A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 118

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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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“Did you know? Did you actually know?”
His words from before I departed for the Gracia Empire suddenly surfaced in my mind.
‘Why not take this ruby ring with you, Miss? It suits you wonderfully.’
‘Everything suits me just fine.’
‘You never know, do you?’
‘Know what?’
‘This ring might just bring you a new encounter, Miss.’
‘What are you talking about?’
The way he’d emphasized the ruby ring while packing my travel belongings now felt oddly irritating in light of the current situation.
A new encounter… and it was that man?
“You really did know, didn’t you?”
“I have always wished for your happiness, Miss.”
So he did know.
“Ha!”
How could I have failed to consider it?
Of course he would know better than anyone about my father—the very man who had directly managed my soul.
“So, Miss, how was your encounter with that gentleman—”
“Dorman.”
“Yes?”
“You have five seconds.”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re still in my sight after five seconds, Zeno will take over my body. And he’ll beat you to death.”
“Ack!”
“One, two—”
“If you need anything, just call anytime, Miss!”
As Dorman bolted from the room, Zeno standing beside me clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Watching the two of them, another long sigh escaped from my lips.
“You should have at least told me something like this beforehand.”
Ravi and my father are alive…!
“Wait a moment.”
Something doesn’t add up.
‘Red eyes… a trait of those who carry the blood of House Ersha.’
“…But Ravi doesn’t have red eyes.”
If Duke Escra spoke the truth, then what about Ravi? He couldn’t have lied in that situation, so what exactly is he?
‘Could it be that Ravi….’
Buzz—buzz buzz—!
At that moment, the communication orb placed beside my bed suddenly rang loudly.
I stared at the orb with slightly dazed eyes before carefully accepting the connection.
“Hey! Why haven’t you been answering?!”
Ravi.
「How many times have I tried to reach you! Where the hell have you been—」
“Brother.”
「…What?」
He faltered mid-complaint, his anger dissolving at the sound of my voice.
「Why does your voice sound like that? What’s wrong?」
“….”
「Tell me what’s wrong! What is it?」
When I couldn’t respond, concern crept into his tone, and strangely, my rigid body began to relax at the sound of it.
I must be losing my mind. To feel this way because of his voice.
“Just… well….”
「Hey.」
When I laughed without meaning to, Ravi’s voice grew even more serious.
「What’s wrong with you?」
“Just….”
「Just what?」
“Just… I suddenly miss you.”
「….」
The communication crystal fell silent. If he could see my face right now, I imagined he’d be utterly bewildered.
He was probably thinking to himself, ‘Did nearly dying scramble her brain?’
「Wait. I’m coming to get you.」
“What?”
But what he said next was completely unexpected.
「Father and our eldest brother are preparing to come fetch you. They said once they find whoever orchestrated this, they’ll depart immediately. I’m coming too, so wait for me.」
“…Aren’t you busy?”
「Not busy.」
What an absurd lie. The man who was always complaining that there were only twenty-four hours in a day.
I found myself laughing again without meaning to.
「You’re laughing now! You nearly died—what could possibly be so funny about this?」
“I don’t know.”
Why couldn’t I stop laughing?
Something warm rose from deep within me, stirring the laughter again and again.
「Camilla.」
“…!”
Then a different, achingly familiar voice came through the crystal. I found myself holding my breath.
“…Father.”
「Are you alright?」
At his simple question about my wellbeing, my chest suddenly tightened. I felt my eyes grow hot and quickly bit down on my lip.
Why have I become so prone to tears?
It seemed I could only show him my tears. I must truly be losing my mind.
「Camilla.」
“It’s fine, Father.”
Though I spoke as evenly as I could manage, Duke Sorpel seemed to read the faintest tremor in my emotions.
「I’ll come fetch you soon.」
“No, really. I’m fine.”
「Camilla.」
“I need to finish things here first before I leave.”
Yes, finish things.
If I simply returned now, I’d carry this unease for the rest of my life. Even if I didn’t want to, he—this man who was my biological father—would continue to haunt my thoughts.
「Are you serious?! The business is more important than this?! After everything you’ve been through, you’re still clinging to that place? Get your head straight!」
Ravi interjected again. He’d misunderstood the word “finish” to mean my business dealings with the Gracia Empire, and he shouted in frustration.
「Prepare to return immediately!」
“Don’t worry. I’ll contact you often.”
「You…!」
“I’m ending the call.”
「Camil—」
I carefully set down the communication orb and rose from my seat. There was one more thing I needed to investigate.
“Ravi….”
Why our eye colors were different.
As frustration washed over me again, a deep sigh escaped my lips repeatedly.
* * *
“Hmm.”
Early in the morning, the butler Rube, who rose before anyone else and stepped outside, suddenly stopped in his tracks. Something had caught his attention.
A single box sat abandoned in front of the mansion.
As he approached the box placed deliberately at the center of the main gate—as if pleading to be discovered quickly—he furrowed his brow slightly.
