Celebrity Lady - Chapter 17

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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 17
The Count, who had frozen with a vacant expression while trying to make sense of the situation, soon grew angry.
“What in blazes is this……!”
“C-Count. This is Lubetria, a Lady of the Diolus Ducal Family.”
As Sera spoke in a fluster, the Count went rigid.
Since I rarely ventured outside, many people didn’t know my face, but there was scarcely a soul in the Capital who didn’t know the Diolus Ducal Family.
After all, it was a house that stood shoulder to shoulder with the Imperial throne itself.
I tilted my head at Count Ergeti, whose thought process seemed to have stalled, as he stared blankly, eyes blinking.
“A pleasure to meet you, Count Ergeti. Though…….”
…….
“Didn’t you hear Sera’s introduction? I said I’m from Diolus.”
“Oh!”
The Count then hastily removed the derby hat he’d been wearing, held it to his chest, and bowed his head in greeting.
“It is an honor to meet you, my Lady. I am Nob’en Ergeti.”
“Well, yes. It’s rather embarrassing to receive such a formal bow from a Count old enough to be my grandfather, if not more.”
…….
“It seems the Count finds the ten or twenty years difference between us quite insignificant, so I shan’t trouble myself over it either, shall I?”
As I spoke in a mocking tone about how he’d been fawning over Sera, who was practically his granddaughter, the Count’s face flushed crimson.
Knowing he was caught, he deserved it. I clicked my tongue audibly, shaking my head.
“I had no idea you were already visiting. Please, continue your conversation. I’ll return this evening…….”
“Wait.”
I caught the Count as he turned to leave, flashing a look toward Sera.
“That won’t be necessary. I’d prefer it if you didn’t come back here again.”
“……What do you mean?”
“Ah, well. The truth is, I came to the theater today with my father. And I came to find Sera because I have a separate proposal for her.”
As I spoke with a gentle smile, shock flickered across the Count’s eyes.
That I’d come to the theater with my father, Duke Diolus, and that I had a proposal for Sera.
There was only one interpretation to draw from this—that Duke Diolus had come to offer Sera the position of his mistress. It was common enough in these circles.
“I may be mistaken, but if the Count has come seeking something from Sera,”
…….
“then I’m afraid I must ask you to withdraw your interest.”
When Duke Diolus himself had set his sights on her, how could this aging Count presume to continue his pathetic advances?
The Count understood my words well enough, yet he remained frozen in place, unable to take a step.
‘All that effort wasted on making Sera a mistress, is it? Revolting old fool.’
Irritated, I pressed the matter.
“What nobles want from actresses in this world is hardly mysterious, so there’s no need for me to belabor the point, is there?”
I never specified what I actually wanted from Sera, but no one would imagine I meant anything else.
I smiled scornfully at the Count and used my fan to point toward the waiting room door.
“Well then, do take your leave.”
* * *
‘What the hell! After all the effort I’ve put in for Sera!’
Nob’en Ergeti, having been humiliated by a noblewoman far his junior, made no effort to hide his rage.
‘Damn it!’
Every time he imagined walking through the Capital with the beautiful actress Sera Wigo at his side, his blood had boiled with anticipation.
He’d even looked forward to seeing the admiring gazes of those who’d regard him—aged though he was—as still vigorous and powerful.
But then, Duke Diolus, of all people?
The Diolus Ducal Family, which wielded power second only to the Imperial throne itself. He’d never seen the Duke’s daughter’s face before, but merely hearing the family name had made him tremble and turn back.
‘What rotten luck!’
As he gnashed his teeth in the corridor outside the waiting room, unable yet to depart, his attendant—having pieced together the story—whispered to him.
“Count, but is what that daughter said actually true?”
“What?”
“No, I find it odd. You’ve never seen that family’s daughter before, have you? The young lady of House Diolus I know about doesn’t look like that at all.”
“What are you talking about…….”
Nob’en’s frown faltered as he paused.
Now that he thought about it, he did recall hearing something. There was talk of the Diolus Duke’s Young Lady, still young in years but renowned for her beauty, whose name was already spread throughout the Capital.
The young lady called the Swan of Diolus was said to have hair as golden as an angel’s, with a beauty divine in every way.
“Yes, I remember now. I’ve heard something of it. But she looked entirely different from that Swan lady, didn’t she? Those golden eyes mark her as Diolus blood, yet…….”
