Celebrity Lady - Chapter 58

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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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The Celebrity Lady
Episode 58
“Are you alright?”
“……I’m sorry.”
“Pardon?”
Lark murmured in a pained voice.
“I’m sorry. To confine you in a place like this when you’ve done nothing wrong……”
“……?”
For a moment I was dumbfounded, and I looked around with a bewildered expression.
The interior was as lavish as my own chambers, and I nearly laughed at the sight.
“Anyone listening would think I was locked away in some underground dungeon. I actually rather like it here. And fortunately, it’s the Tower of Non-Spirit Users.”
“…….”
“Tell me how the meeting went today, would you? Will I receive a harsh sentence? My limbs will still be intact, won’t they?”
“Pointless worry.”
Lark frowned at my concerns, then sat down beside me with a sigh.
“The situation isn’t dire. Now that the sorcerer’s existence is confirmed, his disappearance has actually become a relief. He must be in hiding because he has something to answer for.”
“That’s fortunate. What about the First Princess, then?”
“As she desired.”
Lark let out a weak laugh and added, looking at me.
“She’ll likely avoid Deposition. The majority opposes it. However, since it’s clear she directly delivered poison to the First Princess, she’ll receive a Confinement Sentence at the Tower of Silence. As for how many years, I cannot yet say.”
“I see.”
I let out a breath of relief. At least her situation was better than facing Deposition.
“As for you, though……”
“…….”
“Opinions are divided. Strictly speaking, you have no unlawful deeds to your name, so the Duke and I argued for your acquittal, but……”
Lark’s words trailed off.
Seeing the enormous guilt in his expression, I hastily waved my hand and spoke.
“There’s no evidence, but I’ve done things that could easily be used against me if someone wanted to find fault. Even if someone suspects I conspired with the sorcerer and introduced her to the First Princess, there’s nothing I can do about it……”
“That’s why the Investigation Team will need a bit more time, and until your acquittal is certain……”
Lark paused for a moment, then closed his eyes with a sigh.
“You won’t be able to remain in the Capital.”
“As expected, then.”
He was being delicate, but this meant an Isolation Sentence was confirmed.
‘Well, I’d already assumed I’d be exiled to some backwater anyway.’
What mattered was how long I’d stay in the Capital and how much longer this would drag on.
“Where will I be sent?”
“I’m not entirely certain yet. The Duke has been pressing for a month of Confinement at his mansion, but……”
“What?”
My face flushed in an instant.
‘Seriously. There’s a limit to how much someone can pull the wool over people’s eyes. I caused a major incident and he’s asking for just a month of house arrest?’
I could easily picture what kind of spectacle my overzealous father must have made at the council meeting.
“That holds no meaning as an Isolation Sentence.”
“That’s true.”
“Likely it will be decided as one of the Duke’s estates instead. I hope the Imperial Council nobles will cooperate well.”
“Does Father have more than one estate?”
“Hopefully one closest to the Capital, so we can reach a compromise with the nobles.”
“And if we can’t? Could I be sent somewhere far away?”
I recalled that Father had one estate in the Southern Sea Lands at the edge of the continent.
Seeing me suddenly look mournful, Lark gently placed a hand on my head.
“I’ll make absolutely sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Please. I don’t think I could adapt to a life of fishing and tending fires in the Southern Sea Lands.”
“What?”
Lark laughed as if he couldn’t help himself.
Though he was laughing, he seemed utterly without strength.
“What worries me more than how far the isolation site will be……”
“…….”
“……is the length of the sentence.”
Lark bit his lip, hesitating a moment before continuing.
“If the sorcerer is caught quickly, I could bring you back to the Capital even in the middle of your sentence. But……”
“…….”
“You said the sorcerer is unlikely to be caught, yes? That sorcerer.”
“Yes, presumably.”
“Right. So it’s probable that once your sentence is determined by the Imperial Council, you’ll have to remain there for the full duration.”
In other words, imprisonment with no possibility of Parole.
“Lisbet is facing five years of Confinement at the Tower of Silence.”
“Five years?”
My jaw fell open involuntarily.
“That’s…… that’s unbearable. Five years is too harsh.”
“It’s still far better than Deposition. Even if Lisbet didn’t intend it, she endangered a competitor’s life. The First Princess didn’t die, but she may as well have.”
Lark added coldly.
“A five-year Confinement Sentence is something I should be grateful for.”
“…….”
“But as for you……don’t worry too much. I’ll find a way somehow.”
Lark spoke slowly, as if making a confession, his expression anguished.
“I’ve never felt this powerless before. That’s why……I never realized how painful it would be to watch my people suffer helplessly because of me, unable to do anything.”
“It’s not because of you, though……”
Succession struggles had always been inevitable. For Lark, born as Crown Prince, it was almost a fate he couldn’t escape.
