A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 157

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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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“What are you doing?”
“Hmm.”
It was Duke Escra.
Instead of answering, he quickly scanned the invitation’s contents. His brow furrowed as he read it.
“You don’t want to go, do you?”
“Hand over the invitation.”
“If you don’t want to go, then simply don’t.”
“How could I refuse an invitation from His Majesty?”
“I do it all the time.”
“Pardon?”
“Yesterday the Emperor asked me to dine with him, and I declined because I was busy.”
Camilla let out a short sigh at the sight of Duke Escra’s composed gaze, as if refusing the Emperor were the simplest thing in the world.
‘How impressive. Truly.’
That’s only possible because you’re you!
If a mere noblewoman were to refuse an invitation from the Emperor, it would be no exaggeration to say she’d be buried in society that very instant.
After clicking her tongue a few times, she decided to ask something she’d been genuinely curious about while she had Duke Escra’s attention.
“Why do you keep staying here?”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
“You have nowhere to go? You have a home! You should return there.”
“You’re not there.”
“What?”
Where did that come from?
Camilla stared at him in bewilderment for a moment, then pressed her aching head with her hands.
“Listen here.”
When you were there, you never once called me daughter. You acted as though you’d simply go and that would be that. So why are you suddenly like this?
“Why do you keep trying to take me with you?”
“Why do you keep insisting on staying here?”
“Because this is my home.”
“That place is your home too.”
Camilla found herself at a loss for words. Duke Escra’s gaze was more serious than ever, enough to make her flinch.
Was he truly speaking from the heart?
“If you come with me, you won’t receive invitations like this.”
He waved the invitation in his hand.
“What do you say?”
“What do you mean?”
“If that’s what you want, I can tear up this invitation right now.”
He waved the invitation before her eyes once more, a characteristic smirk playing at his lips.
“What are you doing?”
“Tempting you.”
Camilla snatched the invitation from his hand.
“Stop meddling in my affairs and just go home.”
“I heard there’s a delicious cafe nearby.”
I didn’t even pretend to listen.
I glared at him as he continued spouting nonsense, then deliberately turned my gaze away and dismissed him entirely.
* * *
“This is that delicious cafe?”
“You seem to lack confidence in your own establishment.”
The next day, when I stopped by the cafe, I found myself face to face with Duke Escra, who had claimed a prominent seat by the window.
He’d rushed out of the Duke’s Mansion right after breakfast, so I’d wondered if he had some urgent appointment.
“The desserts here really are delicious.”
Across from Duke Escra sat Count Alton, waving cheerfully in my direction.
“This is made from those black beans?”
“To think that fruit is used this way. It’s truly remarkable. I’ve only ever seen it used as a fragrance before.”
The table where the two men sat was laden with desserts featuring coffee as the primary ingredient.
“The flavor is quite captivating.”
Count Alton seemed equally enamored with the coffee taste, gripping an iced americano in both hands and drinking it down eagerly.
“You must enjoy it too, Kaise? You dislike sweet things, after all. This drink seems made precisely for you.”
“Well, I suppose.”
At Count Alton’s words, Duke Escra casually lifted his coffee cup and took a sip, then set it down quietly again. His expression remained as indifferent as ever.
Watching all of this unfold beside them, I exhaled a short sigh internally and headed toward the counter.
“One iced latte. Very sweet.”
“Yes, just a moment.”
Once I received the coffee cup, I carried it directly over and set it down in front of Duke Escra.
“What is this?”
“Drink it.”
“I already have a beverage.”
“This one is very sweet.”
“…Sweet?”
“Well… Miss Camilla, as I mentioned earlier, Kaise really doesn’t care for sweet things.”
“Is that so?”
I reached for the latte as though I hadn’t known.
But a hand moved faster than mine, snatching the latte away—Duke Escra’s hand.
“I dislike sweet things, but I’ll drink it out of respect for the sincerity of bringing it.”
“I didn’t make it myself, and you don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.”
