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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Paparazzo
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The owner of that gaze had been tailing Lumina since the moment she stepped onto the bustling street, snapping photos relentlessly.
The reason was simple.
It made him money.
*Click—.*
‘A girl whose life was turned upside down overnight by becoming a young duchess. It's the kind of story newspapers go crazy for.’
Just look at them now.
Aren't they all reading the papers with intrigued eyes?
For the next few days, the interest in Lumina wouldn't die down. Which meant the price of these photos would skyrocket.
‘I'll be able to sell these for a high price, too.’
If the public's interest in Lumina ever waned, he just had to add more fuel to the fire.
For example, a story about her enjoying an intimate date with another man right after getting married.
She might be young, but marriage was marriage. It was more than enough to stir up a scandal.
The guard next to her would make the perfect partner for the story.
It didn't matter if it wasn't true.
As long as it could make the gossip-hungry public burn with curiosity.
‘Perfect. I'm a genius.’
Jack was infatuated with himself.
And, feeling as if he were already sitting on a pile of money, he happily snapped photos of Lumina.
‘Hmm. I can't see her face well.’
She'd been wearing a bonnet, so he hadn't managed to get a single clear shot of her face.
The angle was crucial for a good photo, yet every picture he took fell short of his satisfaction.
To get the best possible shot of her face, Jack moved a little closer to Lumina.
‘Hm? Where is she going?’
Lumina and her guard turned a corner.
Jack, who was tailing them, was bewildered.
As far as he knew, this way led to a secluded road that people rarely used.
It seemed she felt burdened by the occasional person who recognized her even with the hat.
Jack waited a moment before following Lumina into the alley.
‘Let's see. Where did she go?’
Jack brought the camera to his face. He zoomed in as far as he could, scanning the surroundings for even the smallest trace of them.
It was then.
A pair of ash-gray eyes filled his lens.
"Gah!"
Startled, Jack dropped his camera and stumbled backward. At the same time, his arms were seized, rendering him immobile.
Before him stood a mountain of a man, with a face somewhere between a boy's and a young man's.
"A-a Keltone?!"
Keltone. The word once referred to a hybrid born between a bull and a mare.
In modern times, however, its meaning had been corrupted.
It had become a derogatory term for a child born between an imperial citizen and someone from a minority nomadic tribe.
It was an utterly insulting word that should never be used to someone's face.
"What? Keltone?"
Lumina popped out from behind Ash, who had Jack restrained.
"Taking pictures of someone without permission wasn't enough, so you had to use such a vulgar word? You're absolute trash."
With her soft-featured face, Lumina crossed her arms, her expression furious.
"Sir Ash. The camera."
Lumina held out her hand, and Ash promptly took the camera from around Jack's neck and handed it to her.
They worked in perfect sync.
"My camera...!"
Lumina examined the camera.
Jack grew anxious, worried the little kid would break it.
"D-do you have any idea how much that costs?! Handle it more carefully!"
"Sir Ash. I think he's being too loud."
Lumina said it casually, her eyes still fixed on the camera.
Ash knew what Lumina wanted and faithfully carried out her command.
It was a moment that showcased the seasoned expertise he had honed over half a lifetime under Duke Heart.
"Aargh!"
Jack screamed as if he were dying.
Paying him no mind, Lumina continued to inspect the camera and spoke.
"You took them, didn't you, mister?"
"It's my camera!"
"Not these. I'm talking about the picture that graced the front page of today's newspaper."
Jack's mouth snapped shut.
He had a gut feeling that admitting it would lead to a rough time.
Seeing Jack suddenly go mute, Lumina beamed.
Then she pretended to drop the camera.
*Hic—!*
Jack looked like he was about to faint.
Then Lumina lifted the camera back up, and he immediately let out a sigh of relief.
*Phew—.*
But that was only for a moment.
*Hic—!*
The camera hovered on the verge of falling, teasing him mercilessly.
After being dragged between heaven and hell several times, a thoroughly exhausted Jack protested.
"A-are you toying with me?!"
"Yes!"
A cheerful reply came back instantly.
"So, did you take it or not? If you lie, I'll really drop it this time."
"I-I took it! I took it!"
Threatened with his precious camera, he confessed. If it had been a knife to his throat, he probably would have held out longer.
‘I knew it.’
From the moment she saw the newspaper, Lumina had suspected someone would be following her.
Though she hadn't known it would be the man who would become infamous as a paparazzo in the future.
‘Now that I see his face, I recognize him.’
Right now, he lacked experience, so he was easy to catch, and this kind of threat seemed to work. But in about five years, he would become the worst of the worst.
‘He'd take a single photo, attach a completely baseless story to it, and sell it. It caused such an uproar at one point that someone even died because of it.’
Even the Lumina from her past life knew his face.
Lumina faced Jack and spoke.
"A piece of worthless trash who takes pictures of people's faces without permission and sells them."
"..."
"Gutter life."
"..."
"A parasite who lives by sucking the life out of others."
"S-stop it!"
It seemed he wasn't immune to such blatant criticism yet.
How ironic that he could casually gossip about others but couldn't stand being insulted himself.
