Celebrity Lady

“What kind of misunderstanding did you get? Did you think I wanted you to kiss me?”

Welp. I guess he didn’t mean a kiss…

Embarrassed, I quickly played dumb, “How could I?”

“Well, I’m willing to respond anytime you want it.”

“Ahh, fine, I misunderstood!”

“Hahahaha!”

When I finally confessed that I had misunderstood him while trying to pull away, Lark burst into laughter with tears in his eyes.

I’m so ashamed. My cheeks flared up.

“Ugh.”

“Cough. Haha, haaa…”

While sulking, I waited for his laughter to die before asking, “… What is it then? How can I lend my lips?”

***

After the filming, I lent my lips according to Lark’s wishes. Not that kind of lending lips, of course.

“Ha, is this going to be okay…”

Lark, who had found something to make fun of for the next 10 years, laughed for a long time before leaving.

I laughed out loud when I saw the result of “lending lips” to him, that is, a notice written by mutual agreement.

[T/N: The word is “입을 맞춘” which means “to kiss”, or it could mean “to make excuses together. Ruby misunderstood the comment as its first meaning, while Lark meant the second]

“Sienna.”

“Yes, my lady.”

I passed the notice to Sienna, who was waiting, and said, “At the same time as the video goes out, hang this all over the store and boutique streets.”

***

<Blanc de Ruby> introduced menswear and accessories for the first time.

On the long-awaited opening day.

Since it had already been advertised for several days, the boutique street was crowded even though it was still long before the shop opened.

A few nobles who had been camped out since early morning looked at the bulletin board in front of the shop and whispered.

“What is this? What help did His Highness the Crown Prince do?”

“Who knows?”

I express my great gratitude to His Highness, Crown Prince Lark van Rashmagh Descarde, the Little Sun, who willingly helped to revive the Empire’s commerce.

Representative of Blanc de Ruby, Madame Ruby

*

Encourage the passion of small business owners who contribute to the Empire and wish for the endless development of commerce.

Crown Prince, Lark van Rashmagh Descarde.

A notice written in the handwriting of Madame Ruby, the head of the mysterious <Blanc de Ruby>, and Crown Prince Lark van Rashmagh Descarde.

Tailor Becky, who was looking down from the window on the second floor at each puzzled person, was nervous.

“Ten minutes to go.”

Becky glanced at the streetlight video board in front of the building that was still off and took a deep breath.

After the first introduction, the video version was quickly created everywhere, which caused a great deal of attention. And in 10 minutes, a new promotional video would be released in every street and every neighborhood.

‘It was crazy enough with Sarah, but this time…!’

How the hell did she ask for these heavyweight public models? Becky was scared of her boss’ ability.

Phat!

Soon, the video boards turned on all at once.

The winter of <Blanc de Ruby>,

the secret of the man you’ve been waiting for.

Then came the magnificent background sound.

A phrase written like a caption in white letters on a black background.

The eyes of the people huddled together under the video board were focused.

And then…

“Oh, my God!”

“… W-W-What?”

Everyone who recognized the close-up of the man’s face filling up the video boards opened their mouths and doubted their eyes.

“I-Isn’t that the crown prince?”

“… ? Hey, wasn’t this a promotional video for the new winter product?”

Confused, people couldn’t take their eyes off them. The video went on and on.

The whole body of the crown prince, lark, dressed up and down in a stylish black suit, was captured in a full shot this time.

“Oh God…”

“He’s so amazing…”

“Oh, my God.”

It was puzzling when the crown prince appeared in a clothing promotional video out of nowhere, but people still spit out admiration.

Of course. Lark was said to be the most famous person in the Empire because of his shining beauty. 

“… Oh my goodness.”

“Wow…”

As he walked beautifully, showing off his new suit, Lark’s face was zoomed in again.

Everyone held their breath again, and soon…

The luxurious man’s secret—

[From the winter of Blanc de Ruby.]

The moment when Lark’s unique husky yet soft voice was laid out in a single line of dialogue.

“What…?!”

“Oooohh, how can he be so-!”

“Kyaaaa!”

The capital was literally ‘rocked’.

***

Going left, going right.

As I was anxiously biting my nails and standing around, Wishit grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.

“You’re distracting.”

“I’m so nervous. Will it work?”

“Are you worried that your clothes won’t sell?”

“The clothes will definitely sell well. What I’m worried about is the prince’s image.”

“If you were worried about that, you would get another model from the beginning…”

“At first, I would be happy as long as my shop did well, so I didn’t even have time to think about Lark’s image…”

“Are you worried now?”

“Of course.”

“Didn’t the prince say he would take care of it? Trust him.” Wishit shook his head as he grabbed my hand, which I had brought to my mouth again out of nervousness.

Then, the door burst open, and Sienna jumped in like a bullet.

“My lady!”

“S-Sienna!”

My anxiety crept up.

“H-How… Is it okay?”

“T-That…”

The corners of Sienna’s mouth, which had been frowning, suddenly curled up. Then she put both of her thumbs under her chin.

“Oh, seriously!”

“Hahaha…”

“You scared me!”

Where had the image of the stern secretary of our first meeting gone? Sienna was full of mischief the more I knew her.

