A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 6

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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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‘Because my conduct has been proper.’
Duke Sorpel, who had already closed his heart to his stepdaughter—a woman who caused scandals wherever she went and dragged the Sorpel Household’s honor through the mud—refused to believe her words either.
‘First of all….’
I needed to win over Duke Sorpel’s heart. No matter what that bastard Ravi did, I had to ensure none of his filth splattered onto me.
‘But how?’
His affection must have already run completely dry.
[Listen here.]
‘She’s not even his real daughter.’
Even if his biological daughter had done such things and wandered about, he would have cast her out. But this stepdaughter, with not a drop of shared blood, had been tarnishing the family’s reputation….
[Can’t you hear my voice?]
‘I wouldn’t like myself either.’
Why would she even get into hair-pulling fights with other noble ladies?
[Look at me for a moment.]
‘And in a ballroom packed with so many people, no less.’
[Hey, can you hear me? You’re listening, aren’t you?]
‘Is there any good way to handle this?’
Should I go and beg on my knees?
[You definitely made eye contact with me last time. You can see me, can’t you?]
“Good heavens! So what if I can? What difference does it make?”
I was already going mad from all this chaos!
Camilla finally responded to the elderly man who had been approaching her and speaking to her constantly for some time now.
‘I was determined to ignore him completely!’
With so much to think about, it had become impossible to ignore him as he continued chattering noisily beside me and following me around.
[Y-yes! As I thought!]
Perol, the elderly man dressed as a cook, trembled violently as if struck by a great shock.
“I’m not doing anything.”
Watching Perol’s eyes fill with such emotion, Camilla drew the line immediately.
There was nothing good about listening to such beings.
“I won’t relay messages on their behalf, or solve their problems, or help them find closure. I can’t do it.”
‘I’d be stoned to death.’
Trying my best to avoid hearing insane remarks while somehow managing to fulfill ghosts’ wishes was exhaustingly draining, both mentally and physically.
The best approach was simply to ignore them whenever possible.
[So… you really can see me?]
“I’m not doing it. I can’t.”
[How fascinating! Truly fascinating! So you really can see me! That means you can hear my voice too, right?]
I couldn’t hear him.
Watching the elderly man grow excited and ramble on without even pretending to listen to my words, I lowered my head slightly.
‘This is not the time for this.’
I cut off my attention from him immediately. Soon enough, I might end up wandering the nine heavens like that ghost myself.
I had to win Duke Sorpel’s heart somehow….
“Ugh! How am I supposed to know what the Duke likes or dislikes? I don’t know anything, so what do you expect me to do!”
Camilla and Duke Sorpel had few points of contact. The only times they properly faced each other were when she caused trouble and received a scolding.
Naturally, there was no way she could know what he liked or what pleased him.
[What does the Duke like?]
It was then that Perol’s voice reached her ears again. He had drawn close to Camilla’s side and smiled warmly.
[I know very well what the Duke enjoys.]
“…!”
[I’ve been working here since our Duke was just a child.]
Camilla, who had been sitting listlessly, suddenly sprang to her feet.
“Sir!”
Chapter. Survive First, Ask Questions Later
“Hmm.”
Early in the morning, Duke Sorpel ventured out for a stroll after a long while.
With his recent duties keeping him occupied, he had scarcely a moment to spare, so he decided to fully savor this rare gift of leisure time.
‘It’s been quite some time since I’ve been here.’
His destination was a garden overflowing with baby’s breath flowers. The white blossoms spread wide like a misty veil—truly a magnificent sight.
‘Hmm?’
That was when his eyes widened slightly as he walked slowly, admiring the baby’s breath glistening with dawn dew.
‘Camilla?’
A familiar silhouette appeared in the distance.
Upon spotting Camilla standing in the middle of the Baby’s Breath Garden doing something, Duke Sorpel’s brow furrowed sharply.
‘Surely she’s not doing that again…!’
This had happened before. Camilla had dug up the rose garden in various places, leaving it in a complete mess.
As always, she had kept her mouth firmly shut and offered no excuses. It must have been something she did without any particular reason.
Back then, he could still let it slide. After all, the rose garden could be tended to again.
But not here. This Baby’s Breath Garden held a different meaning.
“Camilla!”
Duke Sorpel called out to her in a somewhat harsh voice and approached quickly. Then he grasped her shoulder firmly as she repeated the motion of bending and straightening at the waist.
Thud.
“…!”
At Duke Sorpel’s action, something Camilla had been holding fell to the ground. It was baby’s breath.
“Ah….”
Camilla looked at Duke Sorpel with a slightly startled expression, then gazed at the fallen flowers with sorrowful eyes.
She immediately bent down and began carefully gathering the scattered flowers one by one.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was picking flowers.”
“Flowers?”
Camilla rose to her feet after collecting all the baby’s breath.
A faint smile appeared on the girl’s face as she met the bewildered gaze of Duke Sorpel.
“I wanted to decorate Father’s room with them.”
“In my study?”
“Yes.”
“….”
“Last time I saw it, your study looked so bare and empty.”
Duke Sorpel regarded Camilla with an extraordinarily complex expression. She had been breaking flowers to decorate my study?
