A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 277

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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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“A baby kitten.”
After class ended, as Kenel made his way toward the carriage to return home, he discovered a small, pristine white kitten huddled beneath a tree.
It appeared to have been abandoned only recently, its appearance remarkably clean. Kenel approached the kitten with a radiant smile.
“Would you like to come home with me?”
[Kyuu!]
…Kyuu?
Did cats originally make such a sound? All the kittens he had encountered before seemed to meow with those typical “meow meow” cries.
‘And besides….’
…It obeys so readily.
Without even offering food, it approached him immediately and acted as though they were already close.
Other kittens he’d known had always been wary at first, only approaching once he provided food.
Kenel observed the kitten nestling into his arms without the slightest hesitation, and his smile deepened.
“Today, you’re the one.”
The boy’s hand stroking the kitten was infinitely gentle. With that, Kenel cradled the kitten and boarded the carriage.
“Here we are.”
Shortly after, the carriage came to a halt before a grand mansion situated in the Capital.
“Welcome home, Young Master.”
“Mm.”
Several servants approached to greet the boy as he descended from the carriage.
Though Kenel’s Parents were not nobility, their business acumen had brought them considerable wealth. Kenel himself had been recognized as a prodigy since childhood, his intellect exceptional, and his parents’ expectations of him were immense.
They spared no resources in supporting the boy, and he repaid their investment with consistently excellent results.
“Ensure no one enters my room.”
“…Understood, sir.”
One of the Maidservants who had come to greet Kenel hastily bowed to his command.
Her gaze shifted toward the white kitten cradled in Kenel’s arms.
The pristine white kitten, its eyes tightly closed as though asleep, rested in the boy’s embrace.
Observing this sight, the Maidservant bit her lip slightly and quickly turned her head away.
‘Again….’
Soon enough, she would be the one disposing of that kitten’s corpse.
Knowing this all too well, she made every effort to avoid meeting the eyes of the creature the Young Master had brought home. When disposing of the bodies, those eyes always haunted her memory.
That dreadful feeling….
The Maidservant did not lift her head until Kenel had entered his room.
Click.
“What do you think? This is my room. Do you like it?”
Upon entering, Kenel walked around the room in a complete circle, still cradling the kitten in his arms—as though giving it a tour.
“Look carefully.”
This is the last scenery you’ll ever see.
“Now, this is your place.”
Moments later, Kenel set the kitten down upon what resembled a workbench.
Curiously, a single thick wooden rod, long and sturdy-looking, was inserted there. And attached to it was a long cord.
A soft whoosh.
Kenel deftly lifted the cord and wound it tightly around the kitten’s neck.
“You mustn’t run away.”
Kenel still wore that angelic, beautiful smile as he reached toward the kitten—directly toward its neck.
Throughout this, the kitten offered not the slightest resistance, its eyes remaining firmly shut.
The moment Kenel’s hand was about to touch the kitten’s neck—
Smack!
“….”
Kenel’s expression went blank. A tiny hand had struck his cheek….
The kitten had actually jumped and clawed his face.
“…hah.”
Kenel let out an incredulous laugh. Had he really just been hit? It didn’t hurt much, but the fact itself that his cheek had been struck was shocking.
The boy laughed in disbelief for a long moment, touching his cheek.
“This…!”
Slash!
“You…!”
Slash slash!
“Gah…!”
Slash slash slash slash!
“Ow!”
Why, why was it getting more painful?!
Kenel couldn’t regain his senses. The kitten’s relentless attacks gave him no respite!
And the intensity kept increasing. It was as if he were being beaten in the face with a club!
Drip.
“Wh, what…?!”
What was flowing from his nose now… blood?! Did I just get a nosebleed?
Splurt!
“Gack!”
Finally, Kenel collapsed to the ground. Through his dazed mind, he barely managed to look forward, his face growing increasingly horrified.
“Wh… what?!”
It was growing larger. The kitten was expanding!
[Grrrrr.]
A cat growling softly while glaring at him… no, that’s a tiger!
[Roooaaarrr!]