“Yes, she’s likely the Duke’s true daughter. Unlike the Swan lady, she’s not well-known and, from what I’ve heard, she stays indoors most of the time because there’s been considerable talk.”
“Talk, you say?”
“You didn’t know? It’s a renowned Spirit User family, and she’s the only one without a Spirit. Everyone in the Capital may not know her face, but they all know she’s a half-sibling.”
Nob’en listened to his attendant’s prattle in silence, then lost interest and clicked his tongue.
“So what? Did the Diolus house excommunicate her for not being a Spirit User? Yet here she is, out and about in the Capital with her father. Tch.”
“But is it truly a fact that Duke Diolus came with her? Isn’t it just a bluff she put on?”
“What do you mean?”
The attendant, glancing about cautiously, brought his mouth to Nob’en’s ear and whispered.
“There’s talk all over the Capital that Duke Diolus has gone mad. Ever since his wife died, he’s shut himself away in his house and hasn’t been seen in public—yet here he is watching a play? He doesn’t even seem to know Sera Wigo’s face, and he’s proposing to make her his mistress?”
“What? He’s gone mad?”
Now interest kindled in Nob’en’s eyes.
“Yes, Count. Anyone who matters knows it. Already, for years now, all official functions and external affairs have been handled by the Duke’s eldest son. There’s even talk in society that he’s already dead…….”
“Damn it all. So the Duke’s daughter lied to me?”
“Isn’t it highly probable? A deficient half-sibling whom the house itself tries to hide away—why should you give up Sera over the bluff of some mere child?”
The sinister hunger blazed anew in Nob’en’s eyes, which had nearly given up altogether.
“That little bitch…….”
Just as he was about to turn and head back to the waiting room,
a massive shadow rounded the corridor corner, and Nob’en froze.
‘What?’
The man was so imposingly built it seemed like a single towering tree stood before him.
A face sculpted as if by hand, austere and handsome, with an expression coldly devoid of warmth…….
‘Duke Diolus?’
Nob’en, who had been staring up at the man blankly, turned pale.
The same crimson hair as the Diolus Duke’s daughter he’d just met, and those golden eyes—the mark of a Spirit User.
An arrogant expression and noble bearing that laid bare a life lived in power, born into power…….
There was no doubt—this man was Duke Diolus!
The moment he realized it, Nob’en removed his hat and bowed in confusion.
“D-Duke Diolus, Your Grace. I am Nob’en Ergeti…….”
Nob’en’s words trailed off as he bowed. The Duke, showing no interest, didn’t acknowledge the greeting at all—he simply brushed past without pause.
Nob’en straightened his bowed waist slowly and turned to watch.
The man who had passed him went directly to…… Sera’s waiting room.
The attendant stationed at the door recognized him, and at once flustered with tension.
“D-Duke Diolus, Your Grace. We are honored by your visit.”
“I’m looking for my daughter. Has she come this way?”
“Y-yes……. The Young Lady Diolus said she wished to speak with Sera, so we prepared a place for her in the waiting room. Will you be joining them, Your Grace?”
The Duke glanced slowly at the waiting room door, then shook his head.
“No, I’ll wait out here. I don’t wish to intrude.”
The Duke folded his arms and leaned against the wall.
Nob’en, staring blankly at him under the weight of such an overwhelming presence, felt the Duke’s gaze and met his eyes. He flinched in alarm and turned his body away. It was a pitiful sight.
His averted face burned with shame and anger, yet his departing steps were measured and respectful, lest the Duke observe him further.
Soon after Nob’en fled the theater,
“What in hell, you wretch?”
“S-sorry……. Ugh!”
he brought his walking stick down savagely across his attendant’s back.
“What Duke? A madman? Standing there all impressive and grand!”
“Agh, please……! Count!”
“And his daughter? A half-sibling? Hidden away in shame?”
“Ah, wait! It hurts! Please!”
“Does that look like a madman bringing out his bastard daughter to you? Eh?”
“Ahhh!”
The old Count’s tantrum, having lost not only Sera after all his effort but having been scorned by the young Diolus Duke and his daughter, continued for quite some time.
* * *
After the Count left, the waiting room held only Sera and me once more.
Sera looked at me with a bewildered expression, and when our eyes met, she flinched and turned her gaze away.
Then, in a voice tinged with reproach, she spoke.
“It seems you came to find me…… for a different reason than I thought.”
Her weary expression stirred my heart with pity.

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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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