The smell of blood.
A very familiar scent wafted from the box. The sharp, metallic stench made Rube glance around briefly.
There should have been guards patrolling through the night, yet this box had appeared before his eyes now….
Detecting no unusual presence nearby, Rube immediately opened the box.
“….”
His face stiffened as he looked inside. Within the blood-stained box lay a face he knew well.
Marquis Gabriel.
There was also a message written inside the box.
He is the mastermind.
No further explanation was necessary. I could immediately understand what this was referring to.
I could roughly guess who had killed Marquis Gabriel and sent him in this box to Duke Sorpel’s Residence.
“Tsk.”
With a short click of his tongue, he closed the box and carried it toward where Duke Sorpel was.
“Marquis Gabriel?”
“It seems Miss Camilla had quite a lot bottled up inside.”
“Bottled up?”
“Not only the mana stone business, but I exposed my daughter’s shame and made it impossible for her to hold her head high in public.”
“You tried to kill someone over such a trivial matter!”
“He’s always been one to hold grudges, hasn’t he?”
Rube added lightly.
Those who crossed Marquis Gabriel or disappeared were countless. Without evidence, they couldn’t punish him, but everyone knew all too well that his hand was behind it.
Of course, it seemed he’d chosen the wrong target this time.
“So this bastard really was the mastermind…”
Duke Sorpel stared at Marquis Gabriel—already dead and sealed in a coffin—with cold eyes.
He deeply regretted not being able to find and kill him with his own hands.
“It seems Khan must have been the ones who killed Marquis Gabriel.”
“Likely.”
The assassination organization Khan.
Recently, the Sorpel Household and the Imperial Court had been systematically hunting down and eliminating Khan’s branches throughout the Faybler Empire. It seemed they’d delivered the mastermind directly, probably to sever their ties.
“It’s their way of saying they won’t touch them anymore.”
“They must have judged that dealing with one Marquis Gabriel was better than facing both us and the Imperial Court simultaneously.”
“Their credibility with their clients will be completely destroyed.”
Killing the client—it was uncharacteristic of Khan’s usual operations.
Their iron rule had always been to protect the client, no matter what.
“Perhaps this fool panicked first and acted on his own.”
At Duke Sorpel’s words, Rube nodded lightly as well. The possibility seemed quite high to him too.
“Either way, quick thinking. I was prepared to see this through to the end.”
Not just himself, but the Imperial Court too—especially Crown Prince Edsen—had been very active in this matter. It seemed he had no intention of stopping until the mastermind was revealed.
“Report to the Imperial Court.”
“Understood.”
Butler Rube closed the box containing Marquis Gabriel’s head and set it aside.
Someone might complain that despite wielding considerable power within the Empire, his end was far too pathetic.
‘It’s what he deserved.’
He clicked his tongue softly to himself.
“By the way, how is the young lady?”
“She says she’ll stay there a bit longer.”
“Even after experiencing such a thing?”
“Who could break that girl’s stubbornness?”
A long sigh escaped Duke Sorpel’s lips as he thought of Camilla. He wished he could go fetch her right now.
“I don’t understand why she insists on staying there.”
“Shall I assign someone to watch over her?”
“That would be best.”
He should have secretly stationed people from the beginning instead of merely assigning honor guards. He truly never imagined such a thing would happen in the Gracia Empire.
Duke Sorpel clicked his tongue repeatedly at his own complacency.
“She said she was fine, but…”
The slight tremor in Camilla’s voice kept nagging at him. Could there be something else he didn’t know about?
“As quickly as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
Duke Sorpel’s eyes grew heavy as he issued the command.
* * *
“Memory loss?”
“Yes.”
“Ah…”
Once an overused trope, amnesia had become the sort of plot device that now drew nothing but curses and groans from viewers the moment it appeared on screen.
Camilla listened to Count Alton’s explanation in silence, managing only a hollow laugh. It was absurd.
“There was an incident.”
“What kind of incident?”
“A long time ago—eighteen years ago, to be precise. When Kaise visited the Faybler Empire on official business, he was attacked by a group of assassins.”
It was common knowledge that this group had been led by Duke Escra’s own younger brother.
Displeased that Kaise had been designated as the heir to House Escra, the brother had seized the opportunity while Kaise was abroad and struck. The attack had succeeded.
“The knight accompanying him at the time sent word that Kaise had sustained severe head injuries, but after that, all contact was lost…”
Everyone who had traveled with Kaise was later found dead.
Yet Kaise Escra’s body was never recovered.
Those who held hope searched for him for a long time, but their efforts yielded little.
Had it been within the Gracia Empire, tracking his movements would have been manageable, but doing so in a foreign land proved far more difficult.
Moreover, they had to move with utmost secrecy to prevent his younger brother from finding him first.
“About a year later, he returned on his own.”
Everyone rejoiced at Kaise’s safe return, but he remembered nothing of the year he had been missing.

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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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