A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 170

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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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“….”
“….”
“Heh.”
“Hey.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Stop laughing, would you?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
The way his lips twitched as he fought to suppress his laughter only irritated me further. Not that I’d prefer him to burst into outright cackling either.
“Ugh! This is infuriating!”
I fixed Jainer with a hard stare as he sat across from me.
“You’re something else.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wherever you go, trouble seems to follow without fail.”
“I must have been a calamity in my past life.”
“A… what?”
“Never mind, I don’t know either.”
This infuriating Red Dragon!
‘Next time I see you, I’m going to cut down every single one of those autumn-colored branches right in front of you!’
Why does he keep doing things I never asked him to do!
“Did you really receive some divine blessing or something?”
“Divine blessing, my foot.”
Jainer, still unaware of the true extent of his abilities, found this whole situation utterly fascinating.
Since he kept asking, I gave vague answers and moved on. I couldn’t be bothered.
“All these willful creatures are driving me mad.”
I swept my gaze across the surroundings with a somewhat fierce expression. Could there be spirits lurking in this garden as well?
‘Just let me catch them.’
I’ll tie up those fluttering wings of theirs for real! If I lose my temper, I’m calling Aislah!
“Who’s being willful?”
“Those things. The colorful ones that flutter about.”
“What?”
Jainer burst into light laughter again.
“You certainly have many secrets.”
“…I’d rather not hear that from you of all people.”
As if anyone in this world harbors more secrets than you do!
“But that’s exactly what makes you so entertaining.”
“I’m not living like this for your amusement.”
He chuckled briefly before suddenly reaching out toward me.
“You have dust on you.”
I instinctively leaned back, but he gently grasped my shoulder.
“Let me brush it off.”
Did dust get in my eyes?
He carefully wiped at Camilla’s eye. The tickling sensation made her face scrunch up involuntarily, her eyes closing shut.
“It won’t come off easily.”
“Just let me do it…!”
The moment Camilla tried to lean back again, Jainer’s hand was already withdrawn. Simultaneously, her eyes widened.
“It seems to have come off already.”
“Older Brother.”
Someone had seized Jainer’s hand and pulled it away from her. It was Ludvil.
“Ah, is that so? When did it come off? I didn’t notice.”
Jainer replied smoothly and quickly withdrew his hand. Ludvil, who had been watching him silently for a moment, took a seat off to the side.
“Are you finished with training?”
“Yes.”
“How did you find your way here….”
“Rube told me you and she were here.”
His hair was still damp, as though he’d come straight after washing. Why had he rushed out while still wet?
“Perfect timing. I made some black tea pudding this morning that I was planning to give you. Let me bring it for you now.”
I was thinking of grabbing a dry towel as well while I was at it.
I’d considered sending Dorman, but he was the type who hated being in the same place as Jainer, so he’d already vanished without a sound and was nowhere to be found.
‘Come to think of it, he’s been slacking off quite a bit lately.’
That bastard! He can’t even do his job as an attendant properly? Starting tomorrow, I’ll have him work all day at the Cafe.
‘He’d better prepare himself.’
“Please wait a moment.”
Camilla grumbled inwardly and headed straight for the Kitchen. By now, the black tea pudding should have cooled down nicely.
“….”
“….”
With Camilla gone, a heavy silence fell over the space where only Jainer and Ludvil remained.
Jainer was the first to speak.
“You two seem to have quite a good relationship.”
A characteristic soft smile played at his lips.
But Ludvil immediately recognized that his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
“We’re family.”
At that brief answer, Jainer let out a soft chuckle. At that laughter, Ludvil’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“Family, even though not a drop of blood is shared between you. Ah, my apologies. I’ve spoken out of turn.”
“That applies to you as well, doesn’t it?”
The implication was that neither Jainer nor Ludvil shared blood with Camilla.
“I’ve lived with her far longer than you have.”
Having added even more to his response than usual, Ludvil returned to his typical indifferent demeanor.
“Indeed.”
Jainer nodded lightly.
“If I were to return, she would be the first person I’d seek out.”
Go back? To where?
“I’m told you can’t return anymore. What a shame, really.”
Ludvil stared intently at Jainer, who was spouting incomprehensible words, but Jainer simply smiled quietly instead of offering an explanation.
“Ugh, I hate this.”
“I told you. You’ll get mold growing on your body!”
“How could mold grow on a living person’s body?”
“It’ll be the first time it happens on yours.”
A sudden commotion made both men turn their heads.
Camilla was dragging some man along with her.
It was Ravi.
“Man, I’m starving.”
Ravi, who had been cooped up in the Research Laboratory since yesterday, yawned and trudged along.
