Celebrity Lady - Chapter 133

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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 133
“What did you just say?”
I grabbed Victor by the shoulders in panic and shook him frantically.
But half-drunk and half-asleep, he only repeated the same vague words over and over.
“If it’s His Highness… I really do like him. The only man I can truly trust for life…”
With those words, Victor passed out cold.
I slowly lifted my head and found Lark staring back at me, just as stunned.
“What is this? Explain yourself right now.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I really have no idea.”
We stood blinking at each other in bewilderment for a long moment.
* * *
The next day.
Since it was an awkward hour to go home and Victor wanted to have it out once he’d sobered up, I put Lark to sleep in the guest room on the third floor.
Though “put to sleep” hardly described it—the dark circles under his eyes stretched down to his jaw, the poor thing barely having slept a wink.
I’d shot awake at the crack of dawn myself, and now Lark and I were heading to Victor’s room, having hurried to mine moments before.
“Maybe he wasn’t talking about himself—maybe he meant the princess? Like, he knows about you two?”
“I considered that too, but it doesn’t quite seem right either…”
I spoke as I followed Lark up the stairs, taking them in long strides.
“My brother did ask me before if I was dating His Highness. It made sense at the time, since you two were together so constantly. You’d have looked suspicious.”
“Fair point.”
“But after I explained my secrets and other things to him, he seemed to understand. Oh, we’re business partners, he must have thought.”
“Then why on earth would he suddenly say something like that?”
“I have no idea. His Highness should know better than I would. Why don’t you explain it to me? What happened between you and my brother?”
Lark turned to me with an incredulous look, his mouth falling open.
“Nothing happened!”
“You must be losing it. There are people you can seduce and people you can’t.”
“Rubetria!”
“Yesterday too. ‘Come back to me,’ he says? Since when do people propose returning to the Knights Guard in such a romantic tone?”
“I wasn’t—”
Still protesting his innocence, Lark reached the second floor with me right as we were bickering.
“What are you two doing here?”
“O-oh, brother. You’re awake?”
We found Victor refilling a water glass, his face marked by hangover.
“You slept here last night, didn’t you?”
Victor fixed Lark with a sharp glare.
Then his gaze shifted to me, and he added:
“Where did you two sleep?”
“What are you talking about? Don’t you remember yesterday? I carried you to your room, and His Highness slept in the guest room right next door.”
“Tsk…”
Victor snorted suspiciously, but Lark strode toward him without hesitation.
“Listen, Victor. You should go back to the Imperial Palace to sleep.”
“I have something to discuss with you first.”
Lark’s voice took on a firm, measured tone.
“Something to discuss?”
“I think it’s best we settle this once and for all.”
I pressed myself against Lark’s back, peeking around him as I nodded eagerly.
“I’m truly sorry, but I cannot return your feelings.”
“…?”
Victor looked confused, slowly bringing the water glass to his lips.
“If I’ve given you reason to misunderstand through any action of mine, I apologize. I had no idea you saw me as a man.”
“Pfft!”
The moment Lark finished speaking, Victor sprayed the water he hadn’t yet swallowed straight into his face.
“Gasp.”
I leaned further around Lark to get a better look at him.
Water dripped steadily down his sculpted face as he stood with his eyes shut tight.
“What on earth are you talking about?!”
“You don’t remember what happened yesterday?”
Lark wiped the water pooling under his chin as he continued.
“You confessed to me while drunk.”
“I remember!”
“…You do?”
“Honestly.”
Victor thumped his own chest in exasperation, then raised his hand to point at me.
“That was about her, not me!”
Lark and I blinked blankly at each other, then locked eyes.
Victor regarded us both with pity before continuing.
“I’m not a fool. How could you misunderstand something so ridiculous…”
“You should have spoken clearly. Why did you leave out the subject and object?”
“Are you serious? Who else would the subject be at that moment besides Rubetria?”
“But…”
Lark, his anxiety now lifted, went right back to playing dumb.
“It was reasonable to misunderstand. You were talking fine and then suddenly brought Rubetria and me up out of nowhere.”
“Sigh.”
Victor exhaled heavily, folding his arms across his chest as he muttered.
“Are you going to deny everything until the end?”
“…?”
“Please refrain from displays of affection in someone else’s home. All right? How could you kiss so passionately without knowing who might see you?”
