Celebrity Lady - Chapter 98

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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 98
* * *
“Ha ha ha ha……”
“Hehehehe.”
“……”
“Kuh kuh kuh……”
“And what exactly did you do so well to laugh about?”
Nathan, who had been laughing helplessly, suddenly bellowed and hurled the book in his hand at Poze.
Poze dodged it lightly and smirked.
“How is it that you can’t even beat your own brother once? That’s a talent if anything, truly.”
“Shut your mouth.”
The Diolus Duchy Mansion had turned upside down.
The Diolus clan’s daughter had been kidnapped by a mysterious masked man while returning from her Quarantine Investigation.
How delighted he’d been when news reached him. He’d thought one of the Assassin Squad members he’d positioned would successfully complete the job.
But no matter how long he waited, no one brought the Diolus daughter before Nathan.
Of course not. The ones who succeeded in kidnapping her weren’t the assassins Nathan had planted.
“He moved fast. Of course—the Crown Prince. Really knows how to use his head.”
Poze added with a pout.
“I wish I’d made a contract with someone that clever……”
“Want to die? What makes you think Lark came up with that?”
Bang!
Nathan slammed his fist onto the table.
“That woman sees the future and told him everything. She must have warned him to come up with some scheme before the kidnapping happened.”
“Hmm. Indeed……”
“Otherwise, how could he move this fast less than a week after the Quarantine Investigation ended!”
Nathan shouted and tore at his hair.
“Damn it, Bista! What kind of absurd spirit is this!”
“Kuh kuh.”
“Every spirit has a gap somewhere, but I can’t figure out how to handle this one. It’s like she sees through all my moves, so what more can I even try!”
Just as the other side couldn’t fully grasp his intentions, the reverse was equally true.
How exactly Bista perceived the future, how far ahead she could see, whether she could show new futures after one was changed……
He could be certain of none of it, and so Nathan had to try various approaches and collide with the problem directly.
“This is giving me a headache.”
The first thing he needed to do was separate Bista’s contractor from Lark.
“Sigh. Getting the assassins together is damned difficult enough, and from the look of it, some of them aren’t responding—that damn adjutant must be taking them out.”
“Shouldn’t we do something before all the assassins are wiped out?”
“We should. I need to change orders. First, I need to find out where they’ve hidden Rubetria Diolus.”
Each time Lark provoked him by seeing through his moves and responding, Nathan’s possessive hunger for Rubetria—Bista’s contractor—only grew.
Nathan licked his lower lip and chuckled darkly as he murmured.
“……Now I understand why Bista became a dangerous spirit.”
“Covet?”
“Yeah. Desperately.”
Nathan’s eyes gleamed with madness.
* * *
Soft warmth rose in wisps, and the scented candle lit by the bath’s edge tickled the tip of her nose with its faint fragrance.
Splash.
As she stretched her legs up through the water’s surface, white foam cascaded from her ankles down her calves.
“My, Miss, however do you keep your skin so flawless?”
Rebecca, who had been washing her shoulders, chattered away in a delighted voice.
“Ahhhhh……”
I leaned back in the luxurious marble bath, accepting her ministrations as I exhaled and tilted my Wine Glass.
“This is the sales report for Blanc de Ruby for the month of July. Since the cosmetics department was established at the outlet, we’ve reached an all-time high, recording 10.835 billion Marks to date, it says.”
“Mm. Thank you, Siena……”
Siena, standing at my side, read from the report she’d received, but my heart felt unsettled and the words didn’t quite register.
“Ahhhhh……”
I exhaled another heavy sigh.
Self-orchestrated kidnapping spectacle. One week in.
Lark and Ren managing only three hours of sleep each day, barely managing that after work. One week of the same.
Even in those three hours, they came to this Safe House just to keep watch over me.
Every time I saw them napping on the First Floor, my guilt knew no bounds……
“Why the expression?”
“I wonder if it’s right for me to be living so peacefully.”
“Goodness, why worry about that? The Crown Prince himself gave explicit instructions to care for you without any inconvenience, didn’t he?”
Though living in hiding, my days were no less luxurious than they’d been in Lyubon.
Unlike the First Floor, which appeared as an ordinary home, the Underground Basement where Rebecca, Siena, and I stayed was tremendously vast.
There were bedrooms and bathrooms for everything, and anything we needed, Ren brought. He was also the one who made secret contact with Becky, who managed the shop, handling communications.
“I don’t think you need to feel troubled, Miss. To be honest, it’s you who’s suffering needless damage from being caught up in the Crown Prince’s succession struggle.”
“Mm.”
Siena spoke with a slight edge to her voice.
The two of them, not knowing all the details, believed I was in danger entirely due to Lark’s fault.
‘But really, I raised suspicion from the Second Prince by acting as though I could see the future, and then my status as a Spirit User was exposed, making me a target.’
To be precise, what the Second Prince is after at this moment isn’t victory in the succession struggle—it’s ‘me’ itself.
