A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 31

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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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[Mew….]
No matter how I looked at it, Shinsu was just a cat.
As Camilla stirred, the creature curled up tighter and let out small whimpers that were utterly endearing.
While I watched intently, Shinsu sensed my gaze and slowly opened her eyes.
[Meow!]
Delighted that Camilla had awakened, Shinsu let out a slightly louder cry, then rose to her feet and padded over to her, licking her face repeatedly.
Click!
“Miss!”
At that very moment, the door swung open and Dorman stepped into the room. In his hands were a basin and a wet cloth.
“You’ve awakened! Just a moment!”
Before Camilla could say anything, he rushed back out.
And moments later.
“Camilla!”
Duke Sorpel arrived first, hurrying to her side. He must have given orders to be notified the instant she regained consciousness.
Approaching her swiftly, he placed his hand on her forehead first.
A small sigh of relief escaped his lips.
“Fortunately, the fever has broken.”
Duke Sorpel tucked Camilla’s hand back beneath the blanket and gazed at her silently for a moment.
There was so much he wanted to ask. So much he wished to hear. So many things he longed to say.
Yet seeing Camilla lying there with her face gaunt and hollow from the past few days, he found himself unable to speak at all.
“Rest now.”
He patted her shoulder several times before rising from his seat.
“Father.”
Camilla called out to him hurriedly.
“This child….”
Though calling her a child felt somewhat awkward.
My gaze turned to the baby tiger still licking my face beside me.
Duke Sorpel chuckled softly at the sight.
“She refuses to leave your side.”
“What?”
“When I took her away, she cried incessantly. Before I knew it, she had returned here on her own.”
Duke Sorpel lifted the tiger cub into his arms.
[Mew…!]
“Like this, you see.”
Shinsu wriggled and cried out repeatedly toward Camilla.
As I gazed blankly at the sight, Duke Sorpel set Shinsu down on my bed.
The cunning little… tiger approached eagerly, as if she had been waiting, and settled herself beside Camilla’s face.
“Miss, let me give you some medicine first….”
Dorman approached and offered her the medicine.
[Roar!]
“Ahhh!”
The moment Dorman reached toward Camilla, the tiger cub that had been lying peacefully let out a sharp cry and bristled its fur.
“I-I wasn’t trying to touch her, I swear!”
Dorman stumbled backward in alarm, but the young tiger Shinsu continued to bristle defensively, keeping a wary eye on him.
Duke Sorpel chuckled softly and scooped up Shinsu once more.
[Kyuuuu….]
“So you recognize me as your master and don’t reject me, at least.”
No one else dared approach Shinsu. The creature would behave like a docile kitten one moment, then display ferocious hostility the next whenever others drew near.
“Here, take your medicine.”
While Duke Sorpel held Shinsu, Dorman hastily extended the medicine to Camilla, keeping a careful eye on the tiger cub.
Camilla regarded the scene with a mixture of pity and disdain. To think this creature had once been a god-like entity managing souls….
“Get some more rest.”
As Dorman retreated, Duke Sorpel gently placed Shinsu beside Camilla once more.
He gazed at Shinsu nestled beside her for a moment, a faint smile crossing his lips, before he departed from the room.
“Hmm.”
I watched the tiger cub settle down beside me, my expression unreadable.
‘I absolutely despise animals.’
Especially young creatures or children—they required constant attention and care.
Perhaps because I had never been cared for myself, I had no idea how to handle fragile, helpless things.
[Kyuu?]
Just as I was closing my eyes, Shinsu looked up at me, blinking repeatedly before licking my cheek once more.
…I have no idea what to do.
‘I should just sleep.’
Perhaps the medicine contained a sedative. As drowsiness overwhelmed me, I surrendered to deep slumber.
* * *
“You foolish girl! What were you thinking diving in there!”
“But I saw it in my dream….”
“Camilla!”
I was being scolded. For the first time in ages.
The moment I mentioned diving into Spirit Lake to find Shinsu’s egg, Duke Sorpel’s voice thundered through the room.
Even Ludvil, who rarely displayed emotion, furrowed his brow with clear reproach in his eyes.
Ravi seemed to have much to say but held his tongue, only pressing his brow in frustration.
“I apologize. But no one saw me, so there’s no need to worry.”
“What?”
“I carefully confirmed there were no witnesses nearby. It won’t bring shame to the family.”
“That’s not the point at all!”
“Such things are irrelevant.”
“Are you insane! Why would you say that now!”
Wait—wasn’t I being scolded for acting recklessly as a Sorpel lady without proper decorum?
Faced with my bewildered expression, all three men exhaled a short, synchronized sigh.
“Don’t do anything so reckless from now on.”
“It wasn’t particularly dangerous—”
“Camilla!”
As three voices called out her name in unison, Camilla flinched.
Goodness, when did these three become so perfectly synchronized…!
“Yes, I understand…”
Under the weight of three pairs of eyes fixed intently upon me, I finally bowed my head.
[Kyuu!]
