A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 153

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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’ll have Set A.”
“I’d like Set B, please.”
“Isn’t this surprisingly addictive?”
“It’s not just ‘surprisingly’—at first, I couldn’t understand why anyone would drink this.”
“Same here. I followed Petro’s lead initially, but I nearly spat it out after the first sip.”
“Yet now I find myself needing a cup every single day.”
“Don’t you feel like it eases your fatigue when you drink it?”
“You too?”
Coffee sales had only just begun, yet regular customers who craved it were already multiplying.
‘That’s the power of caffeine.’
Camilla, eavesdropping on the customers’ conversation from one corner of the cafe, felt a satisfied smile bloom across her lips.
Before her sat a cup of coffee brimming with ice.
‘This is it.’
A sweltering summer, a cool cafe, and a leisurely cup of coffee—I never imagined I could enjoy such a luxury in this world.
‘Honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered if people disliked it.’
Though I’d proceeded with sales, I held no certainty whether the people here would take to it. The flavor was far too foreign to their palates.
Yet it didn’t matter. What if they rejected it?
‘As long as I could savor it.’
Whether coffee sold or not, I would have ensured a steady supply regardless.
‘Because I’d be drinking it.’
Surely I deserved this indulgence? After all my efforts, wasn’t it unfair to deny myself even one proper craving?
‘But what’s this?’
The taste seemed to suit the people here perfectly.
‘Of course, those three deserve much of the credit.’
Three people who despised sweetness—Arsian, Petro, and Ludvil—had taken turns visiting the cafe and drinking coffee relentlessly.
Ravi often gulped it down like medicine, claiming it sharpened his focus, and he’d even brought other mages along.
Witnessing their enjoyment, others rushed to order coffee themselves.
Though they initially grimaced at its distinctive bitterness, they never stopped ordering.
How could I fall behind when those arrogant fools savored it so? Was I becoming outdated?
Those who’d ordered with such thoughts eventually succumbed to the taste, now seeking coffee of their own accord.
Watching all the seated customers sipping coffee, Camilla felt a swell of pride once more.
“This is nice.”
Still, I seemed perfectly suited to the life of an unemployed lounger. I never realized it during my acting days.
Simply sitting idle in the cafe without doing anything felt wonderful. Perhaps the ultimate life truly was being a wealthy idler.
‘Of course…’
The surroundings were anything but peaceful. The matter of the Guardian’s Sword still stirred up commotion.
“But that’s none of my concern.”
The Guardian’s Sword was merely the subject of gossip, and as someone from the Sorpel Family, it would be odd for me to meddle in Jebillen Family affairs.
Those planted within the Jebillen Family, including the Head Maidservant and others, had taken their own lives before proper interrogation could even begin.
Whether they’d possessed poison or some other means, when discovered the next day, their bodies had half-dissolved in death.
“He did the same thing before.”
The man who had tried to poison Duke Sorpel. When his crime was exposed, he drank poison right there on the spot, and his entire body melted away, didn’t it?
‘They really do seem to be the same kind of people.’
And beyond that, this incident revealed another truth to me.
The group that had attacked Crown Prince Edsen and us at the Hunting Grounds before.
When others visited that place later, all their corpses had vanished, leaving not a single trace behind.
“Turning to dust and disappearing like that.”
Everyone could see it clearly this time. How the strange group’s bodies had vanished.
Those whose necks were severed and who fell to Swordu’s blade began to decay rapidly after a certain time had passed, then turned to dust and disappeared with the wind.
‘Lania was the same way.’
Lania, whose soul had departed, also decomposed and turned to dust in an instant before countless eyes, as if time itself had accelerated, and vanished.
“I had a rough idea, but…”
Realizing anew that everything was connected, Camilla shook her head lightly.
“What on earth are they doing?”
I was desperately curious about who was orchestrating such things. But that didn’t mean there was anything I could actually do about it.
The bodies of those who had attacked the Jebillen Family showed no trace of souls whatsoever.
“There’s nothing to interrogate if there’s nothing there.”
Despite so many turning to dust and dying, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of a ghost.
Ding!
“Hmm?”
The shop door opened, and a familiar face entered.
“Answa.”
“Ah! I’m glad you’re here.”
“Yes, what brings you by?”
As I conversed with him, I glanced subtly behind him.
[Camilla! It’s been so long!]
His dead daughter still clung to his side like a guardian spirit.
‘I already released her restrictions, so why is she still acting like this?’
She had even gone so far as to impersonate a fortune teller to ask Father to expose her Stepmother’s crime of murdering her.
‘Of course, that incident resulted in gaining an excellent business partner.’
