A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 4

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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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In the end, we’re all destined to die anyway. Rather than waste time on this nonsense, I should suppress these pointless feelings of jealousy.
Moments later, I stepped into the Dining Hall to find a single figure already seated. Duke Sorpel, the master of this household.
His son, Ludvil, was nowhere to be seen.
‘So this is that time, then.’
Noticing Ludvil’s absence from the dining table, I could roughly discern what period this was.
It was the time when a major rebellion erupted in the Western Region. Ludvil had departed with his military forces to suppress it.
‘This is when it begins.’
Ravi’s jealousy starting to explode. Because Ludvil would return from there having achieved tremendous success.
‘But setting that aside….’
Turning my gaze toward Duke Sorpel, I let out a small admiration internally.
‘Sir, you could certainly remarry again.’
They say noble ladies’ advances toward him never cease, and his appearance was truly striking.
‘It would be a shame to let someone like this simply waste away.’
My and Ravi’s mother had remarried Duke Sorpel and lived quite happily.
But that time did not last long. Less than a year after the marriage, she suddenly passed away in a riding accident.
After her death, everyone naturally assumed that Ravi and I would be cast out from the Sorpel Household.
There was absolutely no reason for the Duke to continue keeping us, who shared not a drop of blood with him.
Yet Duke Sorpel defied everyone’s expectations and accepted the two motherless children as his own, and thus Ravi and I, having grown under the Duke’s protection, eventually….
“….”
At our entrance, Duke Sorpel set aside the newspaper he had been reading and the glasses he had been wearing, turning his gaze toward us.
‘Wow.’
His presence was truly formidable. The moment our eyes met, my body stiffened without my realizing it.
‘Take her away.’
The cold voice commanding the knights. The frost-like gaze directed at me.
How many deaths had I witnessed beneath those eyes.
I swallowed dryly without letting it show, my throat bobbing. Cold sweat trickled down my back, and my fingertips trembled ever so slightly.
The moment I saw him, I understood with certainty.
What kind of place this was, and what fate awaited me if I remained as I was.
“You’re late.”
Duke Sorpel’s mouth finally opened for the first time, his gaze alternating between Ravi and me.
“That is….”
“I apologize. I overslept.”
“….”
“….”
Duke Sorpel’s and Ravi’s gazes turned toward me simultaneously. The same emotion was evident in both their eyes.
Bewilderment and astonishment.
I was the one who could barely even lift my head properly before Duke Sorpel, let alone speak.
Always keeping my mouth firmly shut with an expression full of dissatisfaction was my only emotional expression and action.
It was extremely rare for me to speak while looking directly into Duke Sorpel’s eyes as I was doing now.
‘And on top of that, smiling?’
Ravi was certain she still hadn’t fully woken up, so he shook his head gently.
“Sit down.”
Duke Sorpel said nothing more and gestured for them to take their seats. The moment they sat, the Maidservants hurried forward with the dishes.
‘Phew.’
Get yourself together.
Looking at Duke Sorpel, I worked even harder to control my expression.
Had there ever been a moment when being an actress felt this fortunate? I was the one who had finished performing with a smile even through the agony of a ruptured appendix.
‘This is nothing.’
I turned my gaze toward the food placed before me with an impassive expression.
‘Meat for breakfast.’
Meat… excellent.
‘And seasoned meat at that.’
When was the last time I’d eaten meat properly marinated, given all my dietary restrictions?
I stared silently at the glistening steak for a moment, then glanced sideways. Several Maidservants were watching me and giggling incessantly.
‘Go ahead, laugh all you want.’
This will be over by today.
Watching those Maidservants, I smiled slightly as well.
The Maidservants’ faces grew puzzled, but I quickly refocused my gaze. Then I swiftly began cutting the meat before me into bite-sized pieces.
“Father.”
“Hmm?”
Having neatly cut the meat into single bites, I carefully slid my plate toward Duke Sorpel.
“Please have this. I’ve cut it all into convenient pieces for you.”
Duke Sorpel’s eyes widened noticeably this time. Ravi also let out a dry cough and hastily set down the water glass he’d been holding.
He wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, his gaze turning toward me—his eyes clearly betraying the thought, ‘Has that girl finally gone completely mad?’
“…Very well.”
After glancing back and forth between me and the plate for a moment, Duke Sorpel fortunately accepted the plate I offered without much suspicion and placed it before himself.
In return, he personally placed his own plate in front of me.
“Gasp!”
“Huh!”
The sharp reactions came from elsewhere as well.
