A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 28

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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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Camilla coughed, her expression suggesting she had much to say but would hold her tongue for now as she frantically searched through her garments.
The moment clarity returned, only one thought consumed her.
‘Phew.’
Fortunately, the Divine Beast’s egg was still there. She wouldn’t have to return to that accursed Lake.
Only then did she truly grasp that she had survived, and a long, trembling sigh of relief escaped her repeatedly.
I thought I was going to become a water ghost!
Camilla, sprawled limply on the ground, barely opened her eyes and stared intently at Dona.
“What are you?”
What exactly are you?!
“Why did you appear here?”
Camilla found it utterly baffling.
This woman had seen her off at the Sorpel Household just this morning, yet she had suddenly appeared at the Academy—and jumped into the Lake. No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t make sense of it.
“Miss, what on earth were you thinking!”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you jump into the Lake!”
“That’s because….”
“Why are you suddenly trying to die!”
“I think there’s been some misunderstanding-”
“If you die this time, it’s truly over!”
“…What?”
This time?
“You won’t be able to return to the past like before!”
A cold wind suddenly swept across her, engulfing her entire body. The wind against her soaked skin was so biting that goosebumps erupted all over her.
Unable to discern whether the goosebumps came from the wind or from Dona’s words, Camilla’s face gradually hardened.
“What did you just say?”
* * *
“Oh my!”
“Good, goodness!”
“Miss!”
Upon returning home, Camilla kept her mouth firmly shut at the sight of the shocked servants seeing her completely drenched.
She hadn’t even thought to change her clothes before coming back. Her mind was far too chaotic.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a large cloak wrapped around her. When she turned her head, Ludvil stood before her.
He was dressed in the Knight Order uniform, apparently having been in the middle of training.
“Those thugs again?”
Those thugs?
‘Ah.’
Ludvil’s eyes grew cold as he seemed to assume she had been harassed by Juide and his group again.
Shake, shake.
Camilla gently shook her head and resumed walking. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone right now.
Leaving everyone chasing after her behind, Camilla cast her gaze toward only one person—Dona.
To the anxious maidservant standing before her, Camilla spoke with her eyes alone.
Come with me at once.
[You there.]
[Miss….]
“Both of you, leave.”
Moments later, as Camilla entered the room, she spoke firmly to Hersel and Derin who had followed her inside.
[But….]
“From this moment forward, should either of you show the slightest interest in or eavesdrop on anything that transpires in this room, I will consider it as your intention never to speak with me again.”
Faced with Camilla’s expression, colder than ever before, both men slunk away with dejected faces.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and the maidservant Dona stepped inside.
“Miss….”
“….”
“Let me at least bring you a warm cup of tea-”
“Enough.”
Camilla cut off her words immediately.
“What are you?”
“What do you mean, miss? I’m the maidservant Dona who serves you-”
“Do you want to die?”
What kind of wordplay is this.
At the frigid tone dripping with menace, Dona’s body shrank back.
“Answer me straight. You said if I die this time, I won’t return to the past? What does that mean?”
‘I won’t be able to return to the past like before!’
I turned over everything that had happened so far and Dona’s words at the Lake again and again in my mind.
And I spoke the conclusion I had reached, word by word.
“How I came to enter this world, what is happening right now….”
You know, don’t you?
Finally, Dona, who had been hanging her head low, straightened her posture. Then came an unexpected answer, accompanied by a resigned sigh.
“Until recently, I was a soul administrator.”
Camilla’s eyebrows rose. Dona hurriedly added an explanation.
“Literally, one who manages souls.”
Like the Grim Reaper? …But why am I not surprised? Ugh.
‘How irritating.’
Hearing the absurd term “soul administrator,” I felt a sudden wave of self-loathing at my own lack of surprise.
Seeing ghosts really isn’t good for one’s mental health… wait, until recently?
“You’re saying you’re not one anymore?”
“Yes.”
Dona’s expression grew gloomy.
“I was cast out.”
“Cast out?”
“I made a mistake, you see….”
Then she glanced at Camilla before continuing.
“I placed two souls into the wrong bodies.”
“What do you mean? You’re saying you put a different soul into someone else’s body?”
“As expected, you grasp things quickly!”
Unlike Dona, who clapped her hands in admiration, Camilla’s expression grew increasingly cold.
Souls placed into the wrong bodies? Why did that phrase make my chest tighten?
“Just as each person has clothing that suits them and feels comfortable wearing, the same applies to souls. When a mismatched soul enters a body, everything becomes distorted.”
