Celebrity Lady - Chapter 94

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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 94
“Don’t be insolent. I am still Emperor. No matter who you are, if you attempt to abandon the legacy of House Deccard, I will not overlook it.”
“…….”
“Take the legitimate daughter of House of Diolus, who carries the lineage of Spirit Contractors, as your Empress, and bring in the daughters of families that will strengthen your position and imperial authority as Crown Princesses. That is what serves you and the Empire.”
The Emperor’s command cut through the air like a blade.
Lark kept his eyes shut, silent for a long moment.
“…….”
Gritting his teeth against the fury threatening to spill over, he swept from the room like wind.
‘Damn it.’
With pressure closing in from all sides, he could barely draw breath.
“Ah, there you are!”
Lark’s swift stride through the corridor halted abruptly.
Naysen. With his grey hair trimmed short and combed back neatly, he wore an expression of warmth and gentleness as always.
Never mind the dozen vipers coiled in his breast.
“The sorcerer confessed, I hear.”
“Yes.”
Naysen rushed forward, relief washing over his features as he pressed a hand to his chest.
“How fortunate. Truly. Now the suspicion against innocent Rebecca is cleared, and furthermore…….”
Naysen smiled broadly.
“That young noblewoman in Reubon should be able to leave her quarters now.”
Lark gazed down at him steadily, then smiled along with him.
“Indeed. A relief. Well then, I’m off.”
“Yes, you must be busy. Work hard.”
Lark departed. Alone in the corridor, Naysen’s fist clenched against his mouth.
“Heh. Tsk. Tsk-tsk…….”
Watching Lark’s usual composure crumble was truly exhilarating.
After giggling for some time, Naysen gazed out the corridor window at the clear summer sky.
“Ah, what lovely weather.”
Then, with a thin smile, he added softly:
“See you soon, Lady Bista’s Contractor.”
* * *
“Hey, you alright?”
Leonard asked, watching Lark hurriedly make preparations to leave the moment he returned to his quarters.
“What do you mean?”
“Your face. You’re bruised. Did His Majesty hit you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Why would he strike you like that?”
“Never mind that. How many assassins have we caught? We haven’t even cleared half of them yet, have we?”
Naysen had been assembling assassins.
Likely planning to exploit a gap in Lark’s defenses once Rubetria’s confinement ended, intending to spirit her away.
Leonard had been tracking their movements and cutting off the threat before it materialized.
“Haven’t even cleared half. And every time we catch one, two more appear. And every time we catch those, two more appear……. This won’t end until we eliminate the master talents in the Assassin Guild operating in the Imperial Capital.”
“Then eliminate them.”
“That wouldn’t be difficult.”
Leonard raked his hands through his hair in frustration.
“The confinement was shortened by three months. If the noblewoman had stayed in Reubon until October as originally planned, it would’ve been much better.”
“We should have anticipated Naysen attempting something like this.”
“What are we going to do? The moment the noblewoman leaves Reubon, things are going to get incredibly messy.”
Once she left the safety of Reubon, there was no knowing when or where Naysen’s reach would extend.
And now that the confinement was lifted, he couldn’t follow her around legally twenty-four hours a day.
“He seems to want Rubetria badly. Accelerating her release like that suggests it.”
Lark ground out the words, his eyes sharp.
“So here’s what I’m actually curious about — why is the 2nd Prince so obsessed with the noblewoman?”
Leonard asked, unable to comprehend it.
“At first I thought maybe he was just trying to use her as a hostage to threaten you. But the scale of his assassin recruitment……it’s not at that level. All this effort just to snatch a single hostage?”
“…….”
“Rather than threatening you, it feels more like he’s desperate to kidnap her without delay.”
Lark pressed his lips together at Leonard’s astute observation.
Lark had kept secret from everyone the fact that Rubetria was a Spirit Contractor — and moreover, that she was Bista’s Contractor, enough to make Naysen’s eyes light up with fire.
“There’s reason enough.”
“What reason!”
“I can’t disclose that arbitrarily. But I can tell you one thing for certain — your suspicion is correct. Naysen’s target is the noblewoman herself.”
“What, what?”
“For now, understand it that way.”
Lark pressed his fingers against his temples as if to suppress the chaos in his mind, then asked:
“If you were Naysen, how would you move from here on?”
“Before the assassins are all killed off, he’d need to act fast, right? The moment the noblewoman emerges, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second.”
“Right. That’s what I’d expect.”
“So what?”
Lark donned his coat and pointed directly at Leonard with his index finger as he moved toward the door.
“Do one wicked thing.”
* * *
“What is this?”
Leonard’s cold gaze swept without expression over a single sheet of paper.
