Celebrity Lady - Chapter 35

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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
Episode 35
Ren scrambled to his feet in a panic.
“Your Highness, when did you arrive? Why have you come to the princess’s chambers so suddenly?”
“That’s what I should be asking you. Why are you here at Astro Palace this evening?”
As Ren’s eyes darted about, searching for an excuse,
“Brother!”
Lizbeth, wiping away her tears, grabbed a teacup from the table and rushed toward Lark.
“Hey there, Lizbeth.”
“I brewed you some tea. I made it myself. Just have a sip and maybe you could grant me one little favor…….”
“Good heavens, our princess!”
Splash!
Ren, rushing over urgently, snatched the teacup and flung its contents across the floor.
“What on earth are you doing!”
“Hush.”
Ren pressed a finger to his lips, soothing Lizbeth.
“It’s late, so keep your voice down. Besides, the tea’s gone cold. Let’s have you brew some fresh tomorrow instead.”
“Brother, just drink it and go. I’ll brew more for you.”
“Your Highness? Since when do you not leave tea leaves behind when brewing?”
Ren spoke through gritted teeth, then shoved Lizbeth back into the room.
“Don’t push me! Let go!”
“Lizbeth, were you trying to brew tea for your brother?”
As Lark asked with gentle eyes, Lizbeth lit up and nodded eagerly.
“Yes, brother. And I have a request, but first if you could just have one cup of tea—”
“Tomorrow! You’ll have your tea time tomorrow. Understood?”
“What business is it of yours……!”
“Yes, Lizbeth. Your brother is tired today. Let’s see each other tomorrow.”
Lark spoke with a smile, but his eyes held an unsettling edge.
Why? Seeing something that looked like anger in her brother’s face, Lizbeth had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
Lark then gestured toward the door and spoke to Ren.
“You. Come with me for a moment.”
* * *
The Crown Prince’s Office.
Ren stood before Lark in tense silence as the prince sat without speaking for a long while.
“Lizbeth’s grown up. She was just telling me she’d brewed tea for her brother.”
“Right. She actually asked for my help, so I went to assist her.”
“I see. You procured the tea leaves yourself?”
“What?”
Lark let out a short laugh, opened a desk drawer, pulled something out, and tossed it across to Ren.
Ren’s eyes widened in shock.
A box of tea leaves containing poison—the very one Ren had confiscated from Lizbeth before.
‘I hid that in my room. When did he…….’
Ren bit his lip, cursing his own carelessness for not disposing of it sooner.
“Something like Rafflesia, wasn’t it? A poisonous plant that paralyzes reproductive ability. Wouldn’t it have been quite the sight if I’d drunk it? It seems that’s what Lizbeth was trying to give me earlier.”
“That’s not—!”
“To think my one and only sister would try to make me sterile. That’s quite a shock. This isn’t something I can simply let slide.”
“The princess didn’t acquire it.”
“Then who?”
“I did. I found it in my own room, remember?”
“You had Lizbeth feed this to me?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was poison. I only gathered it because the scent was pleasant…… I only realized there was a problem after investigating further.”
“Ha ha ha!”
Lark threw his head back and laughed. Ren’s lips pressed into a tight line as he frowned.
There was no way Lark would believe such a transparent lie.
“Ren.”
Just as suddenly as he’d begun laughing, Lark fell silent and opened the drawer again. This time he withdrew two small Image Stones.
The moment Ren saw the azure spheres, a chill ran down his spine.
“I didn’t suspect you based solely on the poison found in your room.”
“What are those?”
“Image Stones containing explicit recordings of you conducting some secret activities behind my back. Someone has been sending me anonymous reports like these for quite some time now.”
“What exactly do you think I’ve……done?”
“The assassin who infiltrated my bedchamber two months ago.”
Lark touched one of the Image Stones as he spoke.
“I tracked down the Assassination Guild he belonged to and eliminated every last member. Rather than following the trail to expose the mastermind—which should have been your responsibility—you acted as though you were trying to erase all the evidence.”
