Celebrity Lady - Chapter 161

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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
Side Story, Episode 3
“All of a sudden?”
“Not exactly all of a sudden. It’s something we should have done whenever we were ready.”
Lark fell silent for a moment, his expression confused, before he spoke.
“If you’re worried about what the bureaucrats think, don’t be. A child doesn’t just appear out of nowhere—you’d suffer for months. It’s not something to decide on so lightly.”
“I didn’t decide lightly. I’m saying this now because the timing is truly right. My business is stable enough at this point, and if we wait any longer, we’ll miss the window.”
Lark’s lips moved soundlessly. Truthfully, as far as he was concerned, this was cause for celebration—yet he didn’t nod his head readily, purely out of concern for her.
How many times had this man, who’d lived his entire life for the empire, made concessions and compromises because of me?
If only he’d found a woman who could dedicate herself solely to her duties as empress without distractions, Lark wouldn’t have suffered so.
Here was an almost perfect leader, and yet the bureaucrats still grumbled about him having no heir.
That was my fault. For the past three years, I’ve been chasing my own desires.
I told him I wouldn’t accept polygamy, made him change the law before proposing, and then—because the child had to be mine alone—I kept postponing indefinitely on the pretext of being busy.
Wow. Now that I’m examining it piece by piece, I really am selfish.
“Darling, I’m sorry. You’ve suffered through all this time.”
“What are you talking about? We promised from the beginning that I’d let you do everything you wanted, and I brought you here.”
“Yes, and I vowed to fulfill my duties faithfully. So let’s have our baby right away.”
“…”
“No, don’t misunderstand—I’m not doing this just out of obligation. Didn’t I tell you before? That one of my life goals was to see a child who’s half you, half me, with the man I love. The man I—”
I reached out and gently tapped Lark’s lips with my finger, then added:
“—love!”
“Hah… I’m losing it…”
Lark laughed awkwardly, rubbing his forehead. He was clearly pleased, but hesitated to fully show it.
I set his mind at ease.
“I’ve already prepared everything. I’m planning to focus for a month. I’ve divided up my work and delegated what I can to my clever secretary.”
“A month? Then what is this—a vacation of sorts?”
“Something like that.”
“All right.”
Lark nodded and, after stroking Mango on his lap, rose to his feet.
“Where are you going?”
Without answering, Lark carried Mango away and cracked open the bedroom door.
—Meow.
“Be good now. Just wait outside for a moment.”
Just as he had done before, he gave Mango a gentle pat on the rump and ushered the creature out.
Then he returned with a look of determination and scooped me up into his arms.
“Let’s get to it!”
* * *
Two weeks later.
Wishit sat with his legs crossed, regarding Rubetria Diolus with utter indifference as she perched before her vanity.
Rose-tinted hair swept to one side, baring the graceful curve of her neck.
A seductive deep-red slip that left nothing to the imagination, clinging to her slender frame.
And traces of light makeup still lingering on her face, despite the hour being meant for sleep.
“Mm-mm~”
Rubetria, dressed in a way that made it obvious something momentous was about to happen, hummed to herself with satisfaction as she gazed into the mirror—then suddenly froze.
“Say, amazing brother?”
She turned and spoke.
“Won’t you go home?”
“…”
Wishit fell silent for a moment.
He was, in fact, summoned nearly twenty-four hours a day. Since he wasn’t visible to anyone else anyway, and communication was easier that way, there was no real reason to leave.
“Why are you shamelessly present for such an intimate hour?”
Besides, though Wishit took the form of a male body, he was no human—he was a Spirit. The concept of gender didn’t truly apply to him.
Rubetria knew this better than anyone, and had grown so accustomed to him that his presence caused her little embarrassment; she’d strip off her clothes carelessly, sleep, snore, scratch her belly without a second thought—but…
“Do you have something to say?”
There was one particular time when Rubetria would forcibly end his Summoning and send him away to the Spirit Spring.
Do you know when she’d cast him out?
“You really do have terrible timing…”
Right before her “happy time” with her husband!
Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock sounded and the bedroom door opened. It was Lark, dressed in a night gown.
“Oh?”
Lark, who’d come directly from the Study Room adjoining the bedroom and selected a bottle of wine, froze upon seeing that Rubetria had changed into fresh clothes.
