A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 225

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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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“Thank you so much.”
As he offered his final gratitude, his form grew increasingly translucent.
It seemed all he had truly wanted was the return of the seal.
“….”
As always, I watched silently until the very end as he faded away.
“Well then, I suppose I should be going as well.”
With Emperor Alberto gone, I finished the remaining tea and rose from my seat. There was no reason to linger here alone any longer.
“Wait, you’re leaving already?”
But I couldn’t leave as I wished.
“That won’t do.”
“You discriminate against people, don’t you? I don’t care about others, but you have to hear my request before you go.”
Other royal ghosts seized me urgently. And these fellows….
“Let me cut in line. My request comes first!”
“How many generations removed are you?”
“Why are you asking that now?”
“Just wondering who’s the senior among us without any proper hierarchy.”
“Hierarchy? Ha!”
Mockery flew back at the mention of rank.
“Aren’t you saying I’m your great-grandfather?”
“We died at practically the same age, so why does that matter?”
“You probably got cursed out a lot when you were alive too. No manners.”
“I’ve never met anyone with manners who talks like that.”
…They weren’t even shouting angrily, yet they were quarreling with smiles. Why did it feel more frightening?
I cautiously stepped back, worried sparks might fly my way.
“Your parents really did an excellent job raising you. Impressive.”
“Whether you or I, we’re just different bodies raised by the same person, so let’s not insult our parents. That’s spitting in our own faces, isn’t it?”
“Ho. So we’re all siblings then? That’s absolutely disgusting.”
The moment Emperor Alberto, the oldest and highest-ranking, disappeared, the power struggle began immediately.
‘They really are of the same blood.’
Crown Prince Edsen was here and there too?
They seemed remarkably skilled at casually jabbing at each other with smiling faces.
“Just hear my request first and then go.”
“I said mine comes first!”
“Sigh.”
Cursed be my fate.
* * *
“Ah, Miss…?”
“What?”
“This is far too heavy….”
Dorman, stacked high with large and small boxes, groaned as he shuffled into the house.
“Be careful—some things break easily.”
“Wait, could you just listen for a moment…?”
“Wow, Dorman.”
“Yes?”
“You really thought I was such a good person?”
“….”
“What? Didn’t you say at the Cafe that you didn’t need me anymore, that you’d be fine with just yourself? So why not show me the same consideration at home?”
“…You’re being quite petty, aren’t you?”
Now you understand? Why are you suddenly marveling at it? It’s rather satisfying to hear you say so.
“Miss Camilla?”
The moment I stepped through the entrance, the butler Rube, who had come to greet me, spoke with a puzzled expression. Had I been shopping?
“What is all of this?”
“Second-hand miscellany.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Had I visited the Second-hand Market?
‘Why second-hand of all things….’
Rube tilted his head repeatedly, his expression growing more bewildered by the moment.
“Ah, that’s right. Just a moment….”
Camilla, as if the timing were perfect, deftly pulled one of the boxes Dorman was holding and tossed it to Rube.
“A gift.”
“For me?”
What on earth had she purchased?
Seeing Camilla’s still-peculiar nature, Rube opened the box with a light heart.
“Hmm?”
But the moment Rube opened it, his expression became strange. The box appeared to contain nothing at all.
Yet he felt weight. Something was definitely inside, wasn’t it? What could it be?
“Be careful. That’s a sword.”
“What?”
Rube’s hand, which had been about to touch something inside the box, froze. There was nothing visible, yet a sword was supposedly inside?
“Watch your hand. The handle is on the left.”
“…!”
Following Camilla’s words, when Rube reached to the left, he truly felt the hilt of a sword.
It was so transparent that light passed straight through it—one could never know of the sword’s existence without touching it.
What material could it possibly be made from?
“Apparently it was used long ago by an assassin named Zero.”
“…Who?”
Rube’s normally impassive face cracked wide open for the first time.
The assassin Zero. Among those in that line of work, there was no one who didn’t know of him. A legendary figure, one might say.
There existed no one whom he could not kill if he set his mind to it. Such a man possessed a special weapon.
