A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 134

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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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I hastily cut off the call as Daive tumbled over. I’d have to reach out to him again later.
“You two seem closer than I expected.”
“Who? Arsian?”
Jainer, standing beside me, stepped forward with a gentle smile.
“He’s my friend.”
Friend. The word no longer felt strange to me.
Using it to describe Arsian felt entirely natural now.
‘So we’ve grown that close, just as Jainer said?’
I couldn’t deny it. Since arriving here, Arsian was the person I fit with most of all.
“Is that all?”
“All of what?”
“Hmm, never mind then.”
Camilla tilted her head, observing the peculiar smile on his face.
“Either way, I’ll keep my promise.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t touch anyone related to you.”
What Jainer had asked of me was nothing less than to stop Arsian.
More precisely, to stop his actions of seeking out and destroying the Khan Branch.
‘If I do you this favor, what will you do for me?’
‘What do you want?’
‘Don’t touch them.’
‘Who?’
‘From now on, don’t accept any requests involving Arsian or anyone related to me.’
‘Is that all?’
‘Yes.’
‘Fine then.’
“Is that really all it takes?” Jainer asked again, confirming whether those were truly the only terms.
Whether the conditions ended there.
“It’s less a condition and more that I have one favor I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you later. But how did you know?”
“Know what?”
“Arsian isn’t someone who listens to others.”
Yet you were so certain he’d grant this favor?
“I knew he’d listen to you.”
“On what basis?”
“You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
Camilla’s eyes remained full of questions as she looked at him. What exactly am I supposed to understand?
“Heh.”
“…You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“Hm?”
“You know it irritates me every time you smile like that, and you do it on purpose anyway.”
“…It irritates you? That’s actually quite shocking to hear.”
I let out a soft laugh at his uncharacteristic display of hurt feelings.
“Never mind that. Can I ask you one more thing?”
“By all means.”
“Back then. When they tried to kill me.”
I recalled the assassins who had attacked me at the festival.
“They only targeted me.”
Of course, it was natural to attack one’s target.
What had puzzled me was that they hadn’t used any lethal force against the Knight protecting me or Dorman.
Even in that chaotic situation, I’d been worried about them. I was protected by the magical item Arsian had given me, but the others were defenseless against magic.
“But they didn’t attack anyone except me.”
The assassins’ behavior had been strange.
They’d launched attacks at the Knights, but they never aimed for vital points. They only revealed their killing intent toward me.
“Khan only kills their targets. They don’t commit unnecessary murders.”
“How conscientious of an assassination organization.”
Conscience and assassination organization—truly incompatible words.
“Why is Khan’s organization based in the Faebler Empire anyway? Not the Gracia Empire?”
After learning that Jainer was Khan’s master, that had been my greatest curiosity. Why abandon his homeland?
“Father is far more perceptive than he appears.”
“The Duke?”
“If we’d operated in Gracia, he would have found out soon enough.”
“Still, isn’t it quite far? You can’t even use inter-kingdom teleportation circles, yet you keep traveling back and forth.”
Jainer let out a small laugh at that.
“I appreciate you viewing our Khan so charitably.”
“What?”
“The world doesn’t operate solely on legality.”
“What do you mean… Surely you’re not…”
“Teleportation circles are being used covertly.”
He meant they were using magical circles illegally, despite government restrictions.
“Any other questions?”
“No.”
“May I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
Jainer’s lips curved into a smooth arc.
“What happens when a former Soul Manager dies?”
A former Soul Manager… Could he mean Dorman?
“Why are you asking?”
“….”
Watching him smile silently in response to her question, Camilla found herself swallowing dryly without realizing it.
His lips curved upward, but his eyes were so devoid of warmth….
‘Dorman… you’re going to die.’
Chapter. Waiting
“That boy? The son of the man who was murdered recently.”
“That’s right. I heard he was stabbed to death….”
“It’s rather pitiful….”
“It is pitiful, but what on earth could he have been doing to deserve being murdered?”
“Indeed.”
“Still, the boy seems to be quite the scholar. Judging by how he attends here on a scholarship. I heard his family circumstances aren’t particularly favorable either….”
Graecia Royal Academy. In the elementary division, where only children under ten years old could enroll, they held a special event at this time every year.
An event where parents were invited to witness their children’s progress over the semester—a parent observation class, in other words.
On that day, those entering through the Academy’s gates noticed a child and began whispering among themselves. He appeared to be about nine years old.
“But I heard that boy’s father worked under Ersha Erska, whose crimes were exposed this time?”
“I see….”
“He must have met his end while engaged in some unsavory business.”
