A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 295

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 6. Armis Mountain
Tap.
Deep into the night, a figure descended lightly onto the Terrace and slipped into the room—it was Jainer.
“….”
Jainer entered his darkened room and froze. He sensed a presence where there should have been none.
“Guilty conscience? Why are you sneaking in through the Terrace to enter your own room?”
A familiar voice, tinged with exasperation.
“…Camilla?”
It was indeed Camilla. What was she doing here at this hour? Jainer’s eyes widened slightly, and he quickly redirected his hand—which had been moving toward the dagger at his side—back to his original position.
“What are you doing here?”
Jainer lit the lamp. Only then could he see Camilla’s face, which bore a hint of irritation.
“What do you think? I was waiting for you.”
Camilla clicked her tongue lightly. A week had passed since she arrived, yet this was the first time she’d seen Jainer face to face.
“What’s keeping you so busy? You didn’t even come to Daive’s recital.”
“Daive? Did the performance go well?”
“Of course it did. He placed first with flying colors.”
“Impressive.”
“Don’t try to change the subject so smoothly. What exactly has you so occupied?”
The servants said they couldn’t even tell when he came home at night, and that he left very early in the morning.
“Work has been piling up lately.”
“Why did it suddenly increase after I arrived?”
They’d even mentioned that he’d been behaving this way since I got here.
“Are you sleeping?”
“Is my brother actually worried about me?”
Jainer smiled softly, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“It’s just that I haven’t seen your face in so long. You kept saying ‘brother, brother’ before, but now that I’m here, you won’t even greet me. Are you avoiding me because you don’t want to see me?”
“I’m happy to see you.”
“If you’re happy to see me, then who wouldn’t be hap—”
Camilla’s brow furrowed slightly. There was only one other person it could be.
“…Whether it’s this house or that one, why is everyone so desperate to get their hands on Arsian?”
What has our Arsian done now!
“When we met before, that bastard tried to kill me.”
“You must have done something to deserve it.”
“…Excuse me?”
Camilla’s swift retort left Jainer speechless.
Of course, she was right. Back then, he hadn’t known her true identity, and he’d tried to kill her as the contract demanded. When Arsian learned the truth, he’d come after Jainer’s organization.
“Still, I’m your brother, aren’t I? That man is still a stranger to you. Naturally, you should be on my side, shouldn’t you?”
Jainer put on an expression of wounded feelings.
“Or do you still consider me a stranger too?”
“Who said you were a stranger?”
Ah, back off a bit. Why are you pressing your face so close like that?
Camilla pushed Jainer’s forehead away with her finger, her smile brimming with mischief as he leaned ever closer.
Only then did Jainer chuckle and take a step back from her.
“So, you weren’t waiting for me at this hour because you were curious about why I haven’t been home, were you?”
“I need to ask you for something.”
“A favor? Not a job, then.”
“Right.”
Camilla nodded and relayed the reason she had been waiting for him.
“Your Organization has branches in most regions, doesn’t it?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Obviously, there would be teleportation circles installed between the branches.”
“…?”
Jainer couldn’t immediately grasp what Camilla wanted. Did she have somewhere urgent to go?
If that were the case, she wouldn’t need to use his Organization at all. She could simply tell Duke Escra, and he would easily take her anywhere within the Gracia Empire.
“Is there perhaps a branch near Armis Mountain?”
“…Where?”
But at Camilla’s next words, Jainer furrowed his brow for the first time.
Armis Mountain—wasn’t that a place under extremely strict surveillance recently?
Everyone was anxiously watching to see if magical beasts would descend from the mountain as the ice melted.
Though there had been no major casualties yet, civilian access was being thoroughly controlled.
“Armis Mountain. I looked into it, and all the transportation routes there are blocked.”
“Why there?”
“I have business to attend to.”
“Wait, you’re saying you have business on Armis Mountain itself, not just nearby?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Jainer released a long, silent sigh.
“Why are you trying to go there?”
“I have a ghost friend who left their final words and belongings there. They asked me to pass those things on to their descendants.”
