A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 108
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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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“…points?”
I know, I know! Can you imagine how absurd this must seem to them?
Watching the middle-aged couple’s expressions twist into something grotesque, I swallowed the sigh threatening to burst from my lips.
“Yes, would you mind if I took a look for you?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not particularly interested in that sort of—”
“You’ve experienced something terribly tragic recently.”
“Pardon?”
“A family member has passed away.”
The Middle-aged Man’s face went rigid. The woman couldn’t hide her shock either. I drew out several cards and held them before him.
“Would you draw just one card?”
These were cards I’d deliberately crafted a few months ago.
It was a method I’d often used back when I lived as Sia—a necessary tool for naturally resolving the requests of ghosts.
‘Goodness, what a fate I have.’
So I’m using this here too, it seems.
They resembled tarot cards in appearance, but their contents were entirely different. I wasn’t actually performing divination, but filling them with cryptic imagery made the readings seem plausible enough.
“A daughter, then. She passed away at night.”
“H-how could you possibly know that!”
“Do you see this circular object? It represents the moon.”
That’s how it works—if she’d died during the day, that moon would become the sun instead.
When I correctly identified the time of his daughter’s death from the first card drawn, the man’s eyes flickered with restless uncertainty. His hesitation crumbled, and he drew another card.
“Your daughter was always frail, wasn’t she? Asthma, anemia… she couldn’t even walk properly.”
His eyes widened in disbelief, and soon his eyes grew red-rimmed.
“Yes, she passed two months ago. If only I’d known it would come to this, I would have let her eat all the desserts she loved, regardless of what was good for her body…”
There. The groundwork was laid.
“Would you draw one more card?”
The man no longer hesitated, drawing another card. This one bore a pitch-black background covered in sharp, jagged shapes.
“Your daughter didn’t die from illness.”
“…What?”
“She was murdered.”
“W-what!”
“See this blade here? It signifies death at another’s hand. And by someone very close to her.”
This was what the ghost had wanted to tell her father. That she hadn’t died from illness—she’d been murdered.
And the culprit was…
“What nonsense are you spouting! Honey, let’s go.”
The Stepmother herself.
It was the Middle-aged Woman who reacted first to my words. Her face drained of color, she hastily grabbed the man’s arm and pulled.
The man, equally rattled, was dragged away helplessly by her grip.
As they left, I whispered my final words after him.
“Check your late daughter’s bookshelf. You’ll find the answers you seek there.”
Since her room hadn’t been tidied after her death, everything would remain as it was.
There, she found a diary and a crystal orb left behind by her daughter—the last pieces of evidence her daughter had managed to leave before her death.
The crystal clearly captured the Stepmother adding something to the medication her daughter took.
[Thank you! Thank you so much!]
She showered Camilla with gratitude before hurrying after Father.
“Hmm.”
As I watched them leave, I slipped the card back into my pocket.
Then I sensed something odd in the atmosphere and glanced behind me.
‘Damn it.’
Every person in the cafe had turned their gaze toward me. They’d clearly witnessed the entire exchange.
‘Great. This means strange rumors will spread again for a while.’
A long sigh escaped my lips.
* * *
“It would be best if you avoided the cafe for some time.”
At Chris’s words, I exhaled a short sigh and nodded immediately.
The cafe was now overflowing with customers—so many that they were forming lines at the entrance.
The problem was that they weren’t just coming for the desserts; they wanted to meet me.
“Congratulations. It seems you’ve gained quite the reputation as a skilled fortune teller.”
Chris also sighed repeatedly, clearly exasperated.
Word had spread everywhere after I resolved the Female Ghost’s grudge. The owner of the Dessert Cafe was apparently an incredibly gifted diviner.
‘Damn it…’
Her father had ultimately found all the evidence. Not only the culprit who killed his daughter, but also his wife’s lover.
In the process, he discovered that his second daughter wasn’t actually his biological child, but the offspring of that lover, and that they’d been attempting to seize his business as well.
“Business is thriving, isn’t it?”
“It is, doesn’t it? That’s all thanks to me, isn’t it? Haha.”
“….”
…Fine. I get it. I’ll be more careful from now on.
Chris particularly disliked seeing me display such abilities in front of others.
His argument was that a businessperson should conceal their cards as much as possible, and there was no benefit to constantly exposing one’s abilities to the world.
Since I agreed with his reasoning, I couldn’t offer any further rebuttal to his reproachful gaze.
“Answa sent a thank-you message along with a proposal.”
“Answa?”
Who was that? The name sounded vaguely familiar, but where had I heard it before?
“Answa Jewelry Shop wants to sell our products.”
Ah! Answa! That Answa with jewelry shops scattered throughout the Faebler Empire!
“That’s nice, but why would he…?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, something suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Wait, wait! Could it be…!’
Was that middle-aged gentleman I read for earlier actually Answa?
