A fortune-telling princess

‘Of course, it’s still too early to feel completely safe.’

With people like Ravi and others lurking around, danger was everywhere.

“So, I’d like to reward you,” Duke Sorpel said.

“A reward?”

“If there’s anything you want, name it. You’ve brought something to our family that we’ve long desired. Even if it costs my entire fortune, I’ll get it for you.”

‘His entire fortune!’

Of course, he didn’t literally mean to spend everything he had. He probably meant that she shouldn’t hold back and should ask for what she truly desired, regardless of cost.

‘Should I just ask for money outright?’

She considered requesting a substantial sum.

In a situation where the future was uncertain, the thing she needed most was money—something to help her escape and settle somewhere else if the need arose.

‘But I can’t just blatantly ask for money.’

That would be too undignified. It could shatter the trust she had carefully built up until now.

As Camilla pondered her options, something caught her eye like fate.

On a small side table next to Duke Sorpel’s chair, there was a stack of documents. Among them, the one on top stood out.

“That one.”

“That?”

Duke Sorpel’s eyes widened slightly. What she was pointing to was unexpected.

“Camilla.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what this is that you’re asking for?”

“It’s a mine, isn’t it?”

“…That’s correct.”

“Am I asking for something too big?”

Camilla asked hesitantly, as if worried she might have overstepped.

Duke Sorpel immediately shook his head.

“A mine like this isn’t too much to give.”

He had just promised to grant her wish, even if it meant selling his entire fortune. Surely he could give her a single mine. But there was a catch.

“The issue is that the minerals from this mine aren’t particularly useful.”

Originally purchased as a gold mine, it had turned out to produce useless ore. Despite consulting the Magic Tower about the magical properties of the minerals, they had been deemed worthless.

In fact, Duke Jabilon had recently proposed collaborating to find a use for these very minerals.

And now Camilla wanted this mine. Though it was no problem to give it to her, it felt odd to reward her with such a useless asset.

“I’ll give you a different mine. The ruby mine in the northwest—”

“No, Father.”

Camilla cut him off quickly. She tried to act nonchalant, but her response had come out too hastily, betraying her nervousness. She forced a bright smile.

“I want to study it.”

“Study it?”

“I’d like to research the potential uses of these minerals myself.”

“Hmm.”

Duke Sorpel looked at her with slight surprise.

It seemed she hadn’t asked for the mine impulsively. She knew exactly what it was.

“Is that alright?”

[king?]

Duke Sorpel didn’t respond immediately, glancing at the divine beast perched on her shoulder. The creature blinked at him curiously, resembling Camilla more and more.

“There’s no reason it can’t be yours.”

Yes!

Internally, Camilla cheered.

****

“Wow.”

This is a goldmine!

Camilla grinned as she examined a sample of the minerals she had received from the mine.

[Do you even know what that is to be so happy about it?]

[It looks like a black rock.]

[Ever since her fever broke… Tsk.]

Hershel, along with Derin, the ghostly butler, and Ferrol, the ghostly chef, watched her in bewilderment.

She had been staring at the black rock and laughing like someone who wasn’t in their right mind.

“Let me tell you what this is.”

[Alright, what is it?]

[Do you actually know?]

“Well…”

Camilla smiled mischievously at the impatient ghosts, holding back her answer until finally revealing it.

“It’s a mana stone.”

[A mana stone?]

[That can’t be. The Duke already had the Magic Tower examine this mineral.]

The Magic Tower had concluded that the magical properties in the ore were too weak for it to even be used as a low-grade mana stone.

“That’s because they only consulted the Magic Tower.”

[What do you mean? Where else would they go to evaluate mana stones?]

“The Magic Tower doesn’t have black magicians.”

Magicians were generally divided into white and black magicians. The Magic Tower consisted exclusively of white magicians, the kind most people thought of when they imagined a wizard.

‘But black magicians…’

Black magicians operated under entirely different principles of mana manipulation and had been shunned and ostracized in the past.

These days, however, they were recognized as a key component of the magical community, although they still operated separately from the Magic Tower.

‘And that’s the problem.’

The minerals from this mine required the unique energy of black magicians to reach their full potential.

“These minerals don’t react to the mana of white magicians at all.”

