Since It's My First Time Being a Lady, I'll Cause Some Trouble - Chapter 9

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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 for the First Time Causes Trouble — Episode 9
What a mess!
So in the end, that courtier or whoever he is reported me for an Assault Charge!
What rotten luck.
‘I should have dealt with him properly.’
It would’ve been better to finish the job cleanly.
‘But I should still figure out what’s going on first, shouldn’t I?’
“Ulfina is indeed my daughter, but I’m not sure what this is regarding….”
As I crept down the stairs, I heard the Count’s voice near the entrance on the first floor. He sounded flustered, though there was an edge of annoyance to it as well.
“I apologize for the late hour. I’ve been sent on behalf of His Highness to see Lady Ulfina directly.”
The man’s apologetic demeanor suggested he’d come about something other than an assault — which was a relief.
“I’m Ulfina Netzer. What brings you to see me?”
“I come on behalf of the Crown Prince, Lady Ulfina.”
The mention of the Crown Prince caught both the Count and Countess off guard, and I found myself exchanging puzzled glances with them.
“Tomorrow at three-thirty in the afternoon, His Highness wishes to hold a Tea Gathering and extend an invitation to Lady Ulfina. He wishes me to convey his apologies for not seeking your consent in advance and for troubling you at such a late hour.”
“A Tea Gathering?”
“Yes, indeed. It is not a matter of compulsion, but His Highness would be pleased if you would accept.”
An ordinary lady would naturally have been delighted, but I felt a creeping sense of dread.
Though the Countess had given me a crash course in deportment, I’d never learned the protocols required at a Tea Gathering hosted by the royal family!
“Ulfina will attend. Won’t you, Ulfina?”
At the Countess’s words, I found myself agreeing before I could think.
“Excellent. I’m certain His Highness will be pleased.”
After offering one final apology for the late intrusion, the Crown Prince’s messenger departed swiftly from the Count’s Residence.
“Was it really all right to accept the Imperial Palace Tea Gathering so easily?”
I asked in a sullen voice, and the Countess furrowed her brow as if genuinely puzzled.
“It’s not as if you don’t know Tea Gathering etiquette. The Imperial Palace won’t be that different.”
She gave me a look that said: ‘After everything I’ve drilled into you.’
“I know the basics, but….”
“Then it’s settled.”
“But what if I get so nervous that I accidentally stab His Highness with a Butter Knife—”
“Are you an assassin? Do you intend to murder someone?”
“No, of course not.”
Stop spouting such nonsense and go to bed.”
With that, the Countess, who looked exhausted herself, left the room with her equally weary husband.
‘What kind of reaction is that? The Crown Prince and his daughter(?) are going to have a private moment together, and that’s all they have to say?’
If they’d fussed and expressed their hopes, I might have felt calmer about it myself.
But they seemed to feel absolutely no excitement whatsoever.
‘Does this mean they never had any expectations of me to begin with?’
Was I the only one worried about my reputation? Did they think, ‘What could a former commoner possibly understand?’ — that I just needed to play the part of young Miss Ulfina?
“Ugh, I don’t know!”
* * *
Following my guide through the Imperial Garden, I made myself a silent vow.
‘No matter what happens this time, I will not cause any trouble.’
Thinking this way made me feel slightly melancholy, as though I were someone who regularly caused problems.
But it was you nobles who made me get into trouble in the first place. Who told me to speak without restraint? Who told me to climb over the balcony like a thief?
‘Sigh. I just have to be patient.’
In the few days I’d been living as a noblewoman, I’d come to understand that High Society was a place where plenty of tactless individuals walked around in fancy clothes and pretended at refinement.
When I reached the heart of the garden, the Crown Prince appeared.
“Lady Ulfina.”
I quickly bent my knee in greeting, and the Crown Prince offered me an awkward smile.
“I committed a breach of courtesy against your family in the early hours. I hope you will forgive me. I knew it was improper, but I so wished to see you that I allowed myself to act without restraint.”
“Not at all. It’s quite an honor, truly.”
“Then come. The other guests are waiting.”
The Tea Gathering was held in the center of the Imperial Garden, where five or six people were already seated.
“Sit here.”
The Crown Prince guided me to a seat that was, to my dismay, directly to his right.
‘What?’
In that instant, unkind glances flew at me from all directions.
‘What’s going on?’