‘Wow.’
He’d seemed wealthy, but not just wealthy—he was absolutely loaded.
“You did know about it, didn’t you? That I was helping them this time.”
As I stood there with a blank expression, Chris gave me a puzzled look.
“…Of course I knew. I’m not the type to do things without some benefit to myself, am I?”
Right, I had no idea whatsoever. Wow! What a jackpot!
“How does the proposal look?”
“The terms are extremely favorable to us.”
“Really?”
Answa Jewelry Shop was a tremendously renowned establishment with deep tradition and history. One might say it was the most preferred jeweler among noble ladies.
While the Ghost Merchant Guild’s mana stones were currently commanding the highest stock prices, we were still greenhorns when it came to jewelry.
The fact that Answa had extended their hand to us first was undoubtedly a gesture of goodwill.
“Proceed with the contract.”
“Understood.”
Since there was no reason to refuse, I called out the order. So our jewelry business is about to expand nationwide?
“And here is the final contract we’ve prepared.”
“Mm.”
Chris then handed over additional documents—a revised version of the contract terms proposed by the Gracia Empire, with the sections requiring adjustment rewritten.
Now I just needed to take these, discuss the final details, and then seal the contract.
“I wish I could accompany you…”
“Take care of things here while I’m gone.”
It would certainly be convenient to bring Chris along, but I needed someone trustworthy to manage this place in my absence.
“The day after tomorrow, then.”
“Yes.”
I would be departing for the Gracia Empire soon.
* * *
Briiing!
“Oh, that’s all for today’s class.”
The professor bolted from the classroom the moment the bell rang.
Yet even after the professor disappeared, the students remained in their seats, their eyes fixed unwaveringly on the podium.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
‘He was fine for a while, so why is he like this again?’
Someone sitting in the very back row was radiating a dark aura. It was Arsian.
“Damn… why together… hell…”
Though his muttering was barely audible, everyone flinched.
‘I’d rather he just slept through class like before!’
For some reason, lately he’d been attending lectures diligently.
But with an atmosphere like that while still not missing a single class, it was only the people around him who were suffering.
Thud!
“…!”
Everyone startled at Arsian’s abrupt movement as he stood up. He quickly left the classroom, leaving the other students behind.
“Phew.”
“I thought I was going to die.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Ugh, my throat is completely sore.”
Only then did sighs and groans erupt from various corners of the Classroom.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Who knows.”
The students, unaware of why Arsian’s mood had become so downcast, could only exchange puzzled glances.
“I’m envious.”
“Of what?”
Only Petro, the sole person who understood the reason, shook his head lightly and exhaled a short sigh.
“I wish I could be like that.”
I wish I could openly pout like him, saying I hate her leaving and that I want to follow her too.
“Petro?”
“It’s nothing.”
He merely gazed toward where Arsian had vanished, wearing his usual bright smile.
* * *
“Arsian?”
The moment class ended, Arsian entered the Classroom. At his sudden appearance, Camilla tilted her head in confusion.
“What’s the matter? There’s no Club activity today….”
Whoosh.
Camilla couldn’t finish her sentence. In an instant, his hand drew near her face.
His cold hand lightly brushed against Camilla’s neck.
“A Shinsu jewel.”
“…A Shinsu jewel?”
Camilla’s eyes widened as she realized what the necklace around her neck was. She knew well what a Shinsu jewel was.
Shinsu creates only one jewel imbued with their power in their entire lifetime.
Though it’s a one-time use, whoever possesses that jewel gains the ability to wield Shinsu’s power.
“Why would you….”
“I received it from the Duke.”
Camilla fell silent for a long moment. That trembling creature received this from him?
From none other than Duke Sefra himself?
“And this.”
Arsian’s hand approached Camilla’s face once more.
He removed the earrings she was wearing and replaced them with black jeweled earrings he held.
The earlobe where his cold touch lingered felt burning hot.
“What is all this… Arsian!”
After the earrings, as Arsian suddenly dropped to one knee while fastening a bracelet, Camilla hastily called out to him.
Regardless, he didn’t stop what he was doing. Only after securing an anklet did he look directly at Camilla.
“Protective magic is woven into them. Don’t remove them, even when you sleep.”
“….”
Hold on. I’m not going to war, am I?
Yesterday, Ravi and Ludvil were making a fuss about gathering all sorts of protective gear and weapons for me, and now it’s your turn? I’ll come back from the battlefield perfectly fine on my own, you know?
Camilla, momentarily flustered, eventually let out a small laugh.
“Fine. I won’t remove it, I promise.”
Only then did Arsian’s rigid expression soften slightly.
I was irritated that they felt the need to include someone who had recently been kidnapped in the diplomatic mission at all.
Above all, the fact that the head of this diplomatic delegation was none other than Crown Prince Edsen truly didn’t sit well with me.
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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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