I sensed the Maidservants hastily catching their breath, but I quietly ignored their reactions. Then I focused on eating as if I knew nothing.
‘Oh… this is delicious.’
Meat really is the way to start the morning.
The meat was truly tender and savory. Soon, a piece of meat entered Duke Sorpel’s mouth as well.
Now, this is where it gets important.
“….”
Clink.
Duke Sorpel quietly set down his fork as he chewed the meat. The sound rang out unusually loud.
I looked at Duke Sorpel, whose brow was deeply furrowed, with a puzzled expression, then suddenly gasped and hurriedly stood up from my seat.
“Oh, Father! I’ll eat that again instead!”
As if suddenly recalling a fact I’d forgotten, I hesitantly reached toward the plate placed before Duke Sorpel.
“Wait.”
Duke Sorpel, who had lightly wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, stopped my hand.
When our eyes met, my gaze wavered ceaselessly. Soon, tears began to well up in my eyes.
Just as the tears were about to spill, I quickly lowered my head as if to hide them.
I even bit my lips firmly, like a child caught doing something I didn’t want discovered.
‘What kind of meat could it have been?’
But no one noticed the slight upturn at the corners of my mouth as I kept my head bowed.
‘A lump of salt? A lump of pepper? Perhaps both.’
Or perhaps it was meat that had fallen into the trash and been fished back out.
Most of those working in the Sorpel Household despised me. They employed every method they could devise to torment me.
At first, the harassment was extremely cautious and trivial.
Things like making the food slightly too salty or deliberately selecting bitter tea leaves.
I never informed my family of these facts. It must have been the last shred of pride I had left.
As I remained silent, the harassment grew progressively worse. When I finally lost my patience and grew angry, some would even whimper as if they were the wronged ones.
Meanwhile, the gazes Duke Sorpel and the rest of the family cast upon me grew increasingly cold.
‘Not a drop of blood relation, yet calling herself a lady of the household.’
‘Exactly! At least Young Master Ravi has abilities, but the young lady….’
‘Fool. Will that pathetic pride save you? You should speak up. These people are annoying too.’
The child takes one bite of food each time and then nibbles at it—how could they not have noticed by now?
It’s absurd that no one detected something was amiss despite having shared meals together more than once or twice.
It’s remarkable how they could simply overlook all that time.
“This isn’t the first time.”
Duke Sorpel’s voice reached me again in that moment.
“No, that’s not it!”
That’s right! As expected of the head of a great household, he grasps the situation immediately!
Though I cheered inwardly, I shook my head hastily with a hardened expression. My eyes remained reddened.
“…Let us discuss this matter again later.”
Duke Sorpel, who had silently regarded me for a moment, slowly rose from his seat and gazed toward one direction.
“It seems dealing with them should take priority.”
In the direction of his gaze stood the Maidservants, their complexions drained of all color.
* * *
“Why? Do you have something to say?”
“Did you eat something bad?”
“I couldn’t eat it.”
The meat was delicious, though.
As I walked out of the Dining Hall with a light, carefree spirit, I finally had to stop in my tracks under the piercing gaze of Ravi.
‘What kind of punishment will they receive?’
Looking at the firmly closed Dining Hall doors, the corners of my mouth curved slightly upward.
Duke Sorpel summoned everyone from the butler down to the head Maidservant. It was clear evidence that this matter would not end lightly.
I know all too well.
The terror that is Duke Sorpel.
That unwavering resolve!
He was a man who showed no mercy, offering not a single opening to those who threatened his own or his house—he would eliminate them without hesitation.
That was why he could kill Camilla and Ravi without the slightest doubt, even though they had lived together as family for over a decade.
Even after more than ten years bound by blood and kinship.
Camilla regarded Ravi with fresh eyes. How should she deal with this fool who strutted about without even knowing how his end would come?
He hadn’t yet reached the point where jealousy and envy had completely consumed his taste. Yes, there was still room for redemption.
Until that woman appeared.
That woman. The one who commanded the attention of every notable man in this world, reducing all the women around her to mere extras!
Once her interest turned toward Ludvil, Ravi’s inferiority complex would explode….
After a moment’s consideration, Camilla shook her head.
What did it matter to me? Once I returned, this would all be over.
The moment my real self regained consciousness, I would slip free from this body.
Only the one destined to die deserves pity.
Though it is of his own making.
Pat, pat.
Camilla gently patted Ravi’s shoulder with an almost pitying gaze, then passed by him without another word.
“…What is this?”
This foul feeling?
Ravi watched Camilla’s retreating figure for a long moment, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

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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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