Celebrity Lady - Chapter 18

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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 18
I shook my head at once.
“No. There’s no need to be so frightened.”
“Pardon?”
“My father doesn’t have the disgusting hobby of installing a promising young actress as his mistress just to ruin her life.”
Sera flinched at my blunt words.
“He’s not some scoundrel who gropes at girls young enough to be his daughters, either.”
Leaving Sera behind — her expression stunned, her words caught — I returned to my seat. Unlike before, she followed me now with guarded eyes and sat across from me.
“You’re not upset, are you? Did you want an easy life as a mistress, and I thoughtlessly drove Count Ergeti away without understanding your true feelings?”
“Not at all!”
“I thought so. You seemed exhausted either way, so I simply tried to help. Don’t misunderstand.”
“So you came for a reason other than what I was worried about?”
“At least not for the reason you feared. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to help you somehow.”
“Help… me?”
“I plan to attend your theatrical performances regularly. That way, it will soon become known that the Diolerus Duke’s Household has taken notice of you.”
“…….”
“Then perhaps the nobles who’ve been proposing to you as a mistress will naturally fall away?”
As I shrugged, Sera, who had been listening silently, opened her mouth with a suspicious expression.
“May I ask why you want to help me this much?”
“Fair enough. Kindness without reason doesn’t exist. To be honest, I do want something from you.”
I added, trying to soothe Sera’s sudden stiffness.
“But more than that, my true wish is for a talented actress like you to perform freely, doing the work you truly want to do.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Well. I’m preparing a business venture, and I’d like a little help from you. It’s not a demand, and you can refuse without worry. Even if you do, I’ll keep coming to see your plays.”
Whether her guard had eased from my sincere words, Sera looked at me with a considerably softened expression.
I smiled and spoke to her, knowing she was curious about my real proposal.
“So what? Want to hear it?”
* * *
“Well, it’s a shame, but let’s have dinner another time…….”
When I finished speaking and left the waiting room.
Sera Wigo was suddenly seized with fear.
Duke Diolerus — the father of Princess Rubet — had been waiting for her.
“Father? Why are you waiting here?”
The Duke looked down at Rubet with obvious displeasure, furrowing his brow.
“Walking around alone without an escort — do you have any sense?”
“Well, what could happen in a theater full of people?”
“Hah…….”
The Duke sighed with a displeased expression, then pushed Rubet forward by her back.
“Come on. Quickly.”
As Rubet was pulled along by his force, she waved toward Sera.
“Hey, Sera! I’ll contact you!”
“Ah! Yes… yes…….”
Sera, who had forgotten even to bow to the Duke in her daze, found herself nodding blankly and waving back.
The father and daughter slipped out of the theater in an instant.
“Sera, are you all right? Did the Duke come to propose keeping you as a mistress after all?”
A colleague asked in a worried voice. Sera, who had been gazing after the father and daughter, slowly shook her head.
“No…….”
Truth be told, even as she heard Rubet’s proposal, she had been skeptical.
“I’m preparing a business. I’m planning to run a boutique selling clothes and accessories for noble ladies.”
“Would Sera be willing to be a model for it?”
“Of course, I’ll pay you generously. A base contract fee plus additional compensation based on sales. If you agree, I’d like to draw up a contract the next time we meet. I’ll adjust to whatever conditions you want.”
In exchange for the Diolerus Duke’s Household backing her so she wouldn’t suffer from mistress proposals, Sera would become a model and promote the boutique.
Even if she refused, Rubet had said she’d keep coming to see her plays — so strictly speaking, the word “in exchange” didn’t quite fit.
Because Rubet’s proposal was oddly advantageous to Sera, she couldn’t shake her suspicions even as the conversation wound down.
But.
‘It’s true.’
Sera was now certain that Rubet’s claim — that the Duke had no ulterior motive for being here — was genuine.
From the moment the door opened to the moment Rubet left with him.
The Duke had eyes only for his daughter, never sparing Sera a single glance.
For a brief moment, Sera was confused enough to wonder if she’d somehow become invisible.
‘The Princess was sincere. It doesn’t make sense. This doesn’t make sense.’
For a moment, wonder and emotion welled up. Sera raised both hands and pressed them firmly to her chest.
“This… this isn’t a dream, is it?”
In fact, today was her final performance. Count Norven Ergeti had threatened her, saying he could wait no longer, and had even endangered the Theater Company’s very existence.
Not wanting the Company’s people to suffer because of her alone, she had finally made a bitter decision.
Like a dream, like a lie, salvation came to her in the form of a helping hand.