The Crown Prince seemed oblivious to it all as he offered me a gentle smile and addressed the assembled company.
“I’m grateful you all made time despite your busy schedules. I arranged this gathering because I wanted to exchange views with you—the ones who’ll lead the empire’s future—without all the stiff formality.”
At his words, the guests’ faces brightened.
Who wouldn’t be pleased when the Crown Prince himself wanted to deepen his bond with them?
‘I wish I really were the count’s daughter.’
I suppose I’ve deceived them without meaning to, but is that my fault? It’s all that young lady’s doing.
“And I’d like to introduce a very special guest to all of you today.”
The Crown Prince, having thoroughly flattered his guests’ moods, turned his head toward me.
“As you all know, Lady Ulfina here has devoted herself to deep reflection and scholarship rather than the frivolous amusements of High Society. Yet she’s far from being some delicate, sheltered lady either—as everyone knows quite well.”
Though he didn’t state it directly, the moment he alluded to my duel with that marquess and Pen…something, laughter rippled across the table.
“I hope this will be an opportunity for you all to become better acquainted with Lady Ulfina. She’s a good person, but it seems some have misunderstood her.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“We’ve been wanting to have a proper conversation with Lady Ulfina ourselves.”
Just moments before, they’d hurled hostile glares, and now with a single word from the Crown Prince, they reversed course completely. I couldn’t help but marvel. If they hadn’t been nobility, they would’ve made excellent actors.
But I wasn’t the sort to overturn a stage someone else had prepared for me, so I managed a smile and played along gracefully.
* * *
Damn, I should’ve overturned it.
I had no idea what criteria the Crown Prince used to invite these people, but the conversation had zero substance. It was so hollow I felt like I’d catch malnutrition from it.
‘Why did the lady drill me so harshly?’
Once I actually met these nobles, they spewed nothing but vulgar prattle—what they’d bought, what they’d sold, how much better they were, how much worse someone else was. I couldn’t fathom what good the education was supposed to do.
“How did you come to know such things, Remington?”
“There’s no better place to gather premium information than the Social Club on Toglo Street.”
“That’s unfair. Only men are allowed in the club.”
A woman pouted, and the man called Remington soothed her.
“Which is precisely why I’m here now, sharing intelligence I’ve secretly obtained for all the lovely ladies gathered tonight.”
Laughter burst from the nobles’ mouths.
Of course the Imperial Palace hadn’t forgiven me for putting a bullet through that marquess’s thigh.
Since there’s no evidence of psychological suffering, they’ve thrown me here to endure physical torment instead.
“Let’s call the Tea Gathering to a close. I’ve kept you all far too long.”
By the time the Crown Prince announced the end of the gathering, the sun was setting. The Tea Gathering that had begun in broad daylight only concluded as evening fell.
“My, has it gotten so late already……?”
“Time flew because we were having such a wonderful time.”
“Indeed it did.”
Mm-hmm……. I certainly knew that much…….
At last the gathering ended and the guests began rising to leave.
“Thank you so much for coming today.”
Just as I was about to stand, the Crown Prince addressed me in a gentle voice.
Listen here. If you invite me to one more of these pathetic social functions, I’ll have your head.
But I was a rational and patient adult woman.
I answered as if nothing were amiss.
“The pleasure was mine, thank you for the invitation.”
Yet the Crown Prince’s face fell upon hearing my reply.
“In truth, I’d have no grounds to object if Lady Ulfina felt disappointed.”
“Pardon?”
“I arranged today’s Tea Gathering to hear the concerns and opinions of young nobility. But they all fell short of my expectations—all except you.”
So you were aware.
“Your Highness was simply unfortunate in your selection.”
“Is that so? You’re right, it would be premature to judge the entire generation by just a few.”
No. You’re correct. Just thinking about what that young lady and the other nobles have done to me over the past two weeks is proof enough that this nation’s young nobility have lost their way entirely.
‘The foundation’s corrupt. The foundation. Is there a water vein running through it?’
At my empty pleasantry, the Crown Prince’s expression softened into a smile.
“Safe travels, Lady Ulfina.”
Ha, and handsome too.
The moment I parted from the Crown Prince, eager to rest, I hurried toward the garden exit where my carriage awaited.
As I was nearly through the garden, a man suddenly stepped directly into my path.
“Oh?”
Red hair and silver eyes.
The man whose jaw I’d struck yesterday.

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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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