A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 40

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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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“Of course I should hate him. I’m supposed to despise him, find him utterly repulsive. And yet….”
But here’s the thing.
“Even that madman has his circumstances.”
That doesn’t make murder acceptable, not by any measure.
“I understand his reasons, and I don’t even disagree with them entirely. But that doesn’t erase what happened to me, does it?”
Hatred doesn’t simply vanish overnight.
“So what advice did I give you?”
Arsian’s gaze had grown noticeably sharper by then.
“Let it be.”
“…Let it be?”
“Your feelings—just leave them as they are.”
Yes, that’s the counsel I gave myself.
Don’t force yourself to understand Father or seek forgiveness. Simply let your heart follow its course, do as it wishes.
“Won’t you grow weary of it eventually?”
Hate, hate, hate again—eventually, perhaps, the exhaustion will catch up and I’ll stop.
“Or perhaps not.”
What’s wrong with hating and resenting him for a lifetime? If the victim chooses to do so, who has the right to condemn her?
As Camilla finished speaking, she exhaled a quiet sigh.
Even if two people endured similar ordeals, the intensity of suffering differs for each—how could I possibly comprehend another’s heart completely?
‘But still….’
Out of sheer frustration.
We’ve already borne the wounds inflicted by others our whole lives—why must I torment myself with such doubts?
Camilla glanced sideways at Arsian.
His eyes had indeed settled into a far calmer state than before.
When Camilla saw Arsian’s fist, she clicked her tongue anew. She’d thought it was covered in the other person’s blood, but upon closer inspection, Arsian’s own hand was torn open.
Camilla withdrew a handkerchief and hastily bound Arsian’s wound.
“Stop making Sier cry. If you get hurt, he’ll weep.”
With those words, Camilla turned away from him.
Arsian watched her receding figure for a long time.
The edge of the handkerchief fluttered softly in the breeze above his hand.
* * *
“Ah, he can use magic anyway.”
He could heal it instantly with mana. I gave it away for nothing—and it was expensive too.
Camilla sighed at this belated realization. Well, he’d return it eventually.
She couldn’t spare the time to retrieve the handkerchief when she had thoughts to organize from what just happened.
‘Was this around when Duke Sefra died?’
He had no chronic illness, and there was no particular accident. Duke Sefra’s death came far too suddenly.
I recall the Academy’s atmosphere being unsettled for quite some time after Arsian left to receive his title.
With Arsian inheriting the position of family head and keeping his lips sealed, all manner of rumors circulated.
[Father was always like that. He kept asking me to grow stronger so I could kill him.]
Recalling what Sier had said before, it seemed Arsian had killed Duke Sefra.
‘No wonder they call that family absolutely insane.’
A father who screamed at his son every day to kill him—what a household.
In any case, after Duke Sefra’s death, there was only one person who could control and restrain the raging Arsian.
‘Laila.’
True to her nature as someone who monopolized the affection of every man, even Arsian became rather docile in her presence.
“I suppose it would be wise to take out some insurance.”
* * *
“Hey, did you hear? That bastard Juide quit the Academy?”
“I heard his family went completely bankrupt?”
“Really? Why all of a sudden?”
“Who knows. Apparently all his business partners suddenly withdrew at once.”
“What brought that on?”
“Well, it worked out nicely.”
“Right. That bastard was really annoying anyway.”
Laila, reading alone beneath the shade of a tree, lifted her head.
The chatter of students gathered in small groups nearby had reached her ears.
‘Juide, you say…’
That’s right—the man from the Forest who had harassed her!
Her injured ankle still throbbed occasionally, but not everything that happened was unpleasant.
As Laila recalled the one person who had stepped in front of Juide when he tried to drag her away, her expression softened gently. Her eyes sparkled with warmth.
She had been hearing news of him fairly regularly lately. She wanted to visit him once, but worried it might be a burden, so she hesitated to take that step.
“I really want to thank him properly.”
It would be nice to give him a gift. What would be good? What does he like?
“Laila, there you are!”
“We’ve been looking for you.”
Just then, her classmates came rushing over. Upon finding her, they surrounded her with bright smiles.
Laila smiled back at them. They were the closest friends she’d made since transferring.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was reading.”
“Really? You have it easy.”
“What about your assignment?”
“Assignment?”
“Yeah, we have to turn in the history assignment by this afternoon.”
“Oh, I finished that yesterday.”
“Really?”
“Wow… I’m jealous. We haven’t done any of it.”
“Tell me about it.”
The three female students surrounding Laila simultaneously wore dejected expressions.
“Something came up at Home yesterday, so I had to finish it early.”
“Me too.”