“Lisbet is one thing, but you—you had absolutely no reason to be tangled up in this filthy struggle.”
“It was all my choice, after all.”
“I’m making you a promise.”
“A promise?”
Lark suddenly met my eyes.
In that moment, I felt a chill of fear.
A new emotion flickered in his gaze, gone cold and hard—utterly unlike the affectionate, playful Lark I knew.
“I will crush whoever made you bear this burden.”
It felt like anger, ambition, and an overwhelming resolve.
“And never again.”
“…….”
“For the rest of your life. Until your eyes close.”
Lark took my hand.
“Not even the smallest threat will touch you. You won’t face danger or hardship because you helped me. Never.”
“…….”
“This is an oath I make with my life.”
Still holding my hand, Lark slowly pressed his forehead to mine as if sealing a vow.
He seemed to believe he owed me an enormous debt.
‘There’s really no need for this……’
But given Lark’s nature, saying a hundred times that it was my choice wouldn’t lessen his sense of obligation.
So I simply replied with a composed expression.
“Thank you. But since I’ll be confined for two weeks, would you bring me what I need?”
“Just say the word. Whatever you need.”
I smiled at Lark as his eyes brightened.
“Well, then……”
Two weeks of confinement.
I’d been banned from jogging, so I might as well do home training.
“Could I have an Exercise Mat?”
* * *
The days of confinement at the Tower of Silence proved far from boring.
The greatest reason was my eldest brother, Biego.
Once a day, accompanied by the Investigation Team, visitors were permitted, and he came to see me every single day……
“Just half an apple and oat porridge? Is this supposed to be a meal? Not only are you confining the daughter of the Diolus household when guilt hasn’t even been confirmed, but you subject her to this vile treatment……!”
“Your Grace, that is not—”
“Brother, I asked for this. It’s my weight loss diet.”
Biego was extraordinarily persistent.
Setting aside his eagerness to throttle the poor staff……
“Why are your eyes so swollen? I told you not to cry. Nothing will happen……”
“……? I just slept too much and they puffed up.”
No matter how much I insisted it was nothing, he wouldn’t believe me.
Biego was convinced I was spending each day in the Tower of Silence weeping.
“Finally gone?”
“Yeah. I’m about to lose my mind.”
Thinking of Biego as he’d left after another hour of idle chatter, I shook my head in disbelief.
Wishet wore the same expression of exasperation.
“Still, you two seem to be getting along fairly well.”
“Getting along? There are too many eyes watching, and I can’t turn him away, so I’m just humoring him.”
“I see…… Eventually you’ll forgive and embrace family anyway. The Rubetria I know would want that. You’re weak when it comes to her, aren’t you?”
Wishet looked down at me with arms crossed, smirking.
“Why not soften your heart now and become a sweet, affectionate daughter and sister?”
“What are you talking about? Not a chance. Father and Biego haven’t even paid a tenth of the price for abandoning poor little Rubetria. They’ve got a long way to go before they see my affection.”
While I was still bantering with Wishet……
“Lady Rubetria!”
“You startled me!”
I jumped at the urgent voice. Turning around, there stood Lark at the doorway—I had no idea when he’d arrived.
“I realize I’m the one being confined, but even so, wouldn’t a knock be basic courtesy……”
“I’m sorry.”
He swept back his hair as if relieved of a weight, adding:
“I knocked and called for five minutes, but you didn’t answer, so I was afraid something had happened.”
“Oh no, I was just chatting with Wishet.”
“Ah, Wishet.”
Lark nodded and his eyes lit up.
“Wishet isn’t a spirit who appears often, so there’s little information on her. Can she see the newly altered future again? Say, the results of the upcoming trial?”
“Ah.”
I panicked for a moment, then quickly covered with a composed tone.
“That’s difficult. She can only see the future anew once the altered future has settled into place.”
“I see. That’s a bit disappointing.”
Despite the nonsense I’d told him, Lark mercifully accepted my words without suspicion.
‘My conscience is starting to bother me with all this lying.’
Though it’s unavoidable for Lark’s sake and mine……the weight of deception sat uncomfortably in my chest.
Especially when seeing Lark, who had come to trust me completely because of this incident and fussed over me like I was a princess, all out of guilt.
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Trust me.”
Perhaps noticing the darkness in my expression, Lark tried to reassure me.
“Yes, of course. I’m not worried.”
He seemed to think I was anxious about the trial.
“And even if I am relegated to some remote village estate at the edge of the continent, I won’t harbor any resentment toward you. After all, I’m the one who caused this.”
At my words of reassurance, Lark let out a hollow laugh.
“Unless I’ve gone mad, such a verdict will never be handed down. But if—just if—something like that were to happen……”
Lark smiled brightly and added:
“I promise you. I would gladly draw my sword in the courtroom for your sake.”
“Y-yes?”

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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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