A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 321

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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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Chapter 14. The Power of the Black Ring
“Aaron.”
“Sara, you’re awake?”
“Yes.”
Sara.
Aaron called out affectionately to his daughter, who had stirred awake in the carriage. Yet the name he used to address her differed from before.
The child, as if intimately familiar with this name, nodded without hesitation and gently wrapped her arms around the man’s neck.
“You’ve worked hard today as well.”
The child’s manner of speech had transformed. Her expression, too, had shifted—bearing a maturity far too refined for one so young, tinged with an almost serene gentleness.
“I do hope this child possesses a longer lifespan… it would spare you so much suffering.”
“What suffering is there? As long as you and Anna are at peace, nothing else concerns me.”
As the man spoke with pity and the child exhaled a prolonged sigh, Aaron gently stroked the child’s back.
“Let us prepare at once.”
Descending from the carriage, Aaron proceeded forward while tenderly holding the child’s hand.
Their destination was a cave nestled deep within the forest. Upon entering the elongated cavern, a single firmly sealed door came into view.
“It should be finished by now.”
Within that door lies a coffin. The coffin imprisoning the child. By today, the child’s soul should have separated from the body.
Creak.
The door bore no lock mechanism whatsoever. There was no need for one.
Though situated deep within the mountains, the dead spirits he commanded stood sentinel around the perimeter.
Should any outsiders approach, they would emanate such a desolate aura that none could venture near—thus he harbored no concern regarding external intrusion.
And so Aaron stepped into the darkness alongside the child.
“…!”
Yet he could advance no further. The space before him had transformed since his last departure from this place.
‘The coffin….’
The coffin that should have remained sealed lay shattered. Utterly destroyed….
‘The child?’
The man hastily surveyed his surroundings. An escape? How? The child should have possessed no strength to move even a finger.
A child imprisoned there for an entire month. A child who should already be dead, fleeing? It made no sense.
“What? Looking for the child?”
“…!”
In that instant, an unfamiliar voice pierced Aaron’s ears!
Turning his head urgently, Aaron beheld a figure leaning against the corner wall beside the entrance.
“You are….”
No—she was not unfamiliar. Though they had never met face to face, he knew her visage intimately.
“The Duke’s Daughter.”
Camilla, the very architect of the Eba Cult’s downfall…. She stood before him now.
‘Why is she here?’
How did she discover this place?
‘Moreover, does she know of me?’
She showed no surprise at my arrival. In fact, it seemed as though she had come here knowing everything all along.
‘How?’
How did she know about me? How had she discovered the location of this cave? More than that, the dead I had released would never have permitted a stranger’s visit. Everything was shrouded in questions.
“Seems you have quite a few questions.”
Camilla clicked her tongue lightly as she watched the man’s eyes flicker with uncertainty. Her gaze then shifted to the child standing beside him.
‘…What is that?’
Her brow furrowed slightly. A disembodied spirit—one stripped of its flesh—clung to the child’s side.
But then….
‘…Is it smiling?’
That spirit, the one robbed of its body, was smiling with such pure, unblemished joy.
* * *
“Wow, this place is completely infested with ghosts.”
Upon reaching the location Amy had indicated, the surroundings were teeming with the spirits of the dead.
The air felt damp and suffocating, as though I had stepped into a moisture-laden underground space.
Despite the sun blazing brilliantly overhead, I could not shake the oppressive darkness that seemed to permeate everything.
‘Anyone ignorant of this would flee immediately.’
The aura of the dead was so potent that even the dullest person would feel an unmistakable sense of dread.
“This is different from that child.”
The spirits dwelling here differed greatly from the child who had been sent to curse me. There was no resentment, no malice—nothing of the sort.
‘Yet it’s not normal either.’
They lacked consciousness. Like the spirits robbed of their bodies by the Eba Cult, these seemed entirely devoid of awareness—merely drifting aimlessly around the cave.
‘The only time they react is when an outsider appears.’
When a stranger approached, they would converge instantly, radiating a suffocating chill that made my entire body shudder with cold.
‘As if that action alone were the reason for their existence….’
The black ring—that artifact supposedly contained the power to command the dead. Perhaps the one who possessed it had ordered these spirits to guard this place.
Whoosh.
I gently channeled Arena’s holy power. Instantly, the spirits that had been converging toward me recoiled as though burned by flame.
“….”
My gaze slowly turned toward my companions.
“…Why are you two running away as well?”
Both Amy and Zeno, who had come with me, were now keeping their distance. I regarded them with exasperation.
“Shouldn’t you be used to this by now?”
You already know from experience that there’s no need to fear as long as I have no intention of annihilating you, don’t you?
“Or do you not trust me?”
Would I really obliterate you? Would I prevent you from coming with me? I grovel before Reaper Habel constantly for your sake!
[No, but it’s still holy power.]
[Holy power is a bit much for us too….]
Watching the two of them shake their heads while maintaining their distance, I clicked my tongue lightly.
“Sigh.”
This is no time for idle conversation! I quickened my pace once more.
“That cave, right?”
[Yes! That man definitely went into that cave.]
Among the spirits Amy knew, there were already some strange souls drifting around this area, so she’d been keeping an eye on them. When I showed her the photograph, she recognized the man immediately.
‘She really does know a lot of spirits.’
When had she built connections with spirits in this region? It was quite far from the Capital. I found myself quietly impressed by Amy’s resourcefulness and ability to connect with others.
[He comes and goes to the cave sometimes, bringing a child with him.]
At Amy’s words, I nodded and quickened my pace toward the cave.
[But will it be okay if just we go?]
Zeno watched me with concern as I entered the cave shrouded in thick darkness.
“With Zeno here, what’s there to worry about?”
I turned on the magical lantern I’d brought to illuminate the dark interior of the cave and answered casually.
[That’s true, but… aren’t you going to get scolded again? I don’t think Duke Sorpel will let this slide.]
Zeno’s concern wasn’t about enemies who might attack us. Rather, he was worried about my reckless action of heading into a dangerous area alone once more.
[You got scolded so badly last time.]
And yet here I was, acting on my own again.
“No, I have my reasons.”
I had my own defense. This time, I truly had no intention of acting alone—so hadn’t I shared everything about the man I was searching for?
‘I hate nagging too.’
But then, what could I do?
“There’s no one at home.”
Duke Sorpel and Ludvil had gone out together to inspect a problem that had arisen in their administrative territory, and Ravi was at the Magic Tower.
“Rube was also out on an errand.”
So I had no choice but to act alone.
[Usually people wait for others to return in situations like that.]
“But Zeno heard it too. That the child was dying.”
Before alerting me, Amy had first scouted the cave herself, intending to confirm everything before informing me.
When we arrived at the cave, the man was nowhere to be found. But instead, I discovered a dying child inside a box.
[The child is dying!]
Upon seeing that, Amy rushed straight to me and informed me of the fact.
“I left a memo, so don’t worry too much.”
I had briefly written down the location of the cave that I’d learned from Amy and my current situation, leaving it behind.
I’d instructed the attendant to give it to Rube as soon as he returned home, so my family would soon learn of the situation.

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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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