A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 278

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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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It was a black puppy with not a single other color to be found.
No larger than the palm of a hand, it stood motionless in the rain without flinching, as if indifferent to whatever pain it might be suffering—a pitiful sight indeed.
“….”
The corners of Kenel’s mouth curled upward as he gazed at the puppy.
Had it lost consciousness? Kenel immediately scooped up the puppy lying in the rain.
“Today, you’ll do.”
I was already sick of looking at that cat anyway, and here comes a puppy right on time? And it’s black too. Just seeing that pristine white fur anymore made my skin crawl.
Not a cat, and with fur so dark—it appeared as if timed by fate itself. It felt like destiny.
I didn’t even have time to make it to my room. I’d been holding back for so long. My hands were itching.
Why not just take care of it right here? It seemed like the creature would die with just a little pressure from me.
I didn’t think I’d need any tools. My hand slowly moved toward the puppy’s neck.
[….]
At that very moment, the puppy—which had kept its eyes shut as if dead—suddenly snapped them wide open.
“…!”
What, what is this?
Meeting those pitch-black eyes, Kenel flinched involuntarily. It felt as though everything inside him had been exposed.
And then, the next instant! He could only gasp in shock.
“Uh, uh…!”
The surroundings turned black in an instant. The landscape shifted, and suddenly I found myself standing in a space consumed entirely by darkness!
“What, what is this! Where am I…!”
Just moments ago, this was clearly the Garden? As Kenel looked around in panic, his jaw dropped the moment his gaze fell to the ground.
“Ugh…!”
A scream-like groan erupted from his mouth. The ground was covered with corpses—severed animal remains.
Of course, there was no reason to fear the sight of animal corpses. Wasn’t this what I always saw? Hadn’t I been the one to reduce them to this state?
But.
Slither, slither.
If they were moving, alive—that was a different story entirely.
As countless animated animal corpses rapidly approached him in that state, Kenel’s legs gave out and he collapsed where he stood.
“Ugh… uaaaaaaah!”
Finally, a tremendous scream tore from his mouth.
“Get away! Get away from me! Ah… aaaaah!”
Ice-cold and slimy things crawled up his entire body and began to bite. No matter how much he brushed them away, it was useless.
“Uaaaah! Don’t come! Don’t… aah… ah….”
Thud.
Screaming with all his might, Kenel finally lost consciousness and collapsed.
As he did, the surrounding landscape rapidly returned to its original form. The black puppy that had been sitting quietly before the child was nowhere to be found.
* * *
“I’m telling you, it’s true! It really happened!”
“I understand, so rest now.”
“Why won’t you believe me!”
“Sigh.”
Jimsu, Kenel’s father, exhaled heavily and shook his head slowly.
The child had returned home unconscious yesterday. According to the servants, they found him collapsed in the Garden, but after waking, Kenel had been spouting nonsense again.
‘Dead animals attacked him, he claims.’
How could anyone believe such drivel? Just as the Healer suggested, perhaps something had fractured in the boy’s mind.
‘Yet he’s been killing animals left and right.’
And perhaps… even people.
Flinch!
Jimsu quickly shook his head. This was merely speculation on his part, nothing more.
‘The blood covering his entire body…’
And the soil caked thick upon his shoes.
Not long ago, the boy had failed to return Home until late.
And when he arrived at dawn, his appearance had convinced me of something certain—that the child had killed not animals as usual, but something far larger.
And perhaps that something was human.
“…Rest.”
Jimsu forcibly cleared his mind and hurriedly left the room.
“Why won’t anyone believe me!”
Crash!
Left alone in his room, Kenel slammed the table with all his might, venting his fury.
Even now, the slimy, frigid sensation of them crawling across his body and biting him remained vivid—and they said it was all a delusion?
“Ha!”
Kenel ran his hand roughly through his hair and exhaled sharply. He gnawed at his nails anxiously, betraying his agitation.
No matter how much I thought about it, something was wrong. The cat, the dog… clearly something strange was happening to me now.
Tap… tap-tap.
“…?”
As I turned over recent events in my mind, sinking once more into unease, an unfamiliar sound made me turn my head.
Tap-tap.
“Ugh…”
A small, adorable red bird perched upon the windowsill, pecking insistently at the glass as if demanding entry.
“Get… get out of here!”
Normally, I would have opened the door without hesitation, letting the toy it brought find its way inside. There was no reason to turn away something that had come seeking me.
But everything I’d brought to myself recently had been wrong. What if this was the same?
“Get away!”
Whoosh!
Kenel shouted with all his strength, even hurling a cushion from the bed, hoping the bird would fly away.
[What! Why won’t you open the door!]
Crash!
“Gasp!”
But in the next instant, the bird burst through the window, shrieking something—and Kenel could only recoil in horror.
“A bird… a bird…!”
Just moments ago, she had looked like an innocent little bird who knew nothing of the world. Now, as if that had never been the case, she shrieked incessantly with savage eyes.
[Why the discrimination! You let those two approach easily enough! Why won’t you do the same for me! Are you saying I’m not cute! You little brat! Where’s the discrimination, dammit!]
Whoooosh!
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Massive flames erupted around Kenel. This was no illusion whatsoever. How could this scorching heat be anything but real!
“P-please… save me…!”
Kenel screamed with all his might, desperately hoping someone would come and rescue him.
[Shut up! What are you screaming about like you’ve accomplished something! I’ve already set up a barrier, so no matter how much you yell, no one will come!]
“Ahhh…!”
Whoooosh!
The flames soared even higher, and Kenel could no longer even scream as the suffocating heat consumed him.
Eventually, he convulsed in agony before finally losing consciousness.
* * *
“You all did well.”
[What was the point of going through all this trouble!]
‘Ugh, my ears are ringing.’
Stop screaming so loudly.
I looked at the red chick perched on my shoulder—Zetti—who was shrieking away indignantly.
[I could just straighten out that brat’s behavior right now, you know.]
“That’s not the final goal, I told you.”
How many times do I have to say this?
I gave a brief response and lowered my gaze to the small creature lying at my feet—not a puppy, but a wolf cub, Luna.
“You know, when you two shrink down like this, you’re so… ahem, I mean, you’re incredibly adorable.”
Seeing these two reduced to a size even smaller than King was utterly pathetic—no, wait, unbearably cute.
‘I thought only King could do that.’
So these creatures could transform into such adorable little forms if they wanted to.
[You just called us pathetic!]
“No, I never said that.”
I deliberately avoided Zetti’s piercing glare and stroked King, who was nestled in my arms.
The ones I had brought along were Shinsu—to both investigate Kenel, the murderer of Rana, and to teach him a lesson.
I had considered relying solely on King’s help, but it seemed one session wouldn’t properly correct his behavior.
[Why not just break his bones right now and be done with it. What’s the point of all this trouble.]
Zetti grumbled once more. He had agreed to come along when I asked, but he couldn’t understand why I was going through all this effort.
Sure, he’d been taught a lesson, but from what I heard, this creature had actually killed a person. Shouldn’t this go further than this?
“Of course I’m not ending it here. But I wanted him to understand something.”
[Understand what?]
“That no matter how small a life form is, you must never harm it carelessly.”
I’m not an animal lover, but I’m not so thoughtless as to stand by and watch abuse happen right before my eyes.
[Killing an animal isn’t the only problem! How are you going to address the greatest crime he committed. Murder! A human murder! He should be thrown into Prison immediately!]
Animal killing is certainly an issue, but the greatest crime right now is indeed the death of a child. And he didn’t even spare the body from desecration.
Exposing that crime and ensuring proper punishment for it was the most important task.
“I’ll handle that.”

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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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