A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 207

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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 talking about right now?
“Passing the throne to Prince Abihel?”
“Before his passing, His Majesty left a will. Moreover, there is a document… bearing the Emperor’s seal, I’m told. There are witnesses as well…”
“Ha!”
Crown Prince Edsen let out a hollow laugh.
The Emperor was dead, and the throne had passed to the Second Prince.
One thought crystallized in that instant.
“That woman.”
Empress Javela—it was unmistakably her doing.
How else could such a thing unfold all at once?
“Who knows of this?”
“Only a few from Prince Abihel’s faction are involved. It appears they intend to announce His Majesty’s passing and reveal the will simultaneously.”
“The ministers?”
“Those aligned with Prince Abihel are gathering at the Imperial Palace.”
“They certainly seem to have known the exact moment Father would pass.”
“My apologies. I should have been more vigilant.”
“These were calculated moves. I cannot fault you for that. For now, inform our people by any means necessary.”
“Understood.”
Crown Prince Edsen quickly assessed the situation. What was done was done; damage control came first.
He rose to leave for the Emperor’s quarters.
“…What is this now?”
But he was forced to stop immediately. Soldiers bearing swords and spears had already taken position outside the door.
“My apologies.”
A knight from the Imperial Guard approached and bowed respectfully.
“As of this moment, Your Highness cannot take a single step from this place.”
Crown Prince Edsen’s lips twisted bitterly.
“By whose order?”
“By order of Empress Javela.”
So there were indeed Imperial Guard members loyal to the Empress. This one was surely among them.
Observing the knight’s courteous demeanor masked by barely concealed contempt, he was certain.
“Now that Father has passed, the ultimate authority should rest with me, the Crown Prince.”
“Unfortunately, Your Highness is currently under suspicion of assassinating His Majesty the Emperor. You cannot leave.”
“What?”
Me? Assassinate Father?
Crown Prince Edsen ran a hand roughly through his hair. His lips twisted again, this time into something far more dangerous.
And then…
A wet, tearing sound.
Blood sprayed forth in an instant.
The soldiers standing nearby watched in shock as the knight who had been speaking so calmly collapsed.
Swords and spears immediately turned toward Crown Prince Edsen.
“Ah, my apologies. I’m afraid I don’t have time for further conversation.”
His gaze, having offered a belated apology to the already fallen corpse, slowly shifted toward the soldiers.
At that look, they all hesitated and took a step back.
“Is there anyone else who wishes to speak with me?”
His smile deepened further.
* * *
“What’s the situation?”
[It’s a mess.]
“How is Crown Prince Edsen?”
[Couldn’t find him.]
“What?”
Upon hearing news of the Emperor’s death, Camilla made her way discreetly toward the Imperial Palace. The palace had already been sealed, its entrance strictly barred to outsiders.
But since she had no intention of entering the palace in the first place, that hardly mattered.
She had come here to confirm one thing.
Camilla concealed herself nearby and had Zeno observe the situation within the palace. Above all, she asked him to locate Crown Prince Edsen and check on his condition.
“The Emperor is dead.”
The moment those words reached her ears, a single thought crystallized.
“Did it transfer again?”
Could it have possessed another body?
If so, Crown Prince Edsen was the most likely candidate. He was the most certain choice to ascend to the throne next.
Given that it had inhabited such individuals thus far, she wondered if it would do so again—
[From what people are saying, he’s fled.]
“Fled?”
[They’re saying he assassinated the Emperor.]
“What?”
Camilla’s brow furrowed slightly.
What kind of situation was this? It made no sense for such an accusation to be leveled at the body it would inhabit.
‘It didn’t possess Crown Prince Edsen’s body?’
Then whose?
“Could it be—”
“What? What is it?”
“What? Has the Ghost already arrived?”
Those who had come to this place with Camilla were none other than Arsian and Jainer.
The moment they heard of the Emperor’s death, they immediately followed her outside. Camilla did not refuse their company.
“Is it really here?”
Having learned one of Camilla’s secrets on the way here, Jainer now regarded her with newfound delight in his eyes.
At first, he could only find it strange—the way she attempted to converse with empty air.
Even after learning she was speaking with the dead, he found it difficult to believe. ‘Is she toying with me?’ he had thought—
“You see it too, don’t you?”
“Don’t mind it.”
While she couldn’t see or converse with the dead as precisely as Camilla could, Arshian Sefra also possessed the ability to perceive those who had passed, did he not?
‘Is this the power of a house that bears the divine essence of death?’
Even I, the master of Khan, had not known this fact until now. House Sephira was simply a place shrouded in so little public knowledge.
“I should verify Prince Abihel as well.”
“The Second Prince?”
“Yes.”
If it wasn’t Crown Prince Edsen, then only one remained.
“Miss.”