Isn’t a dragon already among the dead? I’ve already developed considerable affection for that one, so calling them a friend wouldn’t be wrong, would it? So going to retrieve what a friend left behind is justified. It’s not entirely a lie.
It’s not entirely a lie.
“…I didn’t know. I never realized my sister held the deceased in such tender regard.”
“I’ve always been tender-hearted about such things.”
[…Tender-hearted? Who was it that told those spirits who came seeking resolution to disappear before she tore them to shreds?]
[…And it was I who stood with my hands raised for over an hour because of sending those ghosts.]
Zeno and Amy, the ghosts clinging to Camilla’s side, shot her looks of utter exasperation, but she paid them no mind.
‘So what? What’s the problem with that?’
It’s not like I annihilated them—I simply sent them away quietly. I was being tender-hearted by letting them off easy.
“Ha.”
Watching Camilla lie without batting an eye, Jainer himself let out an incredulous laugh.
“Do you have a branch there or not?”
“Even if we do, let’s say we don’t.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Because it’s dangerous.”
“It’s not dangerous at all.”
Camilla began earnestly trying to persuade him.
“You know as well as I do—my surroundings are packed with incredibly powerful spirits. They handle everything when danger arises, I’m telling you. Besides, Arsian will be coming with me.”
“That makes me even more uncomfortable.”
The fact that he would be going along made me even less inclined to agree.
“You saw it before yourself. King, I mean! How our King made the beasts retreat in an instant. King will be coming with us too.”
This wasn’t a lie. I had already instructed King before arriving in the Gracia Empire.
To come here immediately upon receiving word. Hadn’t he found me right away before when all the teleportation circles were blocked?
“….”
Jainer stared silently at Camilla for a long while. As he observed her somewhat anxious expression, his gaze grew even colder.
“A request from the dead?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
“….”
It didn’t seem like that was everything—there was clearly something more.
“Then I’ll come along too.”
“Arsian will already be coming with me.”
“Let’s say our branch doesn’t exist in that region.”
“Come on, seriously.”
“Is there a reason I can’t follow?”
“Well, that’s….”
The fewer people who know about treasure locations, the better, obviously! Haven’t you watched dramas? People commit murder over hidden money! So don’t even try to find out!
…I couldn’t exactly tell him the truth.
“If you have nothing else to say, I’m dropping this whole matter….”
“Older Brother!”
“….”
Jainer, who had been about to send her back to her room, froze at the single title that tumbled from Camilla’s lips.
“Your sister is asking you!”
“…ha.”
His expression, which had gone somewhat blank, broke into a hollow laugh.
“So you only call me Older Brother at times like this?”
“Ugh, what are you saying? I’ve always called you Older Brother in my heart. I just couldn’t say it out loud because I’m so shy.”
“…You do know what the word ‘shy’ means, right?”
Faced with Camilla’s bright, sparkling eyes that suggested not a shred of dishonesty, Jainer, who had momentarily worn a bewildered expression, could only let out a soft chuckle.
“When are you leaving?”
* * *
“…It’s incredibly massive.”
As Camilla stepped into the foothills of Armis Mountain, she gazed up at the towering peak before her and let out a soft exclamation of wonder.
It was far more majestic than she had imagined. The thick mist swirling around it lent an almost mystical quality to the landscape.
Fortunately, that very fog made it easy to evade the watchful eyes of the Guard stationed around Armis Mountain.
‘The perfect atmosphere for spirits to appear.’
Beyond mystical, it had taken on an eerie quality.
[So you finally came, after wanting to so badly.]
“It’s been quite the ordeal.”
At Zeno’s words, Camilla nodded, her expression weary.
When Jainer had granted her permission to use the teleportation circle to the Khan Branch, she had believed all the complicated matters were finally resolved.
But….
‘That was only the beginning.’
More obstacles remained in her path.
‘Where exactly are you going?’
‘On a journey.’
‘…Just the two of you alone?’
‘King is coming too.’
‘I forbid it.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————