Celebrity Lady - Chapter 72

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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 72
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We sipped fruit juice as we walked into a street lined with merchant stalls.
Vendors had set up various gambling games.
“Oh, that one looks fun. Want to try it?”
Lark pointed to one booth with interest in his voice.
[For just 50 Silver, you have the chance to win prizes worth up to 10 Gold!]
[Trust your sense of touch!]
On the stall sat several boxes covered with opaque silk, and behind the vendor lay the prizes on display.
Everything from cheap stuffed dolls to pendants that genuinely looked worth about 10 Gold…….
“Let’s play a game.”
“Oh, welcome, welcome.”
Lark quickly sat in the chair before the stall and placed 1 Gold.
Up close, I saw there were five boxes, each labeled with its prize. I pointed to the leftmost one, marked [Pendant worth 10 Gold].
“So you put your hand in and feel what’s inside, then guess what it is?”
“That’s right. But the 10 Gold one is quite difficult, and, well, it might be frightening for a lady?”
“No pain, no gain!”
Lark chuckled at my enthusiasm.
“Let me see…….”
I slipped my hand through the hole at the top of the box and felt something soft and squishy. There were also fur-like bristles.
‘Hmm……. This is the kind of thing young ladies would recoil from in fright. That’s why he warned me it was scary from the start.’
It felt almost like some kind of insect. The vendor met my eyes and smirked.
“It’s soft and squishy. Round and lumpy, about the size of a fist, several of them clustered together, and covered in fur…….”
“Yes, that’s right?”
The vendor tensed, noting my composed expression.
“Heh heh heh……. This feels just like a Fiber Moth adult insect?”
“Yikes!”
The vendor jumped back. Or was pretending to, anyway.
‘Heh heh, who do you think you’re fooling?’
I’d seen Fiber Moths a few times since getting into the textile business.
There were silk-spinning worms of a similar kind on this Island, but far more grotesque. I never wanted to see one twice.
Though I’d never touched one directly, this sensation matched their appearance perfectly.
‘But surely they didn’t actually put a real insect in here.’
It would be madness to put such a creature where little customers were bound to be terrified. Combined with the pre-warning, it had to be a trick.
‘This place runs a masterclass in facial expressions.’
I commended the vendor’s shocked expression performance and withdrew my hand with feigned confidence.
“It feels like a bug, but!”
“……but?”
“It’s actually a furry rubber ball, right?”
“Oh my!”
The vendor smacked his forehead and broke into a bright smile.
“Wrong!”
“Huh? Then what is it?”
The vendor rubbed his hands together with a sinister grin and suddenly pulled back the opaque silk.
What I saw was…….
Glossy black eyes that swiveled clearly at the head, and two split teeth that looked terrifying despite lacking any apparent aggression.
“AAAAAAAAH!”
……It was a real Fiber Moth.
“AAAAAAAAH! AH! AAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“Ow, my ears!”
The vendor clapped his hands over his ears, alarmed by the sheer decibel level.
I hadn’t exaggerated before.
“AAAAAAAAAAAH!”
I hate insects more than anything in this world.
“I’m going insane!”
My head spun and my vision went white. I had just touched that thing.
I spun around reflexively and lunged at Lark, who was still sitting, throwing my arms around him.
“R—Rubi?”
I straddled his lap with my legs splayed and clung to him desperately, which was mortifyingly inappropriate, but I had no room to think about propriety now.
“Aah! Aaaaah! I touched it! I touched that thing!”
“Okay, okay! Calm down! Calm down!”
I held the flustered Lark tight while squirming frantically on his lap.
Some might say I was overreacting about touching one insect, but if they saw what a Fiber Moth looked like, they wouldn’t dare criticize me.
On top of that, I’ve even fainted at the sight of a cockroach before, which shows just how much I detest insects…….
“Haaah…….”
“Stop, stop. You’re not going to cry, are you? It’s okay, it’s okay.”
The thought of turning around only to face the insect made my entire body bristle with goosebumps.
I trembled and burrowed deeper into Lark’s embrace.
“Hey, you there? I have business to attend to. If you keep this up in broad daylight, the Inn is in that direction…….”
I heard the vendor’s irritating voice.
“Rubi, get a hold of yourself. And maybe……. Um, could you come down?”
