A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter. The Top Actress Who Sees Ghosts
“Sia, your skin is incredibly dewy today.”
Jihyun, who was handling my makeup, kept letting out exclamations of admiration.
My hands grew even more careful as I touched up my face—skin so luminous it seemed water would drip from it at the slightest touch.
“After pulling all-nighters for over a week, only you could maintain skin like this.”
“I paid that skin clinic a fortune for treatments. If I can’t maintain this level of skin, shouldn’t I be suing them?”
“You’re something else!”
Jihyun laughed lightly.
She always insisted she wouldn’t go because the skin clinic was too expensive, yet here she was voicing complaints again.
Despite being the top-earning actress in the domestic entertainment industry, she didn’t particularly enjoy spending money.
“By the way, Jihyun.”
“Yes?”
“You said you were raised by your grandmother when you were young, right?”
“…? That’s right.”
Jihyun tilted her head at my sudden question. Why was I bringing up something she’d mentioned in passing during a drinking session?
“My parents were busy, so I lived with my grandmother until before I started middle school.”
“When was the last time you contacted your grandmother?”
“Um… I think it’s been about two months?”
“Two months?”
“Yes, I’ve been incredibly busy with recent shoots. Now that I think about it, I haven’t contacted her in far too long.”
Jihyun’s face remained full of confusion as she answered.
It was rare for me to show interest in others’ family matters. No matter how long I’d known someone, I never crossed a certain line.
The fact that I remembered she’d been raised by her grandmother was honestly surprising to her as well.
“Your phone?”
“My phone? Your phone is over there—”
“Not mine. Yours.”
“Mine? Ah….”
Jihyun, frantically patting herself down, let out a small sigh.
“I think I left it in the car.”
“Go get it.”
“What?”
“Go get your phone.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
“But we’re about to start shooting….”
“I don’t care.”
“It’s not something I need right this moment anyway. It’s fine. I can find it later.”
“Go now.”
“What? But my makeup still needs finishing touches….”
“I’ll finish it myself.”
“But—”
“Hurry.”
Jihyun, startled by Sia’s unusually firm demeanor, bolted toward the Parking Lot without further protest.
“Hyunseok.”
“Hmm?”
Sia called to her manager quietly, whose eyes gleamed with curiosity no less intense than Jihyun’s own.
“Find someone to cover Jihyun’s position for a few days.”
“Fire Jihyun?”
Hyunseok’s eyes widened at her abrupt statement.
“Temporarily.”
“Temporarily?”
“She won’t be able to come in for a while.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Instead of answering, Sia’s gaze drifted toward Jihyun, now distant.
More precisely, she was looking at the elderly woman quietly following behind her.
The grandmother who had been standing behind Jihyun all this time, watching her with sorrowful eyes.
From the way she gently stroked Jihyun’s hair and smiled warmly whenever her granddaughter laughed, I could immediately discern her identity.
‘Would a week be enough?’
Should I give her more time to compose herself?
“Prepare a floral wreath too.”
“A floral wreath? What for?”
“To send to the Funeral Hall.”
“What?”
Leaving her startled manager behind, Sia finished her makeup with practiced efficiency.
* * *
“Grandmother, you saw the expensive wreath I sent, didn’t you?”
There’s a saying in the entertainment industry.
“I also gave a generous monetary gift.”
That a celebrity’s fate and a shaman’s fate are much the same—both lives equally unpredictable.
After finishing two weeks of location filming in the countryside, I returned home and let out a small sigh.
The moment I pulled out a cold beer can from the refrigerator to unwind and enjoy a solitary drink, I discovered Jihyun’s Grandmother standing behind the refrigerator door.
“The funeral was conducted beautifully, and she was laid to rest in a bright place.”
Or was it? Could the Columbarium really be called a bright place?
In any case, this elderly woman, whose funeral had been properly held and cremation completed, had suddenly appeared before me for no apparent reason.
I exhaled a quiet sigh and brought the opened beer can to my lips.
“If you have no business here, would you mind leaving? I’m exhausted right now.”
Normally I would simply ignore such things, but after working with my colleague for over four years, I felt a slight hesitation about turning away her grandmother.
‘Just slightly.’
But perhaps ignoring her would have been better. Dealing with such an entity in my current state was truly….
As if to shake off the complicated feelings, I shook my head back and forth several times.
[Our Jihyun.]
Only then did Jihyun’s Grandmother, who had been quietly observing Sia, open her mouth.
My gaze kept drifting to her hands and face, which were etched with countless wrinkles—a testament to a life far from smooth.
[I hope you’ll take good care of her going forward.]
“….”
Are all grandmothers like this?
Watching Jihyun’s Grandmother bow her head with such meticulous courtesy to a woman far younger than herself, her smile radiating boundless kindness, I took another sip of beer.
Suddenly, words I’d heard from my manager Hyunseok a few days ago came to mind.
‘At the Funeral Hall, Jihyun was the only one crying.’
He’d said it was quite a spectacle watching Jihyun’s parents and other siblings fight over her grandmother’s inheritance.
Apparently, guests who came to pay their respects had to hurriedly leave as they squabbled over who would take more—the meager bank balance, the house, and the money from selling the fields. It was shameful.
‘Ugh, what a waste of money.’
If I’d known those bastards would get it, I wouldn’t have even given a condolence gift.
[And there’s just one small favor I’d like to ask of you?]
I, who had been grumbling inwardly, lifted my head again at the grandmother’s continued words.
Lee Sia. A twenty-five-year-old top actress whose name has spread not just across Korea but throughout Asia.
Starting acting at fourteen, I’ve struck gold with every project I’ve chosen, regardless of genre, building an unshakeable position in the industry.
