The Prince Who Loved Me - Chapter 5

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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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Chapter 5

At those words, Bada looked puzzled and said.

“…Huh, that’s not right. We haven’t known each other for very long.”

At Bada’s words, Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders and said.

“Well, you might meet a wonderful romantic partner soon. Bali is an island full of love, after all.”

Esmeralda’s tarot reading was quite accurate.

She analyzed Bada’s past state and current psychology, giving various pieces of advice.

Esmeralda finished the reading and pointed specifically at one card.

“By the way, ‘The Moon’ that came out as the last card is quite meaningful. This card represents deception and illusion. It’s a warning that there might be someone around you who is deceiving you.”

River coughed at those words.

Meanwhile, Bada fell into thought with a deliberately serious expression.

‘Deception? Don’t tell me that bastard Kang-san Yu is up to something behind my back again.’

Bada had a younger brother who was two years younger, and he had a special talent for business.

Specifically, the talent of entering popular businesses at their tail end and failing spectacularly.

Kang-san had jumped into the tanghulu business when the trend was already dying out and failed miserably.

‘Mom cried so much that I paid off his debt once, but there won’t be a second time.’

While Bada was lost in worry, Esmeralda began reading the cards River had drawn.

“Are you perhaps someone in a high position? Or do you have responsibilities involving weighty duties?”

“I knew there was something about him. He rides a Ducati, speaks with BBC anchor-like pronunciation. Look at him now, sitting in a perfect posture like he belongs in an etiquette manual.”

At Bada’s words, River just showed a mysterious smile with his arms crossed.

“But this Death card drawn in this position is concerning. Have you recently witnessed the death of someone close to you?”

At Esmeralda’s question, the smile instantly vanished from River’s face. The atmosphere around them seemed to freeze at his chilling expression.

As River’s blue eyes quietly stared at Esmeralda, she nervously added.

“Or, or perhaps you’ve experienced a major change close to death.”

From the atmosphere alone, it seemed as if Esmeralda had insulted him.

Seeing his frightening expression, goosebumps rose on the back of Bada’s neck.

‘What went wrong?’

As the tense silence continued, Bada carefully opened her mouth.

“Um… River?”

Hearing her voice, River finally slowly opened his mouth.

“That couldn’t be…”

One corner of his mouth twisted. His eyes, still not smiling at all, were sharp as a blade.

“Possible.”

“Ah, I, I see? I asked about such a serious matter too lightly.”

Flustered by his reaction, Esmeralda continued the reading somewhat incoherently.

“Then let’s move on to the next…”

Just as Esmeralda was about to flip the remaining cards, River stopped her by pressing down on the cards with his index finger.

He smiled at the startled Esmeralda as if telling her not to be nervous.

But to Bada’s eyes, that expression somehow seemed even more frightening.

“Actually, I’m not very interested in the past. Digging into someone’s past is something anyone can do if they put their mind to it. But seeing the future is a different story.”

“…”

“Let’s verify this, Esmeralda. Whether you’re truly a capable fortune teller.”

Beads of sweat had already formed on Esmeralda’s forehead.

The card she carefully flipped showed a tower burning after being struck by lightning.

It looked ominous.

After clearing her throat, Esmeralda carefully parted her lips.

“You, you’ve drawn The Tower card. This card represents sudden change and the collapse of existing order. It means great upheaval may come to your life. But change isn’t necessarily bad. Sometimes change marks the beginning of a new chapter.”

River only stared at her quietly, as if telling her to explain more.

“The Tower card appeared paired with The Judgement card. Perhaps after everything collapses, you might have to make a choice. Whether that choice becomes judgment or salvation for existing things…”

Esmeralda steadied her trembling breath and put strength in her voice.

“Only you would know.”

River remained silent with his eyelashes lowered as if lost in thought.

The heavy silence continued for a while.

* * *

Before they knew it, the table was filled with the food they had ordered.

Chicken satay, steak, and salad sprinkled with Balinese seasoning. Everything looked delicious.

Hesitating about what to eat first, Bada poked an arancini with her fork and asked.

“How was the tarot reading earlier?”

Then River, who had been lost in thought with his arms crossed, met her gaze.

“Do you believe it?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you believe in such superstitions.”

“Hmm, I don’t believe it 100%, but it’s interesting to listen to, isn’t it?”

“But you’re from an investment bank. Don’t you usually understand phenomena through numbers and data?”

