A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 11

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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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“Why… why isn’t it here!”
“It should be in this spot….”
“Dig a bit further over there!”
The hands rummaging through the Rose Garden grew increasingly frantic.
At Camilla’s command, the Maidservant and Attendants who had come to retrieve the ring they had hidden moved about in desperate haste.
“Why on earth isn’t it here!”
“Damn it!”
They had been searching this place for over two hours now, yet they hadn’t found so much as a scrap of wire, let alone the ring.
“It hurts….”
Their hands were already covered in scratches and puncture wounds from the rose thorns.
“What are you doing! Dig faster!”
“…understood.”
But they had no luxury to worry about such hand injuries.
If they failed to find the ring by today, there was no telling what calamity might befall them.
The Camilla they had just encountered seemed perfectly capable of quietly disposing of them from the Sorpel Household without a trace.
Or if she truly made good on her threat of causing a suicide incident…!
“…it’s not here.”
“Not here either.”
More time passed. The sun was already beginning to set.
“I’m going mad!”
“This has to be the right spot!”
Exhausted beyond measure, they all collapsed onto the ground.
Where on earth had the ring gone? Could one of them have secretly dug it up and sold it?
For a moment they eyed each other with suspicion, then quickly shook their heads.
None of them were foolish enough to steal and fence a noble family’s jewel.
A precious gem’s craftsmanship alone would immediately reveal its origin.
To attempt such a thing was to invite certain accusation of theft—who would dare?
“Get up.”
“Let’s search again.”
“Damn it!”
The Maidservant and Attendants rose to their feet.
They had to find that ring by any means. Once they had it in hand, they would beg and plead with Camilla for forgiveness.
“You there—what are you doing here?”
At that moment, someone slowly approached them.
“M-master butler.”
It was the butler Rube.
“I asked what you’re doing?”
“That… well….”
Rube’s usually smiling face had turned cold and stern. At the sight of it, none of them could find words to continue.
They could hardly confess that they had stolen Camilla’s ring and hidden it here, only to be unable to find it.
“Follow me.”
The moment Rube turned on his heel with those words, the color drained from the employees’ faces.
Realizing that something had gone terribly wrong, they held their breath and clamped their mouths shut as they trailed behind the butler.
Yet unlike the frightened staff, a faint smile had settled at the corners of Rube’s lips as he walked ahead.
‘She really has changed, hasn’t she.’
In truth, he had already pieced together the situation.
Yesterday, he happened to pass nearby and witnessed Camilla unearthing a ring from this very spot.
Only then did he understand why Camilla had torn this place apart months ago.
And so, he could now guess to some extent why they were behaving this way.
Just as the head chef Jelard could not even lift his head before Camilla, they too had clearly been caught in something by her.
The butler Rube silently laughed, thoroughly amused.
Crack!
“Theft?”
“….”
That was a desk a master craftsman had spent five years creating.
Rube gazed at the desk now cracked at its corner by Duke Sorpel’s grip and let out a small sigh internally. Would it even be repairable?
“Then the reason Camilla destroyed the Rose Garden back then was….”
“Yes, it appears she was likely searching for the ring.”
Crunch!
Watching the desk crumble completely, Rube quickly calculated an estimate for a new one.
Meanwhile, Duke Sorpel’s mind grew increasingly tangled.
“I cannot comprehend this.”
Why did she not tell me?
“She could have simply told me the truth about what happened….”
He distinctly remembered calling Camilla to question her about the damage to the Rose Garden, but the child had kept her lips sealed and offered no explanation whatsoever.
In the end, he had sent her away with a warning that any further disturbances would result in severe punishment.
“Why on earth….”
Whether it was what happened in the Dining Hall or this matter now, Duke Sorpel could not find answers. After a long moment, he turned his gaze back to Rube.
“Bring Camilla to me.”
“Very well.”
Watching the butler Rube leave, Duke Sorpel exhaled softly.
He recalled the first time he met Camilla—a small child who had refused to even meet his eyes properly.
He had accepted it as natural. A strange man had suddenly taken Father’s place, so it was only right that she felt awkward and uncomfortable.
