieved and furious, barely restraining himself from crying out.
And the emotion suppressing all of that was confusion.
“I’ll say it again—I don’t like Rebellion either. My commission was to find evidence to prevent it, after all.”
“Your commission was to find evidence of Rebellion?”
Tatio asked in surprise, his voice betraying a hope he couldn’t quite hide.
He was more naive than I’d thought.
“Who hired you? What guild do you belong to?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
When I turned serious, Tatio’s shoulders sagged. Yet a glimmer of hope still lingered in his expression.
‘Righteous enough, but so innocent—how does he expect to survive in this harsh world?’
He was still a count, though, so someone would surely pick him up and take responsibility for him. When I thought of that nameless, faceless someone, my eyes pricked with tears.
I took pity on him and told him about the safe in the steward’s office—an alternative to the Marquis’s personal safe.
“There might be information there that could soothe the people’s anger over the tax increase. What you do with it is your choice. If you’d rather not be consumed by the torches of a populace enraged over rising taxes, you’re welcome to leave it alone.”
“Ah, um, thank you……?”
Tatio, unsure how to respond, stumbled over his words before obediently following me down the stairs.
I’d half-expected him to seize the chance and make a grab for the Loyalty Oath Document, but apparently he wasn’t fool enough for that.
As we descended to the lower floor, two other servants were stationed at the reception desk.
There was no help for it—I had to send them off just like the ones in the basement.
I was starting to worry I’d end up earning a reputation as a serial assault perpetrator.
While Tatio was dumping the knocked-out servants into the cellar to repay his debt to me, I slipped out of the Social Club and made for the guild.
‘Something feels like I’m forgetting something, though.’
But the commission was complete, and there were no problems.
‘Probably just my imagination.’
Now came the time to line my pockets as the reward for protecting the nation’s peace.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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