Celebrity Lady

Chapter 8

Rebecca, looking down at my snack package with wide eyes, asked.

“Y-You’re not going to eat snacks?”

“I’m not going to eat them. If I call you when I’m hungry, grind walnuts and almonds finely and bring them to me in milk. A protein shake is a must to prevent muscle loss.”

“Y-Yes. W-Wait a moment…”

After waiting a moment for Rebecca, who was writing fast with her pen, I went on.

“At 5:30 pm, I will eat a simple salad and go out to exercise. Make it with lettuce, tomato, and chicken breast. Do not season. Boil and cut into bite-size pieces. Never sprinkle with sauce.”

“Yes, my lady!”

Why am I feeling a different resolution from before? Rebecca began to get excited with her eyes shining.

I smiled once because she was like a cute younger sister, and then I said again with a serious expression.

“I have to exercise, but before that…”

There was no proper sportswear in Rubette’s room, where silk lace was rife with gorgeous dresses, tight corsets, and even the pajamas worn while sleeping.

You can’t run 10 laps around the playground in a dress, though.

“Make an appointment with the tailor for dinner.”

***

I asked Rebecca to call the tailor and immediately headed for Duke Diollus’ room.

My father’s room, locked at the far end of the 3rd floor of the mansion, was simply gloomy.

A faint chill lingered in the hallway, and the tightly closed huge door didn’t seem to open no matter how hard I knocked.

“My lady? What’s the matter?”

And as expected, Rob, the old butler, who was sitting at the door, greeted me.

“What do you mean what’s the matter? I’m here to see my father.”

“…?”

The secretly abused Rubetria Diollus came to see the duke? It has never happened and should not have happened.

Rob rolled his eyes with a mix of embarrassment and disapproval, then carefully said.

“Isn’t the eldest madam absent now? When the eldest madam comes back from her rest, we will see then.”

The eldest madam of this family is Molga Diollus, the old duchess.

[T/N: Ugh, I have a problem localizing this term. It is literally, ‘Grandmother Duchess’]

She had strictly cut off communication between me and my father in case I talked nonsense, so it was difficult for me to even see my father’s face without going through her.

But luckily, as Rob said, Molga has vacated the mansion.

In other words, it is a rare and precious opportunity to see Dad.

I crossed my arms and said.

“It’s a little strange. I can’t believe a daughter can’t come to see her father in the same house. It’s even more strange for a butler to tell a princess what to do without manners.”

“…Pardon? What did you say?”

Rob blinked his eyes with a face that doubted his ears.

“You’ve grown deaf with age, I understand, but that’s your situation, and don’t you dare make your mistress say the same thing twice.”

I smiled and tapped Rob’s shoulder and added.

“Don’t you think you should keep at least the basic virtues of an employee so that you can continue to earn a living in this house?”

“My lady? What are you…”

“Open the door. How many times do you want me to say it?”

Rob then began to tremble as if he were angry.

It’s absurd that an employee dares to get angry at the employer, but sadly it was quite normal until yesterday. This insolence of the old butler toward the mistress.

‘He’s like an old raccoon. Not only did he know that Rubette was being abused, but instead of telling her father and brothers, he even went out of his way to monitor Rubette for Molga.’

Butler Rob.

A person who helped to isolate me thoroughly by keeping the employees in bondage with the trust Molga had given behind him.

“I’ve heard that the young lady has been suicidal and has gone a little crazy, but this is terrible. I also know that you slapped Prince Ricky in the face.”

“…”

“When the eldest madam returns, you will be properly trained in manners again, so until then, stay quiet and do your best in your room.”

Rob, who had already returned with a relaxed look, smirked as he raised his one-piece glasses slightly.

Eldest madam, manners education, sobriety… A choice of words like this was clearly intended to scare me.

The kind of “education” that includes Molga’s verbal abuse and bullying was a time of mental abuse that Rubette hated morbidly.

“I’m glad you know that I’m a little distracted in the head.”

“…?”

Without hesitation, I passed Rob and stretched out my feet above the door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“W-What are you doing…?!”

