A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 123

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

‘What could I expect from someone who doesn’t even know the child’s age?’
Besides, I wasn’t a physician, and there was nothing I could particularly do for the child.
‘Right, let it go. Sleepwalking isn’t a fatal condition anyway.’
What was the harm in wandering about a bit at night?
“….”
…Damn it.
“I shouldn’t have gone for a walk yesterday.”
The child’s hollow expression as they wandered aimlessly through the Garden, their bare feet treading upon the cold ground—I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
But befriending that prickly little thing wouldn’t be easy. First, I’d need to grow closer to them before I could even attempt conversation.
[Kyuu?]
As I clicked my tongue repeatedly, King tilted his head and, as if offering comfort, licked the back of my hand gently.
The servants standing behind me quickly covered their mouths with their hands. Daive, too, stood frozen with a spoon in hand, staring blankly at King.
“Hmm.”
Seeing this, a peculiar smile played across Camilla’s lips.
* * *
Scratch, scratch.
The soft sound of a pen nib moving echoed through the Library. Sitting alone in the vast Library, reading and taking notes, was none other than Daive.
He had maintained the same posture for over an hour now, yet showed no sign of wavering.
Squirm.
“Ugh!”
As Daive continued his usual routine of taking notes and memorizing the book, he suddenly felt something strange at his feet.
He sensed something wriggling—a tiny living creature had crawled onto his foot.
With a stiffened face and eyes wide with apprehension, Daive slowly lowered his gaze.
Could it possibly be a rat—the creature he despised most in the world?
[Kyuu.]
“…!”
Daive’s eyes widened in an instant as he looked down. There was indeed a small creature sitting upon his foot.
Fortunately, it was not a rat, but rather that Shinsu he had seen in the Dining Hall.
“King?”
The boy, having overheard Camilla call Shinsu by that name in the Dining Hall earlier, spoke the name aloud.
[Kyuu!]
King tapped his foot lightly with his front paws as if to confirm, and the boy’s rigid expression gradually softened.
After glancing around briefly, Daive reached out and carefully lifted King into his arms. His eyes sparkled even more brightly as the pure white creature rested in his hands.
Lick.
“Ha…!”
When King licked his hand, the boy burst into a broad smile before quickly closing his mouth. He had always been taught to maintain silence in the Library.
“Why are you here?”
[Kyuu?]
In response to the boy’s question, King tilted his head back and forth as if he understood nothing. Daive’s lips curved upward once more.
“King?”
But in that moment, a voice came from behind.
“There you are.”
It was Camilla.
At her appearance, the smile vanished from the child’s face, replaced by the familiar cold expression.
Swish.
Without a word, the child pushed King forward.
Yet despite the gesture, those eyes could not tear themselves away from King—as though parting with him was deeply regrettable.
[Whimper…]
At King’s pitiful cry, as if asking whether I was truly abandoning him, the child’s gaze wavered ceaselessly at the sight of King’s glistening eyes.
“How curious.”
“…What is?”
The child opened his mouth to address Camilla for the first time.
“I’ve never seen King follow someone like this before.”
“He doesn’t… normally follow people?”
“Not at all, except for Father and me. He’s too busy growling at everyone else.”
At those words, the child regarded King with newfound wonder.
King gently licked the child’s hand once more, and Daive’s expression softened without his realizing it.
‘That’s right.’
Watching the child, a faint smile blossomed at the corners of Camilla’s lips. She praised King earnestly with her eyes.
Having spotted the child in the library moments before, Camilla had given King a mission.
‘King.’
[Bark!]
‘Go charm him.’
[Whimper?]
‘You don’t know what charming is?’
[Whimper.]
‘Just do to him what you do to me.’
[Bark bark!]
Toward King, who held his head high as if to say he had completed the mission perfectly, Camilla gave a light nod of approval.
“You were studying, then.”
At those words, the child flinched and quickly set King down on the floor. Then he hurried back to his seat and picked up his pen.
“Why not take a break?”
“I have to memorize all of this by today.”
The child shook his head vigorously.
At the sight, Camilla subtly nudged King’s rear with her foot, and understanding the signal, King trotted toward the child.
Tap tap.
[Whimper?]
As King touched his foot gently and made a soft sound, the child’s attention snapped to him at once.
King lifted his head to meet the child’s gaze, then lay down entirely across his feet.
“Well, just for a moment, then…”
In the end, the child picked up King again.
* * *
Camilla and Daive stepped out of the Library for a brief stroll. Watching King dart about here and there, the child laughed continuously.
‘He laughs so well.’
I found it somewhat surprising how readily the child opened his heart. Though he still hesitated when our eyes met, his expression no longer hardened as it once had.
[This is the first time I’ve seen Daive smile so brightly!]
Sharua, who had joined us at some point, let out exclamations of admiration. Delighted by the child’s laughter, she burst into giggles each time Daive laughed.
