A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 200

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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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Chapter. In Search of Jainer
“….”
Arsian, who had remained motionless at his desk since early evening, finally stirred.
Something rested in his hands.
“Hmm.”
A cushion. Embroidered with perfect stitching.
A rare, faint smile graced his face as he gazed upon it. At last, the cushion bearing Camilla’s visage was complete.
‘Should I wrap the box with a floral pattern?’
Originally, I had intended to keep this cushion for myself. But Laila refused to part with the one she held….
However, Rio had caught me embroidering it, and she discovered the truth.
‘When are you giving it to me?’
‘What, what?’
‘My face cushion.’
‘That, that is…!’
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
Recalling Camilla’s radiant smile as she said she would wait, I quickened my embroidering pace. I had long abandoned any thought of keeping it for myself.
How much patience had been required to complete even this single piece? Had it not borne Camilla’s likeness, I would have discarded it long ago.
“This part here….”
It falls short of the real thing!
I corrected the eyes dozens upon dozens of times, yet capturing Camilla’s distinctive crimson gaze proved impossible.
“Still, well.”
The way I lifted the cushion with both hands was unusually careful and tender.
After rolling my stiff neck once to loosen it, I headed straight for bed, drowsy.
But my eyes snapped open again almost immediately.
Arsian furrowed his brow and rose from the bed. Even as he did, he took care to gently cover the cushion with a blanket.
Blood must not stain it.
“What?”
Arsian, who had been radiating killing intent as though ready to slay whatever stood before him, froze at the unexpected sight unfolding before his eyes.
The presence that had materialized in his room—or rather, the existence itself—deepened the furrow between his brows.
“What is that?”
[….]
A black wolf. Luna, the Shinsu of House Sephira, responded to Arsian’s curt question by shaking her massive frame lightly and dropping something from her back onto the floor with a soft thud.
“What did you drag back?”
The figure that fell to the floor was a person. And it was a face Arsian knew well.
It was Jainer, who had been freeloading at Camilla’s home.
“Don’t bring strange things here. Take him back where he belongs.”
Jainer, already completely unconscious, did not even groan. The unceasing flow of blood suggested his injuries were quite severe.
‘How bothersome.’
To me, Jainer was merely an impudent assassin who harbored delusions of living with Camilla.
“….”
I stared at him in silence for a moment, then turned back toward the bed. Without a word, I lay down as if nothing had happened.
Nestled against my chest was a cushion embroidered with Camilla’s face, held with utmost care.
[….]
Seeing this, Luna picked up Jainer in her mouth.
“Hey, that’s not food.”
Luna carried Jainer closer to me and set him down, as if urging me to take a closer look.
I finally rose from the bed, muttering curses under my breath.
“I told you to just keep watch. Just watch! If he looked bad, you should’ve either left him alone or thrown him somewhere else—why did you have to drag him all the way here?”
The Khan’s master being so close to Camilla’s side bothered me, so I’d recently asked Duke Sefra to lend me Shinsu for a while.
I asked just in case, and surprisingly, Duke Sefra readily handed Luna over to me.
‘Watch over that child well.’
‘I would do that anyway.’
‘It seems like you have a lot on your plate these days.’
I was about to retort that it wasn’t his concern, but since I needed his favor, I simply took Luna and left quietly.
That foul-tempered creature never listened to anyone but the family head, but he was perceptive enough to realize this was about Camilla and complied without question.
I ordered him to follow Jainer discreetly and eliminate anything that might pose even the slightest threat to Camilla.
‘It’s been about two weeks since then, I think?’
Yet now he suddenly brought that dying wretch here.
‘Or not?’
Was he already dead?
“Handle the corpse disposal yourself.”
With those words, I tried to lie back down, but it wasn’t long before I had to get up again.
As Luna sniffed and thrust Jainer toward me as if he weren’t dead yet, I had no choice but to unleash a torrent of curses.
* * *
“Jin is dead, you say?”
“My apologies.”
“You couldn’t even recover his soul?”
“The situation was urgent….”
A sharp clicking of the tongue echoed through the room.
“That child still had much use left.”