At that moment, the butler Rube—or rather, Rube, the leader of Black Shadow—appeared swiftly.
No one in the room was startled by his sudden appearance. Both Arshian and Jainer had already seen through his true identity.
“The three Dukes have also arrived.”
It seemed they had rushed here immediately upon hearing news of the Emperor’s death.
“Where are they now?”
“At the Main Gate.”
“What?”
In this situation, they intended to enter boldly through the Main Gate?
When Camilla sent him a look of surprise, Rube instead wore a puzzled expression, as if questioning why she would ask something so obvious.
“There is nowhere in the Faybler Empire that the three Dukes cannot go. Not even the Imperial Palace itself. That is what it means to be a Guardian House.”
In other words, even if Empress Javela sealed the Imperial Palace, it would be meaningless to the three Dukes.
Of course, there had to be legitimate reasons for such actions.
“The gates will open shortly. What will you do, Miss? The Head of House wishes for you to return home.”
All three Dukes who had heard the Emperor’s true nature from Camilla would surely understand.
What the Emperor’s death meant. The fact that he had already parasitized another’s body.
Duke Sorpel probably didn’t wish to face such a dangerous being ever again.
“I’m going too.”
But I couldn’t simply return like this.
‘If he hadn’t crawled into Crown Prince Edsen’s body…’
He must have stolen someone else’s body, and I needed to confirm with my own eyes who it was and report it.
“I’m going.”
Camilla headed straight toward the gates. By the time she arrived, they were already wide open.
“Camilla.”
“Why are you here! I told you to go home!”
The three Dukes had already gone inside, so only Ludvil and Ravi remained at the gate.
At their heated reaction, Camilla flinched for a moment and averted her gaze, pretending not to notice. They began trying to persuade her.
“It would be better if you went home.”
“No. There’s something I need to confirm myself.”
“What is it? We’ll check instead, so you go.”
“It’s not something my brothers can do. Has Father already gone inside?”
“You…!”
Arshian, following after the fleeing Camilla, gave them a reassuring nod as if to say not to worry.
Everyone who saw her like that let out short sighs. But no one tried to stop her anymore. Who could break such stubbornness?
“Sigh, I’m worried.”
Ravi shook his head lightly. Why was she so fearless? She wasn’t like this before.
What if she gets hurt doing this!
“Just go home.”
“I wish you’d go home too.”
“Pardon?”
Ravi’s gaze, which had been clicking his tongue at Camilla, shifted toward Ludvil. Was he really telling him to leave because he wasn’t being helpful?
“I’m being helpful too…!”
“If you sense danger, run immediately.”
“…What?”
But at Ludvil’s following words, Ravi’s voice caught in his throat.
So right now… he was telling me to go because he was worried about me…?
Tap.
“Don’t get hurt.”
After lightly patting his shoulder, Ravi could only stand there dazed as Ludvil walked ahead.
“…Why is he acting like that these days?”
Only after a long moment did Ravi grumble and begin walking as well.
Despite his complaining tone, a faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth. Though he himself seemed unaware of it.
* * *
“Welcome.”
As if she had already anticipated their arrival, Empress Javela greeted the three Dukes with genuine warmth.
Numerous people were already positioned around her. All were nobles who had long followed the Second Prince.
“His Majesty…?”
“He fell victim to poison and couldn’t even preserve his body properly.”
Empress Javela shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears. To anyone’s eyes, she was a pitiable figure of utmost sorrow.
“He drank tea sent by Edsen, and that’s what happened. Poison was found in that tea.”
Duke Sorpel barely suppressed the groan threatening to burst from his lips.
‘Just as Camilla said.’
He had already heard from Camilla that when a soul is extracted from a body, the flesh rots away. So that’s why they couldn’t show the corpse.
“Where is the Second Prince?”
“We don’t know where Edsen is now. He fled.”
“…You said he fled?”
“He must have been frightened. The very fact that he fled is his own admission of guilt, isn’t it?”
The three Dukes clicked their tongues inwardly. The Edsen they knew was not such a fool.
If he had attempted regicide, he would have planned more carefully. He was absolutely not the kind of person who would be so careless as to poison tea he himself had sent.
‘Rather, this situation right now…’
‘Does this mean Crown Prince Edsen’s body wasn’t taken over?’
‘Then it must be Prince Abihel.’
The Emperor’s death was not the issue right now.
The three Dukes’ concern centered on one question: whose body had the soul that departed from the Emperor’s entered?
Like Camilla, they too were certain that the soul which had escaped the Emperor’s body could not have entered Crown Prince Edsen’s.
“My goodness.”
It was then that Prince Abihel appeared.
The gazes of the three Dukes sharpened simultaneously upon him. Duke Sefra, in particular, scrutinized him with keen attention.
And he could see it.
A dark spectral form hovering around Prince Abihel.

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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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