Celebrity Lady - Chapter 80

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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 80
A suicide note—written in advance and carried at all times, as though ready to act on any moment’s resolve to end it all.
I found myself recalling Evelyn, who had vanished so abruptly around this very time in my previous life.
‘Could she have… killed herself back then?’
The probability seemed distressingly high.
She’d left behind a suicide note with the name ‘Nora Felcan’ written plainly on it, no doubt hoping her death would somehow expose Nora’s crimes—but…
‘The Felcan family wouldn’t allow such loose talk. They’d have buried it thoroughly.’
Despite having glimpsed Nora Felcan’s face frequently myself, I had no idea whether Evelyn had sunk into the earth or risen to the heavens.
‘And the fact that her entire family suddenly fled into exile… that’s suspicious too.’
I couldn’t say exactly what had happened, but one thing became clear: Evelyn was not willingly serving as Nora Felcan’s handmaid.
To carry a suicide note at such a young age, so thoroughly convinced of her own hopelessness…
“God, I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t have let her go.”
I’d planned to investigate Evelyn’s circumstances covertly, but I’d blundered.
I’d sent off that child—a human time bomb counting down to detonation—without a second thought.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your Highness, it’s urgent. I need to see Evelyn again.”
Lark frowned as I bolted upright.
“The lady just woke up from fainting. Tell me what’s happened. I’ll look into it.”
“I think that child is planning to kill herself.”
“What?”
I waved Evelyn’s suicide note in front of Lark.
“What is—”
“Before I was locked away, I heard her say something strange. She said if she didn’t obey Nora Felcan, her whole family would starve to death.”
I grabbed my outer robe and threw it on, speaking rapidly.
“Are the Torso family finances really that dire?”
“I’m sorry I can’t help, but there are several families in Jedo, and I don’t know all their personal circumstances. I only met this Evelyn girl today, after all.”
“I see.”
“But I can find out quickly.”
“I’d be grateful. But first, I think we need to find Evelyn. We can’t know what she might do. After everything that’s happened today—oh!”
I stumbled as I rushed from the room, but Lark caught me.
“Thank you.”
“Finding her won’t be difficult. She hasn’t been gone long. We can catch up soon enough.”
“Oh right! She left in our carriage with her twin siblings—”
“That hardly matters. Landian.”
Lark called out his spirit’s name at the last moment. Though I couldn’t see it, he’d summoned the spirit.
“So long as she keeps her feet on the ground, finding her won’t be hard.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Go.”
Understanding my urgency, Lark didn’t ask further questions and moved first.
* * *
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
The carriage rolled slowly along a gently sloped mountain road blanketed in snow.
Evelyn stared blankly out the window at the landscape of Lyubon unfolding beyond.
In contrast to the peaceful vista—white snow piled on every rooftop—the mountainside rose perilously steep, where a single misstep meant falling into an abyss.
‘It wouldn’t be so bad to die here.’
As the thought crossed her mind, she heard her siblings’ prattling voices nearby.
“Why do you think that pig stayed so quiet?”
“Obviously. You can’t babble in front of the Crown Prince, so she played the good girl.”
“Wow. If that’s true, she’s become quite the fox.”
“How annoying. Wait, when did you and the Crown Prince get so close?”
Lilia gnawed at her nails petulantly, her whole body bristling with indignation.
It was strange, Evelyn thought, how someone with such an angelic face could wear an expression so vicious.
“What are you staring at!”
Lilia’s eyes suddenly met Evelyn’s in the empty air, and she shrieked.
“You useless little brat! Do you have any idea how much I’ve been worried sick because of you?”
“…”
“You weren’t deliberately stalling back there in front of the Crown Prince, testing us, were you? We almost got caught!”
“…No. I just… I was too scared. I couldn’t find my voice.”
Ricky, sitting beside her, glared at Evelyn in disbelief.
“Seriously? What could you possibly be afraid of? You said yourself you’d quietly take the blame if the inspectors found out.”
“…”
“This is driving me insane, honestly. Are you mute? Why won’t you answer? How does Nora stand taking you everywhere like this?”
“Leave her alone. Like father, like daughter, I guess. Father’s got one leg, daughter’s got no voice.”
As Lilia sneered, her words dripping with mockery, Evelyn’s hands clenched into fists.
Evelyn’s father, Baron Torso, had been a member of the Imperial Knight Order before his retirement, and he’d lost his leg in the war ten years ago.
Strangers spoke carelessly, but Evelyn had always been proud of her father, who had sacrificed so much in service to the nation.
