Celebrity Lady - Chapter 8

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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
Episode 8
Rebecca looked down at my snack bundle with widened eyes and asked.
“Won’t you have a snack?”
“I won’t eat it. When I get hungry, call me and bring me walnuts and almonds ground fine and mixed into milk. A protein shake is essential to prevent muscle loss.”
“Yes, yes. Just a moment…….”
After waiting a moment for Rebecca to hurry through her notes, I continued.
“At five-thirty, I’ll eat a simple salad and then go exercise. Make it with lettuce, tomato, and chicken breast. Don’t season it—just boil it and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Don’t drizzle any sauce on it.”
“Yes, Miss!”
Perhaps she sensed some new resolve in me. Rebecca’s eyes lit up with excitement, though this wasn’t even her own concern.
Her expression was so endearing, like a younger sister’s, that I smiled once before returning to a serious expression.
“And there’s the matter of exercise, but first…….”
In Lubet’s Room, with its profusion of elaborate dresses, tight corsets, and even silken lace sleepwear, there was no proper athletic wear to be found.
I certainly couldn’t run ten laps around the Training Ground in a dress.
“Schedule an appointment with the tailor for this evening.”
* * *
After asking Rebecca to summon the tailor, I headed straight to Duke Diolus’s Room.
Father’s room, tucked away at the far end of the third floor, was pure gloom itself.
A desolate chill hung from the hallway itself, and the massive door, firmly shut, didn’t seem like it would open no matter how much I knocked.
“Miss? Is there something you need?”
And as expected, the elderly butler Robe, who stood guard before the door, greeted me.
“What do you mean something I need. I’ve come to see Father.”
“……?”
The supposedly abused Lubet coming to see the Duke? It had never happened before, and it shouldn’t happen at all.
Robe rolled his eyes with confusion and displeasure mixed in his expression, then carefully lowered his voice.
“The Duchess is away at the moment, is she not? Perhaps you should wait until the Duchess returns from her Recuperation, and then visit together.”
The Duchess in this household was none other than Molga Diolus, the Duchess Consort.
She had thoroughly cut off any communication between Father and me for fear I might say something foolish, so it was difficult for me even to see Father’s face without going through Molga first.
But by luck—or perhaps good fortune—Molga was away from the Manor at present, just as Robe had said.
In other words, this was one of the few precious opportunities I had to see Father.
I crossed my arms and spoke.
“That’s strange. In the same household, a daughter can’t freely come to see her father? And even stranger that a mere butler dares talk back to a young lady of the House like this.”
“……? What did you say?”
Robe blinked, his face full of doubt.
“I understand your ears have grown dull with age, but that’s your problem. A master’s daughter shouldn’t have to repeat herself just because you can’t hear properly.”
I smiled and patted Robe’s shoulder twice, then added.
“A servant needs to maintain basic courtesy if he wants to continue drawing wages in this household, wouldn’t you say?”
“Miss? What do you mean…….”
“Open the door. How many times do I have to tell you?”
Robe began to tremble, as if angry at last.
The sight of a servant actually daring to be upset was absurd—and yet, sadly, it was perfectly normal until yesterday. The brazen attitude of an elderly butler toward his young mistress.
‘Like an old fox. Not only did he turn a blind eye to Lubet’s abuse, but he also actively kept watch in Molga’s stead, preventing me from seeing Father or my brothers.’
Head butler Robe.
He wielded Molga’s trust as his shield, enforced silence among the servants, and played a role in isolating me completely.
“I’ve heard that Miss had a Suicide Incident and her mind became rather unstable afterward. It seems quite serious. I’m also aware that you struck the young lord Ricky.”
“…….”
“When the Duchess returns, she will re-educate you in proper Etiquette and Manners, so until then, keep quiet and remain in Confinement in your room.”
By then, Robe’s expression had shifted to one of ease, and he adjusted his monocle with a sneer.
The Duchess, Etiquette and Manners, Confinement—such word choices were clearly meant to intimidate me.
Molga’s harsh words, her bullying, her attempts to erode my self-worth—this kind of “education” was a form of psychological abuse that made Lubet pathologically miserable.
“Good thing you know my mind’s a bit off.”
“……?”
