Celebrity Lady - Chapter 153

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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 153
The twins sensed instinctively that something had gone terribly wrong.
“How is the prison? Is the food at least edible?”
Rubetria asked with a pitying expression, her lips pouting slightly.
The twins, who had been staring blankly at her, turned to Biego and babbled.
“Brother, we’re getting out today, right?”
“Oppa… I’m in so much pain. This is unbearable.”
“…….”
“Pfft. Puh-hah, puh-hahaha!”
Rubetria burst into laughter, clutching her belly, then stepped closer to the twins, leaving the silent Biego behind.
“Easy talk, isn’t it. Do you know Mom’s neck comes off tomorrow?”
“Wh-what?”
“Tomorrow is Execution Day.”
The twins’ faces turned ashen.
Hearing it directly was shocking, though not entirely unexpected.
“And thanks to you devoted children stepping up first and loosening your mouths, the trial wrapped up in just thirty minutes — nothing more to hear about.”
“O-oppa. I don’t want to hear this. Please, just let me out.”
Lilia whimpered toward Biego, who stood behind Rubetria.
Biego sighed and placed his hand on Rubetria’s shoulder, and the twins relaxed.
But then.
“I’ll wait outside.”
With just those words, Biego turned coldly and left the visitation room.
“O-oppa?”
“Huh!”
“You’ve got some nerve. Did you really think you’d actually get out of here?”
“Wait, that’s not— oppa, come back!”
“Rubi, we didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t kill anyone.”
“Hahaha…….”
At Ricky’s words, Rubetria burst into laughter, staring at empty air.
“Hey, you remember telling me you didn’t have a mom?”
“Rubi, that was—”
“So you knew, didn’t you? That your precious mother killed our mother?”
Ricky trembled, his face drained of color.
“And you have the gall to call him brother? Oppa? If you have a brain, use it. If you were his brothers, could you sit there grinning after seeing his face again?”
“O-oppa is…….”
“That word ‘oppa’ gives me chills. I never expected anything from you two in the first place, but him— he’s different. That idiot loved you both without knowing anything.”
Rubetria laughed sharply and gestured toward the door Biego had left through.
“Right now, he probably wants to tear you both to shreds more than anything. So don’t scratch at old wounds. Just sit here and reflect properly.”
Rubetria looked around the visitation room with visible disgust.
The cramped space reeked of staleness. It was the best-maintained facility in the prison, since outsiders had to enter, and yet…….
If so, the conditions of the twins’ one-room cell were hardly worth imagining.
“This is the place that suits you vermin best. You’ve simply come to where you belong. So don’t go feeling sorry for yourselves.”
“Rubetria! I was wrong. I’m sorry. I can’t survive here. My body hurts so much. I think I’m dying.”
Lilia panicked at the sight of Rubetria standing, and pleaded desperately.
“Hurts?”
“Yes, please. The food here isn’t even decent. Washing is impossible. If I stay here any longer, I’ll catch a disease and die…….”
“That’s unfortunate. But I’m powerless. How can I overturn a sentence handed down in court? I did put in a Prison Food Package because I was concerned about meals, so eat that. I’m busy, so I’ll be going.”
Rubetria stood and turned to the guard behind her.
“Guard. I noticed on the way in that this visitation room is fairly clean, so could you let her eat some of the Prison Food Package I brought here before she goes? Please.”
“Rubetria! Wait!”
“Rubi!!”
“I’ll come back to see how vermin-like you’re living. Goodbye.”
Bang!
The visitation room door closed coldly, and soon a food tray was placed before them.
“Ugh.”
“Damn!”
Without waiting for the other, both covered their noses and mouths and retched.
* * *
Rubetria closed her eyes with a blissful expression, thinking of the Prison Food Package she had specially prepared.
“Mmm~ my mouth’s watering.”
“You’re going to see him too?”
Biego, who had been waiting outside, gestured toward another visitation room door.
“Yeah, just wait a little longer.”
“Fine.”
Rubetria opened the door to the adjacent visitation room, and there——
“Kedriiiick!”
Kedrick was there.
Rubetria rushed toward him, barely recognizing how gaunt he had become.
“What on earth is happening?”
“Rubetria…….”
“This is insane. Your shoulders were narrow enough already, and now you’re even more skeletal? Are you out of your mind? Is the food here adequate?”
“……I didn’t think you’d come.”
“Of course I came!”
Rubetria’s eyes welled with tears, and she continued with frustration.
“I told you so many times not to hang around with bad people. Every time I did, what did you say?”
“S-sorry.”
Kedrick Raijer and his circle of noble associates had all been locked up, awaiting trial.
“I said you’re disgusting, acting like a girlfriend to some pig, and to get lost!”
“R-Rubetria.”
The charges were varied.
Illegal gambling den visits, drug purchases, and so on…….
Since his days as a minor, he had frequented gambling dens at all hours, and had dabbled in the hallucinogenic illegal drugs they peddled to the nobility there.
On top of that, records of his visits to slave auctions that Lark had previously dismantled still remained.
