Celebrity Lady - Chapter 60

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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 60
Even under Father’s ominous aura, the Chief Judge calmly organized his papers.
‘Good grief. I thought with luck it’d be a year in Whittode, or worst case two years in Hebannon…….’
Father’s teeth ground audibly enough for everyone to hear, then he wheeled around and strode out of the Trial Chamber.
“Ah, Father!”
I cried out in alarm, but he’d already vanished like wind.
Watching the door close firmly behind him, I clamped my hand over my mouth.
‘What on earth is happening?!’
The trial had lasted roughly two hours.
I traced it back slowly from the beginning.
* * *
Trial Chamber of the Imperial Palace.
The Chief Judge sat in the elevated seat at the head; Emperor Decarde the Eleventh occupied the honored guest seat to the left.
The air hung heavy with silence and gravity.
I could see Lark and Father seated in the councilors’ bench, along with Biego.
And…….
‹Hard to see my face?›
Ever since Lark had come by days ago and made his confession, Wisht hadn’t appeared—as though he were deliberately avoiding me.
‹Busy.›
‹Busy my foot.›
‹Why would I need anything from you? I could’ve summoned you if I did. And you didn’t even call me first.›
‹Never mind, never mind.›
He was probably hiding because he worried I’d keep pestering him about his secret.
‹Hey, you said three wishes……›
‹Three wishes is all I can grant. There’s nothing I can do about that constraint.›
‹Really? How did you answer so quickly? Did you think I was about to ask something?›
‹Weren’t you going to ask if you could make unlimited wishes?›
‹Hmph. You liar.›
‹The three-wish limit is no lie. That’s the truth.›
‹So are you saying you lied about something else?›
‹……›
So much to hide. I grumbled inwardly, watching Wisht’s eyes slide away evasively.
“I’m sorry, Rubetria…….”
Then.
Standing in the center of the Trial Chamber like a monkey in a cage, I turned at the sound of a trembling voice beside me.
Lizbeth, standing next to me, was weeping.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because of me…….”
Seeing her face for the first time in ages, Lizbeth was visibly consumed by guilt.
‘Hmm……. Lizbeth, I have to admit—this was completely unexpected.’
Better late than never, but this incident had made me reconsider some of my earlier judgments about this flighty girl.
Once Lizbeth realized she’d been deceived by the Sorcerer, she conducted herself quite wisely. During questioning, she made no statements that could have compromised her position.
‘I was worried she’d foolishly confess everything as it happened.’
For instance, the poison she’d smuggled in on Lark’s advice and then had confiscated.
‘If it came out that Lark had hidden it for her……. Ugh.’
I shuddered and shook my head.
‘At least she was smart enough to understand that speaking the truth would’ve gotten her brother in trouble.’
In any case, Lizbeth had played the part well—like a perceptive child—so that she alone would bear the responsibility.
‘And that’s not all. Even when I offered to help, she refused like mad?’
I’d sent word of my plan to assist her discreetly through Lark, who’d taken charge of the investigation.
But Lizbeth refused without a moment’s hesitation.
She stubbornly insisted she couldn’t let an innocent person be punished in her place.
It took Lark quite some time to convince her.
‘I expected her blood brother to act that way, but for a near-stranger to care about my situation……’
That was genuinely surprising. I’d thought she’d accept help without question.
“S-sorry, I…….”
“Ah!”
Lizbeth shed tears in big drops. She’d misunderstood because I was staring intently at her.
“No, no.”
I took her hand.
“It was your choice. You don’t need to apologize.”
“But…….”
“Stop now. You’re such a crybaby.”
As I smiled and wiped her tears away, she whimpered and leaned into my embrace.
At the sight of our frightened figures, sympathetic looks rained down from all around.
“We shall now begin the public trial regarding the defendant Lizbeth, Fifth Imperial Daughter of House Rashmach Decarde, and the witness Rubetria Diolus, Duke’s Daughter.”
The trial commenced.
As it proceeded, the solemn voice of the court echoed through ears that had gone numb.
‘Focus. Focus.’
But paying attention to the trial was impossible.
‹Congratulations in advance on your two-year sentence in Hebannon. It’s surrounded by mountains on all sides, so the air should be quite fresh.›
Wisht wouldn’t stop relaying sarcastic remarks straight into my mind!
‹Can you please be quiet?›
This useless wish spirit seemed bent on frightening me.
I shot him a furtive glare where he stood slanted beside me and swallowed a sigh.
‘Still, I should prepare for the worst as Wisht suggested. If it’s a two-year Isolation Sentence in Hebannon…….’
My chest ached. Two years of mine.
Even as I swallowed my tears inwardly.
The Chief Judge’s voice became clearer.
“……The petitions from Second Prince Nathan Rashmach Decarde, Viscount Biego Diolus, Duke Rosetta Ferdi, and seven others shall also be given final consideration…….”