“Then I’ll just have that one instead—”
Count Alton interjected, raising his hand eagerly. The latte, with its rich milk blended into the coffee, looked unmistakably delicious.
“…I’ll just stick with this one then.”
But the cold glint in Duke Escra’s eyes that immediately followed forced me to lower my raised hand quietly.
In the meantime, I tried to reclaim the latte cup, but Duke Escra refused to release it.
“I said I’m drinking it.”
He really doesn’t want to give up control, does he? Watching him, Camilla couldn’t help but smile to herself.
‘So it was true.’
When she was in the Gracia Empire, Sharua, who had been Duke Escra’s wife, had casually mentioned something to her.
[Do you know what?]
‘What?’
[Our Duke absolutely loves sweet things.]
‘The Duke?’
[I didn’t know until near the end of my life, but when he’s alone, he eats sweets constantly. Though he never touches them in front of others.]
‘Really?’
Look at him now. After taking a single sip of coffee, he hasn’t touched it again.
Yet he wasn’t eating cake or any other sweet dessert himself. He was simply staring intently at Count Alton as the man happily devoured his cake.
‘He’s not even a celebrity.’
What kind of image management was this?
As Camilla watched a faint smile flicker across Duke Escra’s lips after he took a sip of his latte, a smile spread across her own face as well.
“Duke, no matter that Miss Camilla gave it to you, forcing yourself to eat something you dislike isn’t good for your health. I’ll just eat that instead-”
“Want to die?”
“Pardon? No, I was only thinking of you…!”
“Shut up.”
Moments like this made it clear that Count Alton really lacked perception.
How could he not know his superior’s preferences after spending so much time together? Even if the Duke had hidden it thoroughly.
“By the way.”
“…?”
“Is that person also one of your employees?”
“Who?”
Following Duke Escra’s gaze, Camilla turned her head and immediately wore a bewildered expression. What was he doing over there?
Scrub, scrub!
Perhaps traces of paint still remained? A figure was meticulously wiping every corner of the floor-to-ceiling window with a cloth.
“Habel.”
At her call, he flinched and hastily dropped the cloth to the floor.
It was none other than Reaper Habel.
* * *
“Is the Reaper salary really that meager?”
“….”
“Want me to pay you? Would you like to work here?”
“Not necessary.”
At Habel’s piercing stare, Camilla chuckled. She was genuinely curious about what he did before becoming a Reaper.
“I heard you found me.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Before that, can I ask you one thing?”
“…What is this?”
“I’m genuinely curious—does Dorman have some kind of leverage over you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re just so devoted to him.”
I heard that Habel had contacted him this morning.
Yet seeing him seek me out before even a day had passed was nothing short of remarkable.
I had always found it strange how he never questioned a single word from Dorman, even in ordinary circumstances.
‘Why does he follow someone who was cast out so faithfully?’
Dorman may have been his superior once, but that was no longer the case. How could such unwavering loyalty exist unless some weakness had been exploited?
“There’s nothing like that.”
Habel furrowed his brow slightly, as if exasperated.
“Tell me what you came here for.”
“I’ve spotted another human whose flesh has been stolen.”
“Where?”
“At the Imperial Palace.”
“…The Imperial Palace?”
He paused for a moment before exhaling a short sigh, uncharacteristic of him.
“Emperor Faybler, correct?”
At his words, this time it was Camilla’s turn to falter.
“You already knew?”
Camilla’s eyes widened slightly. From Habel’s reaction, it was clear he too was already aware of Emperor Faybler’s grotesque condition.
“Not just me—all the Reapers know of his existence.”
“What?”
It was an unexpected answer. All the Reapers knew? Then why were they simply allowing it to continue?
When he had saved me from the Basement before, hadn’t he immediately extracted the spirit of the one possessing the Water Ghost’s son’s body?
“Why are you just leaving him alone?”
If the Reapers had simply been unaware of the situation, I could understand. But knowing of his existence and yet doing nothing seemed deeply wrong.
“We don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Know what?”
“His name.”
“What?”
“No one knows the true name of that human.”

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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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