Dona paused briefly, then glanced at Camilla again.
“The most obvious consequence is that those around them turn away.”
“Turn away?”
“Even family members cannot offer affection. Everyone finds their existence deeply uncomfortable.”
“….”
“It’s instinctive. People instinctively feel rejection toward something different from themselves. Without exception, they avoid and shun that person. Occasionally there are exceptions, but those are truly rare cases.”
Rejection. Avoidance.
Camilla rose slowly from her seat. The cloak draped over her shoulders slipped down silently.
“So that misplaced soul is me?”
“Exactly!”
Dona clapped her hands together again.
“Your soul and Sia’s soul were switched. Truly, your comprehension is remarkable, and your judgment is equally exce-”
“Be quiet.”
“Yes.”
“….”
I couldn’t speak for a long time. It felt as though my head had been struck repeatedly by something heavy and blunt.
“So in other words….”
Everything that has happened to Camilla and me all this time was because our souls were switched.
‘It’s all your fault!’
‘Father….’
‘You could never be my daughter!’
A fragment of an old memory surfaced. The memory of Father constantly spewing curses.
‘Father! Please, save me!’
‘Take her away.’
‘Father!’
Camilla’s final moments also came to mind.
“A mistake?”
A mistake? She’s claiming that everything Camilla and I endured happened because of a mere mistake?
“Damn it….”
For the first time in ages, I felt a fury that made my head throb.
“There….”
Dona flinched and took a step back.
“Why are you suddenly taking off your shoes…?”
As I removed my heels and gripped them in my hand, Dona’s tone became noticeably more cautious.
“Just.”
The shoes were remarkably pointed, and today I found that particularly satisfying. My grip on them tightened.
“I felt like I needed to hold them.”
Dona retreated further, her expression growing fearful.
“So this body was originally mine, then?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
“Why didn’t you fix it immediately?”
“Why?”
“If you knew you’d placed the soul incorrectly, you should have returned it to its rightful place right away! Why didn’t you swap them back immediately!”
If you had corrected the mistake the moment you realized the soul had been placed in the wrong body, none of this would have happened.
“Why on earth!”
I couldn’t fathom why you’d left things as they were for all those years, only to suddenly restore everything now.
“Extracting and swapping souls that have already settled into a body is not a simple matter. Especially when those souls exist in different dimensions.”
A short sigh escaped Dona’s lips.
“Doing so would break the unique laws that both dimensions maintain, which could destabilize the flow of those worlds.”
Even as Dona spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the heels I gripped tightly, and she took another cautious step backward.
“That’s why a certain condition was necessary.”
“A condition?”
“Mutual recognition. Naturally. You likely observed Camilla of this world for a very long time.”
That strange phenomenon I’d experienced for over twenty years was because of this?
‘Wait a moment.’
Mutual recognition?
“You mean this girl was watching me too?”
“Yes.”
“…!”
“Camilla of this world also continuously observed Sia’s repeated life in the other dimension.”
“Ha….”
This girl had experienced the same phenomenon—being pulled into another world and witnessing a different life unfold repeatedly.
“So this is where I belong.”
“Yes.”
“I can never return to that other world again?”
“That’s correct.”
“When I die now, it’s just… the end?”
“Ding dong ding!”
I laughed hollowly for a long while. Anger surged within me, only to be overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all.
The realization that I could never return to that other world left me feeling adrift, yet there was a strange emotion in finally being where I truly belonged.
“…Wait.”
Then Camilla suddenly realized another fact that had escaped her and flinched.
“Don’t tell me… I died every time in that other world too?”
Just moments ago, she had clearly heard ‘Sia’s repeating life.’ That meant she herself had died repeatedly in that other world and returned to the past each time, didn’t it?
“Yes, you died every time, Sia.”
“…!”
“By Father’s hand.”
“…Who?”
“Your father from that world.”
Why was that man suddenly coming up now?
“Ha….”
I hadn’t seen him in a long time. He had threatened me for money, disappeared without recovering his investment, and never appeared before my eyes again.
‘I ended up dying by that man’s hand?’
Every time? That meant….
“Then I might die again!”
Sia in that other world was in danger!
“Sia is aware of that fact as well.”
Dona shook her head lightly as if to say not to worry.
“Just as you are working hard to survive here in this world, she is surely working very hard to eliminate the dangers in that world.”
“I suppose.”
Unless she’s a fool, she must be preparing for something.

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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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