‘I didn’t know he’d gone that far. Tsk tsk.’
That a wastrel young noble like Kedrick, trusting only in his family’s wealth and power, would revel so recklessly was something Rubetria already knew.
“Even though things turned out this way, you’re definitely not going to be punished yourself, right?”
“Of course not. Don’t worry. I honestly don’t know who informed on me…….”
‘Yeah, that was me.’
Rubetria suppressed her inner laughter while maintaining a sorrowful expression on her face.
“Father won’t just abandon me.”
“Right? Duke Raijer wouldn’t cast you aside, would he?”
“No. He won’t.”
“But I’m a bit worried. A duke of his caliber could have handled things quietly before everything blew up.”
Rubetria continued, her voice wavering.
“Why didn’t he?”
* * *
The Imperial Court, Noble Council Chamber.
The murmuring nobles all fell silent and watched as Duke Raijer entered.
“You came.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The gaunt-faced duke walked forward and handed a letter of resignation to Lark.
“What is this?”
“Effective today, I am stepping down from the Noble Bureaucratic Council. I sincerely apologize for raising my son poorly and causing this disturbance.”
“Hmm. While the young lord has caused problems, I had no intention of holding the father accountable. You don’t need to go this far.”
“That is not so. Rumors are circulating that I knew and turned a blind eye, and this is greatly damaging the reputation of the Noble Bureaucratic Council and Your Highness the Crown Prince. I will take responsibility and step aside.”
At the duke’s firm words, every noble in the chamber wore a regretful expression.
Having served together in the council for so long, they all knew the duke’s upright nature.
How such a father could have produced such a wretched son was a mystery.
“There’s no need for that. If the young lord accepts his punishment gracefully, such rumors will fade soon enough.”
“A transparent trial is only natural, of course. I merely ask that you hold me accountable as well, as his father. I am fully conscious of my responsibility.”
“Sigh.”
Lark examined the expression of each noble present, then tore up the resignation letter.
“Your Highness?”
“I know better than anyone how much the duke has served the empire. So does everyone here.”
“…….”
“What happened with the young lord is regrettable, but I don’t want to lose a devoted worker because of it. If you find his son’s crime shameful, then serve the empire going forward.”
The bewildered duke glanced at his colleagues. Their expressions were all gentle.
The duke bit his lip, half in embarrassment, half in emotion.
“……I am sorry, Your Highness.”
* * *
“It’s just that Father found out too late…….”
“True. Since the duke is so strict, you knew full well what would happen if you got caught. That’s why you took such pains to keep it from him, didn’t you?”
Rubetria shook her head and continued.
“If only you’d been caught earlier and beaten senseless before you came to your senses, things wouldn’t have spiraled this far. It’s quite a shame.”
Kedrick’s eyes narrowed at Rubetria’s openly sarcastic tone, finding it strange.
“Rubetria. Are you making fun of me right now?”
“Huh? Why would I?”
“If I’m misunderstanding, I’m sorry. But you’ve been holding a grudge against me. With the twins and all that happened this time. Let me be clear — I didn’t know anything about it.”
“Of course not. I have no ill will toward you. I’m genuinely concerned right now. If I wasn’t, why would I spend the time to come see your face?”
“I see.”
Kedrick relaxed, observing Rubetria’s pouting expression.
Soon tears filled his eyes.
“Honestly, this all happened so suddenly, and it’s been so hard…… But hearing you say this makes me feel better.”
“I’m glad.”
“And I regret it. You’ve always been thinking of me, and……. Ugh.”
Kedrick’s voice wavered with emotion.
Now that he thought about it, there was no one who had cared for him like Rubetria.
On the day he first decided to go to the gambling den, it was Rubetria who had clung to him, begging him not to go…….
“If I get out of here safely, do you think we could be close again?”
“Huh?”
Rubetria’s eyes widened in surprise, and she covered her mouth.
At her seemingly moved expression, Kedrick laughed with tears streaming down his face.
But then.
“Am I insane? Why would I be with someone coming out with a criminal label?”
“……What?”
Kedrick’s face went blank at her next words.
“You need to know your place. When you get out of prison, you’ll have nothing. Your poor father is rummaging through distant relatives right now to fill the successor’s seat.”
“Wh-what? What are you saying?”
“What do you think? All those good days living as a fancy young nobleman are gone.”
Rubetria stood up.
“W-wait!”
“In honor of our old bond, I’ve prepared one last gift for you. You said the food here is so terrible, didn’t you?”
“Rubetria!”
“It’s a special Prison Food Package I made myself, so eat every last bite. Goodbye.”
Kedrick stared blankly at Rubetria’s retreating figure as she left the visitation room coldly, when a food tray was placed before him.
“Ugh!”
The revolting stench made Kedrick retch.
Mashed fish entrails and chunks of pork fat bobbed atop a curdled, spoiled broth.
It likely remained outside Kedrick’s memory, but…….
This was surely the garbage food he himself had once forced into Rubetria’s mouth, coercing her without mercy.

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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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