A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 224

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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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“This is absurd!”
Marquis Duriel was equally bewildered, but he immediately shook his head.
It couldn’t possibly be real! How could something like this suddenly appear, and at such a critical moment no less?
The seal of the First Emperor!
“You’re claiming a forgery right now…!”
He shot to his feet, his words tumbling out—but he never finished his sentence.
Crown Prince Edsen had drawn his sword, as if anticipating exactly this reaction.
“W-what are you…!”
Surely he wasn’t about to kill him here?
But Marquis Duriel’s assumption proved catastrophically wrong. Without a moment’s hesitation, Crown Prince Edsen sliced open his own palm.
Blood dripped steadily from his hand, falling onto the seal.
In that instant.
Kuuoooooo—!
“Hrrgh!”
“Gkk!”
Everyone barely stifled their screams. A bone-chilling cry had erupted from the black seal.
The source of that sound became immediately clear.
The cry of a Black Dragon!
There was a legend surrounding the seal of the First Emperor.
When the blood of someone descended from the First Emperor touched the seal—which contained the vengeful spirit of a Black Dragon—the seal would emit the creature’s cry.
“Good heavens!”
“That sound is unmistakably…!”
Could that old tale actually be true?
Though not as ear-splitting as before, the faint cry continued to emanate from the seal, and everyone stood slack-jawed in stunned silence.
‘This… this can’t be real.’
Marquis Duriel’s eyes flickered with uncontrollable doubt.
Could that truly be the seal of the First Emperor? How could it possibly appear now, of all times?
Tak.
The sound of the wooden box closing jolted everyone back to their senses.
The council chamber fell deathly silent once the dragon’s cry had ceased.
No one dared speak. Every eye was fixed on the wooden box as if by agreement.
‘This isn’t a dream, is it?’
‘That seal truly…!’
The seal of the First Emperor. It had returned after five hundred years!
“Well then, shall we move on to the next matter? What else is there?”
Moments later, Crown Prince Edsen broke the silence with a faint smile.
But no one could answer his question. They remained lost in bewilderment, mouths hanging open.
* * *
[Thank you.]
A male ghost who appeared to be in his early forties exhaled a long breath of relief and offered his gratitude to Camilla.
“Yes, please be very grateful.”
Camilla dismissed the ghost’s words with indifference.
‘Of course you should be grateful.’
Do you have any idea how many mana stones I consumed for this? Do you understand how much that translates to in currency?
The moment Camilla stepped into the Imperial Palace, she pressed her fingers firmly against her brow because of the ghosts surrounding her and refusing to let go. My head aches…
‘This is far too burdensome.’
I couldn’t simply ignore them, since these ghosts were once emperors or imperial princes of the Faebler Empire.
Even for someone as bold as myself, learning this fact was enough to weigh heavily upon me.
Most of all, there was this man in his forties who appeared to be the oldest among them. That man was…
[I’m truly relieved that I can return the First Emperor’s seal to my descendants once more.]
Emperor Alberto de Faybler, the first emperor to have his body stolen by John Carter, smiled broadly.
Before Emperor Alberto had his body taken by John Carter, he’d sensed something coming.
In the dead of night, the Chief Attendant suddenly appeared and conveyed that three dukes wished to meet with him.
[Something felt off.]
After sending the Chief Attendant away first, what he did was hide the First Emperor’s seal.
It wasn’t as though the three dukes had never suddenly visited before, yet he couldn’t understand why he’d felt that way that particular night.
As if possessed by something, he quickly hid the seal in a secret space that only he could open.
And his premonition proved correct.
“When exactly did it begin?”
[Who knows.]
The Chief Attendant who had served him for so long had already had his body stolen by John Carter.
[I cannot express how relieved I felt just before losing consciousness. Not only did that wretch steal my body, but I nearly allowed the First Emperor’s seal to fall into his hands as well—the thought is utterly horrifying. Had that happened, I might have become a malevolent spirit the moment I regained awareness.]
Still, Camilla shook her head at his complaint that he never imagined no one would find it for five hundred years.
“If you place it in such a location, I doubt anyone would find it even after a thousand years.”
[Is that so?]
Despite my best efforts to ignore him, he kept lamenting about how he couldn’t leave without handing the First Emperor’s seal he’d hidden to his descendants…
In the end, I had no choice but to surrender completely.
[Hmm, did I place it too deep? Was that the problem?]
“No. It’s the location, the location…”
With a magical incantation placed on the dimensional space I’d created, how could anyone have found it?
In the end, I had no choice but to resort to possession again. Emperor Alberto, who had entered my body, directly cast magic to retrieve the seal from the dimensional space.
‘My precious mana stones!’
The problem was that there was virtually no mana accumulated in my body.
I’d thought it would work this time just as it had when Zeno or Arena possessed me, but magic operated on a different principle—I simply couldn’t use it.
So what I came up with was mana stones. Fortunately, I was able to create a magic circle using mana stones to open the dimensional space.
Of course, I still had to suffer from possession aftereffects for several days afterward.
“Sigh, such is my fate.”
But what else could I do? It wasn’t just anything—it was the First Emperor’s seal. It turned out to be far more important than I’d anticipated.
I’d even heard that Crown Prince Edsen’s position was currently in quite dire straits.
‘It must feel unsettling.’
The Church Leader of the Eba Cult, who had stolen countless lives and bodies. And a successor to the throne born from the body that once housed his soul.
I’d heard that even those who followed Crown Prince Edsen couldn’t hide their reluctance.
That’s precisely why the seal was so desperately needed. To confirm that Crown Prince Edsen was truly a descendant of the First Emperor, ensuring no one could question his legitimacy afterward.
Apparently, Emperor Alberto had tested it directly while he was alive. The seal had supposedly emitted a sound.
‘It’s exactly what we need right now.’
What better evidence could there be for those clamoring about whether he truly carried the blood of the imperial family?
‘A soul?’
So what if the soul changed? The genes changed too? Did they think the blood would vanish just because the soul was different?
It was truly laughable to claim he didn’t inherit the imperial bloodline simply because his soul had changed.
In modern times, a single genetic test would settle it easily. Yet here they were, bickering desperately over something so simple. It was pathetic beyond measure.
“Regardless, I’ve delivered the item properly.”
Crown Prince Edsen would handle the rest himself, wouldn’t he?
I could already imagine how thoroughly he’d turn his opponent inside out with the seal—a man with an unparalleled talent for getting under people’s skin.
Camilla leisurely lifted her teacup and took a sip.
Recalling Crown Prince Edsen, who had just received the First Emperor’s seal and stood frozen with wide eyes, unable to hide his emotions, Camilla let out a soft laugh.
“So that man can make such an expression.”
I’d thought he only ever wore that insufferable face. Seeing him so utterly entranced, looking almost innocent, was quite refreshing.
Since I’d witnessed something rare, I’d let the cost of the mana stone slide.
[At last, my heart is at ease.]
Emperor Alberto gazed around the Palace with fresh, nostalgic eyes as if experiencing it anew.
Though much had changed over the long years, he found familiar traces within the alterations and smiled wistfully.
[I did manage to hide the seal quite well, at least.]
That bastard, John Carter, who had stolen his body.
How it must have tormented him if the imperial seal had fallen into those hands as well.
And that wasn’t even the worst of it.
[What if that precious object had been lost forever because of me?]
It was a thought chilling enough to send shivers down one’s spine.
[I wouldn’t have been able to rest in peace even in death.]
…But you still can’t rest properly, even now.

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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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