A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 116

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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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Side story. The Man Who Lost His Memory
“My goodness!”
“This child is incredibly intelligent.”
“Writing already?”
“A genius, a true genius!”
When I was young, I believed it too. That I was a genius.
At three years old, I could read and write the Continent’s common tongue, and I never forgot anything I’d seen even once. So I secretly agreed with the adults who marveled at my abilities.
But I grew up and realized the truth. That I was nothing but a frog in a well.
The Magic Tower was full of them—so many talented people surrounding me.
“Ravi!”
It was just before my fourth birthday when Mother brought home a corpse.
Blood was pouring from it, so I genuinely thought it was a dead body.
“Bring me the healing tools!”
Mother was skilled in healing magic.
I’d heard that my late grandfather had been quite an accomplished Healer, and Mother, having grown up watching him, possessed exceptional knowledge of healing arts herself.
“Mom, who is this person?”
Fortunately, the man didn’t die.
“He was collapsed in an alley.”
But he remained unconscious for a long time. And we didn’t have the means to call another Healer, being poor as we were.
Rustle.
Fortunately, about a week later, the man regained consciousness.
But…
“Who am I?”
He remembered nothing. Not even about himself.
But Mother didn’t cast him out immediately. He turned out to be far more helpful than expected.
“Stop that!”
“Sia, quit being difficult. Raising a child alone is hard enough.”
Mother was beautiful. Not just because she was my mother, but by any objective standard, her beauty was extraordinary.
So wherever we went, there were always men trying to take advantage. A woman raising a child alone seemed like easy prey to them.
“So stop coming near me… Ah! Aaaah! Arm! Arm! Ahhh!”
The man was strong. Very strong.
He subdued any man who dared approach Mother in an instant, and a single murderous glare ensured they never appeared before us again.
“Th-thank you.”
And he was very handsome.
Even as a child, I could clearly sense that Mother was growing fond of him.
The man seemed to feel the same way about Mother. As time passed, he became part of our family.
“This is all I have to give.”
“Bill…”
The name Mother gave him—Bill.
He gave Mother the only jewel he possessed. As a wedding gift.
Mother was overjoyed when she received the ruby ring. But that happiness didn’t last long.
“Why… why hasn’t he come back?”
About a year later, the man disappeared. He had gone to the Neighboring City to find work, but days passed without his return.
Mother waited for him endlessly, yet no word came from him.
I even traveled to the Neighboring City myself to search for him and asked around, but no one had seen him.
The man who had appeared so suddenly vanished from our lives just as abruptly.
After that, Mother and I waited for him in that house for about three more months before eventually moving to a different village. We could no longer find work there.
And then….
“This is your younger brother, Ravi.”
A new family member was born.
“Waaah!”
“…sigh.”
Whenever Mother looked at the child, she seemed to remember the man who had left, her brow perpetually furrowed.
I could see it too. That Mother didn’t particularly care for the child. It was painfully obvious she was raising him out of obligation.
I was no different. Even looking at the child, I didn’t feel like he was my brother, and I felt no particular affection for him.
After several years passed, Mother formed a new family and completely erased her memories of that man.
Or rather, she tried to.
“Brother, what kind of person is our father?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean our biological father.”
“…biological father?”
Until Camilla asked me about that man.
I barely managed to keep my expression from hardening.
What should I tell her? The truth? That your biological father is the man who lived with Mother for about a year and then suddenly abandoned us?
“…I don’t remember either.”
“You don’t either, Brother?”
“No.”
Suddenly, the ring on Camilla’s finger caught my eye. Still, there was one thing I could tell her, wasn’t there?
“That ring—your biological father gave it to Mother.”
I said nothing more. If I spoke about that man, I would have to reveal another truth as well.
That you and I have different fathers.
For some reason, I didn’t want to say that.
‘I don’t want to become an orphan again….’
Perhaps I harbored the same feelings?
Maybe I was hiding the truth out of fear that this child, who regarded me as her only family, would leave me.
“Brother? What are you thinking about?”
“…Nothing.”
I hoped that this child, my only family, would never learn that truth for as long as she lived.
Chapter. The Mastermind
“A failure?”
Crash!
Objects scattered across the desk tumbled to the floor with a deafening clatter.
“I-I’m terribly sorry.”
Marquis Gabriel’s aide shrank further into himself.
“How much money did I give those incompetent fools!”
“That is….”
“Failed? You’re telling me they failed?”
Boom!
“Unable to handle a single girl? How is that even possible!”
“Ah, we still need to investigate the exact circumstances further. Not a single one of them returned alive, you see….”
“Idiots!”
The moment I learned that Camilla Sorpel—that cursed woman—was included in the delegation, I set my plan in motion immediately.
I commissioned the most skilled assassins in the Empire. If something went wrong with the delegation members, it would create a massive rift between the two nations.
Naturally, the mana stone trade would likely fall through as well. I intended to seize that opportunity and force my own mana stones onto the Gracia Empire.
Revenge against that woman and a business opportunity all at once. There was no reason to hesitate.
“And now they tell me it failed!”
Should I send more assassins?
I absolutely had to eliminate Camilla this time.
“Damn lucky bastard.”
When I heard that Camilla had secured not only the mana stones but also an enormous contract with the Gracia Imperial Court, my blood boiled with rage.
How had she managed such a massive deal? Whenever nobles gathered, that was all they could talk about.
‘Cursed woman!’
Even my other businesses, which I had been maintaining reasonably well, were being shaken by this turn of events.
Starting with the textile companies I traded with, everyone was scrambling to align themselves with the Sorpel Family. After severing all ties with me, naturally.
“But my lord, there is another problem.”
“Another problem?”
“One of the assassins was captured alive, it seems.”
“What?”
“I heard they are currently being interrogated-”
Boom!
I slammed my fist against the table once more.
“Have them eliminated immediately!”
“That is….”
“What now!”
“The one interrogating the assassin is none other than Duke Escra.”
“Duke Escra?”
I had heard that name before. Wasn’t he the architect of the Gracia Empire’s civil war victory?
I heard the current Gracia Emperor would even give him his liver if he asked.
“Why is he…!”
Why would such a man involve himself in this matter!
“They can’t even make decisions on their own, let alone allow others to approach them….”
Bewilderment began to settle across Marquis Gabriel’s face, which had been flushed with rage. What if his involvement in this matter were exposed?
I had boasted that the organization handling this task would never reveal their client, but how could I trust such a promise?
“Send people to the Sorpel Estate at once and investigate the situation discreetly!”
“Understood.”
Marquis Gabriel clenched his trembling hands into tight fists.

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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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