Celebrity Lady - Chapter 118

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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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Celebrity Lady
Chapter 118
* * *
Father, his face peaceful, had fallen asleep.
Right now, he was lost in an illusion.
His condition had been so dire that there was no choice. At my request, Father summoned the Illusion spirit and forced himself into sleep.
“I need to go see the Crown Prince.”
“That won’t do, my lady.”
Goth, Father’s adjutant, protested in alarm.
He seemed worried that I would crumble like Father once I heard the truth.
“I’m all right. I’ve already guessed as much anyway.”
“Even so, hearing it directly will be a different kind of shock. His Grace suffers so, as you see.”
“Is it really that grave a matter?”
…….
Goth bit his lip and avoided my gaze. Even murderous intent flickered across his furrowed brow.
For Goth, who bore no particular grudge against Molga Diolus despite serving his master, to react this way…….
I rose to my feet.
“I’m counting on you to look after Father.”
“My lady.”
“I know it was only a temporary measure to summon a spirit, and it’s not a good one. When he wakes, please make sure he doesn’t fall back into addiction. I’m asking you.”
At last, Goth gave a nod.
I smiled at him, then left Father’s chamber.
* * *
“They would have done the same to the previous Duke and Duchess. But in their case, the medical records alone wouldn’t suffice as evidence.”
…….
“Because the poison they were given is of an unknown variety. My personal physician told me it was a new kind that never existed before. Someone deliberately created it through breeding.”
“So the person who made this new poison and supplied it was Molga’s younger brother?”
“Yes. Since he bred it so ingeniously, you can’t call it poison outright. He made it so the poison only takes effect when mixed with specific liquors, foods, or tea.”
It was the same method Father’s personal physician had used so subtly.
Perhaps that man—Molga’s younger brother—had advised him.
“If they’re caught, there’s little risk of leaving a trail. Since it’s hard to call it poison on its own, there’s room for excuse.”
“Exactly.”
“So to prove that it’s actually a poison and that it was deliberately supplied with intent to harm—”
“The only way is to make him confess of his own mouth.”
“I’m starting to understand. That’s why you needed Father’s help.”
“Right.”
Lark nodded.
I left the manor and headed straight for the Imperial Palace, where I forced the hesitant Lark to open his mouth and reveal every ugly truth.
Yet I wasn’t surprised in the least.
It was exactly as I had suspected.
“Hmm.”
I thought quietly.
Grandfather, Grandmother, and Mother had all been poisoned to death, and Father had nearly met the same fate.
I had lived my whole life not knowing the truth—abused, isolated like a loner.
‘But that’s not my life. It’s Rubetria’s life. I have no reason to grieve, and it’s none of my concern. If I waste my energy on feelings, I’ll get tired anyway…… I’ll just accept it as that.’
I muttered to myself like casting a spell.
This is the life of Rubetria Diolus, not Juliet Karerina.
It’s certainly tragic, but it’s not my sorrow to bear.
There’s no need to cry. It just wrings my eyes dry for nothing.
I had already prepared my heart, so I’m truly fine.
Unaffected.
Completely unaffect—
“My lady.”
—ed, as I should be.
Damn it.
Through the clouding haze of my vision, I could see Lark looking at me with pity.
My body and mind, synchronized with Rubetria as they were, refused to let me remain composed.
“Ah……”
My parched cheeks tingled. My vision brightened and, against my will, tears fell.
This makes no sense.
Why did this happen?
Is all this truly the work of just one woman’s ambition?
For forty-five years, I—
Lost my parents, turned away by my siblings, abused, scorned, living like an outcast in hiding…….
Why? Why? Why me?
What did I do to deserve such a life?
The emotion that surged up was murderous rage.
The same instinctive killing intent I’d felt toward Molga when I first received this life’s memories from Wishit.
Helpless. And so pitiful.
I. Rubetria. So very.
“Aaaah!”
“My lady.”
As I cried out, clutching my head that felt like it might shatter, Lark rushed back and pulled me into his arms.
I wept bitterly, my trembling hands gripping his collar tight.
“P-please kill me. I’m so, so sad and angry that I can’t possibly…… I can’t……”
“It’s all right.”
“W-what did I do wrong? Why did I, why did……”
…….
“Mother, and Father? My family, my, my life……”
I had dimly suspected what the ugly truth was, yet part of me had hoped it wasn’t so.
Anything but that.
That that woman wasn’t such a terrifying monster.
Because—
Because I pitied myself, unable to bear the truth I now faced, crumbling before it.
“Cry. Rage. Scream if you need to.”
“Ha…… haa……”
“And once you leave here, never think of this again. Erase it all from your memory. It’s a waste to remember and be angry, to shed tears for this.”
Kneeling before me, Lark met my eyes as he continued.
“I hope this is the last time you cry.”
He wiped the tears from my cheeks, then whispered in a voice that sent chills down my spine:
“Everyone who broke you.”
…….
“No matter what you imagine, I’ll make them pay a price far more terrible than that.”
* * *
Barely calming my heart, I made my way out of the Imperial Palace.
‘Wretched creatures.’
My heart felt utterly hollow.
Molga was one thing, but the family physician and her brother who abetted her ambition bore no personal ill will toward our family.
The very fact that they bore no ill will was what I found most grievous.
Not for the sake of revenge, not for any noble cause.
‘What was it all for.’
Yes—just money and power.

Watching me freeze, Wishit spoke with concern.

I walked on.
Everything was finished anyway.
My dead family cannot be brought back to life, but the demons who killed them will pay a price far worse.
“Haa!”
I wiped away my tears and stretched both arms toward empty air, pretending to be unaffected.
And to those soon bound for hell, I spoke with mock elegance:
“Welcome to hell!”
Wishit frowned.

