A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 156

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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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‘Ravi, starting today, this man will be your father.’
‘….’
‘….’
When Mother first said she would accept him as her husband, I felt nothing in particular. Neither did he.
Becoming a family changed nothing. We simply had no interest in each other.
He never treated me warmly, and I kept my distance from him. Neither of us was the type to reach out first.
To me, he was nothing more than ‘Mother’s husband’—no more, no less.
Then came a moment when my feelings shifted ever so slightly.
‘Ravi’s really annoying, isn’t he?’
‘Yeah.’
‘The way he acts so superior is so irritating.’
The neighborhood children didn’t care much for me, despite—or perhaps because of—my maturity for my age.
No, ‘disliked’ would be more accurate.
As a result, I became an outcast in the neighborhood and often came home beaten.
Yet I never told Mother about it. I simply hid the incidents with the other children, claiming I had merely fallen.
Then, at some point, their harassment vanished entirely. When they saw me, they would grow frightened and hurry away.
‘Your dad is really scary.’
‘He said he wouldn’t let it slide if you got hurt.’
‘The way he said it while smiling was even scarier!’
It turned out he had warned them without my knowledge—this man who had only given me an indifferent gaze when I came home injured.
That was when my feelings toward him shifted ever so slightly.
Living with this person wouldn’t be so bad, I thought.
‘Of course, it all disappeared in less than a year.’
Perhaps that’s why I disliked him even more—irritated at myself for having opened my heart to him, even briefly.
That irritation seemed to have been directed entirely at Camilla.
Whenever I looked at Camilla, my mood would twist and anger would flare.
Recalling those days when I was filled with rage to the point of seeming mad—
“Do you have something to say?”
Of course my tone toward him couldn’t be pleasant. The fact that his status was Duke Escra only irritated me further.
Was that why you abandoned Mother?
Now that I’ve recovered my memories, did Mother seem so insignificant to you? So much so that you didn’t even want to remember her?
Very few knew that Kaise Escra had no memories of the year he spent in the Faebler Empire.
Naturally, Ravi hadn’t heard this fact either, so his sudden appearance could only seem audacious.
“I was just curious.”
“About what?”
“About what kind of person could make my daughter rush off in such a panic.”
“My daughter, daughter! Please stop this!”
“If you wish, I could call you my son instead.”
“…What did you say?”
“I’m saying I’ll accept you as my son. My daughter seems unable to abandon you, after all.”
Ravi looked at him for a moment with eyes that screamed he’d seen every kind of lunatic, then quickly turned away. He couldn’t help but think he’d been more sensible when he’d lost his memory.
“Oh, quite the good temperament?”
Duke Escra let out a soft chuckle watching Ravi.
“That?”
“If it were me, I would’ve hurled curses at him, but he just walks away.”
“From what I can see, he simply doesn’t think the man is worth engaging with.”
“Could it be that I treated him well when I lost my memory?”
“….”
“What is it? That look in your eyes?”
“I’m just amazed at how you can come up with such absurd thoughts.”
“What’s absurd about it?”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
Even if he’d lost his memory, what difference would that make? Duke Escra, of all people, showing kindness to a child?
He couldn’t even manage a single warm word to his own son, Daive. Would losing his memory really change his nature?
“In any case, he seems like he’ll be a very important key in taking Camilla away.”
“That’s what I think too.”
The eyes of Duke Escra and Count Alton, watching Ravi walk off into the distance, gleamed with equal intensity.
* * *
Click.
“Huh?”
Camilla’s eyes widened slightly as she stepped through the door. There was someone she’d forgotten about for a while.
“You came?”
“You came…? Is that all you have to say?”
The one trembling at her words was none other than Dorman. He still seemed quite hurt about being left behind.
‘What a persistent fellow.’
Even he had to hold a grudge.
“How could you leave me there and not contact me even once!”
“We’re not that kind of relationship anymore, are we?”
“That’s too much!”
“Enough. It’s fortunate you came.”
“…Why?”
He rolled his eyes and fell into thought. Had I recently said something I shouldn’t have or made another mistake?
“Can you contact Habel?”
“Habel?”
“Yes.”
“I can reach him if I try, but….”
“Tell him I want to see him.”
Reaper Habel. I had questions for him.
“Why him?”
“I’ve seen something strange again.”
The spirits bound to Emperor Faybler shared a common thread.
First, their appearance. They all possessed the distinctive golden hair and amber eyes characteristic of the Imperial Court.
Upon closer inspection, there were subtly similar features among them. They were all male, for one.
‘And finally, their age.’
They had all lost their bodies at roughly the same stage of life.
‘What could this possibly mean?’
No matter how I turned it over in my mind, the conclusion remained singular.
‘Every emperor of the Faebler Empire has been the same person.’
