A fortune-telling princess

“Why so suddenly?”

“Just because.”

Was it because she had just met Duke Sephra? Camilla found herself growing curious about the kind of man her own biological father had been.

‘Was he a despicable man like that scumbag who called himself my father in the other world?’

Though she had observed this world for years, she had never once heard anything about Camilla’s real father.

Had he died shortly after she was born? Disappeared? No one ever gave her a proper answer.

“I don’t remember either,” Ravi said.

“Not even you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, makes sense.”

Ravi had been only five or six years old at the time, so it wasn’t surprising he didn’t know.

“That ring,” Ravi said after a moment, pointing to the ruby ring on Camilla’s finger—the keepsake from her mother that the servants had once tried to hide.

“That was a gift from your real father to Mother.”

“From Father?”

“And why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“I told you, just because.”

“It’s always ‘just because’ with you.”

Ravi clicked his tongue in irritation and turned away again.

“Brother.”

“What now?”

“Are you busy?”

“You really—! If you have something to say, say it all at once! I’m busy!”

Finally, he snapped, raising his voice. But Camilla simply chuckled. At least he didn’t tell her to leave.

“Should I make you busier?”

“What?”

“Here, take this.”

Thunk.

“Hey, why are you throwing stuff?”

“It’s a gift.”

“A gift? What’s—? Hey! Hey!”

Ravi jumped up from his seat in shock. Camilla had tossed him a chunk of blue mineral.

As soon as he sensed the mana emanating from it, his expression turned to one of utter astonishment.

“You… You! Where did you get this?!”

“Secret.”

“Hey! Tell me where you got this!”

Crash!

Ravi nearly knocked over his chair in his rush to chase her, but Camilla calmly walked away, leaving him behind.

‘Another client secured.’

****

“Persistent guy.”

Camilla sighed. She had been pestered all night. By who? Ravi, of course.

After tasting the superior mana stone, Ravi had been relentless in demanding to know where it came from. No matter how many times she told him it was a secret, it didn’t stop him.

Even during breakfast, Ravi glared at her silently, making her finish her meal in such a daze she wasn’t sure if the food went into her mouth or her nose.

‘At least I don’t need to worry about promotion.’

The black magicians were already handled by the Sephra family, and the Magic Tower would go wild over just one of the mana stones Ravi had taken.

In the past, when Duke Jabilon introduced the mana stones, the Magic Tower had erupted with excitement. Wizards scrambled to buy them, offering bribes and backdoor deals in their desperation.

“Hehehe.”

Once I’ve saved enough money, I’m out of this house. I’ll build a beautiful home in a quiet village and live in luxury.

‘But first, I need to finalize the contracts.’

Thanks to the ever-reliable butler ghost, Derin, Camilla had been able to draft a flawless contract despite being unfamiliar with the standard format used in this world.

All that remained was Duke Sephra’s signature, and the deal would be sealed.

‘For now, it stays a secret.’

She had entrusted sales to Duke Sephra to avoid revealing her funding sources prematurely. If the Sorpel family found out she was running a business, it could create complications.

Until she had built up a substantial slush fund, she planned to keep her dealings hidden behind Duke Sephra.

Conveniently, Duke Sorpel had already dismissed the mine as unimportant, granting her the freedom to research its minerals without interference.

“Hehe!”

Unable to suppress her giddy laughter, Camilla covered her mouth.

The students around her exchanged glances and subtly shook their heads. As her eccentricity seemed to increase daily, they grew more convinced she was an oddball.

****

[Sister!]

“Huh?”

Camilla’s thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a tearful figure—Sier.

The sight of Arsion’s little brother, who had come to find her alone, left her startled.

“What are you doing here…”

Camilla stopped herself mid-sentence, realizing others might think she was talking to thin air.

[Isn’t he the kid that’s always stuck to Arsion?]

Amy, the ghost of a female student, floated over to comment, surprised to see Sier without his brother.

[Please, stop him!]

‘Stop him? Stop Arsion?’

[Please, hurry!]

The desperation in Sier’s voice left Camilla with no choice but to follow him.

***

“Urgh!”

Wham! Thud!

Camilla didn’t need to ask where Arsion was.

