Celebrity Lady - Chapter 85

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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 85
The knight who had boldly driven his sword into Victor’s back staggered backward, his face drained of color.
“You’ve never seen me use my Ability before, have you?”
Victor closed the distance without hesitation, his footsteps steady and deliberate.
“Makes sense—you’d never actually witnessed it, so you charged in without thinking twice.”
The five knights had lost all will to fight; they simply exchanged nervous glances, making no move to attack again.
“What, you thought all five of you rushing me at once would give you a fighting chance?”
Victor shrugged, tilting his head with a mocking smile.
“Did you seriously dream you could beat me, all of you?”
He swept his blade through the air with casual ease,
“Wake up.”
and lunged forward with a sharp laugh.
“Ahhh!”
“Ugh…….”
The demoralized knights flailed helplessly. Two of them crumpled to the ground, fresh wounds slashed across their thighs.
Victor’s strikes were calculated to incapacitate without killing—he needed them alive to interrogate, and crippled enough that they couldn’t flee.
‘This is utterly one-sided.’
Not that I can blame them. If I were in their shoes, I’d have given up too.
No matter how much they swung or thrust, they couldn’t even scratch him. It was like throwing eggs at a stone.
Before long, all five knights lay sprawled on the ground, each sporting a fresh wound on the leg.
Victor flicked his blade up and rested it casually against his shoulder.
“Tch. What arrogant fools.”
* * *
With help from the guards and Investigation Team members stationed at the villa, the five abductors were transferred to the Imperial Palace.
Victor said he’d quietly interrogate them himself to uncover who’d hired them—no need to worry Viego and Father—before departing.
Rebecca, her expression grave, handed me a cup of warmed milk and asked a question.
“Who on earth would try to kidnap you, Miss?”
“I… I have no idea.”
What had been their purpose? I never did find out.
‘Money?’
No, it doesn’t add up. You don’t kidnap someone just for ransom money when the Diolus Duchy is so powerful. It would be far more sensible to target a smaller, modestly wealthy family.
That would be the rational move.
“Victor mentioned they were new recruits who’d joined four months ago, and they kept pestering him to let them see him during visiting hours.”
Recalling his words, my reasoning spiraled deeper into confusion.
‘Newcomers who’ve been with the corps barely four months approach Victor to kidnap me—someone currently serving an Isolation Sentence. It seems too deliberate to be coincidence. They must have joined the corps as part of a plan.’
If that were true, then someone was definitely hunting me—Rubetria Diolus—with premeditation.
‘Did Molga put them up to it?’
I shook my head.
Molga was calculating enough to move with precision. She’d never cause such a commotion.
<Isn’t it obvious?>
Just then, Wisht, who’d been leaning against the far wall, sent a thought to me.
<Obvious how?>
<Who stands to gain from kidnapping you right now?>
<Who?>
<The Crown Prince’s rival. The second prince.>
“Hmm…….”
I fell silent, turning the thought over in my mind, and nodded slowly.
I’d deliberately avoided considering it, but there was a real chance this was Naesan’s doing.
He knew I’d committed perjury in court on Lark’s behalf.
‘So he must suspect that Lark and I are connected.’
Which meant I’d become a liability—a weapon against him.
<I warned you clearly. Stay out of other people’s bloody feuds, I said.>
<But wait, is that idiot really that stupid? Did he think kidnapping me would threaten Lark’s life? Is he delusional?>
If it were that simple, Lark would’ve lost his head long ago.
Committing a crime this traceable just to threaten someone’s life—what would Naesan gain? Nothing. Nothing at all.
Lark isn’t the type to say, ‘Spare the hostage. Take me instead.’
<His goal might not be the Crown Prince’s life at all.>
<What are you talking about?>
<Don’t overthink it. If they tried to kidnap you, then you yourself might’ve been the target.>
<That’s nonsense. Why would he want me?>
What could I possibly have beyond my value as a hostage?
I have no Spirit. A noble without a Spirit being kidnapped—that’s a lose-lose for everyone involved.
<Why did you think that way?>
<…….>
I pressed for an answer, but Wisht fell silent. For a long moment, he seemed to struggle with something, his eyes tense and searching.
* * *
Imperial Knight Corps Barracks.
Underground Level 2, a secluded chamber.
Creak—
The door swung open, and Victor stepped in with a menacing expression, rolling his shoulders.
The five bound knights sitting in a row flinched.
