Celebrity Lady - Chapter 79

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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 79
No one in the room had any idea where Rubetria had gone, and the silence that followed said everything.
“Does no one know?”
“She hasn’t been seen since Hide and Seek started a while ago…….”
One of the noble girls murmured, and Lark’s eyes snapped up at once.
“Hide and Seek?”
“That’s right, Evelyn.”
Just then Ricky clapped his hands together, as if remembering something, and turned to look at Evelyn.
“Didn’t you say earlier that you were going to hide together with Rubetria?”
All eyes turned to Evelyn. She stood trembling, her face drained of color.
Her gaze wavered, unable to meet Lark’s, and her fists clenched on her thighs quivered visibly.
Anyone could see it was the reaction of someone caught red-handed.
The nobles’ expressions shifted to suspicion.
“I, I, I…….”
Crunch.
At that moment, someone beneath the table pressed their foot firmly against Evelyn’s instep. It was Lilia, sitting beside her, trying to send her a signal.
Tears were threatening to spill, so Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut.
She had never imagined things would escalate like this. And now she had to confess to the Crown Prince—who had appeared so suddenly—that she had deliberately locked Rubetria in the Closet…….
“Where is she?”
Lark’s previously gentle expression had grown cold and hard. His interrogating tone made Evelyn’s vision blur.
“I, I, that is…….”
“What is it? Has something happened to Rubetria? Did you know about this?”
“Then why didn’t you say anything when the maid was looking for her earlier? Where is our Rubetria?”
Lilia and Ricky shot to their feet, voices sharp with anger. Their faces showed genuine worry for their beloved sister.
‘Damn brats…….’
It was obvious why they were turning on her now. She had simply followed orders, but now that things had spiraled out of control, they wanted to dump all the blame on her.
“I, I…….”
“Randian.”
Without waiting for Evelyn’s stumbling response, Lark murmured the name.
Randian—his spirit. Everyone in the room understood and held their breath.
Randian appeared like wind behind Lark and whispered quietly.
“Basement Level 1. She’s trapped in the Closet.”
“……!”
Lark’s expression twisted in shock, then hardened with fury.
Leaving the startled nobles in his wake, he rushed into the Villa.
Randian guided him to the room, and Lark quickly unlocked the Closet door that had been firmly bolted from the outside.
“Rubetria!”
Slumped against the wall, unconscious, was Rubetria.
“Damn it, come to!”
Lark bent down and pulled her body into his arms with trembling hands.
He pressed his ear close—and to his relief, he could hear faint, ragged breathing.
“Hah…….”
Only then did Lark allow himself to breathe, his body going limp as he collapsed to the floor. The breath he’d been holding came pouring out.
Thump, thump, thump.
His heart, which had seemed to plummet to the ground for a moment, was still hammering wildly with shock.
* * *
“Mmm…….”
“Rubetria!”
The moment my eyes opened, someone threw their arms around me.
“Ugh, waaaah…….”
Seeing the golden hair, I knew it was Lilia. Her eyes were swollen as she wept bitterly.
“You, you, I thought something had gone wrong with you, I, ugh!”
‘She’s being ridiculous.’
My head spun from the sharp scent of her perfume, so I pushed Lilia away and looked around.
“Are you all right? Does anything hurt?”
Ricky, standing beside Lilia, asked in the same distressed tone.
Behind the twins, Evelyn stood with unfocused eyes, her head bowed silently.
‘What on earth is happening?’
As I tried to make sense of the situation, someone opened the Bedroom door. It was Lark.
“Your Highness?”
I tried to rise quickly, but Lark stopped me.
“Are you coming to your senses? How’s your body?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
Lark sat down beside me and closed his eyes, exhaling a long breath. His expression was unusually harsh.
“What happened? I think I need some kind of explanation.”
At that moment—
“You’re really a terrible person! When I get home, I’m telling my brother everything! I absolutely cannot forgive this!”
Lilia suddenly spun around to face Evelyn and shrieked.
‘Ah, I see now.’
What was supposed to be a simple scare in the Closet had spiraled out of control. They never expected Lark to show up.
And it seemed Lark had figured out that someone had deliberately locked the Closet door from the outside.
‘They’re trying to pin it all on Evelyn.’
Impressive children indeed. I clicked my tongue.
“You should apologize to our Rubetria right away. Even if it was meant as a joke, that went way too far.”
Ricky chimed in. So fond of saying “our” Rubetria…….
“……I’m sorry, Rubetria.”
“What are you sorry for? Did you tell him everything?”
“Huh?”
