A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 132

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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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How on earth could this be happening?
Only Ersha himself knew the truth of the matter.
The sole person who possessed this knowledge was already no longer of this world.
Though I desperately wanted to tear that mouth shut, I could do nothing. Countless eyes were fixed upon my every expression.
As I watched her draw another card, a scream threatened to burst from my lips, which I barely managed to swallow.
“The location of the secret ledger is—”
“Silence! Speak one more word and I swear I won’t let this slide!”
At last, a loud cry erupted from my mouth.
“It’s a false accusation, brother! How could I possibly—!”
I cried out earnestly toward Duke Escra, but what returned was a gaze as cold as frozen salt.
Unlike the others who thought “surely not,” he seemed to harbor not the slightest doubt in Camilla’s words.
“We can simply verify whether it’s a false accusation or not.”
“B-brother!”
Duke Escra rose from his seat without further delay, as if there was no time to waste.
“Where did you say the ledger is located?”
“Brother! You’re not actually believing this nonsense!”
“Yes.”
“So my words… what?”
“If I don’t believe my own son, whose words should I trust?”
“P-please, just hear me out a bit more—!”
“Here.”
Camilla, interjecting into their exchange, handed Duke Escra a small piece of paper. It contained the location of the secret ledger.
Taking the paper, Duke Escra immediately departed the Conference Room.
“Brother! Brother! W-wait just a moment!”
Ersha hurried after him in desperation. Several others in the Conference Room also hastily rose and followed Duke Escra.
Everyone had come to realize this was no trivial matter to brush aside.
If Camilla’s words were true, it meant Ersha had embezzled the family’s funds.
That was something that could never be forgiven, regardless of being direct blood of House Escra.
Those still remaining in the Conference Room gazed at Camilla with eyes mingling fear and shock.
The sound of dry swallows echoed throughout the room. Each person feared whether their own hidden secrets might spill from her lips.
“This tea truly has an excellent flavor.”
Amid all their stares, Camilla picked up her teacup again as if nothing had occurred.
‘Why would anyone provoke someone sitting quietly?’
Her expression as she sipped her tea was utterly refreshed.
“Heh.”
Only Jainer laughed with amusement at the sight of her.
* * *
“I really never intended to go this far.”
“Really?”
…No, when asked so bluntly, I do feel a bit caught.
Camilla and Jainer took some time alone. He followed her to her quarters with a face full of questions he was dying to ask.
“I really was just planning to see your face at first.”
But that bastard had to provoke me first.
Why should I hold back when an insufferable wretch acts insufferable in the most insufferable way possible?
“Is it really a precognitive ability?”
Jainer seemed intensely curious about this.
It was only natural—how else could she have discovered facts about Ersha’s infidelity and embezzlement that even his closest confidants didn’t know?
“Well, something like that.”
Since I hadn’t yet told him that I could see ghosts, I gave him a vague answer.
This time, I’d gotten some help from Zeno. I’d asked him to locate Ersha and gather information about him by lingering nearby.
It seemed wise to know at least one weakness I could exploit against my opponent.
‘But I ended up catching a big one.’
Fortunately, I encountered a ghost who harbored resentment toward him and had been hovering nearby. Zeno brought that spirit directly to me.
[I helped Ersha, that man, with his embezzlement for a long time.]
‘And then?’
[I was killed.]
‘Why?’
[Because I knew too much. Every time I met with outsiders, he would grow so angry and suspicious….]
I dug my own grave.
I was able to extract vast amounts of information from that ghost. Everything from the embezzled amounts to the locations where the double ledgers were hidden.
I also learned that Ersha had been having an affair with the wife of his most trusted subordinate.
I heard at that time that the woman had become pregnant with Ersha’s child and was using it to blackmail him.
‘That woman must be in quite a predicament too.’
The moment a child with red eyes was born, she wouldn’t even be able to claim it was her husband’s.
Just moments ago, when Ersha was breaking into a cold sweat and hurriedly following Duke Escra, I could see the ghost wearing an expression of utter satisfaction.
It even offered me its thanks before perching itself upon Ersha’s shoulder.
It seemed far more satisfied watching him utterly ruined than it would have been revealing that Ersha was the one who killed it.
“Don’t you see anything about me?”
Jainer asked with that same smiling face. His eyes, as always, were brimming with amusement.
Looking into those eyes stirred an unexpected impulse within me. The urge to shatter that expression, just once.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
I met his gaze directly and spoke quietly.
“It’s you.”
“Hm?”