“I didn’t have a moment to work on the assignment.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Just accept the punishment, I guess. Father said he won’t let it slide if I fail this time… Ugh.”
Seeing her friends’ dejected expressions, Laila’s face grew troubled as well.
“I’ll help you.”
“Huh?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you could just reference my assignment, couldn’t you?”
“Laila!”
“Thank you so much!”
“You’re the only one we can count on!”
The three students beamed with joy and pulled Laila into a tight embrace.
Delighted by her friends’ happiness, Laila smiled warmly and retrieved her assignment from the bag beside her.
“Don’t just copy it word-for-word like last time. We’ll all get in trouble together.”
“Okay!”
“We absolutely won’t this time.”
“Don’t worry.”
All three nodded in unison at her words, their eyes already fixed on the assignment in Laila’s hands.
Laila smiled and extended it toward them.
“I’m really grat— huh?”
But the moment she reached out, the assignment suddenly flew upward. The three girls’ eyes widened in shock.
“You’re gullible, aren’t you?”
“Oh!”
Laila lifted her head as well, her mouth falling open in surprise.
Then, a warm smile spread across her face as she called out the person’s name.
“Camilla!”
What? Why is she so delighted? Camilla stared at Laila for a moment before looking away.
The three female students who had been watching her froze and quickly composed themselves.
“C-Camilla, it’s been a while.”
“Do we know each other?”
Sorry, I don’t remember.
At Camilla’s blunt response, Grace, who had spoken first, flushed crimson. Her words came out stiffly.
“Give that back.”
“Is it yours?”
“What?”
“It’s not even yours, so why are you demanding it back so confidently?”
“Oh, no! We were supposed to receive—”
“Why were you busy?”
Camilla cut off her words immediately.
“You said you were too busy to even do your assignments? What were you so busy with?”
When I brought up the conversation they’d had moments before, Grace looked even more flustered.
“Th-that’s… why would I need to tell you that?”
“Well, you see.”
Pausing for a moment, I playfully waved Laila’s assignment in front of them.
“Have you heard the rumors about me?”
I stepped closer and tilted my head slightly to meet Grace’s eyes, offering a bright smile.
“That Duke Sorpel’s daughter reads fortunes.”
“…!”
“Oh, hasn’t that rumor spread?”
My smile deepened.
“I sometimes even get the details of people’s past actions right.”
“Wh-what!”
“Didn’t you spend all night yesterday playing around with some boys after class ended?”
“Gasp!”
“You were so caught up in having fun that you didn’t get home until dawn, right? That’s probably why you couldn’t do your assignment.”
As my words continued, Grace and the others’ faces went pale. They couldn’t even manage a proper excuse.
Their bodies trembled at how accurately I was describing their actions.
They’d heard rumors about my strange ability, but was it really true?
“Should I say more? What you all did yesterday, who you were with and what you did?”
“W-we should be going!”
All three of them jumped to their feet without hesitation and fled the spot.
‘Thank goodness.’
I didn’t actually know anything beyond that.
I glanced sideways at Amy, the female student ghost laughing beside me.
She was the one who’d provided this information.
After following me around, when Amy saw the three of them, she told me what they’d discussed this morning.
Apparently, the three girls who’d been worried about not doing their assignments while drinking and playing with boys all night had laughed, saying there was nothing to worry about with Laila around.
They said that if they just spoke nicely, she’d let them copy her assignment just like last time.
‘How irritating.’
I was sick of people like that. They’d approach with all sorts of sweet talk, pretending to be close, then extract only what they needed from you.
When you refused, they’d act like victims, saying they were hurt because they thought you were close friends.
‘There were far too many people like that in the entertainment industry.’
Having dealt with them endlessly, getting rid of such people was now as easy as eating cold porridge.
“Why do you keep getting taken advantage of every time I see you?”
“You always help me out whenever we meet, Camilla.”
“Right?”
This really wasn’t the kind of character I was supposed to be.
Laila was the same way. I’d thought she was a capable girl with good relationships and talent in everything, but now I could see she was actually quite naive.
‘Isn’t she the type who gets taken advantage of quietly?’
However, she seemed completely unaware of it. Just moments ago, hadn’t she eagerly worked through her assignment without hesitation?
Laila’s utter ignorance of how the world worked was deeply unsettling to me.
No, wait. Could it be that men were all falling for this kind of scatterbrained charm?
“But you really do have foresight abilities, don’t you?”
Her eyes sparkled and gleamed even more brightly than before as she gazed at me, and it was genuinely quite burdensome.
“…Want some candy?”
“Yes!”
…Why did it feel like I’d picked up a pet rather than made an insurance investment?

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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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