Celebrity Lady - Chapter 130

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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 130
Boulder stretched out with a sigh.
Had he simply needed to talk and so he talked?
How could he refuse the demands of a Contractor who had given him a proper order?
“I’m already getting a headache from that Poze fellow, and now you’re making it worse! Do you think Taboos are broken just for fun?”
“Lady Bilkin, do you happen to know where Vista is?”
“Why are you looking for Vista!”
Boulder, who casually ignored the irritated Bilkin, turned to the spirits beside him.
“You know, don’t you? Tell me.”
“……Mmm.”
“Uuumm.”
“No way. No way.”
The spirits that looked like a rabbit, a firefly, and a butterfly had all clamped their mouths shut as if they’d made a pact.
Vista, the Spirit who could see the future, was now hiding deep somewhere in the Spirit Spring, concealing all trace of herself.
She was trying not to catch the eye of any humans who might come to the Spirit Spring for Contracting.
Why?
“Vista said we need to help the King’s Contractor safely pretend to be his own Contractor.”
“That’s right, that’s right. We need to help. That’s what she said.”
In other words, the great Spirit King’s Contractor could continue her identity theft in safety, and they were all tearfully assisting in the enterprise.
“I was looking for Vista because I have something I wanted to ask her. It would only take a moment—”
“So you’re looking for Vista just to ask her something!”
As Bilkin flared up, Boulder let out a long sigh and spoke.
“I’m curious whether anything dangerous will happen to my Contractor going forward.”
“Hah! What could happen? And what could you even do if something did, when you can’t even be Summoned?”
“…….”
Seeing Boulder’s dejected form, Bilkin’s eyes narrowed—almost with pity.
“Danger has already come.”
“Pardon? W-what do you mean?”
Boulder visibly panicked.
“A grave wound—one that could have killed or saved. If it had been treated quickly, he’d have lived. If not, he’d be dead.”
“So what happened? Is he alive?”
“What are you saying, you fool! If he were dead, the Contract would be completely severed and you’d have been the first to know!”
Bilkin clicked her tongue and gestured to her wooden pillar.
Below the words “The Loudmouth” were written……
“The Laborer”
Wishit
/////////
Boulder understood what those tally marks meant.
Ordinary Spirits paid the price of restricted Summoning when they broke Taboos, according to the weight of the transgression.
But the Spirit King was the Spirit King, and special laws applied to him.
When he broke a Taboo, or when he used his power at his own discretion without the Contractor even making a Wish.
Once a certain amount accumulated, the Spirit King’s Contract was simply over.
There likely wouldn’t even be time to say farewell to the Contractor.
“The transgression was too ambiguous to consume a Contractor’s Wish, so once again he must have used his power. Your Contractor bought time with the King’s strength. And then received treatment from a human.”
“Ah.”
Seeing Boulder breathe a sigh of relief, Bilkin’s anger flared.
“You just felt relieved, didn’t you? Look at you—causing all this trouble!”
“…….”
“Now the King’s remaining power is hanging by a thread! Even if there are Wishes left, the King’s Contractor may never be able to use them!”
Boulder didn’t seem particularly worried.
Well, of course.
For Spirits who have long been bound to humans and moved by them, the only thing that truly matters is their Contractor’s safety.
Everything else was not their concern.
‘Perhaps it is only natural. We cannot help but come to resemble the King.’
Bilkin swallowed a sigh internally.
Wasn’t the Spirit King, Wishit himself, precisely the sort who would sell off this very Spirit Spring if it meant protecting his Contractor?
“How many days will I need to remain sealed?”
“Days? How many days? Even Poze, the highest rank, was sealed for four months, and you’re asking ‘how many days’? Are you joking? It’s six months, you fool!”
“Ah, please just reduce it a little. Six months is far too long.”
At his unreasonable plea, Bilkin’s jaw dropped.
“Am I the one who decides this? Am I? It’s a rule set down by Diolus I and determined by the King!”
“Isn’t that a rule they set precisely so it would all come to light anyway?”
“Nnnngh…….”
The Spirit King’s Contract and his whereabouts.
If one were to Contract with him, the Contractor would be immediately sealed.
And should the Spirit King misuse his power to hide the fact of the Contract, they had made certain the truth would leak out to the world.
That was Diolus I’s wish.
So the price for obliquely exposing the Spirit King’s whereabouts by breaking the Taboo was merely four months for the highest rank and six months for the upper rank—a pittance.
‘Ugh……. I’m so sick of this tug-of-war.’
The Contractor who had created the Sealing Stone for the Spirit King’s ‘freedom’ and carefully arranged rules and Taboos to bind him.
And, ironically, the Spirit King who hoped to remain ‘enslaved’ forever to the Contractor who desired freedom.
Their tug-of-war had begun anew, across ages untold.
And…….
‘Poze.’
Poze was the one the Spirit King hoped would win this tug-of-war.
All Spirits simply followed the King’s will, but Poze was different.
Even now that all had been moved by humans, she alone loved her own kind most of all—this Spirit Spring, and the Spirit King.
And precisely because of that, she alone stood in contradiction to the King.
‘Perhaps Poze’s victory would bring peace.’
Bilkin thought.
If Poze did not lift a hand, the long tug-of-war would inevitably end in the Spirit King’s victory.
