Celebrity Lady - Chapter 64

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Celebrity Lady
Chapter 64
The Baron, who had been blinking rapidly, spoke as though deeply wronged.
“Miss, I—these commoners dared to be disrespectful to you…….”
“I said I’m fine.”
When I clenched my teeth and spoke, the Baron flinched and shut his mouth.
What disrespect was he talking about?
He was referring to the moment from ten minutes ago when the younger sister of the siblings who had prostrated themselves before me simply touched the jewels dangling from the hem of my dress.
It was nothing. Just a small child reaching out her hand because something shiny and glittering looked pretty to her.
I wasn’t bothered in the slightest, and in fact, I’d even thought her white, chubby cheeks were so adorable I wanted to pinch them.
If only this Baron with a rotten temperament hadn’t flown into a rage!
“You alright?”
I approached the boy who’d taken the hit on the head. He appeared to be around my age, though somewhat smaller in frame.
…….
He didn’t answer, just clenched his teeth and turned his head away, his expression thick with anger.
And with reason—the Baron had grabbed his younger sister by the scruff of her neck over nothing, hurled insults calling her a commoner and worse, and then hit the boy himself on the head.
“You insolent brat! The young lady is speaking——!”
A guttural growl escaped me.
He froze.
Greg, who had been raising his hand again, fell silent at the threat in my voice.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. It’s alright.”
As I was comforting the girl, I suddenly paused.
Looking more closely, I noticed the siblings’ faces were covered in small wounds—some fresh, some already scarred over.
“Why does your face look like that?”
As I asked, looking at the boy’s split lip, the trembling girl’s gaze slowly lifted.
Toward Greg, who stood beside me.
Oh, no…….
Wisht sighed, apparently sensing the disaster about to unfold.
I let out a long, quiet breath myself. Perhaps sensing my instinctive revulsion, Greg offered an explanation.
“These children—they’re the Workshop Master’s kids.”
I see.
“They act terribly insolent whenever the Baron comes to inspect the workshop, you see?”
“Describe exactly how children can be ‘insolent’ in a way that warrants having their faces beaten until they’re bruised beyond recognition by a grown man. And let me be clear—whatever comes out of your mouth from this moment on won’t change the fact that you’ve beaten children.”
He froze.
Greg shrank back like a tortoise and sent an SOS with his eyes to the Baron behind me.
The Baron hurried to intervene.
“This isn’t a matter for your concern, Miss. These workshop people live off the grace of House Diolus, yet they’re ungrateful and keep——”
“Wages have been three months overdue! Mother needs money for medicine—I only asked for this month’s pay!”
The boy’s interruption made the Baron visibly panic. I studied his expression while conversing silently with Wisht.

I smiled faintly. The Baron, sensing the shift, quickly prepared his excuse.
“Y-Young lady. You may not be familiar with Ruben’s circumstances, but the workshop’s income isn’t strong, so the wages…….”
Back of my head throbbing. I grabbed my neck and ground my teeth.
“Wow.”
“How audacious. You’re treating me like some clueless child?”
“Y-Yes?”
“Ruben-Made Timepieces are so famous throughout the kingdom that newborns who haven’t even learned to walk know about them. And you’re telling me the workshop’s income isn’t good?”
I stepped closer to the Baron with a dangerous expression.
“What do you take me for, spouting lies so obvious they’re transparent?”
“I, that is…….”
“Deceit reaching toward the heavens.”
Turning away from the Baron, whose face had gone pale, I swallowed my anger and spoke.
“I’m grateful for today’s welcome, and I’m grateful you personally showed me around the territory. Even if it was less than thirty minutes.”
“M-Miss.”
“I’ll tour the rest with my secretary. Return to the Baron’s Residence and wait there.”
“W-Wait?”
“I’m in a bad mood, so I’d appreciate it if you’d vanish from my sight in ten seconds.”
“Miss! Just let me explain——”
“Ten.”
…….
“Nine.”
The Baron and Greg could only exchange glances, helpless.
“Three.”
“Eek?”
“Ah, um…….”
“Two.”
As five seconds vanished in an instant and my expression grew even more menacing, the Baron and Greg fumbled away in ridiculous haste.
I turned back to the remaining siblings.
The girl was blushing and smiling, but the boy’s eyes remained guarded.
Our household’s territories—just counting the ones I could think of off the top of my head—numbered over a dozen. Naturally, Viego alone couldn’t manage them all directly.
So we appointed vassals to administer the territories as proxies, and this kind of abuse was entirely possible in that process.
‘These embezzling thugs who skim money off the top always seem to show up.’
Even if it wasn’t my fault, I understood the anger in a wage-denied laborer’s heart when looking at the lord’s daughter.
Especially when she was dressed in a flashy gown with jewels dangling from the hem, having come to leisurely watch them work.
“I’m sorry.”
I said it quietly, then knelt down and began carefully removing the palm-sized Sapphire attached to the hem of my dress.