……
Ren closed his eyes slowly and swallowed a sigh.
‘Damn.’
At first, just as Lark said, Ren had gone to find the Assassination Guild to uncover who was behind it.
But there, Ren had confronted a shocking truth.
The Assassination Guild operated under the guise of a respectable tavern. Yet the registered owner—merely a figurehead—was none other than the Eighth Prince.
The Eighth Prince was only six years old. He’d surely been manipulated into purchasing the tavern, completely unaware of what was really happening.
But even if he’d been drawn in unwittingly, once the investigation began, there would be no escaping punishment.
Ren had been torn.
If he reported this to Lark, would the Crown Prince overlook the Eighth Prince’s involvement?
The answer was no.
Ren knew Lark well.
Though Lark appeared generous on the surface, he possessed a ruthlessness as Crown Prince—he would never make a decision that threatened his position.
And so, knowing it was wrong, Ren had destroyed the entire Assassination Guild to prevent the Eighth Prince from bearing undeserved blame.
“And there’s more.”
Lark pointed to another Image Stone.
“You said you’d be cracking down on the Illegal Slave Traders.”
The Illegal Slave Traders who’d recently surfaced.
When Ren had investigated to root them out, their true purpose became clear. It wasn’t about profiting from the slave trade.
The more lawlessness plagued the realm and the worse public order became, the lower Lark’s approval ratings as Crown Prince would fall.
It was a rival’s machination.
“You did raid their trading house, but didn’t you say the leader got away?”
……
“You paid off that same leader you supposedly lost track of and even arranged a ship for him to escape. It looks as though you orchestrated the entire thing—both setting up the slave traders and raiding them.”
Ren’s mouth fell open. This time, he had no excuse.
The slave trader leader, like the Eighth Prince, was someone who’d known nothing and merely lent his name.
He was a simple-minded foreigner who could barely speak the imperial tongue.
The man had come to earn money and merely signed a day-labor contract, unaware that his name was being used as the leader of a slave trading operation.
“Can you explain yourself?”
Lark withdrew more Image Stones from the open drawer, spreading them out.
“There are more than just a few.”
As Ren’s expression hardened like stone, Lark stepped closer.
“Did you perhaps collude with my enemies?”
……
“Answer me.”
“No……. No, I didn’t.”
Even as he spoke, Ren smiled bitterly to himself. He knew Lark wouldn’t believe him.
‘So they were trying to threaten Lark while framing me in the process. I’ve walked right into their trap.’
There had been quite a few situations handled this way over time. If all of them had left evidence like this…….
“All right. I understand. I believe you.”
“I……. What? What did you say?”
Ren’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Your claim that you’re not plotting treason. I believe that.”
“What……?”
Ren was utterly confused.
“Anyone would find this suspicious, so what’s there to believe? Wait, I mean—I’m not saying I plotted treason or anything…….”
As Ren stammered, a flicker of sadness crossed Lark’s eyes.
Until now, Lark had suffered trying to understand Ren’s actions. But now he understood. Thanks to Rubet, who had proven his innocence.
Survival of the Fittest.
In the Empire’s Succession War, only the ruthless and strong survived.
Lark had learned from an early age how to hold his ground in this cold, merciless hierarchy where even the surrender of morality was considered a virtue of succession.
The moment he showed weakness, enemies were ready to strike.
How many times had he already been forced to act coldly to give them no opening?
He’d hardened his faltering heart, telling himself not to dwell on the innocent victims caught up in the chaos.
‘Ren knows me well enough.’
For Ren, it was difficult to be as ruthless as Lark, yet impossible to be soft with his master either.
So, in the end, Ren had decided to shoulder everything himself within his own capacity.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“For suspecting you, even briefly.”
Lark returned to his seat and pressed both palms against the desk covered in Image Stones.
“These reports that came to me may also have been sent to other nobles. This anonymous informant is likely trying to frame you.”