But they behaved differently with black magicians’ energy.

‘They become top-tier mana stones.’

When exposed to the unique magic of black magicians, these minerals could transform into mana stones far superior to any others found on the continent.

‘And once purified, they could even be used by white magicians!’

With purification, the minerals became compatible with white magicians’ magic, making them incredibly versatile and valuable.

In short, with black magicians, this ore could become the most precious resource on the continent. Who cared about ruby or diamond mines? This was worth so much more!

“Hehehe…”

[…]

[…]

[…]

The ghosts exchanged wary glances as Camilla cackled at the mineral in her hand.

“Oh, right!”

Remembering something, she set the mineral down and turned her gaze to Hershel.

“Hershel.”

[What?]

“Even in my delirium, I distinctly recall something you said.”

[And what was that?]

Camilla clasped her hands in front of her and bowed slightly.

“You said you had something to give me.”

[Aaaah! Help! I’m not ready to die!]

This place hadn’t changed a bit.

Camilla found herself back at the national cemetery, where she had first met Hershel.

‘What could he possibly want to give me here?’

As a reward for finding the divine beast’s egg, Hershel had asked her to meet him at his grave.

Quickly passing through the cemetery, where ghosts wailed incessantly, she headed for Hershel’s tombstone.

[You’ve arrived.]

“You could have come with me. Why did you come ahead?”

She gave him an exasperated look. They had been together until this morning, so why had he come here first?

“Why here, of all places?”

Was there something buried in the grave? Surely he wasn’t expecting her to dig it up, right?

Nobles’ graves sometimes contained valuable possessions buried with the deceased, leading to the rise of professional grave robbers.

Was he planning to turn her into a grave robber?

[Over here.]

Hershel led her to a spot behind the tombstone.

[Dig here.]

“No.”

This ghost! She had suspected as much, but hearing him actually tell her to dig made her step back.

“I may have a terrible reputation, but I don’t want to add ‘grave robber’ to the list.”

[What are you thinking?]

Hershelgave her an incredulous look and sighed.

[I’m not asking you to dig up the grave. Just dig in this spot.]

Camilla looked at the area he indicated. It was just dirt.

[Just dig!]

He sounded exasperated. She shot him a skeptical glance. She hadn’t brought a shovel. If he had warned her, she could have prepared tools!

Letting out a short sigh, Camilla removed one of her shoes and began digging with the pointed heel. Lately, her heels had proven unexpectedly useful.

Scrape, scrape!

The soil was softer than expected, making the digging easy.

“Hmm?”

She didn’t have to dig far before she unearthed something unusual.

“What’s this?”

A seed?

It looked like a seed, but it emitted a faint glow. Was it another divine beast’s egg?

[It’s a medicine.]

“Medicine? This?”

[A detoxifying medicine.]

“Why would something like this be buried here…”

It made no sense that a detoxifying medicine would be buried at a grave.

[You know how I died, don’t you?]

“You were poisoned at court.”

[You’re surprisingly casual about it, considering you’re speaking to the victim.]

“It’s old news.”

Fair enough.

“So, what’s the point?”

[It was a very potent poison.]

‘I can imagine.’

If it had killed a Master instantly, it must have been extremely lethal.

[Even after death, my body fought against the poison.]

“What?”

That didn’t make any sense. Camilla gave him a skeptical look, but Hershel sighed and continued.

[My Master-level energy continued battling the poison long after I died, until my body decayed completely.]

And he had watched it all happen?

Camilla shook her head slightly.

Just imagining it was horrifying. What kind of mindset did it take to watch your own body rot away?

[That seed is the result.]

Thunk.

Camilla dropped the glowing seed. Knowing it was a byproduct of a decaying corpse made her reluctant to touch it.

[Hey! That’s valuable!]

“What exactly is it?”

[It contains all the energy purified from the poison in my body.]

That’s even worse!

Letting out a small sigh, Camilla picked up the seed again.

“And you’re saying this is medicine?”

[It can neutralize most poisons. If you take it preemptively, you’ll never be poisoned.]

“…Alright.”

Camilla responded with a mix of disbelief and unease.

She had experienced countless deaths but had never been killed by poison. She couldn’t see how this would be useful to her.