“Hngh…….”
Lark, rigid with tension, tried to soothe me, but my nerves wouldn’t calm.
I started to dismount, but every time I twisted my body the wrong way and thought I might catch sight of the insect, I flinched and clung to him tighter. Several minutes passed like this.
“Ahem. Let’s cover the box again. My friend here is quite frightened.”
“Oh, of course.”
The vendor chuckled, then I heard him lift the silk and drape it back over the box.
Lark, who had been practically pinning me against him with his grip, gently stroked my lower back with his stiffened hand.
“It’s hidden now.”
“R—really?”
“Yeah.”
“The bug’s not there anymore?”
“……It’s still there, but you can’t see it, so it’s fine.”
I tried my hardest not to turn around as I lowered myself from Lark’s lap. The moment I was down, he stood abruptly.
“Thank you for your patronage. We had a gre—”
I pressed against his side mid-sentence, and he froze stiffly.
“—at time. Well then.”
“Heh heh, you young people look good together. Want to play another round?”
“No, thank you. Keep the change—buy the insect some food.”
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The vendor chuckled as I reacted to the word “insect” again, and Lark shook his head in resignation.
* * *
“You shouldn’t sit on a man’s lap so casually.”
“I’m sorry. But I really was startled. I could have had a heart attack and died on the spot.”
The sun was already setting in the middle of the Island.
After spending another half-day enjoying the festival, Lark had been nagging me constantly, like an older brother would.
“You’ll encounter insects your whole life—are you going to jump on random men’s laps every time?”
“But insects are really scary. I once fainted at the sight of a cockroach, you know.”
“That’s a problem. And Reubon Villa is in the mountains, so there are plenty of insects there.”
“……Now that you mention it, there are.”
Watching my body shudder, Lark nattered on without pause about sending a pest control company to Reubon and various other things.
I laughed in surprise—I’d never seen him talk so much before.
“Don’t laugh. I’m being serious.”
“Yes, yes. I’m laughing because I’m happy.”
“Happy about what? You’re getting nagged.”
Lark, who had been grumbling, suddenly stopped walking.
“Oh no.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
The answer came quickly: a group of thugs led by Joe approaching us from about five meters away.
‘Ugh. Not again.’
Lark glanced around, grabbed my hand, and hurried me into an alley between buildings.
It was barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through. Lark pushed me all the way to the back and then planted himself between me and the street, his back to the wall.
“Those guys are persistent, aren’t they? Right?”
Lark removed his mask, then mine as well, and whispered while holding his breath.
“Stay like this for a moment.”
He braced himself against the wall I was backed against and bent his head down as if to kiss me.
“Ah…….”
My breath caught at how suddenly close we’d become and at the sight of his handsome face laid bare.
“Where did those bastards go~!”
“Come on, Joe! Give up already!”
The noise from outside the alley grew closer, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“Shh.”
Like a pair of lovers stealing a secret kiss, Lark pressed his face close to mine, and his gentle smile captivated all my attention…….
“What’s this?”
Joe’s voice echoed from the mouth of the alley. Thankfully, my face was hidden behind Lark.
Thump-thump.
My heart raced. Whether from the tension of being caught or for some other reason, I couldn’t say.
“Tch! Why are there so many couples clinging to each other in the middle of the day!”
“You lot! The Inn is that way! No matter how busy you are, don’t do this here!”
Not recognizing us, they peered into the alley with a mocking tone before moving on.
“D—did they not notice us?”
“Apparently. Fools.”
Lark murmured this, but for some reason made no move to leave, continuing to chuckle with his face still close to mine.
“We should go now, shouldn’t we?”
“No, we can’t let our guard down. We’ll leave once they’re definitely far enough away.”
“Mm, mm…….”
We had no choice but to stay suspended in this strange posture and atmosphere a little longer.
And clearly, the mischievous man had noticed how flustered I was. The way he kept catching my eye when I deliberately tried to avoid his gaze proved it.
“Thank you. For today.”
“……What for?”
“For playing with me?”
“It wasn’t a favor. I had fun too.”
At a distance where our noses nearly touched, our breath mingled.
The moment conversation ceased, the air between us shifted. And his gaze remained fixed entirely on me.
Like a spell, our eyes intertwined, and neither of us moved to break the connection.

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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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