‘Just taking his camera now won't change the future.’
He would just buy another camera and do the same thing again.
Still, she didn't want to just let go of the man who had secretly taken her picture and belittled Ash by calling him a Keltone.
After a moment of thought, Lumina's eyes sparkled.
She was just a girl with a cute face.
But for a moment, Jack felt a sense of foreboding.
"Head down."
When Lumina gestured for him to lower his head to her eye level, Ash skillfully bent Jack over as if to break his back.
It was with enough force to make him cry out, "Oof!"
Lumina approached Jack and whispered in his ear.
*Whisper, whisper—.*
As Jack listened quietly to Lumina's words, his eyes widened. He, too, lowered his voice.
*Whisper.*
*Whisper, whisper?*
*Whisper, whisper, whisper.*
And so, the two exchanged a few more whispers, concluding their conversation.
"Then you say it like this."
"...?"
"When I say one, you say, people are."
"People are?"
"Strange? Your voice is too quiet."
"P-people are!"
Ash tightened his grip.
Jack hastily raised his voice.
"When I say two, you say, you shouldn't discriminate based on looks."
"You shouldn't discriminate based on looks!"
"Good. One."
"People are!"
"Too quiet. One, again!"
"People are!!"
"Two!"
"You shouldn't discriminate based on looks!!"
Jack shouted at the top of his lungs.
Even though his face had turned red, she was still not satisfied.
Lumina looked at Ash and said.
"Sir Ash. You must be angry, so beat him until you feel better, then let him go."
Jack trembled.
That giant was going to hit him?
A single blow would surely send him to meet his maker.
"It is fine."
Hearing Ash's reply, Jack breathed a sigh of relief.
But Lumina was not.
"What do you mean, fine? What that man spouted earlier must have been offensive."
"It is not."
"But he insulted you!"
"It is ordinary."
Ash uttered his designated phrase.
In truth, he didn't mind. Half-breed, Keltone. He'd heard those words often throughout his life.
"If you won't do it because you think it's no big deal, then I will! Hmph!"
Huffing as if it were her own problem, Lumina ended up kicking Jack in the groin.
It was a ferocious kick, and for a moment, it looked like the whites of Jack's eyes were all that was visible.
"Now let him go."
Lumina threw the camera right at his annoying face.
*Scramble—.* Hurriedly grabbing his camera, Jack waddled away.
"I still haven't bought Endymion's gift. I picked something out while we were looking around earlier, so let's hurry up, buy it, and go back."
*Whip—.*
Lumina turned on her heel and began walking quickly.
And unlike before, she began buying things up in every store she entered, as if sweeping the shelves clean.
Her vigor was so formidable that even Ash, who was trailing behind her, watched with a slightly weary gaze.
"Sir Ash. Your hand."
After the whirlwind of shopping was over, Lumina made her request.
Ash obediently held out his hand.
*Rattle—.*
A pile of candy and chocolate, so large it threatened to overflow, was heaped onto his hand.
"Earlier, when I gave Endymion the candy, your eyes never left it, so I figured you must like it."
He thought she had been busy taking care of her brother, but had she been watching him too?
Ash, who had assumed he was as unnoticeable as air since he was just an escort, couldn't help but be surprised.
"I would have been in a lot of trouble today if you hadn't been here. That's why I'm giving you this, but... do you not like it?"
"It is not."
People who give you food are good people.
That was Ash's life formula.
It felt wrong to just say "It is not" and take it from Lumina, who had been elevated to the status of a good person by giving him food.
Before he could think too deeply, Ash's mouth moved on its own.
"...I like it."
"That's a relief! Come to think of it, the Duke carries candy around too. You have similar tastes, huh?"
*Flinch.*
Belatedly remembering Duke Heart, Ash felt a chill.
It was no wonder; he had uttered a sentence other than the ones the Duke had designated!
The Duke would surely notice this when he gave his report... He was already terrified.
"Ah, Sir Ash. My mistake. This one's mine."
Ash trembled inwardly.
Meanwhile, Lumina picked out just one candy from the pile in his palm.
*What's this?* he wondered, looking at it. The wrapper's color was unusual.
"Don't worry, I won't take any of the others."
Lumina, misinterpreting Ash's gaze, said quickly. Then she unwrapped it, and a smell wafted out.
It was a cinnamon-flavored candy.
Popping the candy into her mouth, Lumina began to munch on it, a look of pure bliss on her face.
Ash looked at Lumina with a peculiar expression.
*Right. Everyone has different tastes...*
He made a final revision to his report on Lumina for the Duke.
Tastes are peculiar.
Very peculiar.
***
"Endymion!"
It was time for Endymion to come out after finishing his exam. Lumina, who had been waiting for him, waved her hands excitedly.
*Thump.*
Endymion strode over and stood before Lumina.
He was well-proportioned but still young, with short legs. Watching him run over in a single bound was adorable.
The topic he brought up so abruptly, however, was not.
"What's this about a marriage?"
She had wanted to ask if he thought he did well on the exam, if the questions were difficult.
That was what she wanted to ask.
But he started with the main point again.