“His strength proved more formidable than anticipated.”
Daniel’s voice grew increasingly desperate as his complexion turned cold.
Jainer, who had come seeking me, and Jin, who had pursued him—both were dead.
Not only that, but this entire operation to eliminate Jainer had ended in complete failure. Daniel’s lips grew parched as he reported these facts.
“The Khan’s master is no easy opponent, that much is true.”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
When Emperor Faybler finally understood and agreed with him, Daniel exhaled a silent sigh of relief.
Through this incident, I learned the true identity of Jainer Ersha, but our losses were far greater than expected.
Not only Jin, but countless individuals specially raised by the Church died—all at the hands of a single person.
“What of him?”
“…I failed to capture him.”
I hadn’t even managed to finish him cleanly. I’d inflicted severe wounds, but ultimately let him slip away.
At some point, he vanished without a trace, and now I have no idea what state he’s in or where he’s gone.
“Tsk.”
Emperor Faybler’s sharp click of his tongue pierced my ears with particular acuity.
My body shrank further into itself.
“The Sorpel Estate?”
“I checked immediately—he didn’t return there.”
Emperor Faybler listened quietly to my words before clicking his tongue again, briefly.
Realizing his displeasure ran deeper than ever, my body began to tremble almost imperceptibly.
“How much do you think he knows about The Cult?”
“He seemed uncertain of our true identity, but he possessed considerable information about the operations we’ve conducted thus far.”
Above all else, the fact that he’d mentioned the crimson relic was something I absolutely could not overlook. The purpose of that relic must never be revealed to the world.
“He’s quite close with Camilla, isn’t he?”
“He was taken in as an adopted son by her biological father.”
“The information may have already reached that girl.”
“That far, I cannot say…”
“Finding him must be the priority.”
“Yes, I will dispose of him as quickly as possible.”
Emperor Faybler shook his head slowly at my words.
“Despite sending Jin and the others, you couldn’t finish the job. I cannot afford another significant loss just to eliminate one person.”
“But…!”
How could I simply leave someone who knows The Cult’s intimate secrets alive?
Yet as I rushed to voice my objection, I couldn’t finish my sentence.
The eyes of Emperor Faybler fixed upon me had grown far too cold.
“…I apologize.”
Realizing anew that those who had died by Jainer’s hand were individuals Emperor Faybler had cultivated with particular care, I swallowed dryly again and again.
To sacrifice such people and return with nothing to show for it.
I immediately dropped to my knees and bowed my head. I knew better than anyone the ruthlessness he possessed.
That even those he’d kept by his side for years could be cast out in an instant if they displeased him.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You will find him.”
“Pardon?”
“You will find and eliminate him yourself.”
“…Alone, Your Majesty?”
“Why? Do you need more?”
My eyes wavered like a ship lost at sea upon receiving the command.
To find and resolve alone someone whom The Cult’s entire strength had failed to eliminate.
I had been cast out.
If I resolved this matter, he would accept me back—but if I failed, it simply meant I should die as I was.
Daniel, whose eyes trembled as he bowed his head, finally opened his mouth slowly.
The answer he could give now was already predetermined.
“I understand.”
* * *
A bell chimed softly.
“Welcome.”
A young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties greeted the customer with a radiant smile.
As a Shop Clerk at the largest General Store in the City, she was armed entirely with kindness.
“Is there anything I can help you find? I’d be delighted to assist.”
The customer in the gray robe pulled low over their head glanced lightly around the shop before turning toward the Shop Clerk.
“There is something I’m looking for.”
A young woman’s voice emerged from within the robe. The faint pink hair visible was quite beautiful.
“Yes, customer. If there’s anything you desire, please tell me. There’s nothing our Trading Company cannot procure.”
“I have a fondness for snakes.”
“…Snakes?”
“I’d like to obtain something engraved with two black snakes. Could you procure it immediately?”
“Items engraved with black snakes are quite rare… Please wait a moment. I’ll speak with the manager.”
The Shop Clerk, smiling brightly, stepped into the Office located within the shop.
When she emerged moments later, her face still brimmed with a smile.

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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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