A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 221

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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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“You’ll be cursed! Absolutely cursed!”
At the mention of a curse, a thin smile played across Arsian’s lips.
“My family has always been cursed anyway.”
A curse was far too familiar to faze me.
“Ugh…!”
The man, finding his words utterly ineffective against Arsian, could only grind his teeth in frustrated rage.
“What? Is that all?”
Arsian clicked his tongue lightly and waved his hand dismissively.
“Mmph!”
“Take him away.”
Having nothing more to say, Arsian silenced the man with magic and handed him over to the soldiers standing behind him.
“No!”
“Mommy! Sob!”
“Please, please take me home! Wahhh!”
The surroundings had become a sea of tears. Countless children seized as sacrificial offerings clung to the soldiers, weeping uncontrollably.
‘Rio was like that too, back then.’
As Arsian watched the scene unfold, his gaze softened in a way wholly incongruous with the moment—the memory of rescuing Rio surfacing unbidden.
‘Hmm?’
Then his attention halted at a single point. Among the wailing children, one stood out distinctly.
Unlike the other children, trembling with fear, a small child sat quietly in one corner.
The boy, appearing to be around ten years old, seemed to exist in a world entirely unto himself. He showed no reaction whatsoever to the chaos surrounding him.
“Arsian.”
Moments later, a Sephra Knight approached swiftly.
“We’ve finished the preliminary arrangements. All the children’s identities have been confirmed, and they’ll be distributed by region shortly.”
“That child?”
Arsian’s gaze turned back to the boy from before.
The Young Boy remained seated in his corner, utterly motionless.
“That is….”
Perplexity crossed the knight’s face as he examined the child. When Arsian’s eyes silently questioned him, he hastened to continue.
“He doesn’t speak.”
“…Is the child physically disabled?”
It made no sense that the Eba Cult would have brought such a child. Confusion flickered across Arsian’s features.
The children brought as sacrifices, while impoverished, had always been in excellent health.
It stood to reason—since the cult members would inhabit these bodies, they would naturally select only children without physical defects.
Yet this one couldn’t speak?
“That’s still unclear….”
The knight sighed again, recalling the frustration of his earlier attempt to communicate with the silent child.
“He won’t answer about where he lives, his name, or anything else. For now, we plan to take him to the Capital and leave him at the Orphanage.”
“Hmm.”
I’d heard that sometimes people who experience severe shock fall silent. Perhaps this child was one of them.
“….”
Did he not hear me talking about himself? The child, who had remained motionless until now, lifted his head for the first time and gazed toward where Arsian stood.
Only then could I see the child’s eyes properly.
Deep green irises that evoked a lush forest.
“I understand the Orphanage in the Capital these days is stretched thin.”
“Ah, yes, that’s true.”
It wasn’t just children rescued from being offered as sacrifices to the Eba Cult like now. There were countless children who had suddenly become orphans when their parents were revealed to be Eba Religion followers and fled.
Naturally, the Orphanage was overflowing with entrusted children.
They would be sent throughout the Empire soon enough, but regardless, the current situation at the Capital’s Orphanage was genuinely dire.
“….”
“….”
Arsian’s gaze and the child’s met again. Arsian, who had been silently observing those deep green eyes for a moment, made a small gesture with his hand.
The child then slowly rose from his seat and hesitantly approached him.
“I’ll take him.”
“Pardon?”
The Knight’s eyes widened slightly.
“The child? Where to?”
“Home.”
“…What?”
He was going to take the child directly? To Duke Sephra’s Residence at that?
Though they had spent quite some time together, this was the first time I’d seen him show interest in someone of his own accord.
Was there something special about this child? The Knight cast a fresh, questioning look at the boy.
“Why all of a sudden…?”
“Just because.”
A short sigh escaped Arsian’s lips.
Honestly, he didn’t understand it himself. Why he couldn’t ignore this child.
“Come on, let’s go.”
After gazing once more at the child’s green eyes, Arsian took his first step and departed from that place.
“….”
The child carefully followed in his wake.
