A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 79

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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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‘The Late Duchess Sorpel.’
Ludvil’s mother.
A woman with a gentle and beautiful countenance gazed upon a baby taking its first tentative steps, her eyes overflowing with boundless affection.
“I heard it was an accident.”
When Ludvil turned five, the carriage carrying the Duchess overturned on a solitary journey she had undertaken for rest.
It happened to plummet over a cliff, and they never even recovered her remains.
“So that’s what she was like.”
Camilla couldn’t tear her eyes away until the vision ended.
Confronted with this tender ‘mother’ she was seeing for the first time, she felt both strange and oddly wistful.
[…Miss, Miss Camilla.]
“Ah, yes.”
Even after the vision had completely finished, Camilla stood dazed for a long while before responding to Derin’s call.
“It seems we’ve finished organizing. Shall we leave?”
[Yes.]
Camilla carefully placed the vision orb back into its box.
“But why was this here?”
A vision containing the image of the Late Duchess Sorpel would surely be something precious.
“Did Father arrange this out of consideration? For my mother’s sake?”
It was only proper etiquette to remove items belonging to one’s former wife upon remarriage. Surely Derin would know something about this?
[…I’m not sure.]
Odd.
But his reaction seemed strange.
‘Why is he acting like that?’
He’d been doing the same thing earlier, and ever since the vision orb was discovered, he’d been deliberately avoiding her gaze.
He was always the one who answered her questions without hesitation.
Watching Derin grow increasingly distant and flustered, Camilla came to one certain realization.
Derin was absolutely terrible at acting.
‘With facial control this poor….’
How had he ever managed as the leader of Black Shadow? The current leader of Black Shadow, the butler Rube, was so skilled at concealing his expressions that one could never read what lay beneath.
‘I don’t know.’
Seeing Derin so visibly troubled, Camilla chose not to press further and quietly left the Storage Room.
* * *
“Wow! Camilla, the children will absolutely love these!”
“Then I’m glad.”
“They don’t look used at all.”
“I only brought things worth using.”
Countless items were unloaded from the carriage Camilla had arrived in. Laila let out exclamations of admiration at the sight.
The others felt the same way. When word spread that these were belongings used by Ludvil, the sword genius, and Ravi, who was making a name for himself in magic, everyone’s eyes sparkled with interest.
The club president’s gaze grew sharp as she worked to restrain the hands of those eager to claim even one item as a talisman.
“….”
Camilla responded half-heartedly to their fervent enthusiasm, her eyes settling on someone with a look of exasperation.
“Why?”
“….”
“Say something.”
Arshian Sefra stood there.
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“…Why are you even here?”
“Is there a problem with me being here?”
“No, it’s not that there’s a problem, but….”
…So this is what it feels like.
Now I finally understood the strange reactions Ravi and Duke Sorpel had shown when I mentioned joining the Volunteer Club.
I suspected I was probably wearing that exact same expression right now.
“Are you really joining this club?”
“Yeah.”
“…You’re doing volunteer work?”
Not someone else, but Arshian Sefra—you?
The one who throws fists and murderous intent the moment someone dares to ask for a favor is doing volunteer work…?
“What’s with that reaction?”
“I’m just… pleased.”
When you make such a menacing expression, what am I supposed to say?
Camilla offered an awkward smile and subtly averted her gaze from Arshian Sefra.
“Well, now that everyone’s here, shall we go in?”
“Yes!”
Laila answered most brightly to the club president’s words.
The others couldn’t even respond properly, too busy gauging Arshian Sefra’s mood—the one she had somehow coaxed into coming.
“Let’s head inside too, Camilla.”
Petro, who had approached her side at some point, spoke with his usual kindness.
“You’re here again.”
“Since I’ve joined, I should participate actively.”
Don’t you two have anything else to do?
Camilla shook her head slightly at the unexpected club activities of these two top talents from the Fencing Club. What would the Swordsmanship Instructor say if he found out?
As I stepped inside with a sigh, I could see those who had arrived earlier.
Peers around our age were spending time distributing gifts to the children or playing with them.
“Oh! You’ve arrived?”
A few instructors who spotted us shortly after approached.
“There are quite a lot of people today?”
“Yes, those people come often. They’re from the nearby Temple.”
The children seemed to follow that group well too, as if the claim about them visiting frequently was accurate.
“Oh! It’s the witch sister!”
“Really?”
“Wow! Witch Sister!”
These children.
“Have you ever seen such a beautiful witch?”
“Witches can’t be beautiful?”
…Are all the children at this Orphanage geniuses? They keep striking at the heart of things every single time.
“Please read us a story today too!”
In an instant, the children gathered around Camilla.
“…Witch?”
Arsian, who had been alternating his gaze between the children and Camilla for a moment, spoke with genuine admiration.
“That’s impressive.”
“What is?”
“They see right through your true nature.”
“What’s wrong with my true nature?”
“Witch Sister!”
“Witch Older Sister!”
….