What on earth was she thinking? She was never the type to do such things.
“Would that be acceptable?”
Duke Sorpel found himself speechless as he watched Camilla, her arms cradling a profusion of baby’s breath, regard him with cautious eyes.
And finally.
“Do as you wish.”
The brief words of permission escaped his lips.
“Thank you so much!”
Camilla’s face brightened instantly. The Duke’s expression grew even more enigmatic as he observed her.
“I’ll arrange them in a vase and bring them to you right away!”
With those words, Camilla departed. Her smile deepened as she left the garden.
“Does the Duke truly love baby’s breath?”
Camilla murmured in a hushed voice. Someone answered her.
[Indeed, Miss Camilla.]
It was Derin, the butler ghost, whose lithe frame seemed far too nimble for someone of his apparent age.
Not long after conversing with Perol, the head chef ghost, he had sought out Camilla as well.
Having already heard everything from Perol, Derin had eagerly volunteered to help, deciding to share useful information he possessed with her.
Why wouldn’t he help when Camilla, who had always been an outsider within the Sorpel Household, was making such effort to gain her father’s favor?
The first piece of information Derin had provided was none other than the baby’s breath.
[The late Duchess, the Duke’s mother, was extraordinarily fond of baby’s breath. She personally tended to that very garden.]
The late Duchess referred to the current Duke Sorpel’s mother, who had passed away long ago.
[Because of that, the Duke holds baby’s breath in very special regard.]
As Camilla listened to Derin’s words, she nodded subtly. His account seemed truthful.
Just moments ago, Duke Sorpel’s expression as he looked at her was distinctly different from his usual demeanor.
The fact that she had stirred even the faintest ripple in eyes that were ordinarily indifferent when regarding her was profoundly significant.
‘I’ve broken the ice, at least.’
Shall I proceed to the next phase?
* * *
“That is not permitted.”
The moment Camilla entered the Kitchen, Jelard blocked her path, and she clicked her tongue in disapproval.
She was reminded once again of how the previous Camilla had been treated in this place.
And yet she was a noble lady. Though they did not share blood, she was the Duke’s daughter.
‘Shouldn’t he at least pretend to consider it?’
The head chef Jelard shook his head without a moment’s hesitation when Camilla asked to use the Kitchen.
His eyes blazed with resentment—clearly he harbored a grudge from when she had criticized his cooking and driven her out before.
“Why?”
“It’s dangerous.”
“What is?”
“The Kitchen contains many hazardous items. If hot oil were to splatter, you’d suffer burns instantly. It’s no place for a young lady to be.”
His words spoke of danger and prohibition, but that glint in his eyes screamed one thing: ‘How dare you presume to enter my domain?’
He despised the thought of someone who didn’t know the first thing about food stepping into his sacred Kitchen and making a mess of it.
Which meant this.
“I need to use it anyway.”
“It’s dangerous.”
He was simply parroting the same uninspired excuse over and over.
“There’s a dish I absolutely must make. Move aside.”
“If you tell me what you need, I shall prepare it for you.”
“It’s something you can’t make.”
“Pardon?”
Jelard’s face, which had radiated such composure moments before, flushed crimson in an instant. Stunned into silence, his mouth opened and closed soundlessly before he finally spoke again after a long pause.
“Are you suggesting that there exists a dish I cannot make, yet you can?”
“Yes.”
“Ha….”
Jelard let out a scoff so blatant it was almost theatrical. There was no dish in this world he couldn’t prepare.
Or rather, there was no way Camilla could make anything he couldn’t.
‘No, that’s not it.’
The only dishes he refused to make were the wretched garbage that commoners ate. Was she thinking of some peasant fare from her days in that backwater village?
“I see.”
Having settled on his own interpretation, Jelard stepped aside from the Kitchen entrance with a subtle movement.
Whatever Camilla intended to make, he was fully prepared to mock her for it.
“Then, by all means, show me.”
As he guided her toward the cutting boards and knives, Jelard’s eyes flashed a silent warning to those around him—a wordless command that no one was to offer her assistance.
Could she even find the ingredients properly in this vast Kitchen without their help?
Besides, no one would volunteer to help Camilla anyway.
“….”
Camilla examined a knife lying beside the cutting board with deliberate care before grasping it in her hand. The sharp edge pleased her immensely.
Swish.
“This will do nicely.”
“Then that’s fortunate… Why are you approaching me?”
Jelard flinched as he watched Camilla stride toward him, knife in hand.
Surely she wasn’t planning to threaten him with that blade? To stab him, perhaps?
Given her usual conduct, it wouldn’t have been entirely implausible—
Clang!
“…!”
Contrary to his expectations, Camilla drove the knife downward into a wooden board nearby with a forceful motion.
Then, turning to face the startled Jelard, who had gone rigid from the sudden noise, she opened her mouth to speak.
“Make a wager with me.”
“A, a wager?”
“Yes. The stakes: whether I can create a dish you’d actually want to learn how to make.”
“Are you speaking in earnest, miss?”
His momentary bewilderment gave way to a sneer playing at the corners of his mouth. Was she truly serious about this?

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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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