‘I’ve heard that no one has ever seen his weapon.’
So that was it? The blade itself was the perfect weapon for an assassin.
“W-why are you holding something like this, Miss?”
“Hm?”
This was genuinely refreshing. Rube, who stammered even when speaking—a man who would probably stand by indifferently watching people die right beside him.
“Someone gave it to me.”
“Someone gave you this…?”
[Who could that be? Who on earth would give Miss something so precious?]
Huh? Derin, when did you arrive?
“What kind of person does that?”
[Speaking of this blade…!]
The butler Ghost Derin had appeared at some point, bombarding me with questions wearing the same bewildered expression as Rube.
Ugh, please don’t talk over each other. It’s making my head spin.
“So what? You don’t want it? Should I take it back?”
“No!”
…Today I’m really seeing many sides of Rube. Now he’s even raising his voice?
“You like it, then?”
“Miss, this blade-”
“Later, later.”
I waved my hand dismissively and moved away.
Rube wanted to ask something more, but I simply ignored him. I’m too tired today.
‘That man was so relentless.’
Crown Prince Edsen. Of course, I knew he wouldn’t just let it go.
‘The seal of the First Emperor—how did he even find it?’
It was the question Crown Prince Edsen had thrown at me the moment he saw me arriving at the Imperial Palace after being summoned.
‘How could you possibly find something no one else could…?’
‘I found it.’
‘…Found it?’
‘Yes, something strange was rolling around on the street, so I picked it up and it turned out to be a seal.’
‘…’
Edsen wasn’t an idiot, so there was no way he believed that. His expression made it clear he didn’t.
‘What else can you do about it?’
The person who gave it to me said they found it, so what could I do?
Still, maintaining a bright smile and the “I know nothing!” act in front of those sharp eyes was genuinely exhausting.
[Miss, you went to the Imperial Palace today, didn’t you?]
I managed to shake off butler Rube, but Derin eventually followed me all the way to my room and asked.
“That’s right.”
[How could someone who visited the Imperial Palace obtain such a blade…!]
“Do you know something about it?”
Camilla collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion and shared one fact she’d learned today with Derin.
“One of the imperial family members at that time was friends with Zero.”
“What?”
She seemed quite startled.
Well, I was genuinely shocked when I first heard about it too.
‘And even more so when he offered to give it to me.’
John Carter—one of the imperial princes whose body he had stolen—had asked me a favor, and this sword was the gift I received in return.
“Thank you for telling me about that child.”
The man had said he wanted to know about the woman he had loved.
Considering he was an ancestor of Crown Prince Edsen, who was cunning beyond measure, it was a surprisingly tender request.
‘Is that truly your wish?’
“Yes. I’m curious how well she lived after abandoning me.”
…So she had rejected him.
According to the investigation report, she had married another man, borne his child, and lived a good life before passing away. The prince’s reaction to this news was surprisingly composed.
Or rather, he seemed satisfied? Hadn’t he hoped for her unhappiness? How unexpected.
“If she had married me, she would have ended up with that bastard who stole my body anyway. That would have been far worse.”
In any case, this sword was what I received for granting his request. And apparently, this blade once belonged to a famous assassin from long ago.
‘Moreover, that assassin was the closest of friends to the prince?’
It was a fact completely unknown to the world.
“I see. So Zero was… ah.”
Camilla rose from her seat, watching Derin continue to marvel.
“But where is Perol? Where is he right now?”
Did he go to the cafe again today?
“Why do you ask?”
Just then, Perol, the kitchen ghost, materialized before us. These days, he was always at the cafe watching Laila cook.
“I have something for both of you as well.”
“For us?”
“What is it?”
Leaving the two of them bewildered, Camilla rummaged through the box that Dorman had moved for her.
These were all gifts I had received in exchange for granting the various requests of the imperial family.
‘How many secret places does the Imperial Palace have?’
All the deceased imperial family members had hidden their treasures in places unknown to others.
It had been a week since I began the task of searching them out one by one. Finding them while avoiding the eyes of others was no simple matter.

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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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