A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 270

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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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“I finished reading the book!”
The child who came rushing over nestled into Duke Sefra’s embrace and announced proudly.
Duke Sefra gently stroked the child’s head, his expression remaining unchanged.
Yet the Old Butler standing quietly beside him and Arsian could tell—he was deeply pleased.
“Sena, let’s go now!”
“Yes?”
“To meet Camilla!”
“Oh.”
Had the time already come?
As I’d mentioned to Duke Sefra just moments ago, they had made plans to meet Camilla today.
“Where are you meeting her?”
“At the Bookstore!”
“The Bookstore?”
“Yes, we’re going to buy sheet music there!”
Sheet music? When Duke Sefra’s expression turned puzzled, Rio continued with a beaming smile.
“It’s sheet music for a song we’ll sing together with Luna.”
A slight stir.
Luna, who had been lounging lazily to one side, lifted her head at those words.
Watching Rio with sparkling, hopeful eyes, Luna let out another silent sigh. Then, as if resigned to her fate, she lay back down and closed her eyes.
“I’ll be a bit late. Tell Camilla I’m sorry.”
An irritated voice came from Arsian, who had been observing them.
He had originally planned to go with them, but he needed to lend his strength to sealing that sacred object, so it couldn’t be helped.
It annoyed him to break his promise with Camilla, but he couldn’t abandon his duty either.
“Tell her I’ll definitely come, even if I’m a little late.”
“Okay! Brother, come quickly!”
Rio nodded emphatically as if to say not to worry, and immediately rose from his seat.
“Let’s go, Sena!”
“Yes.”
At Rio’s urging, Sena also stood and bowed toward Duke Sefra and Arsian.
Throughout it all, not a word came from the now-silent Rube.
* * *
“You bought three sheets of music?”
“Yes!”
Camilla laughed softly as she watched Rio select three easy children’s song sheets.
Thinking of Divine Beast Luna, who sighed constantly yet indulged the child in everything.
“What about you, Sena? Do you like that book?”
“Yes.”
Sena had chosen a mathematics book.
I wondered if it might be too difficult for a child, but I was startled to learn she had already completed all the other books in House Sephira’s collection.
‘I should look into finding her a tutor.’
The little one was clever and had a genuine thirst for knowledge—quite promising, really.
I’d heard that Rio would soon have a private tutor assigned, so I should casually suggest that Sena study alongside him.
“Wow! Sister, look over there!”
As we left the Bookstore and walked down the Street, Rio’s eyes were captured by an enormous River. The vast, deep waterway had patches of ice scattered across its surface.
“Amazing.”
Clinging to the safety railing, Rio gasped in wonder repeatedly. To the child’s eyes, the River—as wide as a sea—was utterly fascinating.
“Rio, don’t hang like that. It’s dangerous.”
“Okay.”
Wanting to see more closely, Rio kept trying to hoist himself higher onto the railing, so I hurried over to stop him.
“Sister, look at the ice floating down there—!”
As Rio turned to speak, his eyes widened suddenly. His body had been lifted into the air.
“Rio!”
I called out urgently as well. Someone had simply grabbed the child and lifted him up.
[Damn it! My mistake!]
Zeno, who had come along as my escort, cried out in alarm.
[That robe—it has magic concealing presence cast on it.]
So that’s why no one detected him as he approached so close.
I bit my lip in frustration.
“Don’t come any closer!”
The man holding a sharp dagger to Rio’s throat was in his early thirties. He stood atop the railing, blocking our approach.
[Camilla, that’s an Eba Cult member.]
I agreed with Zeno’s assessment. The man’s face and hands, exposed where the wind had torn his robe, were visibly rotting in patches.
I could also see the form of a lost spirit following in his wake.
[That bastard’s eyes….]
‘He’s gone mad.’
His pupils wavered without focus—clearly, he was only half-conscious.
His body was decaying rapidly, and he’d lost his sanity to it. I cursed silently.
A human in such a state was the most dangerous. Doomed to die anyway, such a person would stop at nothing. Reason wouldn’t reach him.
“Zeno, can you do it?”
I asked without taking my eyes off Rio, held in the man’s grip. Could he handle this threat?
[I can manage it, but the child’s safety….]
He could deal with the man easily enough, but he couldn’t guarantee Rio’s safety. The blade pressed against the child’s throat looked ready to cut at any moment.
‘Of all times!’
Aislah was busy wrapping up winter and had no time to spare.
If she were here, I could freeze that bastard solid and save Rio immediately.
It was my own mistake for moving about relying only on Zeno, without bringing a Knight escort.
“What do you want? There must be a reason you’re doing this.”
I stepped forward toward the man and asked. But as he pressed the dagger harder against Rio, I had no choice but to retreat.
“A sacred relic.”
“What?”
“Bring me the sacred relic at once.”
“The sacred relic?”
“The Dukes have them, don’t they!”
…No, word had already spread? The decision was only made days ago, and the relics were distributed just today?
‘Surely not….’
Was there a spy within the Imperial Palace? How else could information leak out so quickly?
I ground my teeth in silent fury.
“Put the child down first. I’ll take his place as a hostage instead.”
“Shut up! Bring me the sacred relic!”
“I’ll give you as many relics as you want—just put the child down.”
Such relics meant nothing to me. I could produce them without hesitation.
With the Church Leader gone, they were utterly worthless anyway… and even if he were alive, I would have surrendered them without question.
Nothing—absolutely nothing—was more important than Rio.
“Bring me the sacred relic now!”
Watching the man repeat the same words endlessly, I abandoned all hope of reasoning with him. He wasn’t listening to anything I said.
I could see one of the Attendants who had followed the children rushing away to report the situation. Even with a carriage, it would take considerable time….
My gaze fixed on Rio, held captive in the man’s grasp, and I found myself biting my lip hard.
The child’s face had gone pale with fear, yet he was holding back his tears with all his might.
Realizing that crying would only make things worse for everyone else, Rio remained as still and quiet as possible in the man’s grip—and my heart ached all the more for it.
“Get it now!”
“…! Rio!”
The blade pressed against the child’s throat finally drew blood.
I lurched forward on instinct, but my body froze in the next instant.
“Krraaagh!”
Black smoke materialized from nowhere, piercing straight through the man’s heart.
The impact sent Rio tumbling from the man’s grip.
Down into the deep river below, where ice floated upon the dark waters.
“Rio!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I plunged into the water after him.
There was no time for doubt, no room for any other thought. I could not lose him—not like this.
‘Damn it!’
The water was so bitterly cold it felt like it would stop my heart, and my mind began to swim.
Shaking my head to clear it, I searched the murky depths and spotted Rio sinking lower and lower, already unconscious.
I swam toward him with all my strength, but though he seemed within reach, my movements felt impossibly sluggish—it was maddening.
‘Rio!’
I lost all sense of time. What felt like an eternity later, I finally managed to grasp the child.
The cold had robbed my hands of all sensation, but I refused to let go.
‘This is insane.’
Should I tear away this cumbersome, billowing dress?
Swimming upward with the child while my strength was already depleted was proving nearly impossible.
With a child cradled in one arm, no amount of struggling could propel me forward. My consciousness began to blur and fade.
If I lost consciousness now, it would be the end for Rio as well as myself. I had to reach the surface somehow….
“…!”
But then, I saw someone approaching rapidly from the distance.
Was it Dorman, like that time at Spirit Lake long ago?
As the figure drew closer and I recognized their face, tears nearly spilled from my eyes without my control.

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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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