A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 243

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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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“…Did Aislah do that?”
[No.]
I wondered if Aislah had done something similar to what the Red Dragon Spirit had done before, but the white dragon quickly shook her head.
‘Then what is it?’
Cardinal Martio’s divine power was not particularly abundant. If it had been, he would have saved the children whose bodies had stiffened before I did.
At that time, he had told me that his divine power was weak and couldn’t help the children much, so he resented the Chief Deity for the first time.
[That means the Chief Deity acknowledged this child.]
Arena resolved my confusion.
[The Chief Deity truly answered.]
Watching Pope Martio, who seemed surprised and unusually had his mouth hanging open, Arena offered a faint smile.
[This child will do well in the future.]
After gazing at the Tree of God and the Pope for a long while, Arena’s gaze turned toward me.
“…?”
At Arena’s silent stare, I gave her a puzzled look. Did she have something more to say?
[Camilla.]
At her call, I stopped my thoughts.
[It was enjoyable.]
“…What?”
[Thanks to you, my final days were never boring.]
“….”
My eyes widened rapidly as I looked at Arena. Then I understood what was happening.
I quickly glanced around and soon spotted a familiar figure. Reaper Habel was gazing at me with an indifferent expression.
‘She’s leaving.’
I had heard it in passing before. That Habel had been trying hard to take Arena, who was designated to become a deity.
Habel had even subtly asked me to persuade Arena.
‘Does Arena look like someone who would listen to anyone?’
‘…No.’
‘I’ll try to persuade her, but it’s okay if I say you told me to, right?’
‘….’
At those words, Habel left silently. I thought he had finally given up since there was nothing to be done….
‘So that was it?’
The reason Habel’s expression was particularly bright when I spoke with Arena not long ago.
Arena must have already been preparing to leave this place by then.
[Take care.]
At her farewell, I couldn’t say anything.
Had I truly grown attached to her in the meantime? Though I’d experienced farewells like this more than once or twice, my lips simply wouldn’t move.
Soft.
She drew close and placed a brief kiss on my forehead.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but something warm seemed to seep into me.
[Call me whenever you need me. I’ll be there for you.]
‘What?’
I could come back again?
As Camilla sent her a look of bewilderment, a mischievous smile bloomed on Arena’s lips as it always did.
[Give Zeno my regards. He’s been sulking with me lately and won’t say a word.]
‘Ah.’
So Zeno already knew.
That Arena was leaving.
“I did notice you seemed rather listless lately. So that was the reason.”
[What a brat.]
Despite her grumbling tone, a wistful expression bloomed across Arena’s face. And understandably so—the two of them had gotten along quite well.
[Oh?]
In that moment, Arena’s gaze shifted to the side. Her smile deepened.
Following her line of sight, I too could see him—Zeno in the distance, watching this place with eyes that held a hint of bitterness.
Neither Zeno nor Arena drew closer to one another. They simply stood in silent contemplation, their gazes meeting for a brief moment.
Finally, Arena looked toward Cardinal Martio. Perhaps it was thanks to him that she had resolved to leave this place.
‘Always complaining.’
Though she wore an expression of perpetual dissatisfaction, saying she was utterly fed up, I suspect Arena was the one who cared most deeply for The Cult above all others.
Perhaps she was finally finding peace in knowing that a proper Pope now guided The Cult, and that was why she could depart?
[I’m going.]
One last time, she gently stroked my hair—though her hand barely made contact—before approaching Reaper Habel.
With a radiant smile cast in my direction, she and Habel vanished in an instant.
“….”
I gazed silently at the place where Arena had disappeared for a long while.
‘Goodbye, Arena.’
Offering a belated final farewell in my heart.
Chapter. Sena’s Choice
“Sena, I can do that for you.”
Juri, a maid who had worked at House Sephira for many years, hurried over upon spotting Sena diligently cleaning with a cloth in hand.
“No, it’s fine.”
Sena slowly shook her head.
“I can manage this much.”
“You don’t need to do work like this.”
Sena, who had recently joined House Sephira, occupied a peculiar position there.
Though her standing was little different from that of a maid like herself, the young master Rio, who had been adopted into House Sephira, called Sena his older sister and followed her devotedly.
Because Rio did so, Duke Sefra and Arsian alike had begun to treat the child with special consideration, whether consciously or not.
Sena even took meals with them as if she were family. Since her only assigned duty was to play with Rio, no one in this household treated her as merely another maid.
“I’d like to clean Rio’s room myself. I want to do it.”
“Hmm.”
Watching Sena shake her head repeatedly while gripping the cloth tightly, Juri released a small sigh. She had perceived the child’s anxiety.
Having worked at House Sephira for so long, she could immediately sense what Sena was now anxious and fearful about.
‘Does she think she’ll be cast out?’
Sometimes there were children like this. Those whose self-worth had been deeply eroded would do anything to amplify their own sense of existence.
‘Yet those three cherish her so dearly.’
Did Sena not feel it yet? Or perhaps she understood it all too well, which made her even more anxious.
She didn’t want to leave this place.
“Alright then. Would you mind wiping down that window over there?”
A nod.
Juri gently patted the child’s shoulder in encouragement before departing.
“….”
Sena watched her leave in silence for a moment, then picked up a cloth and began cleaning.
[I shall grant you power. Power to possess all that you desire.]
Here we go again?
Sena sighed at the voice burrowing into her mind.
“What power exactly are you talking about?”
[Power to possess everything you want!]
“That’s what I’m asking—what is this power?”
[This power is-]
“Can you reheat this cold tea water?”
[I can shatter that kettle for you.]
So it can’t reheat anything. Got it.
“What about these wrinkled clothes? Can you iron them?”
[I can kill whoever wears those clothes!]
…What are you even saying? So you can’t help with laundry either?
“Then can you at least wipe away this dust for me?”
[I shall burn this entire house to ashes.]
“…Exactly how is any of this supposed to be helpful?”
[….]
Sena made no effort to hide her expression of utter exasperation as she picked up the cloth again.
Whether shocked by her words or not, the voice that had been burrowing into her mind fell silent for a while.
“Hello?”
[….]
“Are you sulking?”
[I’m not sulking! I simply don’t know how to do such things!]
…You’re definitely sulking.
They had begun conversing not long ago.
When it had only repeated grandiose declarations about granting power while bearing down with immense weight, I’d been somewhat frightened. Now, it didn’t bother me at all. This entity was quite… incompetent.
“What’s so good about having power anyway?”
[You could possess the world.]
“I don’t need something like that.”
[All would kneel before you!]
“Why is that appealing to you? Do you enjoy watching people kneel before you?”
[….]
That was the beginning.
[Don’t you wish to take revenge on the world?]
“What’s so good about revenge?”
[Everyone will revere you!]
“…Not really interested.”
[W-wait, don’t dismiss it so quickly! Think about it again!]
The more I conversed, the more something felt diminished—like the initial weight was gradually fading away.
“Excuse me.”
[What? Have you changed your mind?]
“What exactly do you do?”
Sena asked genuinely curious. I couldn’t fathom what this entity was doing, constantly speaking into my mind like this.
[I am power itself. The very embodiment of human desire and hope.]
“So you have no physical form?”
Is that why I only hear a voice?
My suspicion seemed correct—no answer came. Had it taken offense again?
“Why me, specifically?”
Sena changed the subject. This too was something I wondered. Why me, when there were so many other children in that place?
[Because I was drawn to the darkness within you.]
“Darkness?”
[Your resentment toward the world burned more intensely than anyone else’s. Those like you always desire me.]
‘…Me?’
I resented the world?

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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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