A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 164

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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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…From what I can see, you’re already as unlikeable as you could possibly be.
“Apply the medicine for me.”
“What?”
“Here.”
Arsian closed his eyes and tilted his face toward me. For a moment, I lost my composure entirely.
Why was he doing something so unlike himself today?
After a brief sigh, I picked up the medicine and carefully applied it to Arsian’s face.
“….”
My hand froze as I was applying the medicine to the split corner of his mouth.
‘Here we go again.’
My heart pounded violently. As my pulse quickened, I furrowed my brow slightly, then released another long sigh and carefully finished applying the medicine across his face.
* * *
“Is there a Healer more skilled than the physicians who work for the Imperial Court?”
[Why are you suddenly asking that?]
[Why? Do you need someone examined?]
“It’s me.”
[You?]
[Where are you hurt?]
At my words, Derin and Zeno’s faces grew rigid as they urgently questioned me. Well, their already pale complexions turned even more ashen—it was rather frightening.
“My heart seems to be acting up.”
[Your heart? Why? Are you in pain?]
“It suddenly pounds rapidly, and sometimes there’s a sharp, aching pain.”
[When did this start?]
“Recently. Arsian and Laila were together, conversing intimately about something, and that’s when my heart started feeling strange.”
[Does it happen constantly?]
“Not constantly. Most of the time I’m perfectly fine.”
[Then? When else does it happen?]
“Now that I think about it, it mostly happened when I was around Arsian.”
[That’s quite peculiar.]
[You’re not actually hurt somewhere, are you?]
“It does seem that way. The Imperial Court Healer said there’s nothing physically wrong with me. Perhaps I should seek a second opinion from someone else?”
[It’s possible your energies are incompatible with Arsian’s.]
“Arsian’s energy? Can incompatible energies cause heart problems?”
[There are those who are naturally incompatible from birth. I’ve heard that when one’s qi doesn’t align with another’s, it can cause bodily harm.]
“Really? My energy doesn’t match with Arsian’s?”
[Why not maintain some distance for a while?]
[That would be advisable.]
“Hmm, let me seek another opinion first.”
[Do as you see fit.]
[You mustn’t fall ill, Miss.]
“It shouldn’t be anything serious, right?”
Zeno and Derin gazed at me with concern.
“….”
Dorman, watching from the side, let out an exasperated laugh.
A man who had only ever acted out romance his entire life, a swordmaster who knew nothing but his blade and died with it, and a butler who spent his whole existence gathering information, never even marrying before his death—listening to their conversation was utterly absurd.
‘What are they even saying?’
Though he couldn’t hear the two ghosts’ exchange, Dorman understood the entire situation from my words, and he found himself at a loss for how to deal with these hopeless romantics.
“…Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that.”
“What?”
“No, it’s nothing at all.”
Dorman had absolutely no desire to involve himself in their conversation. So he carefully backed away and swiftly removed himself from the scene.
Side story. The Child Who Obeys Commands
“From the beginning again.”
I was always learning something in obedience to commands. All my memories were like this.
I learned to dance and sing. I mastered every act that could please another.
I also learned the easiest way to kill a person.
Whether dancing, singing, or lying in bed, I gradually learned how to reliably end someone’s life.
I didn’t know the reason. Questions weren’t permitted.
Rather, I wasn’t allowed to think at all—my world consisted only of doing whatever I was told.
I didn’t even know the word “going out,” and I’d never had a friend. Around me were only those who educated me.
“This child will do.”
Then one day, when I turned eleven, I met a stranger for the first time.
A man who appeared to be in his early fifties examined me from top to bottom, then nodded with satisfaction.
Following him, I arrived at the Palace. He said he was the Chief Attendant who served the King.
“How pretty.”
After that, I had to dance constantly for one man. I had to sing, and I had to share his bed.
Only much later did I learn that this person was the King of this nation.
But it didn’t matter who the other person was. Whoever they were, when an order came, I simply had to obey.
From some point on, I danced before those the King designated. I did everything they desired. When the King’s command came, I killed them as I had been taught.
Refusal wasn’t permitted. I didn’t even know the word “refusal” to begin with.
“Cough… hack!”
Time passed quickly, and at some point, my body began to fail. I felt my strength waning, and I began coughing up blood more frequently.
Eventually, one day I coughed up blood right before the King’s eyes.
“How filthy.”
The King’s voice was colder than ever before.
“Clean it up.”
At the King’s command, the Attendants approached and dragged me away roughly.
Even in such circumstances, I didn’t resist. I couldn’t even resent the King. I had never been taught such things.
There was only one thought in my mind: who would give me orders now?
“Don’t worry about that. You’re going to die now anyway.”
In that moment, a voice utterly incongruous with the situation cut through the air.
My gaze, which had been dragging downward, snapped forward. There stood a man, grinning with playful amusement.
“It’s been a while since I came out to dabble in Reaper work for fun, and here’s an intriguing specimen.”
“Seize him!”