“He is rather adorable.”
[Isn’t he, isn’t he?]
I had thought him remarkably mature for ten years old, but now, playing with King, he appeared exactly his age.
“Hm? This place is….”
After frolicking in the Garden for some time, the child suddenly stopped in his tracks.
‘Could he be remembering?’
The place where the child was looking around was precisely where I had first spoken with Sharua.
Standing in that exact spot and surveying his surroundings, I wondered—could the child be remembering last night’s events?
“Why? Is there something here?”
When I asked as if I knew nothing, the child hesitated for a moment.
“Well….”
The child’s gaze lifted upward.
“The stars are said to be very beautiful when viewed from here.”
“Stars?”
“When the moon hangs on that tree, that’s when the stars shine most beautifully, or so I’ve heard.”
The child pointed to a single tree that would be in a direct line when sitting in a chair.
“So….”
The child paused, then bit his lip firmly.
“Mother… Mother loved watching the stars from here.”
[Daive….]
At those words, Sharua’s eyes reddened in an instant.
[He remembered that.]
She continued with a trembling voice.
[A maidservant who worked here long ago mentioned it to him in passing. That I loved this place.]
It was when he was very young….
Sharua gazed at the child with newly tender eyes.
“King! Let’s go over there!”
The child began running again, leading King along.
Camilla and Sharua quietly followed behind the child.
* * *
“Huff… huff!”
As the child left the Garden and headed toward his Quarters, his pace quickened. Though his breathing grew labored, he did not slow down.
[Daive, you’ll fall at this rate.]
Sharua followed behind the child, her words of concern tumbling out in an endless stream, though there was no chance they would be heard.
In the end, the child did not slow their pace even slightly until arriving at their quarters.
The door burst open.
“Haa… haa….”
The child who had rushed inside stood bent at the waist, breathing heavily and rapidly.
Only after some time did the child slowly raise their head, and their expression hardened in an instant. They had spotted Sevine, the governess, sitting in a chair.
The child’s eyes trembled ceaselessly as their gaze met hers. Soon, their head bowed deeply.
“You’ve finally arrived, young master.”
“Governess….”
“You’re thirty minutes late for your lesson.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Only then did Sevine rise from her seat and approach Daive.
“That’s right. You were wrong, weren’t you?”
Her voice grew even softer and more gentle, yet in stark contrast, the child’s eyes visibly trembled.
“If you’ve done wrong, you must be punished.”
[Sevine! Just this once, please!]
Sharua stepped forward, blocking Sevine’s path.
[The child was happy for the first time in so long. They smiled so brightly. Please…!]
She pleaded with desperate urgency to defend the child, but again, her voice could not reach the other’s ears.
“Roll up your sleeves.”
[Sevine!]
At her command, the child weakly rolled up their sleeves.
[Please… please forgive me just this once!]
The child’s arms were already covered in scars. Some appeared old, while others seemed freshly made.
Unlike Sharua, who wept at the sight of the wounds, Governess Sevine showed no change in expression as she raised the thin cane she held high.
A sharp whistle cut through the air, followed by a crack.
The piercing sound echoed through the room. Yet as if this were already a familiar occurrence, no one showed any concern.
Crack!
The tender flesh of the child swelled red almost instantly. But Sevine’s beating continued for some time afterward.
[My dear… Daive….]
Only Sharua wept more pitifully.
“My heart aches terribly as well, young master.”
Sevine’s voice, after setting down the cane, was so gentle and magnanimous that one could scarcely believe it belonged to the one who had just wielded it.
“This is all out of my loyal devotion, wishing only for your wellbeing. You understand, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“You must never be late again.”
“I understand.”
“Let us go. Your tutor is waiting.”
“Yes.”
“Roll down your sleeves.”
Sevine pulled down her sleeve to conceal her swollen, reddened arm, then sent the child upstairs with a gentle smile.
[Sevine, you truly wish for my son’s wellbeing, don’t you?]
“It’s all for the young master’s sake.”
[I believe in you. You’re my friend….]
“I have always been on the young master’s side.”
[Yes, you’ve always been on Daive’s side. Everything… everything is for our Daive.]
Sharua hastily wiped away her streaming tears, struggling to compose herself.
* * *
“They’ve caught the mastermind.”
At Duke Escra’s summons, Camilla made her way to his Study. The moment she took her seat, he delivered unexpected news.
“The mastermind behind those who attacked me?”
“Marquis Gabriel, they say. Do you know him?”
I know him. Far too well, in fact.
“He tried to have me killed?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
I had suspected it was that strange Organization—the one that created the false Lania—trying to eliminate me. But the mastermind was merely him?
Camilla was utterly bewildered. I had provoked his temperament somewhat, but was that truly grounds for assassination?
“He’s dead, apparently.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————