He had been heading to the Kitchen to take a brief break and grab a snack when—
“Hey!”
“…Damn it!”
By sheer misfortune, he ran straight into Camilla.
She immediately grabbed him before he could escape.
“Hey! You there!”
Smack!
“Ow! Did you just hit me?”
“Does it hurt? You’re basically a zombie.”
“A zombie? What’s that?”
“Stop talking and follow me.”
“Why? I’m busy.”
“Should I cut off your mana stone supply?”
“Hey!”
He ended up being dragged along regardless, subjected to endless nagging about needing some sunlight.
“Don’t even think about moving until you finish all of that.”
“I need to move to eat.”
“Eat instead of wasting time with wordplay.”
“Eat… Your language is getting rougher by the day, isn’t it?”
“It’s a blessing that only my language is getting rough.”
“Then who did I get hit by just now?”
“Who knows?”
“How shameless.”
Behind the bickering pair, Attendants and Maidservants followed with trays in hand, each bearing simple food arranged for Ravi to eat.
“Hm.”
Jainer’s eyes curved pleasantly as he watched the scene unfold.
“So even half-blood is better when it’s mixed with noble lineage, I see.”
“….”
Ludvil answered with silence. Yet the look in his eyes as he gazed at Camilla and Ravi was extraordinarily complex.
* * *
“Mom! Buy me that, that one!”
“Again?”
“Mooom!”
“Sigh! Fine. Let’s go.”
“Yay!”
As darkness descended upon the Capital’s streets, they gleamed with even greater splendor and merriment than during the day, drawing countless footsteps into their embrace.
True to the festive fervor of the night, the streets overflowed with various celebrations, while brilliant fireworks painted the sky, igniting the crowd’s enthusiasm ever higher.
Children walked hand in hand with their mothers or fathers, their free hands laden with delicacies, their faces radiant with laughter.
Boom!
“Whimper….”
“Um, Mom….”
“I’m scared….”
On this night when the entire Capital burned with festive joy, the sound of fireworks reached even the Upscale Residential District nestled in the heart of the city.
Crack!
As the fireworks burst, faint light seeped into the space that had been shrouded in darkness.
A space so vast it seemed endless. Countless stone statues lined the area like an Exhibition Hall.
Some statues knelt with hands clasped in devout prayer, while angelic sculptures stood with arms raised high as if ready to take flight at any moment.
Not a single statue held the same pose.
If one sought a common thread, it was that every statue’s expression was either weeping or grotesquely contorted.
“Ugh… ugh!”
Yet among these countless statues, actual quiet sobbing could be heard.
The kneeling angel statue—upon closer inspection, it was no ordinary stone figure. It was a Young Boy who appeared to be barely six years old.
From the child’s mouth, fitted with wing ornaments on his shoulders, came unceasing whimpers.
Yet even so, the Young Boy maintained his kneeling prayer posture without the slightest disturbance.
“It… it hurts.”
“Mom… ugh… ugh!”
Cries echoed in succession from several other statues nearby.
Click.
“…!”
But in the next instant, the sound of a door being roughly opened cut off the weeping as if it were a lie.
The children could barely breathe. Their faces, rigid with fear at the approaching footsteps, grew increasingly pale.
Thud.
The one who slowly approached where the children were was a Man in his mid-forties.
With his somewhat long hair neatly swept back, the Man possessed a distinctly intellectual impression. His eyes behind his glasses appeared particularly sharp.
Count Orleans. He was renowned for his deep knowledge of art and his patronage of struggling artists.
Moreover, his faith ran so deep that rumors spoke of his annual donations to the Temple Organization being astronomical.
This was hardly surprising, given that the wealth inherited through generations of his noble lineage was so vast that he had never once experienced financial hardship.
“The wings are attached quite well.”
A satisfied smile played at the corners of the man’s mouth as he approached the child with the angelic appearance.
His eyes gleamed with delight as he gazed upon the wings, uttering one admiration after another as though truly mesmerized by their beauty.
“You truly look like an angel.”
“Sob!”
“Oh dear, must I abandon the smiling expression for this work as well?”
“Ugh… ugh.”
“If you smiled, you would be even more beautiful.”
He clicked his tongue softly in regret, then picked up a brush he had set aside. In his other hand, he held a mysterious liquid.
After saturating the brush with the liquid, he began applying it with meticulous care to the weeping child’s body.
The child’s sobs grew louder as Count Orleans moved the brush with the gravity of a true artist.
“Please… sob! Save me, mister….”
“Good heavens, I’m not going to kill you!”
Count Orleans recoiled as though startled by such dreadful words, then spoke in a soothing tone with a serene smile.
“You will live forever. In this beautiful form.”

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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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