I hadn’t meant to make Lark suffer by revealing the future, and I couldn’t help but feel troubled about this situation where I’d opened a wound for no reason.
“Ahhhhh.”
I sighed again.
My worries weren’t limited to that.
‘I want to tell him. I want to confess. I know I absolutely shouldn’t, but I desperately want not to deceive Lark like this……”
The small lie that began with “I’m Bista’s contractor!” had now snowballed into this situation.
What only Lark had quietly known, Ren now knows. And the Second Prince likely knows I’m Bista’s contractor as well.
“Since Bista went so far as to remove the mark from the young lady’s hand and hid it, the taboo carries great weight. The Second Prince probably didn’t manage to hear what kind of spirit the young lady contracted.”
“Do you need a greater price to learn what kind of spirit mine is?”
“That’s right. But given that you successfully summoned the spirit during the Horseback Tournament, I doubt you paid such a great price.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it exactly a relief……. It’s quite easy to deduce that your spirit is Bista.”
The Second Prince chasing after me with eyes turned backward by a spirit that doesn’t even exist, and Lark trying to protect me on only three hours of sleep a day.
And I’m not even in a position to be particularly helpful to Lark.
I know the grand, unchanging parts of the future, but there’s nothing useful I can do right now, and since the moment I change the future, the small fluctuations become invisible to me.
“Ahhhhh.”
I sighed again and tilted my Wine Glass.
“But what is this? It’s so delicious. I keep drinking it.”
The sweet, orange-hued cocktail Rebecca brought tasted like fruit juice, and it suited my palate quite well.
“Does it suit you?”
“Yes, it’s delicious.”
Siena smiled and refilled my empty Wine Glass. It seemed I’d already drunk two-thirds of it while showering.
“This arrived as a gift for Miss’s Coming of Age Day last time. Bal de Champagne……”
Rebecca read the product name while examining the wooden box that had contained the bottle.
“It’s the fashion in Jedo to give this with flowers for the Coming of Age Day. It must be a pretty popular cocktail there. It’s non-alcoholic, right?”
“Yeah, tastes completely like a soft drink. Want to try some?”
“Hehe, no thank you. If it’s delicious, Miss should have it all.”
Rebecca smiled and was about to set down the wooden box when she stopped short.
“Ah.”
“……What’s wrong?”
Rebecca didn’t answer, only stared blankly at the side of the box.
“Oh no. This is bad.”
For you who have come of age,
Bal de Champagne.
—Note: Please be sure to check your individual alcohol tolerance before enjoying. Due to blending with sugars and fruits, the alcohol content may not be noticeable.
—Alcohol: 12%
* * *
When Lark returned to the Safe House just before 1 a.m., he found the noise leaking from within the door strange.
“Miss! Miss!”
Startled by the worried tone in Rebecca’s voice, Lark glanced at Ren beside him.
Ren, too, bore deep fatigue beneath his eyes, and his expression showed considerable alarm.
“Ruby!”
Lowering his voice, Lark quickly opened the door and stepped inside, only to find the scene rather remarkable.
“……”
She appeared to have been preparing for bed, dressed in a Silk Nightgown over a slip.
Her face was flushed crimson with heat, and her wet hair remained undriedyet.
“Oh, oh, you’re here?”
“You’re early today.”
Rebecca and Siena followed behind Rubetria—who was moving through the room—with bewildered expressions.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Ah! Lark!”
At the sight of Rubetria approaching him, Lark’s eyes went wide.
“Miss!”
“Mmhm.”
Rubetria bounded over and hooked her arm around Lark’s, giggling.
“Do you know how to do the Klaina Lotte step?”
“……I do?”
“Great!”
As Rubetria clasped her left hand with his, Lark reflexively took her other hand and extended it to the side.
The opening posture of ballroom dance came tumbling out without thinking.
As Rubetria’s right foot came in with a small one-two-waltz, Lark stepped backward to counter it.
Forward one-two. Back one-two.
Bewildered though he was, Lark danced with her steadily.
As he raised their joined hands, Rubetria spun in one complete turn. The hem of her soft nightgown fluttered like a dress.
“……”
Lark’s eyes blinked slowly, his hands instinctively wrapping around Rubetria’s waist.
This time together: left one-two. Right one-two……
Rubetria, her back against Lark’s chest, pulled away in one wide turn along his outstretched arm before drawing near again.
“Kyah!”
Then a turn, and Rubetria returned to his embrace; Lark steadied her waist as he tilted her body back.
Her slender waist arched gracefully over his arm, and above her pale, curved neck, red hair shimmered.
Even her pure white, perfectly extended leg line completed the move flawlessly.
Clap, clap, clap, clap……
Those who had been watching the unexpected early morning dance, transfixed, began to clap absently.
“Impressive.”
“Impressive.”
“Remarkable……”
Siena, Rebecca, and Ren, each offering a word.
‘What in the world just happened?’
Lark let out a hollow laugh as he looked down at Rubetria in his arms, who seemed decidedly unwell.
“……What is this?”

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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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