A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 56

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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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‘I had a feeling, and I was right.’
That man had absolutely no interest in me whatsoever.
His sister dragged me around everywhere and did all sorts of things, yet look at his reaction. He doesn’t seem to know anything about it at all.
“Why all of a sudden….”
Petro asked again.
Unlike Camilla’s expectations, Petro had some inkling of the truth as well. The fact that his sister was playing pranks on Camilla.
But he had simply thought of it that way. Since Camilla always indulged Elisha’s pranks.
And he also knew well why she indulged in Elisha’s pranks. Because Camilla had an interest in him.
But why now? Why was she trying to distance herself from Elisha?
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“….”
“I don’t need to look good anymore.”
What was this? Why did his chest ache at those words?
At her words, coldly severing their relationship with an expressionless face, Petro felt a sudden sense of frustration.
“Sister.”
At that moment, a voice pierced between the two of them—it was Elisha, who had fled the Party Venue just moments before.
“I’m sorry, sister.”
Her eyes were glistening with tears. Her reddened eyes, swollen from what appeared to be prolonged crying, looked pitiable to anyone who saw them.
‘What now?’
Of course, Camilla wasn’t fooled by that appearance. She simply laughed inwardly at the fact that Elisha had approached her again.
The Elisha I knew wouldn’t admit her mistakes so easily.
Especially not to Camilla.
“My friends want to apologize too. They say they made a terrible mistake just now….”
“Is that so?”
“Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
Camilla nodded lightly. Whatever this was, I was more than willing to play along once more.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Camilla offered a calm farewell to Petro, who still said nothing, and followed after Elisha. I felt his gaze on me but simply ignored it.
Tap.
Elisha had mentioned waiting in a room, so Camilla climbed the stairs leading to the second floor.
Watching Elisha walk ahead, an involuntary chuckle escaped from Camilla’s lips.
‘She said she’d apologize.’
What’s with those clenched fists?
‘Maybe loosen those fists a bit?’
Elisha walked with both fists tightly clenched and her lips pressed firmly together—the very picture of barely suppressed anger rather than any genuine apology.
“Pfft.”
At Camilla’s sudden laughter, Elisha’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
“What is it, sister?”
“Just curious about something.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What scheme are you cooking up now?”
“…Excuse me?”
Elisha’s face contorted without mercy. Her composure had cracked entirely.
‘I apologize for calling you a fox.’
Looking at her now, she wasn’t even a proper fox cub.
‘Panicking over mere words like this.’
I really should arrange proper acting lessons for her—everyone watching was embarrassed on her behalf.
Camilla clicked her tongue softly and continued.
“Though I suppose schemes from those with nothing but dung for brains are predictable enough.”
“Ugh!”
Elisha’s expression crumbled once more. Her eyes blazed with fury, and between her clenched lips, curses seemed ready to spill forth at any moment.
“How vulgar!”
Crude words poured out as expected. It was likely the harshest language she, who had lived her entire life as a Noble Daughter, could muster.
“My apologies.”
Though it hardly dealt any real blow to Camilla.
“When dealing with such vulgar people, I find myself becoming vulgar as well without realizing it.”
Instead, she smiled with amusement.
“You… you really!”
Elisha ground her teeth in frustration.
She was right. Calling Camilla out like this wasn’t to offer an apology at all.
False acting deserved false acting in return. She meant to repay what had happened at the Party Venue moments ago in kind.
Currently, all of Elisha’s friends were waiting for Camilla with their clothes torn in various places and their cheeks bearing marks from several slaps exchanged between them.
Elisha planned to go upstairs, do the same to herself, and then accuse Camilla as the perpetrator.
Despite their sincere apologies, she would tell everyone that Camilla, she had committed violence against them.
But continuing the act had become impossibly difficult. Her head spun at Camilla’s subtle jabs.
Camilla, who didn’t yield an inch and smiled smugly while provoking her, was absolutely infuriating.
‘Have I lost my mind?’
This wasn’t like her usual self.
The old version of her who wouldn’t hesitate to grovel at Camilla’s every word was nowhere to be found.
That’s why her irritation and anger only intensified.
How dare she!
“Do you know who I am!”
“A spoiled brat of the Jebillen Family.”
“…!”
“A duke’s daughter who can’t even act her age and remains hopelessly immature.”
“Ca… Camilla!”
“Oh, 117th place on the midterm exam?”
“You, you!”
Smack!
Elisha finally lost her composure entirely and shoved Camilla with all her might—right at the edge of the second-floor staircase.
Camilla could have easily dodged, but she didn’t. If she moved aside, Elisha would fall down the stairs instead. The positioning was exactly that precarious.
It didn’t matter if Elisha got hurt—that was her own doing—but the likelihood of a misunderstanding was far too great. That I had pushed Elisha and caused the accident.
Elisha wasn’t the type to tell the truth, and she’d happily twist things to make my life difficult.
‘If I get hurt, then I get hurt.’
I had no intention of bearing such an unjust accusation.
‘Look at this stubborn fool.’
Doesn’t it occur to you that pushing me here would be completely over? There’d be no room for excuses, you cunning vixen.
Even as she fell, Camilla clicked her tongue repeatedly.
Only then did Elisha realize what she’d done, and her panicked expression looked so pathetic that I couldn’t help but judge her.
‘I’ll probably be out of commission for at least a few weeks.’
Camilla squeezed her eyes shut, praying the injuries would be limited to fractures in her arms or legs.
‘…Huh?’
Yet as time passed, she felt no significant pain in her body.
Instead, firm muscle and a clean scent caught her as she fell.