An intense Red Slip, translucent enough to reveal everything beneath. A look so striking it momentarily short-circuited rational thought…
“You’re here? Why did you take so long choosing the wine~”
“I was choosing something carefully, something to suit your taste.”
As Rubetria glided toward him, Lark’s eyes flicked away. His face, already flushed with positive reaction, had turned red all the way to his ears.
“What do you think? This is a new product from our Lingerie line. I put it on to see how it looks before the launch.”
“I see…”
“I came up with the product name myself. Guess what it is?”
Rubetria wrapped her arm around Lark’s tense neck and smiled wickedly.
“…What is it?”
Lark tilted his head slightly to look at her properly before asking.
“.”
“Ha ha ha… I’m going crazy.”
“What do you think? Will it sell well?”
Lark covered his eyes and laughed. After taking a deep breath, he set the wine bottle on the nightstand and spoke.
“It’ll fly off the shelves.”
“Eek!”
Before she could say more, Lark swept her up and threw them both onto the bed.
“Stop, that tickles!”
Wishit, watching all of this, squeezed his eyes shut.
For Spirits, a Contractor’s wellbeing is paramount. Thus, when summoned, a Spirit shares in their Contractor’s physical sensations and emotions without filter.
This was why Rubetria, at every “happy time,” ruthlessly drove Wishit away.
It wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by the Spirit retreating somewhere out of sight.
For instance, whenever a Contractor became aroused, or their body underwent changes in preparation for reproduction, Spirits could feel every bit of it—
Wishit opened his clenched eyes a crack.
Rubetria, with Lark’s head buried against her collarbone, fixed a glare on Wishit from across the room.
Her lips shaped the words silently:
Go home. Now.
…Did she think he didn’t want to leave? Of course Wishit loved Rubetria dearly, but he had absolutely no desire to witness her nights with another.
Right. He had no desire whatsoever—and yet here he was, hesitating, because…
“Rubetria! Wait!”
Sensing her attempting to forcibly sever the Summoning, Wishit cried out and reached toward her.
But it was too late.
* * *
The Spirit Spring.
The moment the Summoning broke, Wishit found himself transported instantly to the Spirits’ realm.
“Wow! Wishit has arrived!”
“Oh! Then that means—?”
“A baby! A baby!”
“Make one! Make a baby!”
The Spirits chattered excitedly in greeting. A newborn Spirit, cute as a fluffy cotton puff, came scurrying over and clung to Wishit’s leg.
“Wishit! Is your Contractor making a baby again?”
“Sigh…”
Yes, this was exactly why it was awkward each time the Summoning broke!
Every Spirit in the realm knew that whenever he, who was always summoned at Rubetria’s side, returned to the Spirit Spring, it meant only one thing…
“But Wishit, you care so much for your Contractor—why don’t you watch her make babies?”
The baby Spirit asked. Wishit trembled, his eyes squeezed shut.
“Heh heh heh. You’re curious, are you?”
An elderly Spirit, watching them, chuckled ominously as he leaned in.
“Yes! I want to know!”
“Well, to explain that, I’d first have to describe how humans make babies. You see, when a fully-grown human male and a fully-grown human female come together—”
“Stop!”
Wishit quickly covered the baby Spirit’s ears.
“Be quiet. You say things that children shouldn’t hear.”
“Heh heh, but the little one should know eventually. Soon enough, it’ll meet humans and form a Contract too.”
“…”
Wishit looked at the confused baby Spirit and hesitated.
“That… well…”
“…?”
“…Never mind. You don’t need to know yet.”
With that, Wishit trudged across the Spirit Spring with an exhausted expression, the other Spirits chattering and following in his wake.
After walking for some time, Wishit encountered a familiar Spirit.
Randian, with his bronze skin and sturdy build, took the form of a man.
He was the great Spirit of the Land, Contractor to Lark, Emperor of the Deccard Empire.
“…”
“…”
The two Spirits regarded each other in silence. Even without words, the awkwardness was palpable.
They were in the same situation, after all…
The Spirit King, source of all mysterious power.
The great Spirit of the Land, keeper of rebirth and renewal.
Beings of legend who’d shaped this empire’s history from its very founding alongside the first Contractors—
“…”
“…”
—what could they possibly accomplish now?
Now they were nothing but mere nobodies, cast out every time their Contractors bred, unable to save face…
Randian closed his eyes in shame and greeted him.
“Again… again… you’ve come…”
“Yeah… you too…?”

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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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