Celebrity Lady - Chapter 53

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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 53
* * *
Hurried footsteps.
Lark was angry—truly angry—for the first time in ages.
‘Even when I heard from Rubetria that Naysen would assassinate me and seize the throne, I didn’t fear for Bella’s safety.’
If Lark died, the next heir would be the First Princess, Bella.
It meant she was the obstacle Naysen, the Second Prince, would have to remove to become Emperor.
‘But Bella is…….’
Naysen and Bella were fraternal twins born from the same womb, and they were famous for cherishing each other deeply.
‘Couldn’t Naysen become Emperor well enough without killing Bella? If they reached an agreement, they could simply adjust the succession order.’
Bella had been frail since birth. She coughed up blood frequently, so weak she could barely leave her bed.
‘Besides, there would be few who’d welcome Bella’s succession when she couldn’t even support herself.’
So Lark had reasoned.
The only obstacle to Naysen was Lark himself.
After eliminating him, through an agreement with his sister Bella, the succession order would have been smoothly transferred.
That’s what he’d thought.
‘No—I was naive. Wasn’t he the type to assassinate blood relatives and orchestrate schemes with meticulous care? I should have kept in mind that he could commit acts so inhumane it defied belief.’
A sigh escaped as belated regret washed over him.
‘If the future the Princess saw truly has changed…….’
Asto Palace.
The private chamber of the First Princess, Bella van Rashmakh Dekard.
For some reason, the door stood wide open. And the attendants who always surrounded Bella’s bed were in disarray.
Step, step, step.
At the sound of his approach, the young maidservant Duet turned, her eyes swollen with tears, to greet Lark.
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince…….”
“Your Highness.”
The noble attendants were familiar faces who had served Bella since childhood. Their expressions alone told Lark everything he needed to know.
‘It’s changed.’
His sister, with ash-gray hair scattered across the pillow, lay in peaceful sleep on the bed.
The First Princess, Bella.
‘It’s changed.’
The future Rubetria saw had changed.
A tragedy that should have unfolded in a distant future now lay unspooling before his eyes.
“……Brother.”
A familiar voice.
Lark slowly lifted his gaze.
Standing at the far end of Bella’s bed, as if he’d been there all along.
‘Naysen.’
The author of all of this.
His eyes were heavy with wetness, his expression as though the world itself had crumbled.
Sunlight scattered through ash-gray hair, making Naysen appear all the more pitiable.
‘The change in the future is surely my fault.’
After hearing the future from Rubetria, it was Lark himself who had introduced the most variables.
He had defended Advisor Len from unjust accusation, and with Naysen identified as his rival, he had pursued him with ever greater precision.
Naysen could not remain idle under Lark’s tightening grip.
‘He blamed Lizbet to shake me, and eliminated Bella, who stood ahead in succession…….’
Lark laughed bitterly to himself.
Knowing the future did not mean he could alter Naysen’s ambition.
‘A clear mistake on my part.’
In the dry silence, the gazes of Lark and Naysen tangled and circled.
* * *
Tap.
Crash.
The Poker Cards stacked in a pyramid shape tumbled down when I touched the bottom lightly.
“If the future has changed, that’s my fault. If I hadn’t acted differently, the future wouldn’t have changed. From the moment I touched something, it began to crumble like dominoes.”
“So?”
Wisht, standing across from me with arms crossed, raised an eyebrow.
“Unlike the original future, if Lizbet ends up falsely accused of targeting the First Princess, then I have to help her.”
“No, I disagree. This is dangerous. You’d be dragging yourself into someone else’s family squabble where lives hang in the balance.”
Wisht leaned toward me as he spoke.
“I’ve felt it every time—you make judgments that seem like you understand yourself, yet somehow you don’t quite. Strange choices.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know the future. If you’re not a fool, you can’t possibly live the same way as before.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“If you act differently from your previous life, variables will naturally emerge. What we see now might only be the beginning. If you saved someone who should have died, then conversely, someone who should have lived might die instead. Will you hold yourself accountable each time that happens?”
