A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 111

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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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“Do you think we might not be able to return to the Faebler Empire at this rate?”
The wind howls. A blizzard.
Two days had passed since the coronation ceremony ended, yet the snowstorm outside showed no signs of abating.
We were quite literally stranded. The coronation had concluded without incident, and I should have been returning to the Faebler Empire, but all means of transportation were blocked.
There was no way to reach the location of the magic circle.
The delegations from other nations faced the same predicament. Everyone was simply pacing anxiously.
“Zeno.”
[Hm?]
“You mentioned that this place wasn’t this cold in the past, didn’t you?”
[That’s right, it’s in the historical records. Long ago, Gracia had distinct seasons just like our empire. Of course, winter was somewhat longer due to the geography, but it wasn’t a place that remained frozen year-round like this.]
Camilla, gazing out the frost-covered window at the raging blizzard, suddenly recalled a scene from the coronation ceremony.
A figure standing outside the window, white hair like snow billowing in the wind, and the Spirit Kings of the seasons pacing anxiously around her.
‘Spring, summer, autumn…’
Could she be winter? Her appearance made it easy for anyone to guess.
Camilla recalled the being that the spirits governing the other seasons had been addressing.
“Hmm.”
Could this blizzard be caused by a spirit’s power?
“I should just ask.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m going out for a moment.”
“Where? The weather is terrible right now!”
“The Greenhouse.”
It’s nearby anyway. What could happen in such a short time? I wouldn’t freeze to death.
I nearly froze to death.
Upon entering the Greenhouse, I found myself unable to move for some time.
I truly thought my entire body would freeze solid. Had the Greenhouse been any farther, I would have become an ice statue.
[Huh?]
[It’s that human!]
[The woman close to Shinsu!]
The three Spirit Kings who recognized her approached rapidly.
Yet despite their arrival, Camilla had to focus all her attention on thawing her frozen body.
Whoooosh!
“…!”
In that moment, the yellow dragon who governed spring closed its mouth and exhaled a gentle breeze. Warm air instantly enveloped my entire body.
“Oh!”
The bitter cold that had penetrated to my bones melted away.
“You’re quite impressive.”
[This much is trivial. What do you think a Spirit King is?]
“A ghost with some special abilities?”
[A, a ghost?]
[Good heavens….]
[How dare you lump us together with such creatures! We are great Spirit Kings!]
“You’re far cuter, though.”
I mean it sincerely. They fit in the palm of my hand, looking just like dolls. With their colorful bodies and three of them clustered together, they’re absolutely adorable.
[C-cute?]
[Good heavens….]
[A Spirit King calling us cute!]
Yet the angry aura surrounding them seemed to soften considerably, as if they didn’t entirely dislike the compliment.
“I’m curious about something.”
Camilla turned her attention to the three spirits fluttering restlessly around her, and immediately broached the reason she’d sought them out.
“Is that blizzard out there the work of a spirit?”
At Camilla’s question, the three spirits’ movements came to an abrupt halt.
They hesitated as if caught in some terrible secret, then released a long sigh.
[Yes.]
[It’s Aislah’s power.]
Aislah?
[The Spirit King who governs winter.]
As expected.
Chapter. The Spirit King of Winter
[Mars! You’re really going back there?]
‘She’s looking for me.’
[That woman already abandoned you!]
‘She… needs me.’
[Don’t go!]
‘I’m sorry, Aislah.’
[Mars!]
“So you’re saying Mars died, and that’s why she’s been raging like this?”
[Raging?]
[Aislah is simply expressing her anger at the death of a beloved friend.]
“That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
[It is not!]
To summarize what the three Spirit Kings conveyed: Mars had a beloved woman, and that woman was the Empress. She abandoned him, her original lover, and hastily married the Emperor instead.
But even after the marriage, the woman continued to cling to Mars, exploiting him for everything he was worth before ultimately killing him.
“Wow….”
I had no idea our empire’s hero was such a fool.
[No! That can’t be true! Lord Mars couldn’t have died like that!]
Zeno, Mars’s devoted fan, was tearing his hair out on the sidelines, but Camilla completely ignored him and continued speaking.
“So what? She’s throwing a tantrum because her descendant inherited the throne, and that’s why she’s been causing this chaos since the coronation?”
I mean, whether she rages or not is fine, but couldn’t she finish her rampage after we leave? I want to go home.
Look, I don’t care if you go crazy and run wild, but can’t you finish this after we leave? I just want to go home.
“When will this end?”
[We don’t know either.]
[It’s always been like this whenever a new emperor appears.]
[Aislah gets absolutely terrifying when she’s angry.]
“You’re all Spirit Kings, aren’t you? Can’t three of you stop one?”
[By the time we tried to intervene, it was already too late. Everything around us had frozen solid.]
[If this Garden disappears, we can no longer remain here.]
[No other season will ever set foot in this place again.]
Their bodies had shrunk to the size of a palm because this entire region was saturated with nothing but winter’s essence.
As a result, they couldn’t use their true power at all within the Gracia Empire.