Without hesitation, I stepped past Robe and planted my foot on the door above.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Wh-what are you doing……!”
The startled Robe fumbled and pulled me away from kicking the door. I smirked at the befuddled old fox with his eyes wide.
“I’ll tell Father myself. Since the old butler’s ears don’t work, it seems he’ll have trouble continuing to work for our House Diolus.”
“Wh-what…….”
Robe, now ashen-faced, stared at the firmly closed door with tense eyes.
Creeeeeak—.
The massive door slowly opened, and a desolate chill seeped out.
Through the narrow gap, a man with an extremely grim expression appeared.
“……What is it.”
Tall, pale skin. Golden eyes devoid of focus. And below his jaw, dark circles so deep they seemed carved in, with an expression utterly devoid of emotion.
My father, Duke Renard Diolus.
He regarded me, the unexpected visitor, with listless eyes.
“Father, I came because there’s something I need to tell you.”
“……What.”
“Your Grace! It’s nothing! It seems Miss needs something, so I can take care of it. Please forgive the disturbance.”
“No, Father. I have something I need to tell you in person.”
“…….”
“Your Grace! No, that is…….”
Perhaps panicked, Robe’s voice grew louder, and Father, who disliked noise, immediately frowned. At Father’s darkening expression, Robe snapped his mouth shut.
“……Come in.”
Father then opened the door wider with a weary look.
I gave Robe a quick smirk in return and slipped inside, slamming the door shut right in his face.
‘Ugh, I can’t see anything.’
As the light that had seeped through the open door vanished, the room became utter darkness.
I was adjusting to the gloom when I heard Father’s slow footsteps, and the room brightened slightly. It seemed he’d lit a candle on the side table next to the sofa.
“What is it.”
Draped over the sofa like a saturated sponge, resting his chin on his hand, Father stared at me and spoke curtly.
‘This is really serious…….’
I’d known it, but seeing it in person was startling anew.
At thirty-six this year, he was a strikingly handsome man with fiery red hair and mysterious golden eyes just like mine.
If not for the deep dark circles, the gloomy expression, or the acrid smell of alcohol clinging to him, I might have wept at first glance and sung praises of his radiant beauty.
But…….
A shirt with buttons not even properly fastened, eyes drowsy and unfocused with drink.
‘He’s a complete wreck!’
As the room brightened, I saw the numerous Liquor Bottles rolling across the table, and I couldn’t help but grimace.
“Sigh…….”
Rather than answer, I dismissed my first-meeting impressions with a single sigh and promptly approached the curtained window.
Whoosh—!
As I drew the heavy Blackout Curtain, light poured through the wide window.
‘I should air the room too.’
I pushed the window open with effort, and fresh air finally rushed into the stuffy room.
And when I turned back, Father was covering his eyes with his arm, flinching like a vampire suffering under sunlight, his face contorted.
“…….”
It would be understandable if he found my sudden arrival and inexplicable behavior strange…….
But as if too tired to question it, Father didn’t make any comment. Instead, his sluggish hand reached into his shirt pocket.
What emerged was…… a pack of Cigarettes. He immediately pulled one out, lit it in his mouth, and struck a flame.
‘Seriously, a father smoking a cigarette in front of his underage daughter?’
I was too bewildered to even speak.
Though I didn’t know where to start pointing out the problems, I knew why Father had become like this, so I couldn’t simply rage at him.
‘Pining for his deceased wife, drowning in alcohol and tobacco, dead by thirty-nine.’
Now he was thirty-six.
‘Whether it was his liver or his lungs, time is too short. First, I need to get him to stop drinking and smoking.’
As Father drew deeply on the Cigarette until his cheeks hollowed, I spoke to him.
“Put out the cigarette.”
“What?”
Repeating myself twice—was it a trait of everyone in this household?
I pinched my nose and mouth, let my displeasure show unfiltered, and said it once more.
“Put out the cigarette. Don’t you see your daughter standing right in front of you? You want me to breathe in all this harmful smoke?”
For the first time, something flickered in Father’s unfocused eyes.
Blinking his slightly widened eyes, he looked back and forth between my displeased face and the Cigarette in his hand.
Then, with a slightly flustered expression, Father snuffed out the Cigarette in the Ashtray on the table.

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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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