Once the perpetrator confessed and the suspicion against Rubetria lifted, the Imperial Court, as if waiting for this moment, released her from confinement and reached out.
What arrived at the Duke’s residence that morning was none other than a Betrothal Letter.
A marriage proposal effectively amounting to coercion — placing his daughter Rubetria Diolus in the vacant position of Crown Princess.
“Have they lost their minds……?”
Leonard’s brow furrowed sharply as he read the same contents over and over, as if doubting his own eyes.
Biego stood before him with an anxious expression, speaking carefully.
“Father.”
“Throw it away.”
“It’s a marriage proposal from the Imperial Court. Even if you wish to refuse, you must send a response.”
“Then refuse and be done with it.”
“Respectfully, Father……this proposal was sent not to you but to Rubetria herself.”
“So?”
“We should hear Rubetria’s own wishes. It appears they sent an identical Betrothal Letter to Reubon as well. She will likely contact us soon with her intentions. We’ll respond after receiving her message.”
“Rubetria is still a minor-”
“She came of age this year.”
As Biego spoke with careful tact, cutting off his objection, Leonard closed his mouth.
“She has no connection whatsoever with the Crown Prince-”
“I understand there has been some exchange between them.”
“…….”
Leonard fell silent, swallowing his frustration. His expression was formidable.
“The Crown Prince has lost his mind. A decree without consultation.”
Recalling the face openly hinting at his clear interest in Rubetria, Leonard was bewildered.
He hadn’t approved of the man making advances toward his daughter, but at least he’d thought the fellow had some sense of propriety.
To demand he hand over his daughter, separated from him for over half a year by confinement, now that she’d only just come of age and returned home?
What if Rubetria agreed to this absurd elopement?
“When the child comes home…….”
Leonard pointed directly at Biego with his index finger and spoke.
“Persuade her with everything you have. Tell her marriage is still far too soon.”
“Yes. I shall do so.”
Biego nodded readily, as if his thoughts aligned on this matter.
* * *
“Hmm.”
Rubetria, having received no information about the Imperial Capital’s situation during her confinement, had to spend a full thirty minutes trying to comprehend the utterly unexpected letter that arrived that morning.
And still, she couldn’t understand. What in the world was this?
“Uh…….”
Staring at the stiff paper with narrowed eyes for a long while, tilting her head and scratching her scalp, then staring again for another long while.
She was in the midst of reading the same contents over and over again.
“My lady, the investigation unit is here to visit.”
“Oh, yes!”
With Rebecca’s voice, the door swung open. As expected, Lark stood in the doorway.
He had grown noticeably gaunt over mere days. His pallid complexion, as if hunted by something, carried a sorrowful quality to it.
“My lady.”
Click.
Having closed the door, Lark advanced directly toward Rubetria, who sat at her office desk.
As he drew near, his eyes fell upon the single sheet of paper held in her hand.
A Betrothal Letter bearing the Imperial Seal with unmistakable clarity.
Lark started to make an excuse,
“My lady, this is-”
“Your Highness!”
Rubetria cried out abruptly, her voice sharp with indignation, and Lark froze in place.
Rising to her feet, her expression hardening, Rubetria came around the desk to face him directly.
Even as he’d anticipated her reaction, Lark hesitated.
“You’re shocked, I understand. There’s been a misunderstanding. I have no intention whatsoever of disregarding your wishes or coercing you. I myself only just learned-”
“Why does your face look like that! Who did this to you!”
“……Eh?”
Momentarily dazed, Lark felt Rubetria’s hand touch his cheek. Her trembling fingers suggested considerable alarm.
As the ache of her touch on his left cheek registered, Lark finally understood.
“Ah, this…….”
“Just what kind of wretched person marked such a handsome face!”
Lark was momentarily stunned to see Rubetria’s anger give way to a trembling lip as she spoke.
“No, it’s nothing serious-”
“Nothing serious? Tell me right now! I’m going to get a really well-crafted club and bash—!”
……He should have just brushed it off vaguely. Why was this happening?
Seeing Rubetria’s distress, Lark felt an uncharacteristic urge to pout like a child.
Gathering both her hands against his cheeks, he pouted his lips slightly and murmured,
“……My father.”
“Your father! Your father……. Your father.”
Rubetria’s indignant tone gradually softened.
“Your father. Yes. Your Highness’s father. His Majesty the Emperor. That’s right. His Majesty the Emperor.”
“…….”
“His Majesty the Emperor, yes. And I might have left behind a club, not really a club……. That is to say.”
“…….”
“A thermal compress. Not a club. That’s right! A lovely, lovely heating pad that I left at the palace…….”
Chuckle.

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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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