At the children’s cheers that came right on cue, I pressed my lips firmly shut.
“Tch.”
“Hahaha.”
Arsian and Petro burst into laughter simultaneously.
‘…I need to find a book.’
One filled with virtuous characters! I’m absolutely determined to shed this witch title today!
“Hello.”
At that moment, a woman approached Camilla’s side. She was from the Temple, having arrived before the others.
….
Upon meeting her gaze, my eyes wavered for an instant.
“You are Camilla of House Duke Sorpel, correct?”
“…You know me?”
As my name flowed from this stranger’s lips, my expression turned cold.
Despite meeting my wary crimson eyes, the woman maintained a bright smile and pointed to the children playing off to the side.
“The children told me.”
Silver hair that gleamed even more brilliantly in the sunlight streaming through the window, and blue eyes.
The woman with those strangely familiar colors had a truly beautiful smile. The way her eyes curved gracefully whenever she smiled was so captivating that my gaze kept drawn to her despite myself.
Yet even as I beheld that beautiful face, I could not bring myself to smile back at ease.
“I’m so delighted to meet you like this.”
In stark contrast to my increasingly hardening expression, she displayed an ever more radiant smile.
“My name is Lania.”
“…Lania?”
“Yes, we may see each other often from now on, so let’s become close.”
See each other often?
‘Why is that?’
Why did those words grate on my ears so much?
I said nothing. Rather, I couldn’t say anything. My mind was far too tangled.
Setting everything else aside, there was one thing that captured my attention with peculiar intensity.
The bracelet Lania wore.
I had definitely seen that bracelet before.
‘In the Storage Room.’
I had seen it in a crystal recording when organizing the boxes containing Ludvil’s belongings.
Late Duchess Sorpel had been wearing that bracelet.
A similar item, you might ask?
No. I would stake my life on it—my eye for detail was never poor.
The blue gemstone, as if Ludvil’s azure eyes had been plucked out and embedded within it, gleamed with such ethereal beauty that it had caught my gaze immediately when I watched the recording.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Sensing my stare, Lania lifted her wrist adorned with the bracelet and smiled brilliantly.
“My mother gave it to me.”
“…Your mother?”
“Yes!”
Her smile deepened further.
“Sister Lania, shall we go?”
“Ah… has it gotten so late already?”
Lania, who had been exchanging those brief words with me, glanced at the clock hanging on the wall at her companions’ call.
“See you next time.”
She moved with visible reluctance.
Even as Lania disappeared, waving her hand, I could not turn my gaze away quickly.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just… something.”
Puzzled looks from Arshian Sefra and Petro, who stood beside me, pierced through, but I had no mind to heed them.
I stared intently at Lania’s retreating figure.
I was missing something. There was certainly something I had failed to notice.
In that moment, another figure seemed to overlap with Lania’s form.
‘Ah.’
I found another reason why I had felt such an uncanny sensation from Lania.
‘She resembles him.’
Father, Duke Sorpel.
* * *
[Miss, why do you keep watching this recording?]
“I need to verify something.”
After my meeting with Lania, I made my way back to the Storage Room.
I needed to check that recording once more. Perhaps I had misread it.
But after reviewing the recording several times, I could be certain. The bracelet in the recording and the one Lania wore were….
After collecting her thoughts, Camilla carefully opened her mouth.
“Derin.”
[Yes, Miss.]
“That bracelet.”
[Are you referring to that blue gemstone bracelet?]
“Yes. Do you happen to know anything about it? Any history connected to it?”
Derin, who seemed to know the item well, answered immediately.
[Duke Sorpel had it custom-made to commemorate Ludvil’s birth. He later gifted it to the Late Duchess, and I recall she treasured that bracelet dearly.]
“It must be a precious gem.”
If Duke Sorpel had commissioned it personally, it certainly wasn’t cheap.
I dangled the bait knowingly, and Derin took it eagerly.
The innocent ghost hovering in the air nodded with a benevolent smile.
[It was crafted by a renowned artisan named Arti. He passed away long ago. I’ve heard that bracelet was his final masterpiece.]
“Could there be another design like that?”
Typically, workshops serving nobility don’t sell identical designs to multiple clients.
Still, I asked just in case.
[No, that one is surely unique. Like other jewelers, Arti was particularly strict about such matters. He never overlooked rarity as a factor in making his subjects special.]
Derin shook his head immediately.
He added that the gem craftsman Arti was famous for never creating anything similar.
[That blue gemstone is also incredibly precious. He deliberately sought out a gem that matched the exact color of Ludvil’s eyes. I’ve heard he searched the entire Continent for it.]
In other words, an identical bracelet could not exist.
My mind grew even more complicated.
‘How am I supposed to accept this situation?’
A girl my age holding the bracelet of the deceased Late Duchess.
And furthermore….
“I could see Father’s face in her.”
[Pardon?]
Lania’s appearance and demeanor bore a striking resemblance to Duke Sorpel.
Walking together, anyone would believe them to be father and daughter.

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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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