……
“I’m going to save you. No matter what.”
Ren’s lips trembled without sound. Lark, watching him, smiled ruefully.
Protecting Ren—his long-time friend and advisor—was not merely a matter of Lark’s own survival.
There was one thing Ren had failed to understand about Lark…….
“Whatever you say, I will believe it. And I won’t hold you accountable for acting independently.”
That Lark simply could not be ruthless toward his own people.
“So from now on, you’ll explain everything about how you’ve been framed. I’ll handle the cleanup.”
* * *
The next morning, on Severn Street.
Without fail, as I jogged in the evening, Lark ran alongside me.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“May I ask why you’re jogging here? I’m certain I mentioned it yesterday—if you needed information, you could simply send a Seal from the Duke’s Household, and we’d meet the next morning at eleven o’clock on the third floor of Fine Restaurant.”
That way, there’d be no need to arrange a separate meeting place or time.
“If the information is urgent, just tell me what it is.”
“What? I just came for exercise. And to see the noblewoman’s face while I was at it.”
Lark answered with feigned nonchalance and turned his focus back to running.
I picked up the pace and asked him,
“Your complexion seems rather gloomy for that excuse. Has something happened?”
“Hmm, no. Not at all. Thanks to the help you gave me, I’ve resolved the misunderstanding with my aide, and I’ve even come up with a plan for how to handle this situation. I owe it all to you. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Is there anything more I can help you with?”
“From here on, it’s my burden. You don’t need to worry your head about it anymore. I feel uncomfortable taking help without giving anything in return.”
“Then at least clear that frown from your face. Anyone looking at you would think you’re facing an insurmountable problem, and even if I wanted to ignore it, I couldn’t.”
I slowed to a stop and took a sip of water before speaking. Lark blinked, then let out something between a laugh and a sigh.
“……Sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. What’s troubling you?”
I dropped onto a nearby rock and asked.
“It’s just family matters. To be more specific, my twin sister has caused some trouble.”
“Ah. Princess Lizbeth?”
“That’s right.”
“What kind of trouble did she cause?”
“She smuggled poison into the palace.”
“Poison?”
“She brought it in without knowing it was poison.”
“Could it have been a scheme by the Second Prince?”
“Probably. I asked her where she got it from, but she refuses to say anything.”
“Why won’t she talk?”
“The little one’s trying to make a deal with me. She wants a Pharma Crystal in exchange for talking. The royal treasure.”
“My, what an ambitious scale.”
“Even if I could get her to talk, there probably wouldn’t be much useful information. The Second Prince isn’t stupid—he’d have covered his tracks. But I’m concerned about how he might approach Lizbeth in the future, so I’d like to know what I can.”
Watching Lark rub his brow with a weary expression, I suddenly felt envious of Lizbeth.
‘She’s loved by her brother.’
Granted, she probably blundered her way into bringing poison here, not even knowing what she was doing. But what was there to worry about?
Her powerful brother would naturally overlook her mistake, and even try to eliminate the ones scheming behind the scenes.
“Why don’t you just get angry and pressure her into talking?”
……
Lark paused at my words, then let out a quiet laugh and murmured,
“How did you know.”
“You’re a kind older brother, Your Highness.”
“Is that a bad thing? Do I seem like someone who can’t separate public and private matters?”
Lark raised his eyes with a playful smile and asked.
I shook my head.
“No. You’re what every sister in the world dreams of. A brother who dotes on his sibling.”
“Ha ha…….”
“Here.”
I pulled something from my workout pocket and handed it to Lark.
What I held between my index and middle finger, displaying it proudly, was a Black Invitation Card.
Lark tilted his head questioningly.
“……What’s this?”
I’d actually brought it with me to send anonymously to the palace—or more precisely, to Princess Lizbeth. Since I happened to run into her brother, it would be better to give it to him directly.
This was an invitation to a social gathering of third-generation conglomerates.
“You don’t need to give up the royal treasure. Take this and use it to negotiate with the princess.”

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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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