Celebrity Lady - Chapter 54

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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 54
“Did you cause an incident?”
“No, I mean, if I were to—”
“What kind of incident are you talking about?”
“Well, at my current age, being underage and all, there’s a level of trouble I can’t really handle on my own?”
……
“I mean, it’s absurd that I’m even asking this after declaring so grandly that I’d live my own life from now on.”
I clutched the door handle, hesitating as I watched Father’s expression carefully.
He stared at me with an unreadable look for a long moment, then sharply closed the book that had been spread across his lap.
Then he asked me.
“Theft? Arson? Murder?”
“……I’m sorry?”
“I’m asking what level of incident you’re talking about.”
“Um……”
I scratched my cheek, a bit flustered, before answering.
“For instance, something that violates imperial law quite seriously? The kind of thing that could land you a death sentence if things go wrong? Like threatening the life of someone from the imperial family?”
“Hmm.”
Father crossed his legs with a soft sound, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back.
“You wouldn’t cause an incident like that without reason.”
“Of course not. I have no intention of becoming a criminal, but if I do something punishable, I’ll accept the consequences. But the kind of incident I’m talking about right now is……”
……
“When I cause a problem unintentionally. No malice, no planning involved, but an unexpected situation develops and I end up bearing responsibility partly unfairly—”
“Rubetria.”
“Yes?”
Father stood up from his seat and walked toward me with long strides.
Soon he drew close, looking down at me with eyes gleaming like a predator’s. I shrank back a little.
“What I’m about to say might disappoint you.”
“No, no. Please speak freely. I didn’t come here with high expectations anyway……”
“After having you children, I realized I’m not a particularly moral person.”
“What?”
What does he mean? As I looked confused, Father continued.
“When I was your age, there were often thoughtless young nobles around me who caused trouble on a criminal level.”
……
“I never once saw a parent who disciplined their child strictly for acting out like that. A true parent should scold when scolding is needed.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“So I decided that when I had children someday, I would never become like those parents—I would never be soft, indulgent, or lenient with my child.”
“Yes. I think that’s the right way to raise children too……”
“But when I actually had you, I found I couldn’t do it.”
Father chuckled and pinched my cheek lightly.
“When Biego was seven years old. This was back when your mother was still alive.”
……
“One day he came home with a black eye the color of bruises. He’d gotten into a fight with a boy five years older than him. I was so furious I actually went to that boy’s house myself, and found him already beaten to a pulp, half dead.”
“……It sounds like Biego beat him much worse.”
“He did. But I couldn’t even see the other boy’s injuries. There must have been a reason for the fight, and Biego might have been in the wrong, but none of that mattered to me.”
……
“If your mother hadn’t stopped me, I might have destroyed that entire house.”
It doesn’t seem like the kind of memory he should be bragging about.
Noticing my uncomfortable expression, Father smiled and added,
“Of course, it turned out the boy had done something to deserve it.”
“Biego wouldn’t have beaten someone innocent like that.”
“Exactly. But even if he hadn’t done anything wrong, I would have been just as furious. And realizing that about myself, I began to understand something: how parents become helpless when it comes to their children, no matter what they do.”
……
“And among those parents, I’m the most extreme.”
“……I can see that.”
“If one of my children became a criminal overnight and had to go to prison, I could never turn a blind eye. All I have is this family’s power to wield influence even before the law.”
“You know that’s not something to boast about, right?”
“I know. That’s why I said I’m not a particularly moral person.”
“Right. So maybe we should make sure we never cause any incidents, so you don’t abuse your power.”
“Well, that would be best. But you asked me what I’d do if you caused an incident.”
“Yes. If. Later… you know.”
Father knelt down to meet me at eye level.
“In this empire right now, there’s nothing I can’t handle. Even if you committed a real crime, I’d find a way, but especially for an unintended incident.”
……
“You’re still young and it’s natural to be lacking. And as your father, I have the duty to care for you and take responsibility for you.”
……
“So don’t worry about me turning a blind eye if you cause trouble. I won’t.”
Father ruffled my hair as he finished speaking.
“I have no intention of being harsh with your small mistakes, and I don’t expect you to be perfect.”
He was answering something I had said to him long ago, in a moment of frustration.
“Didn’t you think of me as a disgrace to the family?”
“To be an excellent heir to such a great father, well, it’s true I fall short in many ways.”
How much had we misunderstood each other?
“Thank you, Father……”
My chest felt heavy.
* * *
The Imperial Palace was in turmoil.