“That’s true, but actually, quite a few of my colleagues believed in superstitions and magic. Even trades we were 99% confident would succeed based on data could go wrong due to just 1% of uncontrollable variables.”

Investment banks were like battlefields where a single mistake could cost tens of billions.

The work intensity was also unimaginably harsh, so there were plenty of people who quit within two years despite earning hundreds of millions in salary.

In such an environment that was hard to endure with a sound mind, there were often those who relied on superstitions or unusual routines.

“So you need self-suggestion?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

River, who had been quietly staring at Bada, extended his hand to her.

“I’ll read your palm.”

“You know how to read palms?”

“Yeah.”

River quickly grabbed Bada’s outstretched hand and caressed it.

“Why are your hands so slender and soft?”

“…”

He caressed her palm with his thumb as if giving a massage.

He also gently circled her protruding wrist bone with his index finger.

Then a tickling, thrilling sensation flowed down Bada’s spine.

At that feeling, Bada reflexively flinched and asked.

“…Do you really know how to read palms?”

“Of course.”

Before they knew it, the two had gotten close enough for their breaths to mingle.

Her bare legs visible under her skirt were touching his firm thighs.

When she quickly looked away, this time the tendons bulging on his thick forearms caught her eye.

The scent emanating from his solid body was overly stimulating.

‘What would it feel like to do it with someone this handsome and well-built?’

Suddenly, heat rushed to the back of her neck as lewd fantasies rummaged through her mind.

It was a scene of getting messily entangled with him under the sticky tropical climate.

Bada unconsciously swallowed.

Am I crazy?

She wasn’t usually one to enjoy such fantasies, so why was she acting like this suddenly?

It seemed like there was some invisible magic flowing in Bali’s air.

The moment eyes meet, intense sparks fly, and people easily get physical.

The sticky tropical heat that makes the body languid.

The sense of liberation felt in a place where no one knows you.

These elements work together in complex ways to make one open their heart easily.

Moreover, if the man sitting next to you happens to be excessively attractive, Bali’s magic becomes amplified.

‘You’re probably thinking similar thoughts.’

He tickled her palm as if painting with his fingertips. Bada had to hold back tightly as a moan threatened to escape from between her teeth.

He looks neat and gentlemanly on the outside, but in the end, you want to roll around with me once too, don’t you?

After accomplishing his goal, he might not even remember my name.

Someday I’ll be remembered as ‘that girl from back then, that Bali girl.’

“You’re quite sensitive.”

Bada, who snapped to attention at his voice, spoke awkwardly like someone under interrogation.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“I mean you’re sensitive to sensations. Skin contact, warmth touching your skin, and sounds…”

When he met her eyes intently, her pulse at her wrist beat a little faster.

“Those things stimulate you particularly.”

Worried that her wildly beating pulse might be transmitted to him, Bada awkwardly tried to pull her hand away. Did he read my inner thoughts?

But he applied force and gripped her hand even more firmly.

“…Does that show up in palm reading too? I wouldn’t know.”

“You’re lying. Your body is telling me everything.”

“…”

Her eyelashes trembled at his intense gaze like a predator’s eyes.

Could he have caught me having dirty thoughts?

Her heart pounded as if she had downed three or four shots of espresso at once.

“That’s also written in your palm.”

“What is?”

“This faint line below your heart line, see? That means you have many words you couldn’t bring yourself to say out loud.”

“Come on, that’s ridiculous.”

“This line is your fate line. But if you look closely, this vertical line here crosses your fate line.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means a major event that changes the axis of your destiny will occur at exactly this point. How old are you exactly?”

“Twenty-seven.”

He looked at her as if searching through her eyes and asked.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“Any thoughts about marriage?”

“…Shouldn’t I find a boyfriend first before thinking about that?”

The moment she realized she seemed to have given him the information he wanted to extract, he pretended to count numbers in his head and said.

“Then it’s exactly this year. The turning point where the axis of your destiny changes.”

At his words, Bada showed a rather serious expression.

“…Really? Hmm, it does seem somewhat accurate since I quit my job and I’m at a turning point in my life right now.”

Then he chuckled as if something was amusing.

“By the way, what will I do when I go back to Korea. I don’t want to work at a company, sigh.”

“At times like that, it’s good to try something new.”

“Something new?”

He rested his chin on his hand and gazed at her as he spoke.

“Yeah. For instance, dating me.”

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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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