“What are you talking about?”
“Goodness!”
Just then, a voice suddenly burst out from behind, and I jumped in fright.
It was Ren.
“Haa, hah, hah.”
“Oh, I startled you? I’m terribly sorry.”
“How in the world can a person appear without any warning like that?”
“It’s my specialty.”
“Really……”
“But what were you saying just now? You were speaking a foreign language, weren’t you?”
“…… I have no idea. But Ren, why are you here all of a sudden? Where are you headed?”
At my question, Ren, who had been watching my expression, spoke quietly.
“Right now…… I’m going to capture him. Gale Bert.”
“Ah.”
Seeing my expression darken at once, Ren smiled wryly and suddenly thrust a handkerchief toward me.
“You’re crying again.”
I took the handkerchief and said,
“Thank you.”
“Wow! No, what was that? Your pronunciation was perfect! What language is it?”
“You don’t need to know. It’s a language of a country Ren will never visit in your lifetime.”
“Still, please tell me! It sounded incredibly cool. When you looked up at the sky just now, you did it like this!”
Ren mimicked what I’d done moments before, spreading both hands wide.
“Something like ‘dobro, something-or-other!’ you said!”
“Heh.”
“It felt a bit like something a gatekeeper of hell would say, didn’t it?”
“It’s exactly the sort of thing a gatekeeper of hell would say.”
As I laughed just a little, my spirits slightly lifted, Ren laughed along.
“Don’t worry. All that’s left for those creatures is death.”
“Thank you for helping. If I hadn’t saved you, I’d really have been in trouble. Always receiving your help like this.”
“Ha-ha, of course. An excellent choice, indeed. But you really won’t tell me what you said earlier?”
What? I thought you were comforting me, but it seemed you were genuinely curious.
Finding it absurd, I asked,
“You really want to know?”
“Yes, I’d like to use it too.”
“Unbelievable.”
* * *
Late afternoon, with the sun halfway down.
Bert, a rural fiefdom in the central region painted crimson with sunset.
“Mm-mm~”
Gale Bert, the young count of Bert, hummed contentedly as he strolled through the expansive greenhouse garden.
Pale hands holding a watering can.
Golden hair tumbling to the chest, cascading in dazzling waves.
Looking at the beautiful face and delicate frame so like his sister Molga, no one would ever mistake him for a man.
The reason why Lizbeth’s investigator had to identify the sorceress as “female”……
“Oof, my back.”
Gale murmured as he stretched his aching body.
It was the aftermath of spending the entire night intoxicated with wine and women.
Money!
Fine clothes, delicious food, beautiful women…….
In this world, with money there’s nothing you can’t do. That’s why Gale couldn’t understand those who cling to power or honor that will become meaningless after death.
“Grow, grow strong.”
His exceptional mind, refined in pharmaceutical knowledge, was a gift.
Gale had bred countless medicinal plants, creating species that had never existed before.
Mysterious poisonous plants whose names, origins, and antidotes only Gale knew.
“Hmm, still, I should start trading again soon……”
Gale pouted.
The one who covered Gale’s back in illegally distributing medicines outside the system was the Second Prince, Nathan.
In exchange for helping the Second Prince, Gale had been able to run his illicit business without trouble.
‘I had no idea he’d actually feed my drugs straight to his own sister like that.’
He’d never imagined that the poison he’d delivered per instructions to the Fifth Princess would make its way into the First Princess’s hands.
‘The madman. Killing his own biological sister. That takes guts, I’ll give him that.’
The situation had spiraled out of control, forcing Gale to suspend his business temporarily until things quieted down.
“Tsk, tsk. The loss because of that bastard is immeasurable.”
Thinking of the Second Prince, who showed no mercy even to his blood siblings, Gale’s thoughts naturally turned to his own sister.
‘Sister seemed quite anxious lately though……’
Molga, normally indifferent to the power dynamics of the Imperial House, had recently grown visibly nervous.
She said the Crown Prince had come to dislike her, and she’d urged Gale to wholeheartedly support the Second Prince, with whom he already had connections.
‘Are the two rivals or something?’
Gale shook his head.
“Whatever happens, it’ll work out. I don’t care anyway. It’s exhausting.”
He smiled faintly and tilted the watering can.
He had no interest in the power struggles of those high above, bleeding for dominance.
Foolish people. Pointless endeavors, and they don’t even know it……
Gale’s dream was to live out his life wallowing in overflowing wealth, indulging in debauchery.
“Ahhhh. Now let me head out and savor today’s pleasures.”
Setting down the watering can, Gale stretched and began to move.
A greenhouse spanning several hundred square meters.
A beautiful secret garden where poisonous plants that had killed so many now grew—
Gale, as always, slowly crossed through this quiet place.
‘……?’
Then, abruptly, he stopped.
‘What is it.’
In a place where no one should be, he felt an inexplicable wrongness.
A piercing tension washed over him.
Gale carefully scanned his surroundings. The landscape was unchanged.
‘Have I grown weak? How jittery.’
And as he walked on, his eyes suddenly caught something.
“Shink.”
In an instant, something gleamed.
Gale’s blue eyes slowly lowered.
A sharp blade lay beneath his chin in a heartbeat, its cold light ready to pierce through at any moment.
“Shush.”
Gale’s head turned slowly.
A gorgeous golden-haired man with a masked face covering nose and mouth. An unfamiliar face.
Despite the playful smile in his eyes, rage and murderous intent burned bright in his eyes—blood-red eyes.
As if——
An executor leading humans to hell.
Those red eyes gleamed.
The man pulled down his mask and smiled, then whispered quietly:
“Welcome to hell.”

Welcome to hell.

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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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