‘I felt the same way.’
He had not forced himself upon a child who kept her distance. After all, his own discomfort was no different.
He believed he had done his part by ensuring she could enjoy everything a duke’s daughter was entitled to.
‘And yet….’
What kind of treatment had his own daughter actually been receiving within the Sorpel Household?
Knock, knock.
Moments later, the door opened and Camilla stepped inside.
* * *
“Father, you were looking for me?”
Despite the brightness of my smile, my heart was far from at ease. Seized by an inexplicable anxiety, I tightened my grip on the hand I held.
From what I could recall, Duke Sorpel had never summoned me alone like this for any pleasant reason.
Had some accident occurred without my knowledge? Had Ravi already done something reckless?
‘What on earth could this be about?’
Watching Duke Sorpel’s expression harden, my unease only deepened.
“You lost a ring, I hear.”
“…Pardon?”
Yet the words that emerged from Duke Sorpel’s lips were entirely unexpected.
‘What?’
Had word already reached Duke Sorpel? So quickly?
‘That’s strange.’
If they had any sense, they would never have breathed a word about stealing the ring.
It was a genuine crime, after all. Even if others discovered them, I had assumed they would fabricate some excuse for ransacking the Rose Garden.
‘Impressive ability.’
Unaware that the servants who had committed the deed had been caught red-handed by the butler Rube, I found myself momentarily admiring the interrogator’s competence.
‘So nothing happened that I don’t know about, then?’
Hearing Duke Sorpel’s tone, it didn’t sound as though he had summoned me to scold me.
‘But…’
The atmosphere felt peculiar. He didn’t seem angry, yet something about his demeanor felt deflated.
I was the one who had lost the ring, so why did his mood seem so downcast?
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
After a moment, Duke Sorpel’s voice came again.
“Why didn’t you come to me immediately back then?”
“Back then” likely referred to when I had lost the ring and searched the Rose Garden.
Knowing the circumstances as I did, I could only find it absurd.
‘Would you have believed me if I had told you?’
His expression that day remained vivid in my memory. His eyes had clearly asked, ‘What trouble have you caused now?’
What could I have said, seeing his gaze filled with contempt, irritation, and resignation?
‘Things would have gone as they said.’
Telling the truth would not have earned his belief.
He would have listened more readily to the tearful testimonies of the maidservants and attendants, and I would have been branded once again as a child who tells lies.
Who was to blame? There was someone else who kept their mouth shut and wallowed in self-pity alone.
‘Regardless…’
I still couldn’t understand.
‘Why does he look so serious?’
It was the sort of matter that could be handled simply by issuing orders to the servants, as always. Hadn’t everything concerning me been dealt with that way?
I couldn’t fathom Duke Sorpel’s intention in summoning me alone like this to ask for a full account.
“You should have told me sooner.”
Duke Sorpel clicked his tongue repeatedly, as though lamenting something.
‘Lamenting?’
That man? Over Camilla?
For more than twenty years, I had watched that man destroy Camilla. Countless times, I had seen him turn his back on her with cold indifference.
Recently, I had sensed the faintest improvement in their relationship—truly the most marginal of shifts.
‘He knows as well as I do that we are not that sort of family.’
Reminding myself not to lower my guard, I bowed my head apologetically.
“I did not wish to burden you with trivial matters.”
“Trivial?”
As Duke Sorpel’s voice rose slightly, I offered him a sorrowful smile.
“You are already occupied with duties, Father. I did not want you to grow more weary because of me.”
“….”
“Forgive me. I am inadequate… I simply tried to resolve everything alone, somehow….”
“Why are you apologizing!”
Duke Sorpel’s voice rose in a sudden surge of emotion, but he caught himself. Seeing my face fall like a scolded child, he hastened to continue.
“Camilla.”
“Yes.”
“From now on, tell me first about anything that troubles you.”
Duke Sorpel’s voice was unusually gentle, unlike his customary tone.
‘What is this?’
His gaze was the same.
Confronted with a tenderness in Duke Sorpel’s eyes I had never witnessed before, I regarded him with even greater wariness.

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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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