He then made his declaration.
“I hereby sentence Lizbeth, Fifth Imperial Daughter Rashmach Decarde, to eighteen months Confinement at the Tower of Silence.”
Bang-bang-bang.
The judge’s gavel struck three times, and Lizbeth’s eyes widened.
‘What? The sentence is far lighter than I expected?’
The confinement period I’d anticipated as a minimum of five years had been reduced to eighteen months.
“R-Rubetria…….”
Yet Lizbeth, unable to feel pure joy, looked at me with misty eyes.
“That’s good news.”
I whispered quietly, and inwardly I nursed a quiet hope.
‘Please, mercy for me too.’
Squeezing Lizbeth’s hand, I looked up toward the elevated seat of the Chief Judge.
“Next, I shall announce the judgment regarding the witness Rubetria Diolus.”
Everyone held their breath, ears straining toward his voice.
“The witness has had contact with the suspected criminal known as the Sorcerer and testified to having introduced him to the Fifth Imperial Daughter.”
“…….”
“Though there is no evidence of collusion with the suspect, we cannot overlook the witness’s responsibility in providing the cause to the Fifth Daughter and conducting transactions at an illegal establishment.”
The Chief Judge’s frightening voice resonated uneasily through the chamber.
“The witness bears a duty to cooperate fully with the Imperial Investigation Bureau until the suspect is apprehended and the truth established. During the investigation period…….”
“…….”
“I hereby sentence the witness to twelve months Isolation in Reubon, a territory of the Diolus Domain.”
Bang-bang-bang.
At the moment that utterly incomprehensible verdict fell.
Bang!
Father shot up from his seat.
“Reubon……?”
Even Wisht, standing guard at my side, seemed startled, opening his mouth in a murmur.
“Ah, Father!”
I cried out in alarm, but he’d already vanished like wind.
‘This can’t be real. Is this actually happening?’
I clamped my hand over my mouth.
‘Reubon? Reubon—I never even considered that.’
Tears welled up in my eyes unbidden.
“Confined for a year and questioned before I’m even convicted…….”
“That’s far too harsh.”
Many faces in the courtroom murmured with sympathetic looks toward me.
‹Hey, you alright?›
Then Wisht thrust his face close and asked via Mental Transmission.
‹Move aside.›
‹Lower that hand covering your mouth.›
‹Come on, move.›
Right now I couldn’t control my expression enough to lower my hand.
Why?
Because my lips were already stretched so wide my smile was nearly touching my ears.
Reubon.
One of our house’s territories—which meant…….
A forest domain that hugged the coastline perfectly, and if I compared the distance roughly.
‘It’s like…… Incheon from Seoul?’
In fact, I’d been so delighted by this absurdly lenient verdict that tears had naturally welled up!
Screech—
Hearing the sound of a chair being pushed back, I turned to see Lark rising from the councilors’ bench.
He gave me a slight eye-smile and hurried after Father out of the Trial Chamber.
I kept my hand over my mouth as though in shock, gazing sorrowfully at the door through which they’d exited.
‘Absolutely perfect.’
Inwardly, though.
‘What’s with all the theatrics, Father…….’
That’s what I thought as I watched Father dash out, his chair clattering behind him.
* * *
“Duke Diolus, we need to talk.”
Lark hurried to catch Leonard.
“The verdict may not please your Grace, and for that I’m sorry. Still, it’s not a bad outcome. I regret I couldn’t do more.”
Leonard, who had been quietly studying Lark’s remorseful face, narrowed his eyes with suspicion.
“I thought it strange…….”
After a long silence, he murmured.
“True, my daughter caused trouble through ignorance, and because of her the Fifth Imperial Daughter had to face trial. The Fifth Daughter is the Crown Prince’s full sister.”
“…….”
“So I should be angry with my daughter. Yet throughout the deliberation, Your Highness seemed more invested in reducing her sentence than anyone else—that’s what troubled me.”
Lark, listening, went rigid.
“Your Grace thinks my daughter committed a real crime.”
Of course. Leonard, not knowing the full circumstances, would find Lark’s desperate efforts to protect Rubetria puzzling.
“At first I thought you were trying to recognize her innocence and help…….”
“…….”
“But I heard from Biego. He mentioned you’ve taken her out before.”
“Ah.”
“Are you perhaps courting my daughter?”
Leonard’s eyes gleamed as he stepped forward, closing the distance.
His voice turned sharp.
“She’s still a minor.”
The savage glare of a predator ready to tear anyone to pieces!
This gaze, this expression—unmistakably.
The fierce resolve that any man who dares approach his young daughter will be butchered.
“Dear me.”
Lark, reading the atmosphere, quickly raised his palms in surrender and flashed a gentle smile.
“A misunderstanding, Duke.”

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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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