The place was crowded, but the only sounds were the heavy thuds of blows landing and the pained groans of someone being beaten.

No one dared make a sound, too terrified to intervene.

‘What is he doing now?’

Arsion was pummeling a male student, his fists relentless. The boy’s face was already battered and covered in blood, his consciousness on the verge of slipping away.

But Arsion showed no signs of stopping.

[Sister, please!]

What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to stop a guy who’s already lost it?

Arsion’s eyes were glazed over, his mind somewhere else entirely. There was no reasoning with him in this state.

[Sister!]

“Tsk.”

Sier’s desperate plea finally prompted Camilla to move.

****

Wham!

“Urgh! I-I’m sorry… Please…”

Thud!

“Ars… Arsion…”

The victim, Velak, the son of Count Rebisel, was too dazed to comprehend the situation. He hadn’t expected a few careless remarks to escalate into this.

“I mean, isn’t Duke Sephra amazing? So fair and capable…”

He had deliberately praised Duke Sephra within earshot of Arsion, hoping to leave a good impression.

After all, the usually icy Arsion had seemed more approachable lately, and Velak wanted to capitalize on the opportunity.

But…

“Shut up.”

Arsion’s low voice was the first warning.

“Don’t talk like you know anything.”

“I-I was just complimenting him! It’s great to have someone like your father in the empire—”

“I said shut up.”

This time, his voice dropped even lower.

Velak should have stopped there. But, emboldened by the watching crowd, he let his foolishness take over.

“Wow, life’s unfair. People without great fathers have it rough, huh?”

What possessed him to say that?

“Do you think the world revolves around you because people bow and scrape before you?”

“…”

“Just because your father’s a duke, you think you’re a duke too, huh—”

Wham!

Arsion’s punch cut him off mid-sentence.

Velak wished he could just lose consciousness already, but his stubborn body refused to give in.

Help was out of the question. Everyone, including the professors, had either fled or decided to pretend they hadn’t seen anything.

Just as Velak resigned himself to his fate—

Splaash!

“…!”

A sudden torrent of cold water drenched Arsion, snapping him out of his rage. Velak blinked through his battered, hazy vision to see a familiar figure standing behind Arsion.

Holding an empty pitcher, Camilla sighed.

“Cool your head, will you?”

“…”

Drenched from head to toe, Arsion turned slowly to face her.

“You’ve got two options: walk away, or drag him to the infirmary.”

Seeing his blank expression, Camilla sighed again and grabbed his arm.

“Move aside if you’re not planning to kill him.”

To everyone’s surprise, Arsion let her pull him to his feet without resistance.

Camilla glanced around briefly before handing the empty pitcher to Petro, who stood nearby.

“Clean this up, will you?”

She figured Petro was a safe choice. At least he was a familiar face.

“You, come with me.”

With that, Camilla led Arsion away, her hand still gripping his arm.

The crowd could only watch in stunned silence as the two disappeared from sight.

Petro, left holding the pitcher, looked after them with a bemused expression before chuckling softly.

***

“Well done.”

Camilla had brought Arsion to their usual spot by the Spirit Lake, which had inadvertently become their hideout.

“Feel better now that you’ve taken it out on someone else?”

“Not your concern.”

“I don’t want to care either.”

Did he think she enjoyed being involved in his outbursts?

“Your brother was bawling, that’s why.”

Arsion flinched at her words, his head turning slightly toward where Sier stood. However, he quickly averted his gaze again.

“Look at you. Can’t even face your brother now?”

Clicking her tongue, Camilla crossed her arms and leaned against a tree. She had a pretty good idea why Arsion was acting like this.

“It must be infuriating.”

To find out that someone you hated your entire life had their reasons.

It didn’t mean you could forgive them. Years of anger and resentment didn’t just vanish overnight.

But now you understood them, even if only a little.

“It’s not like you can just let go of all that hatred, but deep down, you get it. Isn’t that right?”

“You don’t know anything!”

Arsion’s voice trembled with fury, but Camilla wasn’t fazed.

“I know someone who nearly died at the hands of their father.”

“What?”

Camilla paused, letting out a soft sigh.

It surprised even her how easily she could talk about this now.