“This is all well and good, but… how am I supposed to get home?”
Do I have to keep living here? In this freezing place?
“I hate the cold!”
Down with winter!
* * *
「So? You’re stuck?」
“Yeah.”
「Then when are you coming back?」
“I don’t know.”
The sound of continuous tongue-clicking emanated from within the communication crystal.
Upon hearing that I couldn’t return due to the weather, Ravi began pouring out complaints.
「That’s exactly why I told you not to go! What were you thinking following them there! Cross-national magical teleportation isn’t even permitted!」
Magical travel between nations was strictly regulated. Long ago, the damage from battles caused by teleportation had been catastrophic.
After that, all nations had eliminated coordinate information and only permitted movement within their own borders.
“This is still a place where people live, so the weather won’t stay like this forever.”
「Listen to you being so carefree. What if it keeps going like this!」
Sigh, even when I try to act calm to ease his worries, he still panics. If that’s the case…
“Brother.”
「What?」
“If I happen to freeze to death here, you can have all my assets.”
「Hey! How dare you say something so— @!$!%@#!」
My Ravi certainly has a way with words.
“Alright, alright. I’ll come back safely without incident.”
「….」
He’s sulking now, definitely sulking.
「In any case, contact me immediately if anything happens.」
Only after a long pause did he sigh and speak again.
“Yeah. But brother.”
「What now?」
“Is it true you extorted thirty mana stones from Arsian?”
「What do you mean thirty? Fifteen…!」
Ravi’s indignant voice cut off abruptly.
After a moment of silence, he continued in a slightly quieter tone.
「…How did you know?」
“So it was fifteen.”
「Did that bastard tell you?」
“Would that man really gossip about something like that? I just took a guess, you fool!”
The last time Ravi had snatched a bouquet of flowers from in front of my home, he’d muttered something strange about mana stones, so I’d looked into it and discovered something absurd.
Arsian had been purifying mana stones for Duke Sefra on occasion and receiving mana stones as compensation in return.
I’d wondered where he was using all those mana stones…
“Turns out my brother was taking them from him.”
「Taking them? It was a fair trade!」
“A trade for what?”
That man wasn’t the type to be taken advantage of so easily. What on earth could he have traded to give up mana stones?
It felt like it had something to do with me, but what could it be?
「…Ask him directly about it later. I’m hanging up.」
What? He’s hanging up?
At Ravi’s abrupt disconnection, Camilla glared intently at the communication orb. We’d settle this when I got back.
Whoooosh!
…I could get back, right?
Outside the window, the blizzard still raged relentlessly. Why did I have to suffer the consequences of these ancient people’s romantic entanglements?!
“Huh?”
Her eyes widened slightly as she gazed out the window.
“What are they doing out there right now?”
The colorful Spirit Kings were pressed against the window, trembling violently—and they were much smaller than when they’d been in the greenhouse.
With a short sigh, she gestured for them to come in, and the three dragons quickly slipped inside.
“You can just come in.”
[My goodness… how do you perceive us!]
[We are spirits of propriety!]
[We do not enter without permission.]
“Yes, yes.”
As Camilla gave her perfunctory response, her gaze shifted behind them. Another presence had revealed itself beyond the three Spirit Kings.
It was a Female Ghost who appeared to be in her mid-forties. When her eyes met Camilla’s, they trembled violently.
“What’s that ghost?”
[See! I told you I was right? She can see dead people!]
[She seemed to know the ghost standing beside her.]
[We can see them, and ghosts can too—how fascinating.]
[But our children couldn’t see them? I suppose only royalty-ranked beings can.]
Ugh, so noisy. Why do they have so much to say?
“So what about that ghost, I’m asking?”
Camilla, who had cut off the spirits’ excited chatter, posed her question once more.
[Would you do me a favor?]
Well, nothing surprises me anymore. It’s the same old routine I’ve heard countless times.
Leaving the Female Ghost behind with her hands clasped together in a pleading gesture, Camilla turned her attention back to the three spirits.
What exactly was this ghost that the spirits had bothered to bring to her?
[Mariana de Gracia. That is my name.]
“Gracia? Someone from the Imperial Palace?”
Camilla’s eyes widened with curiosity at the introduction that followed, and she let out a short exclamation of surprise.
Surely not…
[I was the wife of Emperor Gaibl, and the lover of Mars.]
A melodramatic scandal had just walked through the door.
* * *
[This way.]
What am I even doing here right now?
Sighs escaped continuously from Camilla’s lips as she followed Mariana de Gracia through the corridors.
After leaving the Guest Palace where the visitors were staying, Camilla crept through the Main Palace where the Emperor resided, moving with the stealth of a thief.
Soldiers were stationed throughout, but it posed no real obstacle.
True to her nature as a ghost who had long dwelt in this place, Mariana de Gracia expertly guided them through passages where security was lax and people were scarce.
‘If I’m caught, it’s all over.’
A foreigner wandering through the Main Palace where the Emperor himself resided would undoubtedly raise suspicion in anyone’s 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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