Celebrity Lady

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

In the carriage, which had left immediately, Lisbeth was naturally full of anger and chattered nonstop.

“What?! What was that?!”

“It’s nothing. His Highness was just kidding.”

“Why would he play this kind of joke on me? That hairband felt weird! Say it right! What is there between the two of you?!”

“None. There’s nothing.”

I answered deftly, wore the hairband Lark gave me, pulled out a hand mirror, and looked at my face.

‘Oh, that’s pretty good.’

I liked the not-flashy and plain style.

I asked Lisbeth, who was still bubbly, with a grin.

“What do you think? Does it look good on me?”

“Woo!”

Lisbeth, who was staring at me, who was holding my cheeks and blinking mischievously, soon stuck out her lips.

“Well, it’s pretty...”

“Fufu, thank you.”

***

The party venue was a villa owned by my family in Prague.

The villa on the hillside, where the road was paved, looked like a splendid Western castle.

Neeeigh—!

The carriage stopped, and Lisbeth shouted excitedly.

“It’s Prince Ricky!”

Ricky, dressed in a stylish black tuxedo, was welcoming guests at the entrance as a party host.

He looked bewildered when the carriage with the imperial seal arrived.

“Prince Ricky!”

[Kind of long translator’s note and a bit of history lesson:

Lillia and Rubette princess title is 공녀 meaning “the daughter of the duke” or “ducal lady”, but in ancient Chinese, which is where the word probably came from, people usually call such status “county princess”.

However, English doesn’t use such a term, that’s why most translators translate 공녀 as “princess” which might cause some misunderstanding due to another princess title 공주 meaning “the daughter of the monarch”. (That, or they simply follow MTL blindly without understanding the whys)

Why did I say monarch instead of king or emperor?

Because there were no emperors in Korea.

The highest monarch in ancient Korea was the king. And a king is only equivalent to a duke in Chinese, again, in comparison to Chinese because Korea used hanja, which is traditional Chinese, before hangeul is invented. King and duke use the same exact Chinese character, which is 王. So in a way, calling them princess is legit and not a mistranslation. The same goes for Ricky prince title. I’ve been using Young Master Ricky, but uh... my bad. In the next couple of chapters you may also experience some inconsistency because they were advanced chapters and I was too lazy to check one by one. Please bear with me huhu]

Ricky’s eyes widened as Lisbeth got off.

“P-Princess?”

“Prince Ricky, thank you for inviting me.”

“Ah, um... Of course you should be invited. But perhaps... did you bring a present?”

“I heard from Rubette that you wrote me a new invitation because it was a gift that was hard for me to prepare?”

Lisbeth, who wiggled her toes with flushed face, unfolded the invitation in front of Ricky.

We invite you to a social gathering in August.

‘1 silver’

– Organizer, Ricky Diollus

After checking the invitation, Ricky stiffened.

“Aa... Rubette, you say?”

“Mm!”

I could feel Ricky’s devouring gaze on me, who was walking leisurely behind Lisbeth.

‘Oh, I’m afraid.’

I pretended not to know and shivered.

Lisbeth said shyly, “But aside from the 1 silver, I also prepared a gift you would like.”

The coachman and attendants began to unload huge gift boxes one by one.

Ricky gritted his teeth and forced the corners of his mouth to smile.

Lisbeth clung to my side and glanced around.

‘Actually, Lisbeth is not used to parties like this.’

Lisbeth is still young, so she hasn’t attended many official gatherings, and her personality itself is similar to that of Rubette, so she’s never intentionally visited such a party.

The reason she dared to come here was just to see Ricky’s face. That’s it.

“Everyone is already close and playing together. I can’t join them, so I’m a little self-conscious.”

“Why can’t you? Is there a reason why you can’t?”

“D-Don’t you think it’s shameful to enjoy alone?”

Lisbeth said with a blank face.

‘Are you saying that in short, it’s hard to eat alone because people notice you?’

I sighed and said, “It’s not that hard to enjoy a party. You don’t necessarily have to be with others, getting drunk on this atmosphere while listening to good music, ah-”

Just then, the server attendant was passing us.

I picked up a light-green non-alcoholic cocktail from his tray.

‘People here learn how to drink early, but it’s not good for elementary students.’

I handed it to Lisbeth and added, “Alcohol is fine. If you really want to talk to someone, stand up a little more proudly and show off your presence. Anyway...” Standing behind Lisbeth, I looked around the party hall and whispered into her ear, “This is a party held to show off one’s wealth and power and to socialize with those who help each other. Everyone inwardly judges each other’s level and divides the class.”

“M-Mm.”

“From that point of view, you’re the best-known lady in this place just for your status, so it’s not strange at all if you’re a little more confident.”

Lisbeth swallowed dry and glanced back at me.

“Because it’s not prestige to look for a conversation partner first. Now, straighten your shoulders.”

I lightly pressed Lisbeth’s back. Her slumped shoulders were stretched out.

“Straighten your chin.”

“L-Like this?”

“Yes. Don’t open your eyes too much, and loosen up your strength. Don’t even look around.”

Lisbeth, who corrected her gesture in one breath, gently lifted the cocktail glass she was holding, and lightly moistened her lips with it.

It was a little awkward for the first time, but it felt quite good.

“Great. You have excellent learning ability, perhaps because you look like your brother.”

“Mmm.”

Lisbeth, who felt good, blushed and smiled.

At that moment, two young girls the age of Lisbeth approached.

“Hello, Princess. My name is Camilla Lebusch of Lebusch County.”

“This is my first time seeing you. I am Layla Lantin of Lantin County.”

“Ah...”

Lisbeth, who quickly turned bright, smiled excitedly at me.

With a slight wink at Lisbeth, I avoided them.

But.

‘Ugh, the bastards in this area have already appeared.’

Before I could take a few steps, I saw Ricky walking towards me and Lisbeth.

Ricky’s eyes were burning brightly as he brushed his neatly fixed side hair with both hands.

‘Look at this. Again, again. You’re going to pick on me for being quiet, aren’t you?’

Ricky came all the way to me and smiled and said, “Rubette, what are you doing here? We’re playing games at the table over there, let’s go play together.”

“Prince Ricky!” Lisbeth, who was behind me, approached and clung to me.

“Oh, Princess is here, too. I was looking for you.”

“M-Me?”

“Of course. We’re going to play a game called ‘Michael’s Choice’ over there. Let’s go.”

“W-What choice? Ricky, wait. Princess, wait a minute.”

Wow, ‘Michael’s Choice’.

My hands shook at the name that was traumatic just by hearing it, but-

“Yes! Let’s go, let’s go!” Lisbeth, ignorant of it, just dragged me, rejoicing just from the idea of playing with Ricky.

Ricky, who laughed, turned his back and headed to the table first, and I began to be dragged around by Lisbeth.