The baby Shinsu, having crawled up at some point, now perched upon my shoulder and licked my face as if offering comfort.
“Why do you lick everything all the time?”
The baby Shinsu seized every opportunity to lick my hands and face.
It wasn’t candy, so I couldn’t fathom what it found so delicious about this constant licking.
“It’s a creature that grows by consuming vital energy, you see.”
“Vital energy?”
Duke Sorpel answered my question.
“Shinsu grow by consuming the pure vital energy of humans.”
I gazed at the Shinsu, which continued licking my face with renewed curiosity. So this behavior had been draining my energy all along?
“However, the licking itself seems to be merely a peculiarity of this particular creature.”
Duke Sorpel chuckled softly, as if discerning my thoughts, and continued.
“Ordinarily, Shinsu grow simply by remaining near a being that emanates the energy they desire. There’s no need for such licking behavior.”
I tapped the Shinsu’s nose lightly with my finger. Stop licking.
[Kyiing…]
After watching the Shinsu curl up, covering its face with its front paws, I turned my gaze back to Duke Sorpel.
“Is it alright for this creature to remain by my side?”
I exhaled softly.
Shinsu were symbols of a household head. For such a being to follow me instead of Duke Sorpel would appear unseemly to others. It could invite unnecessary discord.
Duke Sorpel, understanding my concern, smiled gently.
“One doesn’t possess a Shinsu simply because one is a household head.”
“Pardon?”
He extended his hand toward the Shinsu perched upon my shoulder.
[Kyuu…]
The startled Shinsu reluctantly toddled onto Duke Sorpel’s hand.
“It merely happened that those chosen by Shinsu were always household heads.”
Duke Sorpel gently stroked the Shinsu’s head, his eyes brimming with affection as he regarded it.
“The heads of each family simply happened to possess exceptionally strong vital energy of the particular kind that their respective Shinsu favored.”
“I see…”
“And you…”
Duke Sorpel paused briefly, then watched with amusement as the Shinsu squirmed, eager to return to me.
“It seems you may have been born with vital energy that all Shinsu welcome.”
“Me?”
“That damned creature’s Divine Beast also showed interest in you.”
He was referring to Zetti, the Jebillen Family’s crimson eagle Divine Beast.
“Last time, it seemed like that red eagle was the reason he wanted to see you.”
“Zetti?”
Now that I thought about it, I recalled hearing something similar from Rube before I collapsed—that Duke Jebillen wished to see me.
“Why me?”
“Who knows. He said he didn’t want to tell me.”
Duke Sorpel chuckled softly, as if he had some inkling of the reason.
“….”
Before I knew it, I had gently scooped up the Divine Beast that had approached me again. My heart felt remarkably complicated.
‘Should I really keep this Divine Beast by my side?’
Perhaps my conflicted emotions showed through, for Duke Sorpel called out to me quietly.
“Camilla.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
It was a gratitude whose meaning I couldn’t quite grasp. When I lifted my head abruptly, my expression must have looked peculiar.
He—Duke Sorpel—was smiling so gently. It was a smile of such ease that I had never once seen before.
“Thanks to you, I’ve finally resolved a long-cherished wish.”
Did he truly believe that?
My crimson eyes blinked repeatedly as I gazed down at the white fluffy creature nestled obediently in my arms.
It playfully nipped at my hand with its mouth, grasped it with its paws, and whenever I made a soft clicking sound to call it, it immediately met my gaze.
Even as it tumbled about, it seemed to follow me more than those who carried the blood of the Sorpel Family, which had secretly made me anxious….
“A Divine Beast has returned to our Family.”
As if recalling all the heartache from before, a long sigh escaped his lips. Then he gazed upon the Divine Beast again with a contented expression.
There was not a trace of negative feeling toward me to be found.
“There is certainly reason to rejoice.”
“Father.”
“Well done.”
Watching Duke Sorpel, who looked as though he had shed a great burden, I could say nothing more.
‘Did things work out well?’
Truthfully, I had wanted this outcome. Why else had I laid all that groundwork? I had wanted to make him believe my words.
After laying such careful groundwork, I could have simply told others that I saw the Divine Beast’s egg location in a dream.
‘Why did you go in there directly? It was dangerous.’
Dorman, after his body had recovered and he learned the full truth, had asked me that.
He was right. There had been no need for me to jump into the Lake myself.
If I had simply brought Duke Sorpel, who possessed the pendant, near the Lake, the matter would have been resolved easily.
But I hadn’t done that.
‘Why, you ask?’
‘Pardon?’
‘To save it.’
‘What the…’
‘I wanted to stray from that ending where I die every time.’
I wanted to find Shinsu with my own hands and deliver him to her personally.
Camilla cared little for the praise or reputation of others. The only thing that truly occupied her mind remained singular and unwavering.
‘I struggled to stay alive, you wretch! Do you understand whose fault all of this is?’
‘I’m terribly sorry…’
Certainly, thanks to this affair, even if I caused a catastrophic disaster, my neck wouldn’t be severed on the spot.

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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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