If the Contractor at last made a Wish for the ‘Spirit King’s freedom’?
Then the Spirit King, having received freedom from his Contractor and stripped of all power limitations……
Would willingly bind himself to his Contractor of his own volition!
“Just reduce it a little for me. One month, please.”
Even now, Boulder was haggling.
Bilkin, who had been lost in thought, felt a vein bulge on her forehead.
“Nnngh!”
Her sharp voice rang out across the Spirit Spring.
“No way! I won’t reduce it! I’m not reducing anything! Go back now!”
* * *
1 AM.
I lay in my room on the first floor, unable to sleep, when I heard a soft tap-tap at the window.
I rushed over and opened the window, then whispered in a voice full of joy.
“Your Highness!”
It was Lark, who had come after receiving the message I’d sent through my steward.
“Sorry. I made a mess of things.”
He gave a bitter smile.
“What are you saying. Your father’s son is the one who made the mess.”
“Actually, I found out earlier that Victor stopped by the Spirit Altar.”
Lark got straight to the point.
“He came to look at the list of Imperial Family Contracts. He was probably trying to find out what Spirit you contracted with.”
“I heard about that. I broke the Taboo myself when I revealed that I’m a Spirit Practitioner, but fortunately he figured out which Spirit I contracted with all on his own.”
I added with relief.
“If he only broke a Taboo to that extent……”
“He’ll be able to Summon again soon. And Victor is such a formidable fighter that even without Spirit Protection for now, you hardly need to worry. There are few people who could best him without a Spirit’s blessing.”
Lark reassured me, sensing my concern for Victor.
“In normal circumstances, even our sparring matches are at 62 fights, 30 wins, 2 draws, 30 losses. He’s that skilled.”
“Ha.”
“And don’t worry about the Duke and the young Duke either. I’ve handled it well.”
“I’m not worried. I was trusting you all along.”
“I know.”
“It’s just that I realized from all this—we made a mistake. We underestimated Victor.”
“I agree.”
“Actually, even if everyone else doesn’t know about our plan, Victor should have—”
“He should have been told everything when we still had control over him. We should have laid it all out before we moved.”
“Right. So I’ve taught him what he needed to know and calmed him down. And over these few days while he’s here with me, once I’ve told him everything else, I’m going to work on reforming that temperament of his.”
Lark mulled over “everything else” and asked,
“……You mean about the Duchess, right?”
“Yes. Victor needs to know eventually anyway, but if we tell him at home, it’ll be a disaster. Even if Your Highness told him, it would be hard to manage. So I’ll tell him here, while I have him on a short leash.”
“You’ll have your hands full. I’m sorry I can’t help.”
Lark sighed and rubbed his brow.
“Stop apologizing all the time.”
I wanted to embrace the slightly weary-looking Lark, but the window stood between us.
I quietly stepped up onto the sill.
“Whoa, you’re coming out? You’re barefoot. You can’t.”
“I can wash up when I go back inside. It’s fine.”
“Ah, don’t do that.”
Lark, looking flustered, stepped closer and reached out his arms. I immediately fell into his embrace.
“Step on my feet.”
He carefully held me and placed each of my feet on top of his own.
“Aren’t I heavy? Doesn’t your foot hurt?”
“Not at all.”
Like those who manage to accomplish everything even in the midst of war, we were savoring this clandestine meeting in the storm, and it felt perfect.
With our arms wrapped tightly around each other’s waists, staring directly into each other’s eyes, I found myself smiling.
Lark’s mouth curled upward slightly before he pressed it down, then whispered with concern.
“But Victor is here now, isn’t he? What if we get caught? I think he really disliked me.”
“Don’t worry. His room is on the third floor and he’s completely passed out right now—he won’t wake until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Really? Is he not feeling well?”
“No. You know his monster stamina? I called the physician earlier, and he said the stitched wound on the surface just came open, but the inner wound is healing well. The moment he heard that—”
I shook my head in exasperation at the thought of Victor.
“He went right back out to work. Got a daily contract from the Mercenary Guild and brought back three hundred thousand Marks. He says he’s going to save up and support himself. Stubborn fool.”
“What?”
Lark went pale with worry.
“You sent a wounded patient out to earn money?”
“I tried to stop him, but he insisted on going anyway. What could I do? Besides, he needs to understand how hard life is without a home or a job.”
“Hmm.”
“But you didn’t already process his resignation, did you? He needs somewhere to go back to.”
“Of course not. Victor is worth a hundred men—the Knight Order would collapse without him.”
“Thank you.”
Lark’s face broke into a smile, glowing almost impossibly beautiful in the moonlight.
He really is handsome, isn’t he.
I smiled and asked,
“The mood is nice. Want to kiss?”
“…….”
At my bold request, Lark hesitated, then murmured with a sigh,
“You’re too much. In the middle of the night.”
Then, with a faint smile, he took my lips.
* * *
Beneath the moonlit sky, the kiss between the man and woman was nothing short of fierce.
Savoring each other as if they were the only two souls in the world, for a long, long time……
“Damn it.”
……From the third floor, looking down, Victor ground his teeth and pulled the curtain shut with a sharp snap.
His expression, having witnessed a sight he’d stumbled upon by accident, was deeply troubled.

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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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