“Are you alright?”
It was Petro. Somehow he’d arrived in time to catch her as she tumbled down the stairs, his eyes betraying his shock and alarm.
“…Thanks to you.”
At Camilla’s words, a short sigh escaped him, and his expression changed instantly. Petro’s face hardened with terrifying fury.
“Elisha!”
A roar erupted from his lips.
Elisha, the direct target of that rage, trembled violently at the sight of her brother’s anger—something she’d never witnessed before.
‘I told you, you still have a long way to go.’
Watching Elisha like this, Camilla clicked her tongue inwardly once more.
Chapter. The Guardian’s Blade
Elisha, thoroughly scolded by her father Duke Jebillen until tears streamed down her face, was placed under confinement.
As a result, there was no chance of encountering her at the Academy for some time, and her friends, thoroughly demoralized, began avoiding Camilla altogether.
But emotional compensation and material compensation are two different things.
To the Sorpel Family Estate—more precisely, to Camilla Sorpel and Duke Sorpel—came official apologies and lavish gifts from the Jebillen Family.
Moreover, rumors circulated that Duke Jebillen had reluctantly handed over a lucrative business venture to Duke Sorpel, though only they knew the truth of it.
[…has been completely excluded, it’s said.]
“That was quick action.”
Camilla munched on a cookie while listening to Derin brief her on the recent atmosphere within the Jebillen Family and the whereabouts of those who had slandered her as a liar at the party venue.
The satisfying result combined with Derin’s clean briefing made her quite pleased.
[There was no way to deny it anyway. They probably decided it was better to admit it quickly and focus on damage control.]
“I suppose…”
After all, she’d pushed the young lady of the Sorpel Household—who had come as a guest—down the stairs. What excuse could there possibly be? There was no room for denial.
Moreover, there was someone who had witnessed the scene clearly.
‘Petro.’
The fact that he was Elisha’s brother, Petro, was hardly a problem at all.
Petro was not the sort of man to shield injustice simply because someone was family.
In the end, Elisha had no choice but to face her punishment in full, with no escape.
Of course, Duke Sorpel continued to voice his displeasure, insisting that the sentence imposed upon Elisha was far too lenient.
‘Why on earth did he do that?’
It was truly unexpected to see Petro, who had smiled continuously even while committing murder, display such fury.
What made it even more astonishing was that his target had been his cherished younger sister.
After all, when it came to his sister, he was a man who doted on her no less than Duke Jebillen himself.
Elisha herself went around saying that it was her older brother Petro who had filled the void left by their mother.
‘And so Petro, for the first time, had directed his anger at her.’
She must have been utterly devastated.
“Well, it’s not my concern.”
Camilla moved forward at a leisurely pace. The Academy, with all its classes concluded, was remarkably quiet.
The reason she remained at the Academy until this hour, when the sunset had begun to paint the sky, was to satisfy a single curiosity.
‘If I don’t resolve what’s bothering me, I won’t be able to sleep.’
Ever since returning from the Jebillen Family Mansion, a question had been circling endlessly in her mind, and she had finally resolved to act on it.
Her destination was the Academy’s Training Grounds, prepared for sword practice.
The Training Grounds at this late hour were, as expected, completely devoid of people.
‘Though that doesn’t mean there’s no one here at all.’
Camilla paused briefly and fixed her gaze upon a large tree growing within the Training Grounds.
And there, seated as always, was one presence.
A young man in his early twenties, a ghost with a sword piercing his chest, gazing endlessly toward the Training Grounds.
He remained in that same place still.
“As I thought.”
Camilla, observing his face properly for the first time, nodded. The sword lodged in his chest was unmistakable.
Thud.
Camilla approached the man directly.
Unlike the care she had taken on previous visits to avoid meeting his gaze, she now walked straight toward him without hesitation.
Tap.
Camilla came to a stop directly before him and regarded him in silence for a moment.
[….]
The man then lifted his head and gazed upon her.
Meeting his eyes directly, Camilla slowly opened her mouth.
“You are Zeno Jebillen, aren’t you?”
Zeno Jebillen.
The subject of the portrait I saw at the Jebillen Family Mansion. The one who established the swordsmanship of the Jebillen Family.
[You know of me?]
“….”
[Yes, I am Zeno Jebillen.]
And there he was now, Zeno Jebillen himself, seated before Camilla.
With what appeared to be a guardian’s sword piercing his chest.
‘As expected, Zeno Jebillen is truly remarkable.’
‘Indeed. Such accomplishments at that age.’
‘Goodness! Zeno Jebillen has actually found the Guardian’s Sword!’
‘That legendary blade?’
‘He’s truly worthy of leading the next generation of the family!’
Recalling a day from the past, he turned toward Camilla with a faint smile.
Until now, I had done my best to avoid entangling myself with spirits, so much so that I hadn’t even tried to meet their eyes properly, let alone look at their faces—which is why I was uncertain at first.
And when I realized that the subject of that portrait was the male ghost who was constantly loitering about the Academy Training Grounds, a profound question arose within me.
‘Why would the Head of House…?’
Why was the Head of the Jebillen Family—of all people—wandering about the Academy Training Grounds?
‘And with a sword piercing his chest, no less?’
I decided to investigate, just to be certain.
He was a high-ranking nobleman, even a Head of House—so it was possible he had been killed by someone else’s hand.
Even with Shinsu, that didn’t guarantee 100% protection of one’s life.
‘Hersel experienced the same fate.’
The Previous Head of House of the Sorpel Family—how could he have known he would be poisoned so easily?

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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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