The First Imperial Princess, Bella van Rashmach Dekard, had fallen into an unresponsive sleep.
Bella, already frail by nature, had been rendered unable to wake by a tea given to her by her younger sister, the Fifth Imperial Princess Lizbet.
The substance in the tea was identified as Phalegro.
It was a type of poison that caused fatal damage to the brain, rendering its victim unconscious.
“Confine the Fifth Imperial Princess temporarily to the Tower of Silence until the Imperial Council determines an appropriate punishment.”
The Emperor declared it himself.
With tens of children fathered by the Emperor, succession disputes in the Dekard Empire were severe, and the act of threatening a sibling’s life was punished harshly.
When a sibling was murdered and there was clear evidence, even members of the imperial family had to pay for their crime with their lives.
The fact that the Fifth Imperial Princess was born of the Empress consort and that she was still young offered no pardon.
The Imperial Palace buzzed daily with speculation about what sentence would be passed on Lizbet.
“She won’t receive a death sentence, will she?”
“The First Imperial Princess hasn’t actually passed away……”
The saving grace was that the First Imperial Princess Bella had not died.
So the young Lizbet would not have to pay with her life.
However.
“Then the Fifth Imperial Princess will surely face Deposition.”
“Deposition is almost certain. Though she claims innocence……”
“There’s not a shred of evidence that would mitigate her sentence.”
Lizbet maintained her innocence, but there was no evidence to support her claim.
“There’s a sorcerer’s shop in the city. I can tell you where it is. I got it from her. I really, truly thought that was medicine to heal Bella……”
A sorcerer.
A sorcerer’s shop.
Nothing Lizbet mentioned actually existed.
If someone could only convince them that such a “sorcerer” was real?
Then the Imperial Palace might investigate the truth of this suspicious case more actively……
Unfortunately, everything Lizbet said was nothing but a mirage.
“If she gets off with only Deposition, count herself lucky. Hopefully she won’t also receive an Exile Sentence to Baden Island for life.”
The nobles of the Imperial Council gathered at the palace daily to debate what sentence to impose on Lizbet.
But no matter how long their discussions dragged on, if no evidence emerged to support Lizbet’s innocence……
She would face at minimum Deposition. If things were serious, she might also receive the supreme penalty reserved only for the imperial family: the Exile Sentence.
* * *
Scratch, scratch.
The faint sound of a pen filled empty papers.
Crown Prince Lark van Rashmach Dekard set down his pen after hours of writing and slowly tilted his head back.
His face was gaunt from days and nights without sleep.
“Damn it……”
The exhausted words spilled from his lips.
Lark had been appointed head of the investigation into this incident by imperial order.
“If you cannot prove Lizbet’s innocence, you must clear away any suspicion that might fall on you. Investigate this case with your own hands, and carry out the sentence determined for Lizbet yourself.”
By ill fortune, the suspect Lizbet was Lark’s full sister, and the victim Bella was a member of the imperial family with claims to succession right after Lark.
It was a situation ripe for suspicion that the Crown Prince himself might have orchestrated it, and the Emperor had placed the sword in Lark’s hands to prevent exactly that.
To coldly decide the sentence his own full sister would receive, and to carry it out.
“I’m losing my mind.”
Lark muttered the words bitterly, then looked back up and scanned the crowded calendar on his desk.
Then he stopped.
10:00 AM. Rubetria Diolus.
Perhaps because it was difficult to meet with the busy Crown Prince otherwise.
Just the other day, Rubetria had officially requested through the palace a Private audience appointment.
‘Ten o’clock……’
Five minutes away.
“Your Highness, Lady Rubetria Diolus has arrived for today’s private audience.”
“Ah, yes. Show her in.”
The announcement came from outside the Office just at the right moment, and soon Rubetria poked her head through the doorway.
She entered the Office wearing an elegant dress that clashed oddly with the leather satchel slung at her side, and greeted him.
“Hello, Your Highness.”
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
Rubetria sighed softly as she watched Lark smile broadly despite clearly being in no mood to do so, and approached.
“What brings you here?”
“Well, actually……”
Rubetria glanced at one corner of Lark’s desk. A Recording stone was installed there, running continuously.
Rubetria positioned herself across from him so her face would be clearly visible to the stone, then opened her satchel and pulled something out.
“……?”
A small medicine bottle. Lark’s eyes widened as he recognized it.
It appeared to be identical to the one Lizbet claimed to have obtained from a sorcerer and submitted as evidence to the investigation team.
Looking straight at the astonished Lark, Rubetria spoke.
“I’m here to report 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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