Of course — here is the complete English translation:

Chapter 12

Barberry alternated her gaze between Medo’s face and the hand he held out to her.

“You have a face that practically screams, ‘I’m up to something.’”

When Barberry said that, Medo laughed out loud.

“I get misunderstood like that pretty often.”

He explained that it was simply because his appearance made him easy to misunderstand.

Barberry did not believe him.

“Then why are you suddenly trying to recruit me? What did you see in me?”

Barberry raised the obvious question. If she had demonstrated her abilities, perhaps his offer would have made sense.

But she had been absolutely terrible just moments ago. She had made such a mess of things that she was embarrassed herself.

If he was trying to recruit her after seeing that, then his judgment was highly questionable.

“I usually find companions this way. Even more so after I lost nearly half my companions to the Evil Dragon two years ago.”

He had lost almost half of his companions during the subjugation.

That was why, Medo claimed, whenever someone looked even remotely decent, he immediately approached them like this.

“So this is just a scheme to increase your numbers somehow?”

Barberry still did not trust him.

Medo smiled warmly at her.

“Your skills weren’t actually that bad. With a little polishing, you’ll improve quickly.”

Medo thought he was complimenting her. He was acknowledging her potential and expressing his interest in her.

But Barberry could not take his words as a compliment.

“You think my skills will improve if you polish them?”

That meant he was evaluating her as someone far beneath him.

Even though she knew she could do nothing about it, Barberry was furious. She clenched her teeth so hard that her jaw began to ache.

‘Even if a traitor knows how to use a sword, how good could she possibly be?’

‘She probably knows nothing more than how to swing it around.’

There had been plenty of people who had looked down on her in the past.

Barberry had never been angry with them.

After all, whenever they fought, it became immediately obvious who was superior.

So the more arrogant they were, the better.

That way, after they lost, the expressions on their faces were even more miserable.

But now, she could not challenge him and say she would show him who was superior.

Much as she hated to admit it, she knew she would lose.

I’m going to lose to someone who wouldn’t even be worth one punch!

The mere fact that she was thinking that was humiliating enough.

“I refuse.”

Barberry said it through tightly clenched teeth.

“I am a king.”

“…What?”

“If you want to come under my command, I might consider it. There can be no other arrangement.”

The smile Medo had been wearing so kindly while trying to recruit Barberry cracked.

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that? Are you out of your mind?”

Medo wondered if he had heard her correctly.

It was true that he was usually quite active when it came to recruiting people.

But this time, there was another motive behind it.

She was the woman the Dragon Slayer was desperately searching for, even putting up a bounty to find her.

Whether he wanted her dead or wanted to ensure her safety—

Either way, it meant that she was extremely important to the Dragon Slayer.

Therefore, Medo had decided that if Margaret fell into his hands, she would make an excellent bargaining chip for negotiating with the Dragon Slayer.

But suddenly, she was a king?

“You have quite the nerve to joke like that just because I rejected your recruitment offer.”

“A joke? I’m serious.”

Barberry puffed out her chest and stood proudly.

Her expression was so serious that Medo was rendered speechless.

He blinked several times before rubbing his face with his dry hand.

“Haha…”

A hollow laugh escaped Medo’s lips.

“You really are a crazy woman. No wonder the Dragon Slayer is trying so desperately to capture you.”

With someone bold enough to openly speak of rebellion like that, she must have been a headache even if she were family.

No, if she was family, she was probably an even bigger headache.

Medo felt as though he could understand the feelings of the Dragon Slayer, whom he had never even spoken to.

“I’m not a crazy woman. I’m a king.”

Barberry pouted as she insisted.

Medo was so dumbfounded that he could no longer even laugh.

“Then let me ask you. Exactly what country are you the king of?”

“…”

“Do you have any land? Any people?”

Barberry bit her lip without being able to answer.

Even though she knew he was mocking her, she had nothing to say in response.

Land? People?

She had grand ambitions of becoming a king so that she could take revenge, but she still had absolutely nothing.

“Why aren’t you answering? Don’t tell me you have nothing?”

“…”

“How can you call yourself a king when there isn’t even a single person who calls you that, and you simply go around insisting that you are one?”

“That’s not a king. That’s a lunatic.”

Medo said it firmly.

“…I do have one subject.”

Barberry, who had kept her mouth tightly shut, finally spoke.

At that, Medo raised both hands and turned his head from side to side, looking around.

“Where?”

There was no one around her.

Medo finally realized that continuing this conversation with her would be a waste of time.

“Sharon, let’s go.”

Since it was getting late, Medo grabbed Sharon by the arm and pulled her along, saying he would take her home.

“Forget everything I said. I’m not interested in having someone who intends to rebel as a companion.”

Leaving those words behind, Medo turned away.

Sharon looked back at Barberry as if she had something to say, but soon followed him and left.

Barberry was left alone on the dark riverside.

She stood there like a statue for a while before suddenly throwing the wanted poster onto the ground.

Flutter, flutter.

The paper drifting down only irritated her already-frayed nerves.

“Aaaaaah!”

Barberry screamed and kicked the ground.

She had been treated like an idiot, yet she had not even managed to properly retaliate with a single word.

“You asked how I could be a king when I have neither land nor people? Fine. I can’t call myself a king because of that. I know that, too.”

