The Fortune-Teller Saintess - Chapter 76

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Fortune Teller Saint

Chapter 76

‘Huh? What’s this?’

It’s not like I’m seeing this smile for the first or second time, so why does it feel so unfamiliar?

And why am I feeling so embarrassed?

While I was stammering, the sound of someone clearing their throat pierced my ears. It was Jacad.

He glared at us sharply and spoke curtly.

“I can see you two get along well, but I’d appreciate it if you could focus on work first.”

“S-sorry.”

When I apologized with an embarrassed face, Jacad let out a slight sigh and opened his mouth.

“So, you want me to give you the statue?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

I nodded at Jacad’s words.

I had demanded that Jacad give me the statue that Rowen had possessed. It was to investigate that person called the Seer.

As the Holy Lady of the Temple, and as someone who got caught up in incidents because of them, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.

“It’s not particularly difficult, but… will you be able to find that person called the Seer with this statue?”

“I have to try.”

I turned the statue Jacad handed me and examined the bottom surface.

The heretical emblem was still carved there.

“For now, this emblem is the only clue we have.”

“Emblem?”

“Ah, come to think of it, Your Highness hasn’t seen it.”

I held out the statue to Jacad so he could see the bottom surface.

“It seems to be the emblem of the group that Priest Rowen belonged to. If we follow this, we’ll surely be able to find the Seer too… Your Highness?”

I looked at Jacad with a puzzled expression as I continued speaking.

Somehow, Jacad’s expression didn’t look normal.

“This emblem… represents that Prophet’s Sect?”

Jacad’s face hardened frighteningly as he muttered in a low voice.

“Yes. But is there some problem…?”

When I carefully responded while watching Jacad’s reaction, he clamped his mouth shut.

When he, who held the highest authority in this place, fell silent, everyone began to read the mood. Ah, except for Nein.

After a moment, Jacad stood up smoothly from his seat and opened his mouth.

“Let’s end today’s discussion here. You may take the statue.”

“What? But…”

“Ria.”

When I turned around, Robelina looked at me and shook her head. It meant we should quietly retreat for today.

“…I understand. If you discover any clues, please contact me by letter.”

“I will.”

We got up from our seats and left the room. Just before the door closed, I peered at Jacad’s figure through the gap in the door.

I could somehow sense complex emotions from Jacad’s back.

“…”

After Ellia’s group left, Jacad, who had been staring out the window, glanced somewhere. It was his desk drawer.

When he used a key to open the tightly locked compartment, a thick pile of documents revealed itself.

It was a record of his childhood that he had obtained through his aide.

As he examined the records while standing, he paused at a word that caught his eye. A name he could never forget even now as an adult.

It was the name of his nanny, Isabel.

“…Isabel.”

Jacad spat out that name as if chewing on it, then gritted his teeth and muttered.

“Just what kind of person were you?”

***

Walking through the Crown Prince’s Palace, I glanced back and muttered worriedly.

“Why did His Highness suddenly act like that? Does he know something about the emblem?”

“He must know something to react like that.”

Nein spoke indifferently. Despite his uninterested tone, his eyes were quite serious.

Then Robelina, who had been pondering something, carefully interjected.

“Could it be that among the nobles around His Highness, there’s someone who uses the same emblem?”

“…That’s certainly a possibility.”

I unconsciously hardened my expression at the plausible hypothesis.

Both during the Hunting Competition and at the Founding Ceremony, I could clearly sense the intention to drag Jacad down from his position as Crown Prince.

Since their goals were the same, and the Second Prince Faction had directly intervened before, it was natural to think they might be related to the Prophet’s Sect.

‘Of course, it’s just a hypothesis.’

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

That’s when I was thinking this.

“Hmm?”

“What’s wrong, Count Lucian?”

“Ah, over there…”

Lucian pointed ahead with his finger. When I looked there, my eyes widened.

Sierra, dressed up in a gown, was walking toward us.

“Librarian Sierra?”

“…!”

Sierra, who had been walking while looking at the ground, saw us and opened her eyes wide.

At that moment, Sierra’s red eyes trembled greatly. It was such a violent movement that even I could see it from a distance.

With her face pale as a sheet, Sierra hesitated for a moment, then bowed briefly before disappearing in the opposite direction as if fleeing.

Seeing that, I tilted my head.

“What’s that about? Her attitude is different from when we met last time.”

“Maybe she got scared seeing Nein?”

“What did I do?”

Nein grumbled at Robelina’s suspicious gaze.

Regardless of what they were doing beside me, I recalled the expression Sierra had made.

‘She did seem scared…’

Wasn’t her gaze directed at me?

I tilted my head at the somehow unpleasant feeling.

“Huff, huff…”

Sierra, who had fled the scene as if running away, exhaled roughly. Her heart was beating too fast.

Recently, a major incident had occurred at the Temple. The Holy Lady had collapsed from poison, and it was revealed that the culprit was a priest named Rowen from the Temple.

When that fact was first revealed, Sierra thought her breath would stop.

That was because Rowen was someone she had recommended for the priesthood.

Of course, Sierra had nothing to do with this incident. She had no idea that Rowen was the kind of person who would do such a thing.

But…

“Sierra.”

At the stern voice calling her, Sierra’s shoulders flinched.

When she turned her head, her father Arjes was walking toward Sierra with heavy steps.

“If you’re here, you should say so, not stand around here doing what?”

“I’m sorry, Father. I was just lost in thought for a moment…”

“Are you planning to do the same in front of His Highness the Second Prince? Don’t you know how important this occasion is!”

“…I’m sorry.”

Sierra pressed her lips together and lowered her head.

Arjes, who had been looking at his daughter with displeasure, turned around sharply and took the lead. It was an order to follow.

Sierra followed Arjes while glancing up at him.

After contemplating for a long time whether to speak or not, she finally couldn’t hold back and opened her mouth.

“Um, Father. May I ask you something?”

Arjes gave her a displeased look.

“Speak.”

“Why did you make me a scribe?”

Sierra had recently become Cardinal Dale’s exclusive scribe. If she devoted herself to this position, even becoming a cardinal wasn’t just a dream.

And this was all thanks to her father Arjes. She didn’t know exactly what methods he used, but he had gotten her promoted to scribe.

He probably made massive donations to the Temple to gain influence and pushed her into the position. When she first became a scribe, Sierra thought her father had done it for her, his daughter.

But now, looking back, she had doubts.

Had her father really made her a scribe for her sake?

“Of course it was for you. What a strange thing to ask.”

“…Is that so.”

She heard his answer, but somehow it didn’t feel satisfying. It was probably because of the next question she was about to ask.

Sierra hesitated, then gathered courage to speak.

“Father, may I ask one more thing?”

“We’ll arrive at His Highness the Second Prince’s audience chamber soon. Refrain from questions…”

“Father, did you also not know what kind of person Priest Rowen was when you told me to pursue the priesthood?”

Arjes’s steps came to an abrupt halt. Sierra waited for his answer with an anxious expression.

After a moment, Arjes narrowed his brow and glanced back at her, answering irritably.

“You ask pointless things.”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“If you have time for such questions, fix your appearance instead. You need to make a good impression on His Highness.”

Leaving those words, Arjes resumed walking.

Sierra hadn’t known what kind of person Rowen was. Naturally, she believed her father hadn’t known either.

No, she wanted to believe that.

But what came back in response to her question wasn’t denial.

Silence and evasion.

Sierra stared blankly at Arjes’s retreating figure, then carefully followed after him.

Somehow, her feelings had become complicated.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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