Chapter. The Gift They Left Behind
“It’s been a while, Lady Sorpel.”
Crown Prince Edsen reclined casually in his chair, waving his hand lightly.
“Yes, Your Highness. It’s been some time since we last spoke.”
Camilla bowed with appropriate courtesy.
‘Am I imagining things?’
He seemed somewhat weary.
On the surface, he appeared as composed as ever, brimming with leisure. That cunning gaze of his, constantly searching for any flaw to exploit, remained unchanged.
Yet there was something about him that seemed slightly fatigued. Could it be because of the recent rumors she’d heard?
Camilla clicked her tongue softly to herself.
“Have you eaten?”
“…What?”
“Have you had a meal?”
The harder a person works, the more carefully they need to eat. Just looking at him, it was clear he hadn’t had a proper meal in ages.
“…Ha.”
His eyes widened slightly as he gazed at Camilla, and a soft chuckle escaped his lips.
Only then did Camilla realize her own meddling, and she cursed quietly to herself.
‘I know, I know. I’m aware.’
That we shouldn’t be exchanging such questions.
It was simply an old habit of hers—even if someone was a bitter enemy she’d been grappling with by the hair yesterday, she could never overlook them going hungry.
‘Perhaps because I starved so much as a child.’
I couldn’t bear to see others go without food.
Camilla deliberately averted her gaze from Crown Prince Edsen’s amused expression. For some reason, it felt awkward.
“That’s not so bad.”
“Pardon?”
Camilla’s eyes widened slightly. An unexpected response had come back—not his usual mockery or sarcasm.
“It feels like I’m hearing such casual concern for the first time in a long while.”
Or perhaps for the very first time?
There were many who showed curiosity about whom he met today and what he’d done, but few who paid attention to such trivial matters.
“It’s rather moving, actually.”
“…It seems you’re under quite a bit of strain lately.”
Camilla clicked her tongue once more.
Watching him empathize so readily over such a simple remark only deepened her conviction.
‘This man seems a bit off, doesn’t he?’
A sentimental Crown Prince Edsen. Absolutely chilling!
Camilla brushed her arms as if shaking off goosebumps and quickly changed the subject.
“I heard things have been chaotic around you recently.”
“Everyone’s in an uproar because they can’t get their hands on me.”
Edsen ran his hand roughly through his hair and chuckled darkly. In that fleeting moment, his eyes gleamed with murderous intent and irritation.
‘Well, I’d have lost my mind too.’
Politicians are truly impossible to control. Was now really the time to draw factional lines and fight?
Even as they should be pooling their strength to deal with the remnants of the Eba Cult, political infighting continued in full force.
Of course, part of it was due to the three Dukes frequently leaving the Capital. With the central pillar gone, everyone was swaying and causing a commotion.
“It’s not like they’re filming a daily K-drama….”
“Hmm?”
“Never mind.”
What nonsense about legitimacy.
There was only one topic they gathered in the Palace to discuss every single day.
Legitimacy itself.
Whether the successor deserved to hold the crown or not—hearing them prattle on about the same thing day and night was utterly pathetic.
‘The Crown Prince’s right of succession must be stripped away, or so they say.’
Whose right of succession are they discussing? Whose else? There’s only one prince in the Empire right now.
Those led by Marquis Duriel, the father of the late Empress Javela, were questioning Crown Prince Edsen’s right to succession.
They refused to acknowledge Edsen, born from the Emperor’s body after it had been stolen so long ago, as a legitimate prince.
It was a dangerous assertion that even cast doubt on the legitimacy of his own grandson, Prince Abihel, but the Marquis pressed forward without hesitation. He simply could not bear to see Crown Prince Edsen ascend to the throne.
“So why did you ask to see me today?”
Edsen, unwilling to dwell on such headache-inducing thoughts, swiftly changed the subject.
Camilla, who had always made excuses to avoid visiting the Imperial Palace, had surprisingly requested this meeting of her own accord.
“That is…”
Knock, knock.
Just as Camilla was about to speak, the door opened and an Attendant who appeared somewhat older carefully stepped inside.

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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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