More precisely, a single soul had been perpetually exchanging bodies to maintain the imperial throne.
“Absolutely chilling.”
So he was sustaining himself by seizing the bodies of his own children.
“My God.”
How was this even possible? Wasn’t this the behavior of a complete psychopath? How could anyone use their own child as a tool for their own survival?
Yet no matter how I contemplated it, no other explanation presented itself.
In dramas, I’d sometimes heard fathers say such things to their sons.
You are my dream and my future.
Words of encouragement and affection from father to son—but if Emperor Faybler were to speak those words to Crown Prince Edsen?
‘The meaning would be entirely different, wouldn’t it?’
Because he truly would be his future.
Goosebumps erupted across my entire body once more.
‘This time will be no different, I suspect.’
He would certainly seize the body of either Crown Prince Edsen or the Second Prince.
The bound spirits’ ages were similar to those of the two princes now—didn’t that suggest it was time for a body exchange?
“What am I supposed to do about this?”
Would anyone believe me if I told them?
And not just anyone—the Emperor himself. One misstep could cost me my head.
Without evidence, I’d be dismissed as spouting nonsense and executed for lèse-majesté.
“I need to meet with Reaper Habel.”
Habel would surely know something. Perhaps he could reveal the Emperor’s true name from the Registry of Fates, just as he had with Lania.
Meeting him might allow me to learn more precise details about the secrets Emperor Faybler harbored.
“Oh, this, by the way.”
“What is it?”
“Daive asked me to deliver it to you.”
A letter. Since Dorman was departing, Daive must have written it as a courtesy. I opened it with a faint smile.
“I hear the Party Venue was turned upside down?”
My gaze lifted from the letter back to Dorman.
“News travels that quickly?”
“Rumors about you always spread rapidly, Miss.”
“Sigh.”
A sigh escaped me unbidden. Of course it would. That man had thrown a bomb directly into the Party Venue.
By now, news that Camilla’s biological father had appeared must have spread throughout the entire Capital. I could only imagine how loudly everyone would be gossiping about it.
“Why did that man suddenly show up?”
If I had known Duke Escra was included in the Divine Envoy Delegation, I could have at least prepared myself mentally.
But it seemed Duke Sorpel and the others had no idea either.
“The person originally scheduled to come had something urgent come up and had to withdraw suddenly, so Kaise came in their place instead.”
“In their place?”
Of all people, that man wasn’t someone who should be filling in for anyone, was he?
“What was this urgent matter that came up?”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure.”
Dorman offered an awkward smile and avoided my gaze, then hesitantly opened his mouth.
Apparently, rumors had spread remarkably fast that the person originally scheduled to join the Divine Envoy Delegation had met with Duke Escra and then immediately packed his belongings and headed to the Countryside, claiming he needed rest.
If he had wanted to come with the Divine Envoy Delegation in the first place, he should have just said so from the beginning.
“Why would he go out of his way to find the other person’s weakness and chase them off to the provinces?”
‘If that man knew, he’d tell me not to go.’
Should I tell Dorman that the real reason behind all this was me? After a moment’s hesitation, Dorman decided to let it pass quietly.
“In any case, contact Habel as soon as possible.”
“Understood.”
Dorman nodded and immediately brewed a cup of tea, setting it before me.
“You seemed distressed.”
“Sigh.”
I suddenly had no idea what any of this was about. I sat down and sipped the tea, trying to clear my troubled mind.
But soon my brow furrowed again.
‘Surely I won’t have to see him again?’
Emperor Faybler. Thanks to Duke Escra’s sudden appearance, I had managed to escape the Party Venue without incident.
‘I have much I’d like to hear from you about what happened that day. I hope we can find time to meet separately soon.’
The Emperor’s words kept nagging at me. It was probably just a greeting he gave to everyone, right?
“Yes, it must be.”
He was the Emperor, after all. If anything, he’d be busy—not idle.
I tried to suppress my growing anxiety and took another sip of tea.
* * *
“…The position of Emperor. How leisurely it must be.”
A few days later, I stared at the invitation in my hand and sighed repeatedly.
It was an invitation brought personally by the Imperial Palace’s chief attendant, with a brief message saying the Emperor wished to share tea with me.
“Why does he insist on meeting me?”
He wants to hear about the day the Guardian’s Sword awakened, but I don’t even remember it clearly!
I was possessed at the time, so I don’t know much of anything. What am I supposed to tell him? And I can’t exactly ask Zeno to go in my place…
‘And it feels unsettling.’
Is that really the only reason he wants to see me? Why would he go so far as to send an invitation, summoning me to the Imperial Palace?
“What is that?”
“Ah, ah!”
Whoosh!
In that instant, someone snatched the invitation from Camilla’s hand.

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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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