“What? Why are your eyes so wide? Do you have a problem with me?”
“…”
Evelyn’s throat tightened, but in the end she said nothing, lowering her gaze. The twins laughed at her silence.
‘God, I hate this.’
Her father had been granted a barony as an honorable Imperial Knight, but after his retirement, work had been scarce.
It was Count Felcan, a merchant magnate, who eventually hired him.
He was rude and tactless, but he was the only one who’d ever given her father, a one-legged man, a chance to work.
“…Don’t you think your parents would be heartbroken if they knew you spent your days catering to these foul-natured children as a servant?”
But I have no choice…
It was perhaps inevitable that Evelyn had become little more than a playmate—worse than a handmaid—to Nora Felcan.
‘I wish time would just stop.’
Or that the carriage would crash on the way down.
In the end, she’d have to return to Jedo and face Nora. Nora might beat her until her cheeks swelled, just for what had happened today.
“Um, you two.”
Evelyn, who had been gazing blankly at the passing landscape, suddenly felt a powerful compulsion and opened her mouth.
“Could you let me out here? My stomach feels unsettled. I need some fresh air.”
The twins gave her unhappy looks at the sudden request, but they soon lost interest and stopped the carriage.
They didn’t even ask how she’d get back.
Left on the snowy mountain path like discarded trash as twilight began to fall.
Standing alone, Evelyn gazed at the snow-covered landscape of Lyubon and thought of Rubetria.
“Tell me later. Tell me what’s happened to you.”
Both her willing entry into the closet and the lie she’d told afterward…
Rubetria seemed to have guessed at Evelyn’s circumstances and pitied her.
Though Rubetria herself wasn’t in an enviable position, tormented as she was by the twins.
“I’m sorry.”
The memory of locking Rubetria in that closet rose up, and Evelyn’s throat closed.
‘Should I write that I’m sorry for the closet?’
Evelyn reached into the folds and sleeves of her dress, searching for the suicide note she’d always carried with her.
“Oh, my.”
But it was gone—lost somewhere. The one she’d written Nora Felcan’s name on so clearly.
“…”
Still, the panic faded quickly. Nothing mattered anymore.
Crunch.
As she took a step onto the snow, a footprint appeared.
Lyubon Mountain, where the manor stood, had steep slopes, so the path had been cut as gently as possible, and an iron fence had been erected along the cliff’s edge.
The fence was quite sturdy and closely spaced, but with determination, one could squeeze beneath it and fall—it wouldn’t be difficult.
“Hehe, nice view.”
Evelyn bent low and wriggled her body beneath the iron fence, murmuring as she gazed down at the landscape before her.
“Dad…”
The word “Dad” tumbled from her lips, and suddenly tears welled up.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
If I’m going to die anyway, I should have at least spat in those cruel children’s faces.
Yes, I should have done that.
With that brief regret, Evelyn’s tightly shut eyes opened. Her gaze was hollow, devoid of light.
* * *
“How can children be so wickedly cruel?”
Inside the carriage as we searched for Evelyn, Lark clicked his tongue after hearing the full story.
“At that age, I was genuinely innocent and kind…”
That a mere fifteen-year-old could be driven by bullying to contemplate suicide seemed impossible to him.
Even as Lark expressed his outrage, incredulity remained etched across his features.
“Today’s children are terrifying.”
“Yes, now I understand. Just looking at how they locked you away in that closet, calling it a game…”
I smiled while my lips grew dry and tight. The snow made the carriage unbearably slow, and I was growing increasingly anxious.
“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
“I hope you’re right…”
“Stop the carriage here!”
Suddenly, Lark had the carriage halt in the middle of a mountain pass. Landian must have located Evelyn.
‘Evelyn is here?’
I leaned out the window in shock, and my worst fears were confirmed.
Beyond the iron fence that ran along the cliff’s edge, Evelyn’s small figure hung precariously, her back to us.
I clapped my hand over my mouth.
“Oh my God…”
“Lady, be careful!”
I threw open the carriage door and stumbled out before Lark could stop me.
I steadied myself on the slippery snow and stood, my breath catching in my throat.
Evelyn’s silhouette was perilously close to the edge.
One step. Just one more step, and her small body would plummet into the endless void below.
I forced my trembling legs to move, closing the distance between us inch by inch.
Then, carefully, I spoke her name.
“E… Evelyn…”
Evelyn’s back stiffened slightly, and she turned to face me with agonizing slowness.

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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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