I could confidently say it’s because my face is pretty and my acting is exceptional, but….
‘I can’t deny that I’ve benefited from them.’
The information they bring me is incredibly useful.
Lee Sia. Korea’s representative top actress with one peculiar trait.
‘That’s right, I….’
I see ghosts.
* * *
“Jihyun.”
「Yes, Sia.」
I initiated a video call with Jihyun.
Jihyun appeared to have suffered greatly from her grandmother’s death—her face had grown noticeably gaunt in just a few days, and I clicked my tongue softly at the sight.
“Did I mention before? That I’m quite interested in things like fortune-telling and divination.”
「Yes, and you were the first to predict that our grandmother would pass away. I was so startled when you kept asking me to bring my phone. And then something like this happened….」
“It was just that your fortune didn’t look good that day.”
Of course, it’s a lie. I know absolutely nothing about fortune-telling or divination.
I simply pretend to have an interest in such things so others can easily accept the information I learn from ghosts.
“Sia, didn’t you say you go to church?”
Hyunseok, my manager who was beside me, interjected into our conversation.
“Yeah, I do.”
Well, I did.
“I’m a baptized woman.”
There was a time when I attended church very diligently, trying to suppress this ability to see ghosts. I was even baptized.
‘The day I was baptized….’
I quietly turned away as ghosts gathered around me, clapping their congratulations.
After that, I visited cathedrals and temples, but they yielded nothing different.
“What does fortune-telling have to do with church?”
“Still, that’s not quite—”
“Enough.”
I cut off Hyunseok’s words abruptly, signaling him not to dig deeper, and returned my gaze to my phone.
“Are you still at Grandmother’s House?”
Right after the funeral procession ended, I left—Hyunseok, who had been beside me, scoffed and said, “Well, if you want to sell your share of the house and land as quickly as possible, you’d better get moving”—but unlike the other family members, Jihyun remained alone in the empty house, organizing her grandmother’s belongings.
She could have hired someone to do it, but she said she simply couldn’t.
She didn’t want to discard her grandmother’s precious possessions, which had been used for so long, like trash through someone else’s hands.
I remembered Jihyun crying and asking for just a few more days, and my heart ached.
「I’m sorry. I need to return quickly…」
“Right. Come back soon. Don’t let other people keep touching my face.”
「Yes!」
Jihyun’s voice grew brighter at my demand to come quickly rather than my suggestion to rest well and take her time.
“By the way, is there a persimmon tree on the east side of Grandmother’s House?”
After a moment, I got straight to the point of why I had called.
「…!」
Through the speaker, I heard Jihyun gasp sharply.
「There is!」
Of course there would be.
「I’m not sure if it’s on the east side though…」
It’s definitely east.
「Anyway, there is one. How did you know?」
“Your fortune today said you’ll obtain great wealth from beneath the persimmon tree on the east side.”
「W-wealth?」
“You’ve got nothing to lose, so dig around the base of the tree.”
「The ground…?」
“Yeah.”
「Ah… okay…」
Her response was lukewarm.
‘She must think this is ridiculous. I would too.’
It’s strange to take such words at face value and act on them.
But people are like this—when they hear such things, it’s hard to dismiss them completely. Even while thinking “No way,” a part of them wonders, “What if…?”
‘If I can obtain great wealth, what’s the harm in digging a little?’
Besides, since I had predicted that Grandmother would pass away, it would be even harder for her to ignore my words.
“Then take care.”
「Yes, Sia.」
Having said all there was to say, I hung up immediately.
‘Is it done now?’
That was exactly what Jihyun’s Grandmother had asked of me last night.
[Tell her to dig beneath the persimmon tree.]
While her parents squandered every won they had—borrowed or otherwise—chasing business ventures and ignoring their children, Jihyun had worked countless part-time jobs since childhood to support her younger siblings.
Such devotion must have weighed heavily on her grandmother’s heart.
‘It seemed like quite a substantial sum.’
Her grandmother had said she’d carefully saved the money earned from farming over the years and buried it beneath the persimmon tree.
She’d set aside Jihyun’s portion separately, stacking it piece by piece inside a large earthenware jar.
The house and land would surely be fought over by her greedy children after she was gone.
Her grandmother must have realized that nothing would ultimately fall to Jihyun’s share.
‘She even wrote a letter beforehand, apparently.’
As if she’d somehow known she would die suddenly from a heart attack, her grandmother had written a letter to Jihyun long ago and placed it inside the jar.
The letter said all the money in this jar belongs to you—don’t burden yourself with guilt, and spend it freely for your own sake.
‘They won’t take that money away.’
I’m not naive enough to let that happen.
‘Besides, that’s not really my concern.’
I’d delivered her grandmother’s message—my part was done.
“Wow, you can read fortunes too? What about me? What’s my fortune for today?”
Hyunseok, my manager, had been hovering nearby throughout my call with Jihyun, and now he looked at me with eager, hopeful eyes.
“….”
I regarded him silently for a moment before speaking.
“I can’t say about your fortune, Hyunseok, but I do know something about Hyeeun’s today.”
“Hyeeun?”
At the mention of his wife’s name, Hyunseok’s expression grew puzzled.
“She has good fortune with money today.”
“Really?”
Whether he believed it or not, the news that his wife had financial luck brightened his face. He chuckled, “Should I tell her to buy a lottery ticket?” and I swallowed back what I’d been about to say.
‘But you’re losing money today.’
I’d spoken with Hyeeun, whom I knew fairly well, just moments ago.
Recalling her delighted laughter as she told me she’d found the emergency fund her husband had hidden away, I looked at Hyunseok with a hint of sympathy in my eyes.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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