The problem was that, deep down, she had already acknowledged that he was right.

What good was it to force Kur to call her “Your Majesty”?

Barberry stopped kicking the ground and sat down by the riverside, lowering her head between her knees.

“How am I supposed to become a king?”

She had been so busy struggling just to take care of herself that she had never thought concretely about what she actually needed to do.

The one plan she had managed to come up with—the sister strategy—had failed.

What would happen if she took Medo’s head to the son of the lord who had been murdered?

“He’d betray me just like when I defeated the dragon. There’s a bounty of three hundred thousand gold on my head…”

Then where was she supposed to place her hopes?

Kur?

The man who probably wanted to kill Barberry just as badly as Glock did?

“Where am I supposed to find my people? My subjects? Where do you even get those?”

She had no idea.

She continued agonizing over it for quite some time when she heard someone approaching from behind.

Barberry abruptly turned around to see who it was.

Sharon, whom she had thought had already left, gasped in surprise.

“What?”

Barberry asked sharply.

“I-I have something I want to ask you.”

Sharon stammered under the pressure of Barberry’s presence.

Still, she gathered her courage and slowly moved her lips.

“What is your real name?”

“What are you going to do knowing my real name?”

Barberry turned her gaze away from Sharon as if telling her to get lost.

“If you really are the person I think you are, I have a favor to ask.”

“No.”

Barberry stood up and brushed off her backside with a few quick pats.

Then she headed up toward the street.

“What I wanted to ask was—wait! How can you reject me without even hearing what I have to say?”

Sharon hurried after Barberry, who was striding away.

Barberry glanced at her over her shoulder and quickened her pace.

She did not want to talk to her any more than necessary.

She had no desire to listen to Sharon’s story, either.

After all, she was already in a bad mood because Medo had treated her like an idiot.

Sharon was short, so she practically had to run to keep up with Barberry.

“Barberry!”

When Sharon called out loudly, Barberry stopped dead.

“My name is Margaret. I’m Barberry Lang’s younger sister.”

Barberry said it with a self-mocking smile.

“That can’t be true. Only one child was born into the Lang family. And the silver-haired man who came with you isn’t your younger brother, either.”

Barberry’s brisk footsteps came to a halt.

She turned around and stared at Sharon.

Her expression clearly asked how Sharon could possibly know that.

“My grandmother worked as a maid at Lang Castle before she got married. That’s how I know.”

“…You’re smarter than that boyfriend of yours who kept spouting nonsense.”

While Barberry was stopped, Sharon stepped in front of her.

Her expression was desperately earnest.

“I know who you are, and I want to ask you for a favor. Please protect Medo.”

Barberry responded by deeply furrowing her brow.

Sharon grew desperate.

“You’re being pursued, too. If people who are being chased help each other and become friends, we might be able to overcome this crisis together.”

“Become friends?”

Just the thought of it made Barberry want to gag.

She made a motion as though biting down on her tongue.

“You know what I hate most?”

She glared at Sharon.

“Making me work hard and then giving me nothing in return.”

“If it’s compensation, I’ll give it to you.”

“No. Actually, there’s something I hate even more.”

Barberry’s eyes narrowed.

“The worst thing of all is promising me compensation and then not giving it to me.”

Barberry shuddered as she remembered King Glock.

At that, Sharon placed a hand over her chest.

“I will definitely give it to you. I promise. In whatever way you want.”

“Do you have a lot of money?”

Sharon owned a shop, so she probably wasn’t completely broke.

But perhaps she had enough assets to be worth ten thousand or even three hundred thousand gold?

“No. I don’t have that much money.”

“Then how are you planning to compensate me in the way I want?”

“I’ll become your person. Your subject.”

Barberry’s lips parted slightly at the unexpected answer.

Sharon was right.

People were exactly what Barberry had been looking for.

“I’m healthy. Extremely healthy.”

Sharon said it confidently.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she certainly looked full of vitality.

Barberry compared her to a certain smug dragon who would lie down for two hours, complaining that her head was spinning whenever her face turned pale.

“What other advantages do you have besides being healthy?”

She would have to protect a man she disliked simply to gain one healthy woman as a subject.

That was difficult to accept.

“Can you fight?”

She did not think Sharon could, but she asked just in case.

“If I were good at something like that, I would have guarded Medo myself.”

As expected.

So, in the end, Sharon had no money and could not fight.

Then what benefit was there in accepting her as a subject?

“But I do have an advantage.”

“What?”

“I’m really good at baking pies.”

Sharon said it proudly.

Barberry was about to scoff, but she unconsciously swallowed.

She remembered the fantastic taste of Sharon’s pies.

“I admit that you’re good at making pies.”

She had no intention of denying that.

Doing so would mean betraying her own tongue.

“But do I look like someone who would be swayed by just one pie?”

She had neither land nor people, but her pride was still high enough to reach the heavens.

Would she really be tempted by something as trivial as a single pie?

“I know one pie isn’t enough.”

“Then?”

“If you accept me, I’ll bake pies for you every day.”

A brief silence fell between them.

“Hey.”

At the cold voice, Sharon’s shoulders flinched.

Barberry glared at her with a deeply displeased expression.

Sharon swallowed nervously and held her breath.

“How dare you call me ‘you’? If you’re my subject, shouldn’t you address me as Your Majesty, like a proper subject?”