I lifted myself slightly, then hesitated as I glanced at Lark, pretending to be uncertain.
“Actually, Your Highness…….”
“…….”
“I asked Evelyn if I could hide in the Closet. I also asked her to lock the door without anyone knowing I was inside.”
“You deliberately asked her to lock you in the Closet?”
“Yes……. I didn’t even know we were having a Birthday Party today. I didn’t sleep last night and was so exhausted that I wanted to slip away quietly. I asked her not to look for me and to let me out before I went home, but…….”
“You’re protecting her.”
Lark seemed to notice that I was deliberately shielding Evelyn, but he didn’t press further.
“This kind of prank is excessive.”
“I apologize.”
“Are you truly certain your body is all right? You lost consciousness in the Closet.”
“No! I just fell asleep accidentally.”
“…….”
I turned my head away from Lark, whose eyes had narrowed in displeasure, and spoke.
“I’m sorry for worrying you all.”
“Oh, um…… Hey, Evelyn. If that’s the case, you should have just told the truth.”
“Why would you help with a prank like that anyway?”
Lilia and Ricky spoke in turn, their faces bewildered.
They probably expected me to make a scene the moment I woke up as a wild woman, not to shield Evelyn like this.
I grabbed Lilia’s arm and spoke.
“It’s late. You should go home. And since Father and your brother are worried, please don’t tell them about today. Can I ask you that?”
“O, okay…….”
Lilia got to her feet uncertainly, and Ricky followed behind her.
“Take care, Evelyn. I’ll contact you, so we’ll see each other soon.”
Evelyn, who had been watching me with a pale expression, quietly nodded and left the room.
Click.
The moment the Bedroom door closed, I exhaled a long, stifled breath and flopped back on the bed.
“What was that all about? Surely you didn’t actually ask to be locked in the Closet.”
Lark crossed his arms and began his real interrogation.
“I did go in of my own accord. But Evelyn begged me to get in the Closet?”
“What?”
“The twins must have put her up to it.”
Lark’s eyes widened.
“Didn’t you figure it out somehow?”
“I knew those two dislike you, that much I heard. But…….”
Even at their worst, he apparently couldn’t imagine children barely into their teens would confine someone for an entire day.
That was understandable. I had never told Lark in detail how the twins had tormented me. It was a memory I preferred not to revisit.
“I’ve been locked in the Closet plenty of times. Almost every time I visited Ryubon Villa to play with the twins.”
Lark looked shocked at my confession, then his jaw clenched with a fierce expression. His eyes trembled slightly with strain.
“In the past, no one was watching, so they locked me up themselves. But now there are investigators staying at the Villa, and I don’t just meekly submit anymore…….”
“So they had someone else do their dirty work, then cut their losses and tried to run?”
“That seems likely.”
“How old are the twins?”
“Fifteen this year.”
Lark let out a hollow laugh, seemingly incredulous at the malice of such young children.
“Who are their parents? Plant beans and you get beans; plant red beans and you get red beans.”
“But why did you shield Evelyn Torso? Wasn’t she complicit in tormenting you, part of the same circle?”
“Ah, yes. I thought she was too, but it seems she isn’t.”
A thought suddenly struck me, and I immediately reached into the front of my dress. A folded letter came away in my fingers.
It had fallen from Evelyn’s sleeve when she locked me in the Closet.
“Do you think I’m doing this because I like to? If I don’t obey Nora, my whole family will starve to death!”
Evelyn had some kind of circumstance.
“Evelyn and Nora were originally close, but it was ambiguous whether they were really friends. Nora used Evelyn like a servant, and Evelyn would obey her every word.”
I unfolded the letter and continued speaking.
“I thought since the Felcan Earl House was doing well, she was hanging around as a voluntary servant hoping to catch some scraps. But…….”
As I read the contents of the unfolded letter, I went rigid.
“You understood? Why are you stopping mid-sentence? What is that?”
Dad, I’m really sorry. Mom, I’m really sorry. I’m in so much pain.
I tried to endure it thinking of Mom and Dad, but I can’t do it anymore. I hate waking up in the morning. I just wish I didn’t exist. I wish I could fall asleep and never wake up.
I hate living like this. I’m so scared of seeing the sun rise in the morning.
I’m truly sorry. And I love all of my family. If there’s a next life, let’s meet again then. Next time, I hope our whole family is happy.
Nora Felcan. I wish you’d fall into the fires of hell. You’re the one who killed me. Even in death, I will curse you. Never forget me.
“Oh no…….”
Damn it. This is a Suicide Note.

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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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