A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 330

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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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“Ludvil?”
Had Ludvil come here to have clothes tailored?
‘That couldn’t be.’
Ludvil had a separate dressing room for his fittings. He wasn’t the type to chase trends and deliberately seek out a tailor.
“I owed him a favor.”
“A favor? What kind of favor?”
“That is….”
Jewela recalled what had happened not long ago.
* * *
“Hey.”
“…!”
It was late at night, nearly midnight, when I finally left my dressing room. Today had accumulated far too much backlogged work.
But there was someone waiting for me outside.
“Looks like you’ve been doing well without seeing me. Shinsu’s looking bright.”
It was Mantiz—someone who had once been called family. Though we had been siblings for quite some time….
“Damn it, how dare you report me?”
Now he was nothing but a troublemaker I never wanted to face again.
“You’re out already.”
I swallowed the sigh threatening to escape and clicked my tongue lightly.
Mantiz, who had caused a disturbance at the cafe and been arrested by the Guard, had been imprisoned on charges of extortion.
But the sentence seemed shorter than expected—less than six months had passed, yet he was already back on the streets.
“Because of you, I’ve been through prison.”
The light in Mantiz’s eyes as he smiled coldly was unsettling. Was this what they called bloodlust?
‘I should have listened to him.’
Camilla had repeatedly told me to find someone to guard me, just in case. But with business keeping me occupied, I hadn’t paid proper attention to such matters. Now I found myself alone with this man again.
“It’s because of you that I’ve ended up like this, understand! You and your family ruined everything!”
“When will you finally admit it? Your family’s ruin wasn’t because of me—it was because of you. Have you already forgotten how much money you lost gambling?”
After your family completely collapsed, you were the one borrowing money everywhere and throwing yourself into gambling dens.
And yet you blame me every time? I was sick of facing him.
“Shut up! Before I tear that mouth of yours apart!”
“….”
His eyes had truly gone mad. He must have suffered terribly in prison, and all that rage was directed at me.
I clicked my tongue lightly, wondering how to deal with this man. Today didn’t seem like it would end easily….
A sharp sound.
“You think I’m a joke.”
“…What are you doing.”
A blade suddenly gleamed from Mantiz’s grasp. The sight of him holding that sharply honed knife made even someone as bold as me flinch.
I quickly glanced around, but at this late hour, there wasn’t a single person passing by.
Perhaps this man had deliberately chosen this time to find me for exactly that reason.
‘Sigh.’
Today wouldn’t end easily—not by a long shot. The thought crossed my mind that my own life might be in danger.
With no houses nearby, there would be no one to hear me even if I screamed for help. What should I do?
“Damn it! It was a mistake from the start to let someone like you into our home!”
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?”
“Yes, what you want.”
Jewela kept her eyes fixed on the blade in Mantiz’s hand, doing everything she could to calm him down.
“What I want is…”
Thud.
With each step Mantiz took toward her, Jewela retreated backward. But eventually, her back hit the wall, and she could retreat no further.
“To tear you to shreds.”
“…!”
Whoosh!
Mantiz’s hand holding the blade shot forward with terrifying speed. Seeing this, Jewela squeezed her eyes shut.
Slash!
“Ugh… AAAAHHHHH!”
But instead of pain, what reached her ears was Mantiz’s scream.
“…?”
Jewela opened her eyes in confusion, and her mouth slowly fell open.
Mantiz was crumpled on the ground, clutching his wrist in agony—except his hand was gone.
“My hand… my hand!”
Only then could Jewela see it: the blade lying on the floor, and the severed hand still gripping it tightly.
“Are you injured?”
Jewela stood dazed, unable to comprehend what had just happened, when a stranger approached her side. No—a face she recognized well.
“Ludvil?”
It was Ludvil, the eldest son of the Sorpel Household.
His sudden appearance left Jewela bewildered. Why was he here?
“AAAAHHHHH! My… my hand… uuuugh…!”
Meanwhile, Mantiz continued shrieking so loudly the very air seemed to shake.
At the sound, Ludvil—who had been checking on Jewela’s condition—approached him.
“I’ve rendered summary judgment on a caught criminal. Do you object?”
“Ugh! AAAAHHH… uuuh… uuuh…!”
In stark contrast to Mantiz’s frenzied screaming, Ludvil’s quiet voice came through with crystalline clarity.
He spoke only what needed to be said, then withdrew something from his pocket. What Ludvil produced was…
“…What are you doing?”
Holy water. Seeing this, Jewela asked with a puzzled expression.
“I need to treat him.”
“…Pardon?”
“Left untreated, he’ll bleed out and die.”
He carefully poured the holy water over the severed wrist, and once the bleeding stopped, he tenderly wrapped the wound with a handkerchief he’d been carrying.
‘Why… why would he do that?’
Why was he treating the wound himself? And with such meticulous care, no less.
Jewela couldn’t comprehend Ludvil’s actions at all.
“Murder carries an immediate death sentence even by summary judgment. However, since the attempt failed, your sentence shall be determined through proper trial.”
Ludvil spoke in measured tones as he summoned his subordinates standing to the side. Only then did Jewela notice the other knights positioned nearby.
“Ugh….”
As the knights dragged Mantiz away toward the Guard Headquarters, he continued to moan, still reeling from the shock of his severed hand.
“Phew.”
With the situation resolved, Jewela finally felt her tension dissolve.
‘I really thought I was going to die.’
She exhaled deeply and sank to the ground right there. As the tension left her body, her legs gave out beneath her.
Whoosh!
“…!”
But in that moment, Ludvil grabbed her arm.
“Oh, I’m fine….”
“There’s vomit there. If you’re going to sit, move over there.”
Jewela, thinking he was trying to help her up and beginning to say she was fine, couldn’t finish her sentence.
“…Oh.”
Looking down at her feet, her face flushed slightly. There were traces of someone having drunk and vomited.
“Then please go inside carefully.”
“…Pardon?”
Jewela’s eyes went slightly blank.
Was Ludvil really just turning around and leaving as if he’d finished all his business?
“Excuse me.”
At that, Jewela hastily called out to stop him. He was really just leaving like this?
“What are you doing?”
“I’m continuing my patrol rounds.”
“No, I mean… isn’t this when you’re supposed to ask if I’m okay, offer to escort me home, that sort of thing? It’s incredibly late.”
You’re a knight. Aren’t you supposed to protect those in danger?
“Are you injured anywhere?”
Though he’d asked before, Ludvil checked once more.
“…No.”
“If you’re afraid of the journey home, there’s no need to worry. Our Sorpel Household has arranged patrols from midnight until dawn due to the recent disappearances of children.”
“Well, I’m not particularly afraid….”
Especially now that Mantiz has been captured. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve gone home alone at night.
“….”
Ludvil gazed at Jewela intently, as if he didn’t understand what the problem was.
At that look, Jewela’s expression grew slightly aggrieved. And for good reason—she had witnessed a scene like this before.
‘Really, I’m fine. I’m not hurt.’
‘Show me your feet.’
‘My legs just went a bit weak for a moment. I didn’t twist anything, and I’m fine now.’
‘Let me carry you.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Your legs gave out, didn’t they?’
‘…You’ve never been carried before, have you? It’s far more embarrassing than you’d think.’
‘Would you rather I hold you?’
‘Just supporting me on both sides is enough.’
Jewela watched from beside them as Ludvil supported Camilla down the staircase when she stumbled momentarily, guiding her all the way to the carriage.
Jewela, who had been ready to tease her about lacking exercise, found herself at a loss for words at the sight.

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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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