She could keep acting.
Without suffering at the hands of vile, arrogant nobles — free.
“What are you saying? A dream? Are you… are you crying, Sera? Did the Duke’s daughter threaten you?”
“…….”
Sera shook her head hard, tears glistening in her eyes. While her eyes wept, her mouth kept curling into a smile.
It had been a very long time since tears of this kind — overflowing from a full heart — had fallen.
* * *
In the carriage heading to the restaurant after parting with Sera.
Remembering our first meeting on a certain warm summer day.
With love, Sera Wigo.
Father asked me as I gazed again and again at the white handkerchief bearing her autograph, grinning.
“Is it that good?”
“Indeed it is.”
Sera had, fortunately, agreed to become the model for the boutique “Blanc de Rubis” that I was launching.
‘She seemed skeptical to the end because the terms were so generous, but well, that’s just a misunderstanding that will naturally resolve itself as we meet a few more times…….’
It was an enormous gain — I had saved the ill-fated genius Sera Wigo and succeeded in borrowing her popularity.
‘Female model secured! Now all that’s left is to make money!’
Already catching the scent of profit at the tip of my nose, I smiled with satisfaction and gazed out at the passing cityscape.
Seeing quaint foreign-feeling buildings packed densely into the street district naturally lifted my spirits.
“Father, Father. How much does a house on the outskirts of the City District cost?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m planning to buy a house out there and live independently once I make some money.”
“What?”
Leaving Father’s voice of shock behind, I recalled a somewhat bittersweet memory.
At forty-five. The tearful memoirs of Rubet, who had lived her entire life as the Diolerus household’s ugly duckling and been promised death.
“Wishter. You know, I always wanted to build a small, comfortable house in a place with clean air.”
“I’m going to build a small, comfortable house in a place with clean air.”
“And I wanted to raise a cat. A cat with black fur, yellow fur, and white fur all mixed together.”
“And I’m going to raise a calico cat, too.”
Rubet, who had wanted only simple happiness, ultimately saved me — someone she never even knew — and disappeared.
‘So I’ll live that life, that’s all. Build a pretty house in a place with good air, and raise a cat.’
Wanting to fulfill her wish, I turned back to Father and asked again.
“So how much do houses on the outskirts cost?”
“You’re how old now and you want to move out? It’s not like you’re getting married and joining another household — you want to live alone?”
Father seemed somewhat angry.
“Why do you look angry?”
“Because you’re saying something nonsensical.”
“Is it not okay to live alone? Do I need your permission?”
“Of course you do.”
“You, who never paid me any attention all these years while we lived under the same roof?”
“…….”
Father lost his words again, his expression darkening, then spoke with a long sigh.
“In any case, no. You’re still too young. It’s dangerous, and…….”
“That’s strange. I thought you’d be happy if I told you I was moving out.”
“Me?”
Father asked as if bewildered, and I continued, watching him steadily.
“Yes. Didn’t you think of me as the household’s shame?”
“…….”
Father’s eyes widened in shock.
I felt a slight sting in my chest but shrugged as if it were nothing and continued.
“I’m like a mutation, aren’t I? Born into a household chosen to command spirits, and yet…….”
“…….”
“……I’m an incomplete half-breed who couldn’t even contract with a Spirit.”
I, now melancholy, looked out the window again.
My rounded body, my timid and gloomy disposition shaped by constant mistreatment, and those circumstances certainly had contributed to Rubet’s isolation.
But.
‘There’s a deeper reason why everyone, both inside and outside, despised Rubet so much.’
Rubet was the only member of the Diolerus household who could not contract with a Spirit.
‘Or rather, everyone only thought she couldn’t.’
Yet regardless of the circumstances, I don’t believe that was sufficient reason for Rubet to have been lonely her entire life.
“There is. I always wished I could have had meals with you, gone places, had small conversations — I wished for that.”
“…….”
“So I’m happy now. But sometimes, when I remember the expression Father wore, my heart feels…….”
I pressed my hand firmly against my chest, which felt tight.
“……painful.”
Even as I spoke with Father casually, face to face, the truth was that I often found myself seized by a certain memory that would suddenly surface.
“Do you remember when I failed to contract with a Spirit?”
I turned back to Father again.
“That expression on your face got lodged in my heart and I can’t forget it.”
Father stared at me with wavering eyes.
“You looked at me like I was an idiot. And then you just left me alone and walked away.”
Looking at Father’s completely frozen face, I recalled that terrible winter of this year — my fifteenth birthday.

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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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