Celebrity Lady

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.

“Let’s have fun today.”

“Yes… Please escort Princess Lisbeth.”

Eventually, Ricky shivered and attached the servant, and Lisbeth went inside excitedly.

As I tried to follow, Ricky suddenly stopped in front of me.

“Hey, are you crazy? Wanna die?”

“What’s the matter? What’s wrong?”

“Wow, you’re seriously…”

I thrusted his face before me, who was trying to play the innocent.

“Did you get another invitation from me for this?”

“Oh, it’s a misunderstanding. When I was cleaning my room, I found the invitation that I thought I’d lost.”

I shrugged, pretending not to know.

“It doesn’t feel good to make fun of someone with an invitation, right?That’s why I gave it away because the princess was embarrassed by someone who asked for such a scary gift.”

“You- Dang it. Wow…”

“What’s the matter? Did I do something wrong? Are you tired of thinking about dealing with the princess?”

“You crazy-! How dare you pour the dirty water on me?”

“Mm, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I calmly grabbed Ricky’s trembling hand.

Then I spread out his palms, placed a single silver coin on it, and kindly made him close his hand.

“T-T-This-”

“Then see you.”

After patting Ricky, who was very angry, on the shoulder, I slowly entered the party hall.

***

The inside of the party hall was dazzling because of the magnificent chandelier that shone brightly.

In the hall where musicians were playing classical music, the pre-party was already in progress.

I glanced around the hall.

The spacious interior and splendid gold walls built with the finest marble.

The luxurious interior decoration and the wide windows with various jewels gleamed enough to hurt the eyes.

“Oh, I’ll have a latini.”

A server serving alcohol passed by and handed me a glass of a scarlet cocktail.

“Mmmm…” I walked slowly, savoring the cocktail.

The scenery of the party hall was uniform.

The young masters playing poker on the table, the young girls chatting while flapping their fans with their small hands…

It was an informal gathering of young aristocrats who had not yet debuted in the social world, so the age of the guests was about 13 to 15.

‘At least, the future of this world is really bright that elementary and middle schoolers enjoy a party like this every month.’

I was sitting close to the terrace with a good view of the outside, and I was clicking my tongue inside when suddenly I felt my gaze. It was Lisbeth who was following me.

“…?”

For some reason, she stared blankly at me with her mouth open and her big eyes closed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, um… I think you’ve changed… somehow.”

“You mean I’m losing weight?”

“That’s true, but what should I say? You look like someone who’s used to parties. You weren’t like this before.”

“Ah.”

I was waving my cocktail glass lightly with my arms folded, and there was nothing special about me.

‘Right, Rubette wasn’t like this.’

Whenever there was a meeting like this, she curled up in the corner and felt left out with her whole body.

When people around her noticed and giggled, she just put her big face down and prayed for an hour or two for the boring party to end.

I said with a shrug, “Party is meant to be enjoyed. Why don’t you relax as well and don’t be so stiff?”

“Huh? But it’s a little…”

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.