Wisht added, his expression one of utter incomprehension.
“What I liked about you was that you could act for your own gain, and that you had the capacity to be utterly cold to others.”
“Well, that would make sense. You were always frustrated with Rubetria for not being able to act that way.”
“Recall why you first agreed to help the Crown Prince.”
Wisht pressed, his tone insistent.
“It was for the benefit to your business, and you’ve paid that price in full. Simply by sharing the future with him, you’ve already assumed considerable risk. You don’t need to concern yourself with everything that follows.”
“That’s right. I did say that.”
I acknowledged it plainly, then began stacking the scattered Poker Cards one by one.
“But Wisht, if I’m being honest now, I didn’t start helping the Crown Prince just to get him to model for my shop.”
“…….”
“He was meant to die an unfortunate death, and his death would have caused sorrow to many.”
“Ah. So from the start, you intended to play the saint with your paltry knowledge of the future?”
“Not me—Rubetria.”
Wisht froze.
“As you know perfectly well, it’s true. Juliet Karerina isn’t particularly virtuous. I wouldn’t do anything at a loss, I’m adequately selfish, and I tend to act like a fox while watching people’s eyes.”
“…….”
“The complete opposite of Rubetria. Well, you know well enough—Rubetria was…….”
I stacked another card and let out a soft laugh.
“The kind to understand and forgive even those who hurt and tormented her. You found that frustrating.”
“…….”
“I find that side of her frustrating too. That’s why I’m going to make those people who hurt kind-hearted Rubetria pay, one by one. On that point alone, I will not compromise—not even if Rubetria herself wouldn’t want it.”
I wagged my index finger coldly.
“But as for everything else.”
I met Wisht’s eyes across the fully constructed pyramid of cards.
“I’ll act not as Juliet Karerina, but as Rubetria Diolus.”
“…….”
“I often think—what if Rubetria had known the future? She would have grieved over all the things that had to happen the way they did.”
Having absorbed all of Rubetria’s memories and her moment-to-moment emotions, I sensed it instinctively.
What she yearned for. How she would have acted if it were her.
“Father was indifferent his whole life, but Rubetria still loved him. She would have done something, anything, to prevent his death at thirty-nine.”
That I, as Juliet Karerina, had tried to save a father toward whom I felt no bond at all.
“And if she’d had the chance to meet the Crown Prince, she wouldn’t have hesitated twice before revealing the future. ‘You’re fated to die, so be careful,’ she would have warned.”
Because I knew the secret of Lark’s tragic death, I couldn’t pretend not to see it.
“And now, because of the choice to alter the future, innocent Lizbet bears false accusation.”
I met Wisht’s gaze directly as he sat listening silently and asked,
“If you’d known the Rubetria I’m speaking of, would she have ignored Lizbet and lived at ease?”
“…….”
“Many of the choices I’ve made so far are ones I would absolutely never have made if I were still Juliet Karerina.”
But.
“But because I decided to live Rubetria’s life happily.”
“…….”
“I want to make choices that don’t stray far from what she wanted, what she would desire.”
“How foolish…….”
“I know what you worry about. You don’t want me getting caught up in needless trouble and ending up in danger.”
“…….”
“But I won’t throw myself into anything that could harm me or put me in danger. I’ll think everything through and act with care.”
I rose, leaving Wisht in silence.
“You saw me well, Wisht.”
I said as I passed him.
“I’m someone who can be cold to others. There’s no one I’ll go soft for. But if there is one person I cannot be cold toward—”
I turned back to look at Wisht before opening the door.
“It’s Rubetria. So please, bear with me.”
* * *
I left the room and headed straight for Father’s.
“Father.”
Father, who had been reading a book by the sunlit window, merely lifted his eyes at my soft call as I leaned against the doorframe.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“What is it.”
His tone was as indifferent as his nature, though somewhat gentler than when we first met.
Sensing that small change, I relaxed slightly.
“You see…….”
“…….”
Father tilted his head slightly as he watched me hesitate, still gripping the doorknob.
“If I cause trouble, how far would you be willing to handle it……?”

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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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