Celebrity Lady - Chapter 9

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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 9
“Have you eaten?”
After the cigarette smoke had drifted away sufficiently, I approached the empty sofa and sat down as I asked.
“……Is that what you came to ask me?”
“Not exactly, but isn’t it something a daughter can reasonably ask her father?”
Father blinked dumbly at my words, then averted his gaze and shook his head.
“No, not yet.”
“Good heavens. So you’ve drunk six bottles of liquor on an empty stomach?”
As I gestured toward the six bottles scattered across the table in alarm, Father offered an excuse.
“That’s not it. I just haven’t cleaned them up. I only had half a bottle after I woke up earlier.”
Watching Father gesture toward the half-empty liquor bottle, I sighed. As if that were any excuse either.
“Couldn’t you drink less? I won’t ask you to quit outright, but please try to cut back gradually.”
“…….”
“I’m no physician, but I have a sense that something is seriously wrong with Father’s health. Something must be amiss. Why not summon a doctor today for a diagnosis? And if they tell you to stop drinking, do as they say. Do you understand?”
“…….”
“Do you understand?”
“……I’ll handle it myself.”
Father fumbled evasively, avoiding my gaze. He seemed uncomfortable with this sudden, distant concern from his daughter.
“I’ll come by tomorrow to confirm you’ve called a doctor and been examined.”
“…….”
“I will come by.”
Father stared at my persistent face for a moment, then reluctantly nodded.
“……I understand.”
“Good.”
“So, what’s your real purpose?”
“Oh, I had something else I meant to tell you, but I’ll get to that later…….”
I spoke while recalling Rob trembling at the door.
“It’s about the butler.”
“Rob?”
“Yes. Something unpleasant happened just now. He said he’d tell you I wanted to see you, but instead he told me to go back to my room and stay there. As if I had some pressing matter.”
Father’s brow furrowed as he stiffened.
“Did you perhaps tell Rob that you don’t want to see my face?”
“No, nothing like that. That presumptuous fool overstepped his bounds.”
“I thought as much…….”
I began in earnest, my expression turning noticeably glum.
“Actually, a month ago I was gravely ill, and at dawn I woke Rob to call a doctor. He told me to just go back to sleep—that he’d call one tomorrow instead.”
“What?”
“I tried to just sleep through it at first, but the pain was truly severe. Still, seeing how much Rob resented being bothered, I endured it and went back to bed.”
“…….”
“The next day when I asked again—because Rob had forgotten his promise to summon a doctor—he complained that I was a demanding young lady. It hurt my feelings.”
It wasn’t a complete fabrication. I hadn’t experienced it myself, but these were memories that Ruベtriaя had certainly endured.
I thrust out my lower lip as I continued.
“Beyond this, there are many things about Rob that have left me disappointed. Each time, I feel dismissed. But perhaps I’m mistaken?”
“No.”
Father pressed his forehead with irritation, his eyes shut tight.
“He must have gone senile with age. I’ll have him replaced. I’ll tell Biego.”
“But managing the servants isn’t really Biego’s responsibility…….”
“What do you mean?”
Father paused.
Since Father had delegated his authority as Head of House, he believed that Biego, my eldest brother, oversaw all household affairs.
“It seems there are matters beyond what my brother alone can handle. That’s why Grandmother has been managing the servants all along.”
“Ah, I see.”
Father, who had been lost in thought, nodded. He seemed to think that Molga managing the servants was perfectly acceptable.
“In that case, I’ll speak to Molga…….”
“Grandmother trusts Rob tremendously, doesn’t she? She certainly won’t dismiss him.”
“…….”
“Father, as the young lady of this house, I believe there are clear problems with Rob’s overall conduct as a butler. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
Beneath my diplomatic words, my expression was resolute.
Please fire the butler. Grasping my meaning, Father soon nodded slowly.
“Yes, I understand. I’ll handle it separately.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s nothing to apologize for. So then, what’s your real business?”
“Oh!”
I laughed a bit sheepishly and pressed my palms together before him.
“Could you lend me some money?”
“……Money?”
Father raised his eyebrows slightly as he asked back.
“Yes, quite a bit, actually.”
As though the request were trivial, Father frowned.
“You came all this way just to ask for pocket money?”
“Not pocket money—I’m asking you to lend it to me, and I’ll repay you. I want to try something and need a substantial sum.”
“…….”
“So I’d like you to write me a Credit Certificate in your name. I’ll take it to the bank and draw the funds myself.”
Though money overflowed in this house, I was specifically asking to take out a loan from the bank.