“Ugh, why is this so…….”
Jewels sewn on so tightly wouldn’t come loose with just a bit of force.
As I struggled, a blade suddenly glinted in front of me.
I startled.
Looking up, the boy was holding out a folding knife.
I took it and finished removing the jewel, then asked.
“Thank you. What’s your name?”
“Jeremy.”
His reply was as short as his expression was curt.
“Brother! She’s nobility!”
The girl pouted and immediately scolded Jeremy, causing him to glance away from me before adding quietly.
“…Yes.”
Hm.
I placed the jewel in the girl’s hand and said.
“If you’re annoyed, just say it. I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut either if I were in your position.”
Jeremy paused, fixing me with blue eyes. His anger seemed to have eased, just slightly.
“W-Young lady? Why are you giving me this? Is this for me?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you want it?”
“Wow!”
“Luna, give that back here. I need it to buy medicine.”
“Okay, okay!”
Jeremy snatched the Sapphire, but Luna simply nodded with a knowing smile.
Suddenly something in me surged. I grabbed the Sapphire from Jeremy’s hand and placed it back in Luna’s palm.
“Your name is Luna? You keep this. I’m not giving it to you for medicine money.”
“But……?”
“And as for your mother’s medicine and the overdue wages……. I’m sorry. Just wait a little longer.”
I forced a smile and turned to leave.
“I’ll be back soon.”
* * *
Beside me as I furiously scribbled with my pen, my secretary Siena watched nervously.
“I should have accompanied you. I’m sorry, Miss.”
“Don’t be. There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
At my words about immediately clashing with Baron Ruben, Siena apologized anyway.
In truth, I’d assumed the Baron would give me a proper tour. That’s why I’d sent Siena separately to gather information about the territory’s situation.
“Rebecca!”
“Yes, Miss!”
I handed Rebecca, who was also watching nervously for my mood, a letter sealed with red wax.
“Send this to Viego right away. While you’re at it, bring the letters I wrote for Becky and Sera as well.”
“Yes! Should I have Officer Paul review it first before sending?”
Sharp-witted Rebecca asked promptly.
As someone under Exile Status, I had to have any correspondence reviewed by an Investigator before sending it out—that was the rule.
However.
“If you don’t want your letters reviewed, or if you want to contact the outside discreetly, find the Investigator named Paul. I’ve already mentioned it to him, and he’ll help you.”
This was a special privilege granted by the Crown Prince himself.
“Right, got it.”
“I’ll be back soon!”
Rebecca hurried out of the room, and I tidied the desk while asking Siena.
“So, what kind of place is Ruben?”
“It’s a territory granted by the royal family during the time of the 4th Duke of Diolus. Since then, the heads of House Ruben, who are vassals, have been administering it as proxies.”
“That’s quite a while.”
“Yes. But Ruben gained prominence fifty years ago when the workshop business within the territory became active.”
“Right. The timepieces are famous. But what I’m curious about is the workshop’s revenue structure…….”
Given that the workshop laborers receive wages—or don’t—from the Baron, who acts as the territorial proxy, the workshop itself must be under our House of Diolus.
Our household would manage the workshop’s revenue and pay the laborers’ wages.
‘That part is managed directly by Viego, so wages should be paid properly. There’s no way they’d be overdue. Did Baron Ruben embezzle from the middle?’
As I was piecing together the situation, Siena spoke.
“As the workshop’s timepieces gained attention and sales increased significantly beyond the initial projections, House Diolus recognized the expertise and contribution of the workshop laborers and granted Ruben autonomy over revenue management.”
“Excuse me?”
I blinked, confused.
What on earth was she saying?
Siena handed me a document and continued.
“As a result, unlike other enterprises, they’ve been given an 80% stake and maintain transparent public disclosure of sales records.”
In other words, our household provides the workshop space, opens sales channels, and takes only a 20% share of the profits.
Ruben makes the timepieces, we sell them, and the sales are disclosed transparently.
“Wait. So then why is the Baron withholding laborers’ wages? The workers would know the workshop is doing well since sales are publicly disclosed. He’s openly not paying them?”
Could even an embezzler be this blatant?
I tilted my head in confusion, and for some reason, Siena’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Miss?”
“What?”
“The person distributing wages to the workshop laborers isn’t Baron Ruben—it’s the Workshop Master, Charlie Works.”
“……?”
What was she talking about now?
“According to the contract drawn up between Ruben Territory and the workshop…… all sales revenue from workshop products goes to the workshop. This is a contract personally brokered by the Junior Duke of Diolus.”
I blinked blankly, processing Siena’s explanation.
So basically, the money from selling timepieces goes almost entirely to the people who made them.
Which meant…… the Workshop Master, Charlie Works, should be absurdly wealthy, and the siblings I’d just met should be the children of a rich workshop owner.
“Then what about three months of overdue wages, and what about the mother’s medicine money?”