“Welcome to the chamber of truth,” Victor said.
He dragged a chair across the floor and planted himself in front of them.
“Whoever hired you, you can forget about living as Imperial Knights on State Stipend ever again. You dared kidnap a lady? You’ve abandoned the knightly code and dishonored yourselves.”
Victor crossed his legs and shrugged casually.
“But if you want to keep your lives, you know what you need to do, right? I’m asking you two things.”
He held up two fingers.
“First: why you suddenly decided to kidnap my sister. Second: who put you up to it.”
“…….”
“I’ll let the first two who talk live. So start singing, all of you.”
Even with their lives hanging in the balance, the abductors kept silent. They held firm as if bound by an oath, refusing to speak.
“You think I’m just threatening you with words? Want to start losing fingers one by one?”
Victor drew his blade from its sheath with a metallic rasp and stood.
And then, in that very instant—
In a single blink of an eye—
As he took one step forward and let his eyelids close for just a moment—
“……!”
All five figures vanished from Victor’s sight in the blink of that eye.
“What—what is this?”
Victor rubbed his eyes with his hand and looked again.
They were definitely gone.
All that remained were the Ropes that had bound them and five empty chairs.
Three seconds? One second? No—less than that. It happened in an instant too brief to measure.
It was less like they’d stood up and fled, and more like some sort of magic had spirited them away.
“What the hell!”
Victor spun around in a panic, his voice sharp.
The door hung open—the path of their impossible escape.
* * *
“They just vanished right before my eyes!”
In the Crown Prince Lark’s office,
Victor vented his frustration before Lark, who sat in contemplative silence, and his aide Ren.
“Really, one blink—just like that—and they were gone!”
“Sub-commander, you’re not making excuses to avoid getting blamed for letting them escape, are you?”
“Are you serious right now?”
Victor nearly jumped out of his seat at Ren’s suspicion.
“These aren’t just anyone—they tried to kidnap my sister. Do you really think I’d be that careless?”
“Hmm…….”
“Victor, what were you thinking, taking such a risk? Have you lost your mind?”
Lark’s sharp question made Victor flinch.
“I ordered Investigation Team members to accompany any outside visitors not to spy, but for her safety.”
“…….”
“Yet you exploited the fact that the corps answers to me and deliberately sent the investigators away? Is that it?”
“Sir…….”
Victor ran an agitated hand through his hair.
“I apologize for that. But after so long, when I finally get to see my sister, I don’t want every word and gesture watched. Surely you understand?”
Lark closed his eyes and swallowed a sigh at Victor’s complaint.
“It was my error in judgment to act unilaterally. If you wish to punish me, I’ll accept it.”
“Ugh…….”
Lark opened his eyes again, gritted his teeth, and clenched his fists tight.
He was keeping up appearances, but the fact that Rubetria had been targeted shook him more than anyone else present.
Ren, sensing the tension between them, spoke carefully.
“In principle, it’s standard procedure that Investigation Team members can be dismissed when the Imperial Knight Corps is present, and Sub-commander Victor was deceived by their calculated approach, so there’s no need to hold him accountable for—”
“No, you’re right. I was just frustrated. I don’t blame Victor. I was angry. I apologize.”
Lark’s sudden shift in tone left Victor bewildered.
“You have every right to be upset, but why apologize? I made the mistake, not you.”
“It’s all because of me.”
“Sir?”
“I should have told you sooner. She wouldn’t have faced this threat if she’d never been entangled with me.”
“What are you saying?”
Victor’s eyes sharpened as he asked.
“You said they vanished without a trace? All five knights?”
“Yes! Exactly! But we shouldn’t argue about whose fault it is—we need to find out where those bastards ran to!”
“So you did slip up and let them escape, didn’t you?”
Ren pressed with suspicion, and Victor jumped to his feet again.
“No, really! I’m telling you, they disappeared in a single blink! It was real!”
“They’re not sorcerers, so how could they—”
“They could have. Victor’s account is likely true.”
Lark interjected.
Something in his tone suggested he’d guessed at the truth, and both Victor and Ren turned their attention to him.
“The second prince, Naesan—he’s the one who spirited them away before they could confess.”
“Huh?”
The name caught them completely off guard.
Victor frowned, but Ren pursed his lips and nodded knowingly.
“Do you know what Spirit Ability Naesan possesses?”
Lark’s eyes gleamed sharply as he continued.
“Pose. He can stop time.”

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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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