Lark and I froze as we processed Victor’s meaning, then our faces flushed with realization and mortification.
‘Did he see us kiss on the first floor the other day?!’
Watching our crimson faces burn with embarrassment and shock, Victor clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
Lark cleared his throat and spoke.
“Well, you see, Victor…”
“Never mind. What are you going to explain? I already know you two are dating.”
Victor spoke coolly and drained the rest of the water in his glass. I approached hesitantly and tugged at his shirt collar.
“Brother, I wasn’t hiding it. I was planning to tell you everything gradually.”
“I understand…”
Victor let out a wistful murmur, his gaze softening like a father watching his daughter marry off.
“Be happy.”
“Y-yes…”
“I’m heading to work.”
Having said that, Victor turned to leave the second floor, but then he spun back around and added something.
Specifically addressing Lark.
“Now then. Your Highness should hurry off to work too. What are you thinking, staying alone together in one house when you’re not even married yet?”
“I was just about to leave.”
Lark followed Victor out, suppressing a smile.
* * *
Four days later.
The new year had dawned on the Deccard Empire.
The New Year Festival, held for two weeks starting January 1st, was the largest celebration in the empire.
In the second week, the main event of the festival would be the Imperial House’s thanksgiving ceremony, praying for the empire’s safety and prosperity.
Before that, it differed little from other festivals.
Merchants seized the opportunity to set up stalls, paying booth fees and creating a festive atmosphere, while the empire’s citizens enjoyed a brief escape from routine—nobles and commoners alike indulging in food, drink, and entertainment without distinction.
And here was…
“Perfect.”
The National Opera House in the Capital.
I stood in the assistant director’s waiting room on the second floor, looking down at the vast stage and premium seating below, satisfied.
Unlike smaller commercial theaters, this opera house could accommodate quite a large audience.
As a national facility, it was available for rent once you paid, so this time I’d paid a hefty sum to lease the entire building.
What was I going to do here, you ask?
“Mwahahaha!”
The main event was a fashion show showcasing Blanc de Rubis’s winter collection.
And I, the organizer “Madam Ruby,” would make a grand entrance at the end of the event, thank everyone, and reveal my face.
“My beauty is flawless too.”
Hair pinned up elegantly.
A red evening dress with white fur draped across my shoulders in stark contrast.
I checked my makeup in the waiting room mirror and felt satisfied with what I saw.
“Miss! Miss! We have a crisis!”
Just then Becky rushed through the waiting room door. Madam Becky, Blanc de Rubis’s finest seamstress, was dressed up just as elegantly.
“Oh my, how pretty you look. Who would’ve thought you were once an unknown seamstress?”
“Haha, really? But wait, that’s not—”
Becky shook her head firmly and spoke.
“You know the Marquess of Lyuben, right?”
“How could I not know him?”
Kade Lyuben, the young Head of House Lyuben.
An investor in various emerging ventures who’s grown his wealth and capital—the so-called “Golden-handed Investor.”
He was always wealthy, but with a keen eye for business, he’s multiplied his already substantial fortune beyond measure.
Oh, and just for reference—he ranked as our top customer for Blanc de Rubis, combining last year and this year’s monthly sales. In other words, he’s a top 1% VVIP.
“Well… all the tickets to our fashion show sold out in five minutes flat?”
“What?”
I looked at the clock hanging on the waiting room wall.
Current time: 9:10 a.m.
Ticketing started at 9, and it’s already sold out?
“What’s going on with my boutique’s popularity?”
“That’s just it—I think the Marquess of Lyuben bought up all the seats himself.”
“What? Doesn’t one person get one seat?”
I’d sent invitations only to thirty VIP customers of Blanc de Rubis and a few acquaintances of mine, while the remaining seats required tickets priced from 500,000 to 1,000,000 marks to enter.
Of course, with such high prices, we’d still expected a full house and were carefully managing counterfeit tickets…
“Of course. All the names on the seat reservations are different. And it’s just my suspicion that the Marquess of Lyuben had people buy up all the seats for him.”
“If you’re saying this much, then it must be true.”
“Yes. At 9 o’clock sharp, everything except the reserved section sold out—no one could’ve done that without intent.”
“But what makes you so sure it was the Marquess of Lyuben?”
