A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 24

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Side story. Another Tale
“Ludvil, greet them.”
I was twelve years old that year. Seven years had passed since Mother’s death, and I gained a new family.
“So you’re Ludvil.”
My Stepmother made an excellent impression. Father had met her by chance while traveling in search of a divine healer.
She had nursed Father through a sudden high fever with utmost devotion, and their marriage had followed as a result.
“What are you doing? You two should greet him as well.”
Two children standing behind my Stepmother caught my eye.
A boy who appeared a year or two younger than me stepped forward first and offered a respectful greeting.
“I’m Ravi. It’s nice to meet you, Older Brother.”
“Mm.”
I answered simply and nodded. Then my gaze naturally shifted to the other child.
A girl still hiding behind my Stepmother, nervously watching her expression, was clearly very young.
“Camilla, what are you doing?”
My Stepmother’s voice, which had been warm until moments before, suddenly sounded sharp.
The child flinched at that tone and hesitantly stepped forward.
“I’m… Camilla.”
She spoke her name in the smallest voice imaginable, then hung her head low.
A short sigh escaped my Stepmother’s lips as she watched.
“I’m sorry. Camilla is still so young….”
My Stepmother was strange. She knew her daughter was young, so why act that way? Was that simply what mothers were like?
I couldn’t understand my Stepmother, who kept casting reproachful glances at the young Camilla. It seemed like the child would only grow more timid.
“I’m… I’m sorry….”
Just as I had anticipated, the child hung her head even lower, at a complete loss.
Another long sigh escaped my Stepmother’s lips as she watched the child.
Flinch!
When the child lifted her head slightly and our eyes met, she visibly startled and squeezed her eyes shut completely.
Seeing that, I turned my gaze away from her.
* * *
My Stepmother died.
A year was neither particularly long nor particularly short.
But perhaps because I had never truly grown attached to her, I felt no particular sorrow at her death.
I simply felt my mood sink at the fact that someone had died.
‘Am I the strange one?’
I wasn’t sure. It seemed I had always been emotionally numb to the events around me since childhood.
Sorrow, joy… I had no idea where I was supposed to feel them.
But Father grieved deeply for my Stepmother. He remained in his Study for a long time, drinking only alcohol.
And when a week had passed, Father emerged from his Study and once again accepted my Stepmother’s children as his own.
He silenced the retainers who had been stirring opinion to cast the two children out of the household.
“Eat plenty.”
The first meal we shared after Stepmother passed away.
“Yes….”
A year had passed, yet Camilla still watched Father and me carefully. At my gaze—
“…!”
She flinched, just as she did now.
So I made a conscious effort not to look at the child.
Clink.
Of course, there were moments like this when my eyes wandered without my realizing it.
Glancing over, I noticed Camilla picking something out from her salad plate to one side.
‘Apple?’
It was a small piece of apple mixed into the salad.
Camilla pushed the apple piece aside and carefully selected only the other ingredients to eat, all while sneaking glances at Father.
“….”
“….”
Then our eyes met directly.
The child, who always flinched as usual, had her gaze waver as if she’d been caught committing some grave offense.
Plop!
Camilla hastily speared one of the apple pieces she’d pushed aside with her fork and shoved it into her mouth. Then, without even chewing it properly, she swallowed it down with water.
‘She dislikes apples.’
I would see Camilla behave this way several more times after that. Whenever a dessert made primarily of apples was served, she would pick at it and barely eat.
‘If you dislike it, just say so.’
Why wouldn’t she speak up?
I couldn’t understand it.
If she disliked apples, she could simply ask for a different dessert. Why wouldn’t she say anything? Why force herself to eat?
I was curious, but I didn’t bother approaching her to ask. Or rather, I couldn’t.
Watching the child stiffen whenever I drew near, there was only one thing I could do.
Indifference.
* * *
“Why would you do such a thing?”
“….”
“Camilla!”
“…I apologize.”
“Sigh.”
