A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 297

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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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Amy’s words were not a lie.
The vast chamber—so immense it was difficult to gauge its true dimensions—was absolutely brimming with jewels that gleamed with unmistakable rarity and value.
The sight struck me far more profoundly than when I had first entered Sharua’s secret bank vault—Daive’s mother’s vault.
“Arsian.”
“Yes?”
“You said you could use spatial magic, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
Watching Arsian nod, my smile deepened. Why would I have come all this way without bringing at least one bag to carry jewels?
‘I trusted him for exactly this reason.’
Having already heard that he possessed spatial magic, I had come unprepared without worry.
“How large is your spatial dimension?”
“About the size of a small room?”
“That works.”
I would have preferred something larger, but this was hardly a complaint.
Without Arsian’s spatial magic, moving all these jewels elsewhere would have consumed several months of labor alone.
“What should I prioritize?”
I began selecting which jewels to take first.
Arsian stood beside me, watching quietly, his vigilance never wavering.
[Kyuu kyuu!]
“Hmm?”
King, who had been exploring elsewhere, suddenly cried out as if he had discovered something.
“King?”
Wondering what had happened, Arsian and I made our way toward him. King was hopping excitedly across the floor.
“What is that?”
A magic circle?
The floor of the space where King was gleefully bounding was covered in an enormous magic circle—so vast it consumed the entire chamber.
[Isn’t it fascinating? This must be a magic circle left behind by a dragon!]
Amy had drawn close to my side, her voice trembling with excitement as she continued.
[I don’t know what kind of magic circle it is, but it must have tremendous historical value!]
“Yes, yes.”
Of course, it stirred little interest within me.
What good was a dragon’s magic circle? It wouldn’t put food on the table.
“Hmm.”
Arsian, by contrast, examined the circle with genuine fascination. For those who wielded magic, dragon magic was surely far more precious than any jewel.
As I turned to head back toward the jewel chamber, I paused, observing Arsian’s expression.
[Kyuuu!]
“…? King?”
But King’s behavior suddenly grew strange. He stood at the circle’s center, his eyes gleaming with an intensity I recognized.
I had seen this expression before—wasn’t it exactly how he looked when charging a depleted mana stone?
“What are you doing right now—!”
A piercing shriek tore through the air!
The moment Camilla sensed something amiss and rushed toward King, the magic circle erupted with blinding light so intense it seared the eyes.
“Camilla!”
Arsian, who had been examining the magic circle, finally sensed the disturbance and immediately ran to embrace her. In that instant, light blazed forth even more brilliantly than before.
[W-what!]
[Camilla!]
Amy and Zeno, startled by the cascading light, rushed toward them, but by the time they arrived, the radiance had already vanished.
And in that place, there was no one. Neither Camilla nor Arsian… nor King.
* * *
“You lost them?”
“Yes.”
“You as well?”
“I’m afraid so. My sincerest apologies.”
….
Duke Escra’s brow furrowed slightly at the responses from Count Alton and his son Jainer.
“I never realized those I raised possessed such limited capability.”
“Perhaps it is simply that the young lady and Arsian possess exceptional abilities.”
Camilla and Arsian had departed together on a journey, revealing neither their destination nor their purpose.
Though Duke Escra naturally objected, his daughter paid no heed, leaving him with no choice but to grant reluctant consent.
Yet he did not simply wash his hands of the matter. On the day of her departure, he discreetly assigned someone to follow her.
He dispatched the House Escra’s pride—those skilled in gathering intelligence—to shadow Camilla’s path.
And he entrusted Jainer with the same task.
“Even you failed.”
So Jainer too had lost Camilla’s trail. A renowned organization across the Continent, yet unable to properly track a single person?
“As Count Alton mentioned, the two of them deliberately concealed their movements, making pursuit impossible.”
Jainer offered an apologetic bow with his characteristic disarming smile.
‘My apologies.’
Though inwardly, his apology carried an entirely different meaning.
After all, it was he himself who had personally directed Camilla and Arsian to the branch near Armis Mountain.
Having personally aided her journey, how could he possibly succeed when ordered to secretly pursue her?
“Where on earth could they have gone?”
“Nothing of great concern, surely. Arsian will protect her well.”
“That man is the very problem, the problem itself.”
Though Count Alton attempted to reassure him with careful words, Duke Escra only clicked his tongue in greater disapproval.
“But what shall we do about this letter?”
….
Count Alton carefully indicated something resting upon the desk. It was an invitation—one bearing the Imperial seal pressed firmly upon it.
A personal letter written in Emperor Gracia’s own hand.
Given the friendship between the Emperor and Duke Escra, there was nothing particularly unusual about him sending correspondence.
The problem, however, lay in a single detail: the recipient’s name inscribed upon the letter was none other than Camilla’s.
“Why does His Majesty keep insisting on meeting with Camilla?”
Jainer’s lips curved into his customary smile as he gazed at the letter, yet his eyes gleamed with an icy chill unlike any before.
“He said he has something to give her.”
“To Camilla?”
“She said she needs nothing.”
And yet he’d sent this invitation regardless. Duke Escra regarded the letter with equally cold eyes.
Whoosh!
“Discard it.”
Duke Escra flung the invitation away with a sharp gesture. Count Alton hastily retrieved it, exhaling a quiet sigh.
“What if His Majesty finds out?”
“Tell him it was lost.”
“If he questions that, it becomes treason.”
Losing an imperial letter—as if such a thing were even possible!
“Discard it.”
Duke Escra rose from his seat, commanding once more that the invitation be destroyed, as though the matter were entirely beneath his concern.
“Continue searching for Camilla’s whereabouts.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
At his final command, both Count Alton and Jainer nodded in unison.
* * *
Whoosh!
“….”
Camilla slowly opened the eyes she’d been keeping shut.
Just moments ago, when King had poured his mana into the magic circle, it had activated.
She felt her body transported somewhere, engulfed in brilliant light….
Opening her eyes with a slight sense of vertigo, Camilla’s first sight was Arsian, who held her securely in his embrace.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
She answered his question simply and released a short breath.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a magic circle designed to kill intruders.
[Kyuu, kyuu?]
“You….”
[Kyuuu….]
King crouched before her, his head bowed low, as though he understood his transgression.
Camilla lifted him into her arms and flicked his nose with her finger.
“Next time you do that without permission, you’ll be punished.”
[Kyuu!]
King nodded vigorously, and after gently stroking his head, Camilla surveyed her surroundings. Where on earth was this place?
She and Arsian stood in a deserted, dimly lit alley.
Yet as Camilla examined the area, an uncanny sensation washed over her.
‘The building….’
…Why is it so impossibly tall?
And when I entered Dragon’s Lair, it was definitely late evening with the sunset just beginning to fade?
The sky blazed with brilliant light, and the buildings lining the alley towered impossibly high, one after another.
And this air—so familiar yet so murky?
“Surely not….”
Camilla slowly made her way out of the alley. As she emerged from the lightless darkness, her mouth gradually fell open.
The first thing that caught her eye was a massive advertisement screen hanging on a distant building.
A woman with an arrogant expression, holding a cosmetic product in her hand.
“…That’s me.”
No—it was Sia.
Only then could Camilla understand where she was.
“Did I… cross over again?”

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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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