The whispers grew louder, and the child walking alone, Evan, bowed his head lower and lower.
Though young, he was old enough to understand those words. Lately, even his friends wouldn’t play with him.
‘His dad’s a criminal!’
‘That’s why he’s dead!’
‘My mom said not to play with him.’
At first, he had shouted back, insisting his father wasn’t that kind of person, fighting against their accusations.
But as time passed, and more and more people said the same thing, doubt began to bloom. Evan grew increasingly confused.
Could my father really have been a bad person?
“Oh my!”
“Look over there!”
Suddenly, the crowd began to murmur. All eyes at the Academy’s entrance turned toward one point.
The carriages lined up to enter through the gates parted one by one, and through the gap came a single carriage, gliding forward with unhurried grace.
“That’s…!”
“House Ersha!”
The slowly approaching carriage bore the rose emblem symbolizing House Ersha, exquisitely engraved upon it.
“Why would that carriage….”
“I haven’t heard that any of House Ersha’s young masters attend the Academy.”
“Could it be that the second young master is enrolling this time?”
“I heard he chose private tutoring instead….”
As people watched, the carriage soon came to a halt, its door opened, and a figure emerged from within.
“It’s the eldest Ersha young master!”
“He’s returned!”
Jainer—at his appearance, exclamations rippled through the crowd. Simply standing there in silence, he commanded all attention.
But that was not the end. Another figure then revealed themselves from the carriage.
“Ah, Duke Escra!”
The moment he descended from the carriage with his characteristic expressionless face, the surroundings fell silent in an instant. Only the sound of people swallowing nervously could be heard intermittently.
Everyone stared blankly at Jainer, who was flashing a warm smile, and Duke Escra, from whom cold radiated palpably.
“That must be the child.”
“Hmm.”
But moments later, upon spotting a young boy, they approached him directly.
Like everyone else, Evan had been staring at the two of them in a daze, and his eyes grew progressively wider.
Duke Escra and Jainer were walking straight toward him.
“Hello, Evan.”
At Jainer’s greeting, Evan’s lips merely fluttered. Then, realizing his mistake, he hastily bowed his head.
“Ah, hello.”
Though I didn’t know who they were, seeing everyone around me panic suggested they must be people of considerable importance.
In one swift motion—
“…!”
The boy who had been bowing nearly cried out. His field of vision had suddenly risen.
“Considerably smaller than Daive?”
Duke Escra had lifted the child into his arms. He clicked his tongue briefly.
“You’ll need to eat more.”
Evan’s lips merely parted again. The same was true for everyone else.
What in the world was happening?
“Evan.”
“Yes…? Yes!”
The dazed child answered hurriedly at Jainer’s call.
“From today on, my father and I will be your guardians.”
While the child tilted his head in confusion at what that meant, the reaction from those around him was extraordinary.
A child with Duke Escra and the young lord as guardians! Everyone’s jaws dropped.
People couldn’t help but wonder. What could this child possibly be that these two would take on the role of guardians?
“We have a debt to your father.”
Duke Escra gently ruffled the child’s hair.
“Let’s go inside.”
I’ve come in place of your parents.
With those words, the Duke turned toward the Academy building, still carrying Evan in his arms.
Everyone could only stare after them in stunned silence.
* * *
“I’ve brought so many wildflowers! I thought the young lady would like them!”
“….”
“Did I do well?”
Dorman entered the room looking as though a flower in his hair would suit him perfectly.
“Dorman.”
“Yes.”
“Do you like wildflowers?”
“Aren’t they rather pretty? You liked them too last time, didn’t you, Miss?”
“When you die, I’ll decorate your tomb with wildflowers.”
“Pardon?”
Does he know? That I died and came back to life.
‘Those who jest so carelessly on the surface are the most terrifying.’
Even after learning the truth, Jainer remained remarkably composed. He didn’t even harbor anger toward Dorman, the source of all his misfortune.
‘Lord, killing him would be pointless, wouldn’t it? He doesn’t seem to have become entirely human.’
‘Is that so?’
‘And when you think about it, he’s not really such a bad person!’
‘I see.’
It seemed we were moving past it for now, but whether he’d truly given up was unknowable. He was inscrutable, after all.
“By the way, the mansion is quite quiet today. I don’t see Duke Escra or Jainer anywhere.”
“They both went out.”
“Where to?”
“The Academy.”
“…? Why there?”
“I made a request of them.”
The spirit who had helped me before.
The one who claimed Ersha had killed him and brought me his secret ledger and various information—that spirit had come pleading.
Asking me to please help his young son who attends the Academy.

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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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