That part puzzled me.
I’d only met Kade Lyuben briefly once, when he visited the menswear section.
Since he’s a VVIP, we’d had a fairly long chat over tea.
“He’s a decent person. Good manners, wealthy, tall…”
I recalled the face of the fair-haired, handsome young man in his twenties and added,
“And most of all, incredibly good-looking.”
“Oh my, from the way you’re talking, it seems you had no idea at all. I thought you’d be the one who knew best, Miss…”
“What are you talking about?”
Becky scratched her cheek hesitantly before speaking.
“The Marquess Kade Lyuben is preparing something for this New Year Festival! That’s our staff’s shared suspicion.”
“Preparing? Preparing what?”
“He’s booked every available reservation, visits without fail every month to stay at the top of sales and never drops from the VVIP list, and since last month he’s been receiving massive investments for overseas branch openings without even scheduling meetings.”
“Ah, right… he’s an indispensable VVIP customer. But why? You’re telling me things I already know.”
“That’s precisely it, Miss! The reason the Marquess of Lyuben is so obsessed with Blanc de Rubis is ‘Madam Ruby’ herself!”
“…?”
“That’s our shared suspicion, Miss.”
“What…”
I tilted my head in bewilderment.
“I’ve only seen that man’s face once.”
* * *
“I’m truly sorry. We’ve sold out of tickets.”
In the lobby of the National Opera House.
At the ticket counter employee’s apologetic words, ten bulky knights of the Imperial Guard collapsed like tragic heroines.
“Pfahahaha! Oh, what a pathetic sight!”
Victor, who was waiting as escort at the counter, let out delighted laughter at the sight of his subordinates, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.
“H-hey, s-sir…?”
“It said it opened at 9. But it’s already 9:18…?”
After days of begging and pleading with their superior, the Crown Prince, these ten had barely managed to secure their chance to attend the Blanc de Rubis New Year Festival fashion show in person.
And they were the “chosen” ten, having secured their spots only through a tournament of rock-paper-scissors, given how fierce the competition was!
Victor had torn to shreds the colorful posters they’d made, decorated with hearts spelling out “M-A-D-A-M-R-U-B-Y,” and they’d painstakingly remade them…
“The opera house has so many seats. How are the tickets already sold out?”
Lark, who held a personal invitation from Rubetria herself and thus wasn’t concerned about sold-out tickets, asked Victor this question. He felt sorry for the knights he’d brought along.
It made no sense unless someone had bought up all the seats at once.
As proof, the opera house lobby and the area around the ticket counter weren’t even empty.
“They’re definitely sold out. People have been waiting since 7 a.m., and the moment the counter opened, they bought them up one by one and left.”
Victor, who had explained this, mocked the despairing knights like a man who’d lost his country.
“Oh, gentlemen knights. Why pine for it? Since you’re already here, go enjoy the festival! You’ll see Madam Ruby’s face on the street screens anyway!”
“Nooooo!”
“It can’t beeee!”
Just as the knights, wiping away tears, were expressing their despair, Lark heard—
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of a man’s footsteps echoed across the quiet marble floor.
Someone in a sharp black uniform flanked by two escorts was entering the lobby.
“…?”
A tall man in white formalwear.
He was luminous. Blonde hair swept back with impeccable elegance, a magnificent black coat draped lightly across the shoulders of his white jacket…
“Oh.”
As the man, holding an aristocratic cane adorned with jewels in white-gloved hands, drew closer, everyone held their breath and fixed their gaze upon him.
On his left wrist, barely visible, gleamed a sparkling diamond watch.
From head to toe!
A wealthy nobleman dressed head to heel in Blanc de Rubis clothes and accessories!
“I greet the empire’s small sun.”
The man spotted Lark, seemed momentarily surprised, then bowed respectfully.
“What an unexpected pleasure. I’m honored to offer my greetings on such a fine day. I am Kade Lyuben of House Lyuben.”
“Yes, the Marquess of Lyuben…”
Lark repeated his name, then smiled brightly and extended his hand.
“It’s good to meet you.”
Kade smiled in return, his relaxed blue eyes meeting Lark’s.
And strangely, Lark’s heart began to pound.
What was this…?
In the world of beasts, any male worth his salt would instinctively sense a “rival” and trigger
what one might call a danger alert…

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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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