Father’s expression grew even more puzzled, and he tilted his head.
“Why? I don’t know how much you need, but you can just go to Biego and ask. We’re not in such poor financial straits that we can’t maintain your lifestyle.”
“If I do that, I’d have to report my spending to him in detail. I’m not planning to waste the money, but I need about three hundred million Mark, and I’m only fifteen. Biego will certainly disapprove.”
In Korean currency, that’s three hundred million won.
It was certainly far more than Father had expected, but this household’s wealth was immense. Thinking it was not an amount he couldn’t give to his daughter, he remained bewildered.
“That’s an amount I can easily give you if you ask, and Biego has no reason to disapprove. Can’t you speak so freely with your brother?”
“No. You may not realize it, but we’re not particularly close.”
My immediate response seemed to startle Father; his mouth opened slightly.
“And even if I did get the money from Biego, Grandmother would certainly say something about it next time.”
“…….”
“Beyond those kinds of issues, at my age, if people see me spending large sums carelessly, there will be gossip. So please let me use money in your name. I’m not asking for a gift—I’ll repay the principal plus interest to the bank myself.”
Father stared at me in silence for a long moment, then rose and approached the bedside.
He rummaged through the nightstand drawer, drew out a slip of paper the size of his palm, and swiftly signed and sealed something with a pen and stamp scattered across the desk.
“……Here.”
Father returned and handed me a Credit Certificate bearing his elegant signature and seal.
With just this single piece of paper stamped with the Seal of the Dioreus Ducal House, arranging unlimited funds from the bank would be no difficulty. In short, a blank check.
“Hehe. Thank you, Father.”
I gave a genuine, affectionate smile, and Father paused, staring intently at me.
He soon rubbed his forehead as if weary and spoke.
“If you’re concerned about spending large sums in your own name, then I’ll allow you to take out a loan in mine. But you needn’t repay that money.”
“No, I’ll repay it. I don’t want to spend your money. I’m grateful that you’ve lent me your name.”
As I carefully tucked the certificate into the inner fold of my dress sleeve, Father looked bewildered.
“You don’t want to spend my money?”
“Well, at fifteen I’m grown enough. It’s time I began to stand on my own. I can’t live with your support forever, can I? If you help me just this once, from now on I’ll earn my own way and support myself.”
“Ha…….”
The expressionless face from our first meeting was nowhere to be found; Father now openly gaped as he spoke.
“A fifteen-year-old speaking of being grown—how absurd. You’re still young. You should use your parents’ money, and you’re at an age that needs parental care.”
“Is that why you’ve been caring for me?”
I struck back as if I’d been waiting for this, and Father went rigid.
“I fell into the Pond in the Garden the other day and barely came to my senses. Did you know that?”
“What? How did that happen?”
“I jumped in on purpose. I wanted to die.”
“……!”
Father’s pupils dilated wildly, just as I’d anticipated, trembling back and forth.
I spread both hands wide and added with a playful laugh.
“I’m joking. I just lost my footing and fell. I’m fine now, so don’t worry.”
But who would make such a joke?
If Father had any sense, he wouldn’t treat my words about jumping into the Pond intending to die as a light jest.
In a brief silence, Father and I held each other’s gaze.
“I should be going now.”
“Wait—”
Father, trying to stop me, froze instead. He saw my expression.
“…….”
Three-time golden television award winner for my Acting. The ability to pour countless emotions into a fleeting expression, revealing my inner heart, was my specialty.
“You see……”
Hurt, rage, contempt……
And a cool detachment that made clear I no longer expected anything from him.
With that sad and intricately complex expression, I spoke.
“I hated your indifference so much, but because you’re my father, I’ve tried to understand your hardship. I have no memories with Mother, but things are different with you.”
“Ruベtriaя.”
“I wanted to eat meals with you like the daughters of other families, to go on outings with you, to throw tantrums…….”
“…….”
“But I see how much you’re struggling, so I’m trying not to wish for it. You’re so burdened that you can’t even pay attention to a daughter at an age that needs care. Isn’t that right?”
At my words, Father lost the ability to speak, his lips trembling slightly.
No one blamed Father for merely breathing after losing his beloved wife.
No one reproached him for delegating his full authority as Head of House when my eldest brother, Biego Dioreus, was barely fourteen, or for taking no interest whatsoever in his only daughter.
So Father could not help but be flustered by my honest confession.
“Continue as you have been—pay me no mind, as though I’m neither alive nor dead. Don’t let me trouble you, and from now on I’ll handle my own affairs.”
I left the room, hoping Father would be thoroughly shaken by my words.

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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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