A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 34

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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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As I made my way toward Spirit Lake, the most desolate corner of the Academy, I found myself forced to stop once again.
Turning around, the ghost Amy stood there with a bright smile plastered across her face.
“What is it? Why do you keep following me? I told you I don’t want to get involved with you.”
[You’re being too harsh. It’s been so long since I’ve found someone I could actually talk to. I’m thrilled.]
“Go play with another ghost. Ghosts should play with ghosts—why are you trying to hang around a human?”
[All the other spirits in the Academy are boring.]
And you’re boring to me too.
“So what? What do you want me to do about it?”
[Just talk to me for a bit. I’m so bored.]
“Do you think I’m some kind of idle person with nothing to do?”
I’m struggling just to survive! I need to earn money!
As I furrowed my brow slightly, Amy, who had been pondering for a moment, suddenly asked in a meaningful voice.
[Will you really tell me?]
I nodded vigorously. It meant I wanted her to quickly tell me where my source of income was.
[Over there.]
Over there?
I casually glanced in the direction Amy was pointing. Then I froze completely.
Not far away, Arsian stood staring blankly at me.
‘How long has he been there?’
[From the beginning.]
Amy whispered softly, as if she had read my thoughts.
‘So he heard everything I said while talking to this ghost!’
I quickly began managing my expression. As naturally as possible!
“Ah, I just happen to enjoy talking to myself.”
…Did he buy it?
“….”
Fat chance!
Watching Arsian’s gaze turn toward Amy, the person I had been conversing with, I let out a small sigh.
“So you can see them after all.”
After all?
At Arsian’s quiet murmur, I quickly looked back up at him.
“You can see them too, can’t you? Those things.”
“I-I can’t see anything…!”
Wait.
As I was trying to deny it, I suddenly caught something odd in his words, and my eyes widened.
“Did you just say… ‘you too’….”
Watching Arsian’s gaze grow colder as he looked at me, I found myself unable to speak for a long moment.
* * *
‘Brother….’
‘Eat.’
‘No, I don’t want to!’
‘Eat. You have to eat to survive.’
‘Brother… it’s already been a week…. Sob.’
‘If you won’t eat, I’ll throw it away.’
A fragment of an old memory.
A memory I must never forget, and one I have no desire to forget.
Tap!
At the sudden sound, Arsian opened his eyes that had been closed.
Before him stood a single person, grinning widely.
“I have something nice. Would you like to take a look?”
That woman. The one who had recently caught my eye.
‘Why is this woman here?’
Arsian stared intently at the woman standing before him with that peculiar smile on her face.
Waiting to see if she would say something else, Arsian watched her keep her lips firmly sealed for a moment longer before rising from his seat.
I felt a flicker of interest, but it quickly faded into boredom.
“Huh?”
I could see her bewilderment, but I didn’t stop walking.
Eventually, I found myself at the entrance of the Spirit Forest, where few people ventured.
“Come to think of it…”
I had seen her here too. My steps toward Spirit Lake faltered.
Should I verify my suspicion? If my assumption is correct, then she too…
It was just as I was about to turn my steps back toward the Classroom Building.
“What? Why do you keep following me? I told you I don’t want anything to do with you.”
A voice reached my ears at that moment. It was her.
“Go play with another spirit. Spirits should play with spirits—why are you trying to play with a human?”
The woman continued to speak toward empty space.
Arsian watched her in silence for quite some time.
“So what? What do you expect me to do? Do you think I’m some incredibly free person?”
The woman, who had been scolding someone while waving her finger, suddenly nodded her head.
“Gasp!”
She looked toward where I was standing.
The woman, momentarily flustered and rolling her eyes in confusion, quickly composed herself and smiled brightly.
“I just happen to enjoy talking to myself.”
“…”
That wasn’t talking to herself—it was a conversation. Arsian looked to her side.
“So you can see them too.”
Those things writhing like black smoke.
The ones that have followed me my entire life.
“You can see them too, can’t you?”
Watching her expression harden, Arsian reached out his hand toward the black smoke.
“What are you doing?!”
Snapped back to attention by Arsian’s words, Camilla quickly stepped in front of him, blocking his outstretched hand from reaching the female student ghost, Amy.
“So you can see them.”
You threatened a ghost just to confirm that?
‘And the killing intent you just unleashed was absolutely terrifying!’
This madman!
“Sigh.”
Camilla exhaled sharply and turned her gaze toward Amy, who was trembling genuinely.
Do ghosts even sense killing intent? She’s already dead—what is there to fear?
No matter how hard humans try, they shouldn’t be able to kill a ghost, right?
“Are you alright?”
[N-No, I’m not! I thought I was going to disappear!]
“You’re already dead.”
[I thought I was going to be completely annihilated! I knew it was possible, but… that human is a natural predator to beings like me!]