A long sigh escaped Father’s lips. Camilla had suddenly damaged the Rose Garden.
The Rose Garden could be restored with proper maintenance, but I couldn’t fathom why she would commit such an act so suddenly. Father questioned her, but Camilla kept her lips firmly sealed.
“Leave.”
“Yes….”
With her head bowed, Camilla quickly left the Study at Father’s command.
I quietly followed behind her.
‘Shouldn’t she be treated?’
It was because I could see Camilla’s hand, scratched by rose thorns.
‘Would she dislike it?’
I hesitated for a moment.
If I approached to treat her wound, wouldn’t she feel uncomfortable again? Would it be better to simply pretend I hadn’t noticed?
“Sigh….”
Suddenly, a long breath escaped from Camilla’s lips.
“What am I even….”
Unaware that I had followed her, she muttered softly to herself.
“That woman is… so confident there….”
That woman?
Who was she talking about? And where was “there”?
As I watched her in silence for a moment, I eventually took a step closer to her. I couldn’t help but be concerned about the wound on her hand.
“…!”
Only then did Camilla notice me, flinching and widening her eyes.
“Your hand….”
As I looked at her hand, she quickly hid it behind her back.
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
What was she apologizing for?
In the moment I tilted my head in confusion at her sudden apology, she fled the spot as if running away.
That was the last time. The next day, as planned, I had to leave the Sorpel Household to suppress the Rebel Forces.
* * *
The day after returning home, I had stayed at the Party Venue until late into the night, yet I awoke early in the morning. I stepped out of the quiet mansion and took a walk for the first time in a while.
And… I found Camilla.
I quietly followed her toward the Baby’s Breath Garden without thinking. The moment I spoke to her, she would surely run away again, wouldn’t she?
Watching her expression shift moment by moment as she plucked flowers, lost in thought, was not at all tedious.
“…!”
Then she stumbled on the muddy path where water had pooled. I immediately stepped toward her and extended my hand.
*Snap!*
“Huff!”
But as if she needed no one’s help, Camilla easily corrected her posture. Then she placed her hands on her hips and smiled with great satisfaction.
I stared at her blankly.
“….”
“….”
In that instant, our eyes met. Only then did I quietly lower the hand I had extended.
Her face was clearly flustered, and I immediately turned away. It seemed best to leave before Camilla could run away.
“Older Brother.”
But she called out to me as I was turning to go.
Less than half a year had passed. During that time, I had not seen Camilla.
And the her I met again was.
“A welcome home gift.”
She had changed quite a bit.
Older Brother.
It was the first time Camilla had called me that.
‘That…’
‘Over there…’
Whatever had transpired during this time, she had transformed considerably.
She called me Older Brother now, and no longer shrank in the presence of our stern Father.
“Hey, are you asleep?”
Though we were siblings by blood, we had once been quite distant, yet my relationship with Ravi seemed to have shifted dramatically as well.
The two of them, sitting across from each other in the Dining Hall late at night, appeared far more affectionate than I would have expected.
‘How strange.’
Witnessing their closeness by chance, I impulsively inserted myself between them.
I lifted the sleeping Camilla into my arms before Ravi could, ignoring his offer to carry her, and left the Dining Hall with her in my embrace.
“Sob…”
Yet Camilla, who had been squirming restlessly in my arms, suddenly began to weep. Why was she crying all of a sudden?
“Don’t kill me…”
What?
“I want to live… sob…”
What was she saying?
“Don’t kill me…”
Seeing Camilla weeping so sorrowfully, I found myself answering without thinking.
“I won’t.”
Perhaps she heard me. A radiant smile bloomed across Camilla’s face.
I gazed at her for a moment as she fell back into peaceful slumber as though nothing had happened, then resumed walking.
She did not stir easily even as I laid her upon the bed, having drifted into a deep sleep.
Pat, pat.
After tucking the blanket around her carefully, I quietly left the room. But before I did, I turned back to look at her one last time.
“…Sleep well.”
My first tender words to Camilla, my sister.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————