Thanks to it, I had formed a connection with Answa, who possessed the finest jeweler’s shop on the Continent, and was reaping tremendous profits as a bonus.
“I’m glad I stopped here before visiting the Ghost Merchant Store.”
Answa smiled briefly and handed her a box he had brought.
“What is this?”
“These are newly cut gems.”
Camilla opened the box with a light heart. But soon a short exclamation escaped her lips.
“Wow, they’re beautiful.”
“Aren’t they? I wanted to show them to you first, my lady.”
The gems Answa had been sending were certainly more refined and beautiful in their craftsmanship.
Perhaps it would be worth considering entrusting all the gem work to him soon.
He showed considerable interest in processing magic stones and the new mineral, Blue Diamond, as the continent’s finest craftsman before being a businessman.
“I hurried a bit because I thought it would be wonderful for His Majesty the Emperor to wear on his birthday.”
“Ah, his birthday.”
Now that I thought about it, that day was coming soon.
Emperor Faybler’s birthday celebration would be held shortly.
An invitation had come for me as well, so I had no choice but to attend. It seemed I had never enjoyed a visit to the Imperial Palace even once.
[Camilla, may I try this?]
Meanwhile, Laura, Answa’s daughter, showed interest in the new dessert.
Ever since she learned that she could eat food I gave her, she often requested desserts she wanted to try directly.
“Since you’re here, please try the newly released dessert before you go.”
“Shall I?”
Camilla prepared a dessert for Answa, then discreetly gathered a few more items and set the plate down on a corner table where people couldn’t see.
[Thank you!]
Laura ate the dessert with a happy expression.
She was so delighted to eat desserts she couldn’t enjoy freely when she was alive due to her poor health.
[Um… you know, Camilla…]
When the plate was half empty, her gaze turned slightly toward Camilla.
She carefully opened her mouth, seeming to gauge whether she had something to say.
[I wanted to ask you something.]
“…?”
[Do you happen to like dogs?]
“No, not at all.”
At the immediate response, Laura’s eyes widened briefly before drooping.
[I see… you don’t like dogs…]
Watching Laura lower her head and listlessly nibble on her dessert, Camilla gradually distanced herself from her.
‘I have a bad feeling. I have a bad feeling.’
A premonition that something troublesome was about to happen.
* * *
“Empress Javela, you look absolutely beautiful today.”
Empress Javela, the mother of the Second Prince and current mistress of the Imperial Court, smiled shyly at a noblewoman’s greeting.
Beyond her beautiful appearance, her characteristic soft gaze and benevolent smile were quite striking.
“Then I shall excuse myself for a moment…”
‘These wretches!’
But beneath her facade, she was grinding her teeth incessantly.
The Imperial Palace party, held after a long time.
Empress Javela could clearly sense it. The atmosphere of those approaching her had changed distinctly from before.
Those who had acted as if they would give her everything not long ago now refused to cross a certain line.
They merely observed basic courtesy before hurrying past her side.
Everyone felt that power was shifting toward the First Prince recently.
‘Bat-like creatures!’
Even the Emperor had recently been seeking out Crown Prince Edsen more often than his own son, the Second Prince. What could have prompted such a shift in his sentiments?
‘If only that matter had gone according to plan!’
The Gracia Empire. How much time and effort had I invested in their civil war?
Yet the outcome was devastating.
The prince I had backed ultimately failed to seize the throne, and my investment crumbled to dust alongside his ambitions.
‘And they spoke with such confidence!’
How much money had they extorted from me, boasting of their certain victory?
I could hardly demand recompense from those already dead or in hiding, and the frustration gnawed at me relentlessly.
Since everyone already knew of my failure, even those I had considered my allies were now scrambling to align themselves with Crown Prince Edsen instead.
‘Who am I to blame?’
It was pathetic that I had relied on such fools and obstructed Crown Prince Edsen all this time.
Yet what choice did I have? My son desperately needed their power, however degrading it was to admit. I had to rebuild my faction by any means necessary.
‘To do that, I need his strength.’
Empress Javela had only learned yesterday that the one person capable of providing that power would be attending tonight’s party, and she had silently exulted at the news.
She resolved again and again that she would forge a proper connection with him tonight, no matter what it took.
“Duke Sorpel and his sons have arrived.”
Moments later, an attendant’s announcement rang out from the entrance, and all eyes turned in that direction at once.
Gasps of admiration spilled continuously from the lips of those watching the newcomers enter.
They were all strikingly handsome, but all attention naturally gravitated toward Camilla as she entered on Duke Sorpel’s arm.

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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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