A natural predator?
Camilla’s gaze shifted back to Arsian.
“Can you just make ghosts disappear like that?”
“You can even talk to those things?”
“….”
“….”
Both of them fell silent, staring at each other for a moment. Then Camilla was the first to speak again.
“You can’t just make ghosts disappear. They all have their own stories. Once their grudges are resolved, they ascend on their own—don’t waste your energy on unnecessary things.”
“Why would I bother with something so tedious.”
Yet you just unleashed murderous intent like you were about to kill that ghost.
“Can’t you see how terrified she looks?”
“…You can see her face?”
“What?”
Camilla stared at him with bewilderment. Just moments ago he was debating whether he could see ghosts at all, and now he was asking if he could see their faces?
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Can you see or not?”
“So can you see them or can’t you?”
“….”
Wait?
“You can’t see them?”
“To my eyes, they’re nothing but black smoke.”
Black smoke? Camilla looked at Amy with newfound understanding.
So he doesn’t see her in that form?
‘Then what does that mean?’
He can’t see the ghost’s appearance clearly?
He can sense the presence of spiritual entities, but he can’t actually see their forms completely?
“Hey!”
Camilla shouted at him in a reproachful tone.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t be radiating such a murderous aura! How can you unleash killing intent on a spirit when you don’t even know what kind of ghost they are!”
Not even a malevolent one, at that.
“Would it kill you to show some restraint toward an ordinary spirit? They’re just a young student! Look at how terrified they’ve become because of you!”
I never thought the day would come when I’d defend a ghost, but this was absolutely uncalled for. These spirits had their decent qualities, after all!
In that moment, the memory of butler ghost Derin and chef ghost Perol who had been helping me, along with Hersel who had left this place smiling not long ago, suddenly surfaced, and I couldn’t help but burst out.
“….”
“….”
I’m sorry.
Meeting Arsian’s piercing, glacially cold black eyes as he stared directly at me, I quietly lowered my gaze.
I’d momentarily forgotten what a despicable personality that man possessed. What was I thinking, raising my voice at him like that….
“Can you see this as well?”
Arsian’s voice came again, now even lower. When I lifted my head, he was gazing intently at one spot.
Right beside where I was standing.
I followed his gaze to that location. My eyes finally met with the existence I had been deliberately avoiding since earlier.
Without realizing it, I bit my lip firmly.
My reason for avoiding that sight wasn’t solely because it was a ghost.
A skeletal frame devoid of any flesh, enormous eyes that seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment, tattered clothes hanging in shreds….
A young boy who looked so pitiful it broke my heart was clutching tightly to the hem of Arsian’s garment.
‘Who are you?’
Who could you be to appear in such a state?
* * *
‘Who on earth could you be….’
Even after returning home, I remained absorbed in a single thought.
When Arsian asked me about the existence of black smoke clinging to his side, I told him the truth.
That the skeletal young boy who appeared to be around seven years old was the true form of that black smoke.
‘But….’
At that answer, Arsian’s cold gaze, his expression—everything changed in an instant.
As if struck by some tremendous shock, he displayed intense emotion before vanishing from that spot as if fleeing.
‘Why did he react so violently?’
Could it be that he knew the child?
“Sigh.”
A short breath escaped my lips. The face of the small ghost I had seen today kept surfacing in my mind.
How could that young child have died in such a manner? The image of that emaciated frame, nothing but bone, kept haunting my vision.
“Ugh, really….”
This is exactly why I dislike children.
Even the smallest things that seem slightly off end up weighing on my mind.
[Grrrr?]
At my grumbling, the white tiger—no, Shinsu—looked up at me and let out a small cry.
Shinsu, still in her summoned form—too young yet to know how to conceal her appearance—was being cared for by Duke Sorpel while I attended the Academy.
I couldn’t very well bring Shinsu to the Academy with me.
“King.”
[Grruu!]
Whether it was Shinsu’s nature or simply her youth, the creature already understood commands remarkably well.
Not long ago, at Duke Sorpel’s gentle insistence, I had given her a name directly.
Simply “King.”
It meant she should grow to be the finest among all Shinsu. Duke Sorpel seemed quite satisfied with the choice.
Ravi had mocked me for my lack of naming sense when he heard it, but surely it was better than “Chocolate Flavor,” wasn’t it?
[Grruu!]
“Yes, you like it too?”
I gently stroked King’s head.
As I watched King purr contentedly at my touch, my mind drifted once more into contemplation.
‘I suppose visiting him again would be pushing it?’
Seeking out Arsian seemed to require more time. The look in his eyes the last time I saw him weighed on my mind.
If I pressed further, I had the distinct feeling something would go terribly wrong, and I found myself lacking the courage to pursue him 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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