Surprised Rob scuttled me off kicking the door. I grinned at the old raccoon, who was mumbling with wide eyes.

“I will tell my father personally. The old butler has a deaf ear, so it would be difficult to work in our duke’s house any longer.”

“W-What…”

Contemplating Rob looked at the tightly closed door with tense eyes.

Creak—

Soon, the heavy door slowly opened and a faint chill leaked out.

Through the gap in the slightly opened door, a man with a very gloomy expression could be seen.

“…What is it?”

Tall and pale-skinned. Golden eyes that lost focus. And the dark circles that went down to the bottom of the chin and the expression that doesn’t show any emotion at all.

My father, Duke Leonard Diollus.

He looked down at me, an unexpected visitor, with indifferent eyes.

“Father, I have something to tell you.”

“…What?”

“Y-Your Grace! It’s not a big deal! It seems she has something she needs, but I can provide it for her, so let me do it instead. Sorry for making a fuss.”

“No, Father. I have something to tell you directly.”

“…”

“Your Grace! No! That…!”

Rob’s flustered voice rose higher, and Dad, who hates loud noises, immediately frowned. Rob gasped at the grim look on Dad’s face.

“…Come in.”

Soon, Dad tilted the door more with a tired look on his face.

I chuckled at the bewildered Rob, then slipped into the room and slammed the door in his face.

‘Uh, I can’t see anything.’

When the light leaking through the open door disappeared, the room was completely dark.

As I was trying to adjust to the darkness, I soon heard my father’s slow footsteps and the room brightened up a bit. He seemed to have lit a candle on the table next to the sofa.

“What happened?”

Dad stared at me and asked briefly while leaning his body on the sofa and resting his chin.

‘It’s really serious…’

I knew it, but seeing it in person was a surprise to me.

The 36-year-old man was a great-looking man who looked just like me, with a fiery appearance and mysterious golden eyes.

If it wasn’t for the dark circles, the gloomy expression, and the smell of alcohol stinging my nose, I might have shed tears at the moment I first met this father and praised his splendid beauty.

However…

He wore a shirt that had not been properly buttoned up, and even his eyes were blurry from drunkenness.

‘This is a complete bum!’

As the room brightened, I could see the countless liquor bottles rolling over the table, and I automatically stuck my tongue out.

“Ha…”

Instead of answering, I dismissed my impressions of the first meeting with one sigh and went straight to the curtained window.

Flap—!

When I opened the heavy blackout curtain, light poured out through the wide window.

‘Let’s ventilate too.’

As soon as the window was opened, fresh air rushed into the suffocating room.

And when I turned around, my dad frowned and raised his arms to cover his eyes, like a vampire in pain in the sun.

“…”

He might wonder about this unexpected behavior of mine…

Dad didn’t even point it out, perhaps he was too bothered to ask, and slowly, he rummaged through the front pocket of his shirt.

What came out was… a pack of cigarettes. Dad immediately took out one, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

‘Hey, is it normal for a father to smoke in front of his underage daughter?’

I’m speechless because I’m so dumbfounded.

I was at a loss as to where to start, but I couldn’t be upset because I knew why my dad was like this.

‘Missing his late wife and living with alcohol and cigarettes, he died at the age of 39.’

He is 36 now.

‘I don’t know if it was a liver problem or a lung problem, but time is running out. Let’s stop him from drinking and smoking first.’

I said to my dad who sucks on the cigarette until his cheeks are thin.

“Stop smoking.”

“What?”

Is it the nature of the people in this family to make someone say the same thing twice?

Covering my nose and mouth, I showed an uncomfortable expression without filtering and said it once more.

“I want you to quit smoking. Can’t you see your daughter in front of you? Does Father want me to inhale all of this harmful cigarette smoke?”

Then, in an instant, his unfocused eyes turned towards me.

Blinking his slightly enlarged eyes, Dad looked alternately at me ad the cigarette in his hand with a dissatisfied expression.

Then, with a slightly bewildered face, Dad rubbed the cigarette out on the ashtray on the table.

[T/N: Yes, the author alternates between ‘dad’ and ‘father’ and I just follow]