“It’s definitely you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The assassins who tried to kill me this time.”
For the first time, I could see it clearly.
“The person who sent them to me—it was you.”
I watched Jainer’s relaxed expression and gaze shatter into fragments.
Chapter. Master of Khan
Ersha was imprisoned in House Ersha’s Prison that very day. Everything Camilla had said was true.
Upon discovering the ledger hidden in his secret vault, Duke Escra ordered Ersha’s imprisonment. No one opposed that decision.
Though Ersha had once wielded power rivaling Duke Escra’s, there was no way the Duke would tolerate it now that he held the position of family head.
Most of the forces that had followed Ersha had already been purged.
He, who had been siphoning money from the family coffers bit by bit, had now severed even that final thread with this incident.
With his wife having abandoned him for infidelity, Ersha had no one left to rely upon.
“I have one question.”
After handling all the matters, Duke Escra summoned Camilla privately.
“That ability you possess.”
His gaze was sharp, as though he would not tolerate a single lie. Camilla found herself swallowing dryly without realizing it.
Had he discovered that I’d lied? Did he somehow notice that I possess not even a shred of foresight ability?
“It doesn’t harm your body?”
But at his following words, Camilla couldn’t help but feel momentarily dazed.
“I’ve heard that using divine power strains the body. You’re not experiencing something similar, are you?”
“…”
Eventually, she let out a small laugh. How is it that his reaction mirrors mine so perfectly?
Duke Sorpel had said something remarkably similar before.
After my ability became known to the outside world, the very first question he posed was this same concern for my wellbeing—whether it might be causing me harm.
“Not at all.”
Only then did Duke Escra soften his sharp gaze.
“What will become of Ersha?”
“He will face the consequences of his crimes.”
The amount he had embezzled was too substantial to escape punishment.
“That aside…”
He frowned repeatedly, then let his words trail off.
I couldn’t discern what he meant to say, and his uncharacteristic hesitation felt distinctly odd.
After releasing a brief sigh, he regarded Camilla intently.
“Do not concern yourself with it.”
“Pardon?”
It was an abrupt statement. Suddenly, what was I not to concern myself with? Ersha’s disposition?
I had never concerned myself with it to begin with. I had merely asked out of curiosity about what punishment he might receive.
“Ersha—that man has always been prone to spouting nonsense since long ago.”
Ersha? Nonsense? What…
“Ah!”
Only then did Camilla understand what Duke Escra was saying.
‘Are you saying you’ll still acknowledge him as blood of our House despite that?’
‘Not knowing where his mother crawled out from, how can you accept him as blood of our House…!’
Perhaps he had been troubled by those words. Did he think I had been wounded by such remarks?
I was a bit heated, after all.
That’s why I exposed his secret so thoroughly.
“I have high standards.”
What was he suddenly saying?
“I don’t give my heart to just anyone.”
“….”
“Even if I’ve lost my memories.”
At his words, which seemed to defend my mother, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter again.
Still, hearing him appeal that my mother wasn’t ‘just anyone’ made my heart feel a little lighter—truly, just a little.
“I should be going now.”
“Very well.”
Watching Duke Escra avert his gaze as if uncomfortable with such a conversation, I smiled softly and headed out of the Study.
Click.
“Hm?”
But when I opened the Study door and stepped out, someone was waiting for me.
“Shall we talk?”
It was Jainer.
* * *
“When did you find out I’m the master of Khan?”
The two of us headed to the Garden. After confirming no one was nearby, Jainer posed his question immediately.
“From the beginning.”
“From the beginning?”
“Yes.”
How did I know? Should I call it luck?
The day I first met him came to mind. In the Garden, as I approached him while he was helping King up after Daive had fallen, there was a presence that appeared.
‘An assassin.’
Or more precisely, a ghost that had once been an assassin.
That assassin, who had tried to kill me and was being interrogated by Duke Escra, seemed to have breathed his last right then.
Before Jainer, he appeared on one knee with his head bowed low, then slowly vanished from that spot.
Even in life, his loyalty had run deep—it seemed the last existence he wished to see was Jainer.
Of course, I didn’t suspect him based on that alone. The possibility was extremely slim, but the dead assassin and Jainer could have been acquainted from elsewhere.
However, there was someone who gave certainty to that suspicion.
[That bastard’s footsteps sometimes disappear.]
Zeno, the ghost. He had detected how Jainer unconsciously dampened his footfalls and concealed his presence.
Only after hearing that could I be certain.
That the leader of the assassins who tried to kill me was Jainer.

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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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