“Kyaaaaaahhh!”
At the sight of the snow-white tiger charging toward him with its jaws wide open, a tremendous scream tore from Kenel’s throat.
Instinctively, his eyes squeezed shut. His entire body would be torn to shreds by those massive fangs!
“Ugh… uuugh….”
Tap tap!
“Herk!”
“Kenel? Are you alright? I heard a scream just now….”
“…!”
In that moment, sounds of movement came from outside. Since Kenel had issued an order that no one was to enter until he called for them, the door didn’t open immediately.
But hearing what seemed to be a scream, knocking continued relentlessly.
“H… help…!”
Kenel, who had been rushing toward the door and crying out, suddenly froze.
“Wh….”
There was nothing before my eyes. Just moments ago, a massive tiger with bared fangs had been wailing in front of me, but now there was no trace of it.
“H… how is this possible…!”
Click!
Only then did the door open, and the Maidservant and Attendant cautiously stepped inside.
“Kenel, are you alright… hm?”
“Oh… my.”
The Maidservant and Attendant could only be bewildered upon discovering Kenel sitting collapsed on the floor.
His face was swollen and blood dripped from his nose as he sat there on the ground.
And furthermore….
‘His trousers….’
…were soaked.
The Attendant and Maidservant couldn’t begin to understand what situation this was.
“Ugh….”
And no one was more bewildered by this situation than Kenel himself.
He couldn’t even think of getting up from the floor, his entire body trembling with fear for a long while.
* * *
Whoooosh—
Rain fell. Though the weather was overcast, Kenel had ventured outside his Home for the first time in ages.
That day, after picking up a stray cat and experiencing something strange, he had remained confined to his room for quite some time.
[ROOOAAARRR!]
The horrifying image of the tiger before me, its jaws gaping wide as it lunged to attack, had not left my mind for a single moment.
It felt as though that tiger could appear at any moment and kill me. I was terrified that if I ventured outside, I might encounter that cat again.
‘It was a hallucination. You simply missaw it.’
‘Then what about these wounds! What about the scratches on my cheek!’
‘That is….’
‘The leash was torn apart too! What about this broken leash that bound the cat!’
‘Kenel.’
‘Aaaaaahhh!’
‘Calm yourself, Kenel.’
Kenel’s Parents and the Healers insisted that he had seen nothing, that his weakened mind had conjured a hallucination.
But then what of the wounds on his body? The pain he had felt then!
“Sigh.”
So for nearly a week, he had remained confined to his room. Only now, having found some measure of stability, was he able to venture outside once more.
All that amounted to was leaving the Duke’s Mansion and strolling through the Garden—venturing beyond those walls remained impossible for now.
‘Was it really… a hallucination? Did I truly…?’
‘When the mind and body weaken, sometimes people inflict wounds upon themselves…’
‘So you’re saying I struck my own body just now!’
‘Well, there are occasional cases like that…’
Everyone seemed to accept the Healer’s words. Kenel vehemently insisted it was not—that a kitten had genuinely transformed into a tiger and attacked him.
Yet no one believed him, dismissing his account as nothing more than a phantom vision.
Perhaps because of this, Kenel himself began to harbor doubts about whether he had truly witnessed a hallucination that day.
‘A kitten transforming into a tiger.’
It made no sense. The fact that he survived was strange enough. How could he possibly be unscathed after a tiger of such proportions had lunged at him?
‘Did I really see something that wasn’t there?’
[ROOOAAARRR!]
Shiver.
Yet the roar he had heard that day remained vivid in his memory, and merely recalling it sent cold sweat cascading across his entire body.
“Sigh.”
Everything irritated him. His mood was foul…
Having been confined to his room for so long without doing anything, restlessness gnawed at him. He felt compelled to do something today.
And yet he had no desire to venture outside…… What if that kitten he had brought back was waiting for him again!
“…Huh?”
As Kenel wandered through the Garden alone for some time, he discovered something and his eyes widened. An unfamiliar creature occupied a corner of the Garden.
“A puppy?”

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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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