A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 271

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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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‘Arsian.’
The person I had longed to see most in this very moment was approaching me swiftly.
‘He’s alive.’
Watching his hand draw near, Camilla finally released the grip she had been desperately maintaining on her consciousness.
* * *
“Take your medicine.”
“…Yes.”
“I’m raising the room temperature.”
“It’s already hot enough….”
“….”
“…Fine.”
Just stay still.
Faced with Ravi’s fierce, piercing gaze, Camilla quietly pulled the blanket up over herself.
Ravi, who had been staring at her intently, raised the room’s temperature sharply with magic.
“Why don’t you keep a record? See how many times you collapse this year. I’m curious myself.”
“I won’t collapse anymore.”
“Why? Next time will you throw yourself into the sea? Or how about a frozen waterfall?”
“I said I won’t collapse….”
He was openly angry now, genuinely angry!
‘Ugh.’
I had lost count of how many times this had happened, but when I came to, I was lying in bed again.
And as always, my family stood around me with worry etched across their faces.
The moment they saw me regain consciousness, they let out sighs of relief, only to launch into their usual scolding.
Ravi in particular seemed tired of even being angry, instead piercing my heart with his characteristic sarcasm.
“So you won’t stay still while I’m away? Why don’t you just go out again? Should I open the window for you?”
“…I’ll stay still.”
“Hmph!”
Ravi cast his eyes aside dismissively, set down the medicine I needed to take before sleep on the bedside table, and left the room.
Watching him leave in such a huff, I could only sigh heavily, my face flushed, unable to say anything in response as usual.
“Sigh….”
But what was I supposed to do? The child fell into the river—of course I had to save him!
Not that I’m saying I did the right thing, but is it fair to scold a sick person like this?
“Yet he’s always so careful about making sure I take my medicine.”
He could have asked Dorman or the others to do it, but even in the midst of his busy schedule, Ravi never failed to come personally when it was time for my medicine.
“Sigh.”
Feeling the world spin before my eyes again, I slowly closed them.
I wonder if Rio is all right? I heard he was safe, but….
A soft touch.
“…!”
I must have fallen asleep. At the cool touch of a hand against my forehead, I flinched and opened my eyes.
Arsian stood before me with his face completely hardened.
“Arsian?”
A faint smile curved naturally across my lips. I could guess why his expression looked that way, and it made me laugh.
“It doesn’t hurt much.”
“….”
No response came. Instead, Arsian’s hand gently caressed my feverish face once more with care.
At the coolness, I unconsciously leaned my face further into his hand. Then Arsian softly cradled my face with both hands.
‘…What?’
I had been savoring the cool touch of his hands with my eyes closed, but I suddenly froze. At the soft sensation touching my lips.
When I opened my eyes, Arsian’s face was right in front of me.
Watching my eyes grow wider and wider, Arsian sucked on my lower lip more deeply.
“Mm…!”
I quickly pushed him away.
“You’ll catch my cold.”
Whether from fever or something else, my face burned hot.
Arsian caught my pushing hand and gently pressed his lips to mine once more.
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
“What?”
“So you’ll give it to me instead. You said it gets better faster if you pass it to someone else.”
My eyes widened like a rabbit’s, and finding it endearing, Arsian’s face—with his eyes curved into gentle crescents—drew close to me again.
“This cold is incredibly potent.”
“Exactly.”
As his kiss deepened further, my eyes slowly closed.
* * *
“Hey, you bastard! What are you doing lying in this bed!”
“Contact Duke Sefra right now! Tell him to come get his son immediately!”
“Hey! If you’re sick, go home and be sick there!”
The person lying in my bed groaning was none other than Arsian.
Everyone in the Sorpel Estate was flabbergasted watching him burn with fever so intensely. Why was he collapsing from a cold in someone else’s home and causing such a commotion!
“Duke Sefra says he cannot come retrieve him. He says to handle it ourselves.”
“What?”
“He said to die as that household’s ghost if he must….”
“This, this sneaky bastard!”
“He also said he won’t be taking calls for a while, so don’t waste your energy.”
“Ugh….”