“Sales pierced the sky in half a day after the video transmission.”

“No, no, no. I knew that sales would be good. What I’m curious about-“

“You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

“How is it? Did it really go according to our plan?”

“Yes! All the merchants of capitals now…” Sienna smiled brightly with a happy face as if it were her own business. “…are full of praise for the crown prince!”

***

At that time, the Monat Palace, where the male imperial family of the Descarde Empire resided.

The room of the 2nd Prince, Nathan van Rashmagh Descarde.

Sean, Nathan’s aide who came to report the situation of the chaotic capital, said with trembling lips, “T-The ripple effect of video has significantly increased the number of visitors and business districts in the capital. All the merchants are praising the crown prince.”

“Is that so?” Nathan answered quietly, tilting the teacup he was holding. Long gray hair with a good texture tumbled down like silk.

Pure white skin, a skinny physique, and a face so beautiful that it was hard to tell the owner’s gender at first glance.

At first glance, Nathan seemed gentle and weak, but Sean was well aware that he was a completely different personality from his appearance. Once his mood was twisted, one never knew when the teacup he was holding would fly to his head.

Still, Sean had to make a report Nathan wanted to avoid hearing.

“It’s not just merchants. Collaborating with a high-end boutique targeting rich aristocrats…”

“Well, yes. It was unexpected for my older brother to take care of the poor. The nobles must have liked it quite a bit.”

“Y-Yes. Merchants, as well as nobles, are quite enthusiastic, especially the younger generation—”

“Oh, stop it. Get out.” Nathan smiled and waved his hand, and hesitantly, Sean ran out of the room.

Nathan’s eyes flashed as he tipped the teacup with an elegant gesture.

Whoosh—

Crack!

In an instant, the teacup sharply thrown into the air hit the wall and shattered.

“Oh, it’s driving me crazy.” 

Afterward, Nathan released a nervous sigh and leaned over, touching his forehead.

“That freaking bastard…”

It seemed that Lark intended to solidify his position as successor. 

Helping with publicity in a noble boutique that sells high-priced items under the pretext of encouraging commercial activities… At least, it was clear that the move was aimed at attracting the approval ratings of the high-ranking aristocrats, who were the base of support for Nathan.

Nathan knew very well that no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t bridge the stark gap with Lark, who had been destined since birth.

So if he wanted to be Lark, there was only one way.

“How can I kill…”

He must remove him altogether. 

But at some point, it felt like Lark could read his movement.

‘Strange. It’s too strange.’

Like the traps planted to keep Lark and his aide Ren apart, for some reason, Lark didn’t blink an eye and even tracked it in reverse and started strangling Nathan.

Was that all?

He tried to sway Lark’s younger sister, 5th Princess Lisbeth, but even that failed.

He wondered how he seduced the daughter of Duke Diollus and made her perjury for Lisbeth so she got out unharmed.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. He’s as alert as someone who’s been prepared. Shouldn’t he at least falter?”

The face of a young white-haired boy cut into Nathan’s field of vision as he gritted his teeth.

A childlike face of about ten years old. However, his eyes had a profound experience, and his playful expression looked cold.

“Your expression is scary.”

“Get out of here, you useless asshole.”

“Hey, I’m sad that you said that. If it weren’t for me, would you have dared stare at the emperor’s crown?” 

The boy floated up into the air, turned his body upside down, and giggled.

His name was Pose. He was Nathan’s spirit.

“Nathan, do you wonder why all your plans are read?” Pose asked with a smirk, and Nathan raised his eyes sharply.

“Thirty years if you’re curious~”

“Shit.”

Spirits could communicate with each other, so they could know each other’s secrets. However, leakage was strictly taboo. They could have been forced to leak, but the contractors had to bear the enormous risk.

Their summoning would be limited.

The “thirty years” that Pose spoke of was a period during which summoning was restricted. It must be enormous if it was a secret worth thirty years.

“Do you have any information that could be of help to me? Something short, not worth thirty years?”

“Hmm…” Pose, who had been contemplating while fiddling with his lips, spoke. “Three months? No, four months? To be honest, I probably won’t be summoned for the rest of my life, but will it be that much if I leak it around? Although I don’t know if my contractor understands because he’s stupid…”

“Are you sure it’s useful?”

“Of course!” Pose straightened up and pushed his face closer. The mischievous expression on his face was suddenly reversed. “The moment you know this, the head-wrenching number of fights becomes meaningless. There is no need to engage in a power tug-of-war with the crown prince, and there is no need to carry out a backdoor operation in vain.”

“What?”

“A very, very great and important key. Well, unfortunately, the crown prince holds it in his hand right now.”

Nathan’s eyes twinkled.

As expected, Lark had something.

“Do you want me to tell you?”

“Four months?”

“Hey, won’t you miss me?”

“Say it. Hurry up.” Nathan’s eyes lit up with madness.

As if he had expected it, Pose giggled.

“Rubetria Diollus.”

“…?”

When the unexpected name popped up, Nathan’s eyebrows narrowed sharply.

The grinning Pose added, “She actually has a spirit.”

At the same time, his summon was cut off, and he disappeared without a trace.