The King, wary of the man who had materialized so suddenly, barked his command. At his word, soldiers surged toward the man in an instant.
“Stop.”
“…!”
Yet with merely that single word from the man, the soldiers who had drawn their blades froze entirely.
For the first time, fear bloomed across the King’s face—the King who had been the greatest force in my entire existence.
He attempted to flee from his seat at once, but his body refused to obey his will.
“It’s faded now, but long ago, Reapers would sometimes grant the wishes of those facing death.”
…A Reaper?
“Do you have a wish you’d like to fulfill before you die? Should I kill that wretch for you? Those who obstruct a Reaper’s duties can be executed on the spot. Your command just now interfered with my work, after all.”
Wasn’t that because he appeared so suddenly in the first place?
“So, what do you say? Should I kill him?”
At the man’s question, I watched as the King’s complexion grew increasingly ashen.
A wish? What I desire?
This was the first time I had ever been asked such a thing.
No—the first time I had been asked anything at all. I had only ever received commands.
“You have no desires? This opportunity doesn’t come often. I’m not actually a Reaper, you see—I’m a Soul Manager. This isn’t the sort of work I normally do.”
The man extended his hand toward me, as if to say: rise, don’t kneel.
I stared at the offered hand for a long moment, then slowly grasped it—before releasing it again.
“I also….”
For the first time, I opened my mouth to speak.
“I want to become like you.”
It was an unexpected wish, for the man’s eyes widened. But soon, that characteristic playful smile returned to his lips.
“We’re actually short-staffed, so I’m not opposed. Becoming a Soul Manager outright would be difficult, but… start as a Reaper first.”
He was granting it? The man had fulfilled the first wish I had ever dared to voice.
“Really… can I truly become like you?”
“A long time ago, one of my seniors was just as meticulous as you are. Yet no one surpassed their performance.”
The man smiled and extended his hand once more.
“I’m Dorman.”
“….”
His hand offered again.
For the first time, a smile graced my lips.
“…I’m Habel.”
Chapter. The Crimson Stone
“Extend your hand.”
“My hand?”
Reaper Habel had appeared without warning. He hadn’t even sent word ahead.
Just as I wondered if there was yet another disobedient ghost among them, he extended his hand first.
“Why are you suddenly offering your hand?”
“Hand.”
Faced with an atmosphere so ominous that refusing seemed dangerous, I found myself complying without thinking.
Then Reaper Habel removed his earring and dragged it swiftly across his finger.
“Hey!”
So those dangling earrings served that purpose? Was that why they were crescent-shaped?
My eyes widened in shock, but the next moment left me even more astounded.
A swift motion.
“What are you doing!”
Reaper Habel had smeared his flowing blood directly onto my hand.
I gasped and tried to wipe the blood away. What kind of grotesque act was this? Why would he smear his own blood on me!
“Huh?”
Yet strangely, the blood had already vanished without a trace.
“What is this? How is that possible?”
Did I imagine it? No, I didn’t. I definitely saw it on my hand just now.
“Wait a moment.”
Do Reapers even bleed when wounded? Weren’t they essentially no different from ghosts?
“No, no!”
That’s not what matters right now!
“What are you doing!”
“Dorman ordered it.”
“Dorman? Ordered what? To smear a Reaper’s blood on me?”
“Yes.”
Have all of you lost your minds? Why would you smear a Reaper’s blood on a perfectly normal person?
“If you’re marked with a Reaper’s blood….”
“Marked with it, what? Will I be dragged away by a Reaper immediately?”
Are you all conspiring to send me to the Afterlife? Is that it?
“Damn it!”
Fine, drag me away then! I have plenty to say to those bastards up there anyway!
Let me see the faces of your superiors while I’m at it! I’ll show you what real chaos looks like! Take me away right now!
“It’s the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“You are a soul scheduled for a Reaper. No one else can lay hands on you without permission.”
“What are you talking about?”
I had been mentally cursing Dorman out of habit, but Reaper Habel’s next words made my eyes narrow. No one else can touch me?
“That means….”
“It means no one can forcibly extract your soul. Even if they are a Reaper, it’s impossible unless it’s me.”
In other words, I won’t be forcibly separated from my body by that strange group—not by the fake Lania or Bes’s son or any of them?
“Oh.”
In that instant, Camilla’s eyes gleamed as an exclamation escaped her lips.
“Reapers have this kind of ability too?”
“….”
“If you had this ability, you should have told me sooner.”
“And if I had?”
“Then I wouldn’t have been so harsh with you.”
“What?”
Snap!
“…What are you doing?”
Camilla grasped his hand firmly—very firmly indeed. Of course, Habel immediately shot her a murderous glare as if demanding she release him at once.
“Let’s draw more of our blood.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“It’s not nonsense—apply it to the others as well.”
“The others?”
“Yes.”
With just this blood, Crown Prince Edsen and the others would no longer need to live in constant dread of having their souls stolen by that strange faction.
“Come on, let’s make a generous blood donation together.”

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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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