Upon hearing the request to retrieve his son, Duke Sefra immediately cut off the communication.
Perhaps the fever intensified at his old friend’s behavior, as Duke Sorpel snorted incessantly, and Ravi added fuel to the fire, joining in the uproar.
Watching them, a tsk escaped from my lips.
“Isn’t this too much? Leaving a sick person alone.”
“Right! What did those two do to make him catch a cold! No, no! Don’t tell me! I don’t want to hear it!”
“Still, thanks to you, I’m all better now.”
“That’s good…! Ugh! How frustrating!”
Even as Ravi found Arsian’s presence in Camilla’s Room utterly unbearable—the way he was nothing but a burden—he couldn’t help but feel relieved that she had recovered.
Unable to believe his own thoughts, Ravi tore at his hair and let out a strangled cry.
“I’m… cold.”
At that moment, a soft voice reached their ears.
“Ravi, we should raise the temperature in the room a bit more.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll bring more blankets.”
“Do that. And you, butler—go fetch something for this fool to eat.”
“Yes.”
As if they hadn’t just been angry, the three men sprang into action with remarkable efficiency.
Watching the three men scold yet dutifully care for every need, Camilla found herself laughing silently within.
* * *
[Sena.]
“….”
In a dark room where even the lights remained unlit, Sena crouched in the corner.
With her head bowed low, the child showed no response whatsoever.
[Hey, how long are you going to keep this up?]
Rube continued to speak, but Sena only curled further into herself.
[This is what you wanted! You said you wanted to save the child! That’s why I helped you, so why are you acting like you’ve committed a crime!]
“…A person… a person died.”
[So what!]
“I… I only wanted to save Rio….”
That day when Rio had been taken hostage.
When a sharp blade pressed against the child’s throat, Sena had wanted nothing more than to rush forward. She wanted to tear Rio from the man’s grasp.
And in that moment.
A whooshing sound.
Black smoke materialized and pierced straight through the man’s heart.
Rio tumbled into the River, and immediately after, Camilla dove in as well.
Sena could do nothing. She had clearly seen the black smoke—the force that had killed the man—emerge from her own body.
The shock left her unable to regain her senses even as Rio and Camilla fell into the water, trembling uncontrollably.
A splash.
If Arsian hadn’t appeared at that moment, what would have become of them?
Sena could only sit collapsed on the ground, staring blankly as Camilla and Rio emerged from the water, cradled in his arms.
“Is that… Rube’s power?”
[Yeah.]
Rube, who would normally have boasted loudly about how remarkable his power was, answered this time with a somewhat deflated voice.
“Why….”
[….]
“But we never made a contract….”
Wasn’t that what you said before? That I could only use power once a contract was formed, and that if I truly desired your strength, we needed to establish a proper agreement?
“Then why….”
We never made a contract.
We were merely companions—nothing more than a voice to ease the loneliness and keep boredom at bay….
[I don’t know either.]
Rube released a long, weary sigh.
[The moment you resolved to save that child, I suddenly gained the ability to use my power. Without any contract at all.]
“….”
[Perhaps….]
Rube’s lips parted again with another sigh, as if grasping at some distant understanding.
[It seems this too stems from the name you gave me.]
“…A name?”
[By bestowing a name upon me, my very existence became bound to you.]
In other words, without any formal contract, I found myself moving according to Sena’s will.
“….”
Sena’s head bowed deeply once more.
[Hey….]
The child gave no response to Rube’s call.
[No, no—it’s not your fault. I acted entirely of my own accord.]
“….”
[I understand, I understand! I swear I won’t use my power recklessly again! I will never kill another soul!]
Rube spoke urgently, but Sena remained silent, offering no reaction whatsoever. The child seemed devastated by the terrible truth—that someone had died because of them.
Knock, knock.
A soft knock sounded at the door, which slowly creaked open. Yet even at this sound, Sena did not stir.
“Sena.”
“…!”
But at the familiar voice that followed, the child’s head snapped up at once.
Seeing Camilla approaching them, Sena’s face twisted with emotion.
“Are you alright?”

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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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