A fortune-telling princess

“Of course, you’re supposed to hate him. You’re supposed to despise and loathe him to the point of revulsion. But…”

But here’s the thing.

“Even that madman had his reasons.”

That didn’t mean murder could ever be justified.

“I can understand his reasons, but that doesn’t make the pain I suffered disappear. It’s not something you can just forget.”

Hatred doesn’t dissolve so easily.

“So, what advice do you think I gave?”

Arsion’s focus, though faint, was now sharpening slightly as he listened to her.

“I told him to leave it be.”

“…Leave it be?”

“Let your emotions be. Just let them stay as they are.”

That’s exactly what I told myself.

Don’t try to force yourself to understand or forgive him. Just let your emotions flow naturally. Do what you feel like doing.

“You’ll probably get tired eventually, right?”

Hating and resenting for so long… At some point, you’ll exhaust yourself and stop.

“Or maybe not.”

And that’s fine too. If you want to hate and blame him for the rest of your life, who’s going to fault you for that?

Having said her piece, Camilla let out a small sigh internally.

Even if two people had experienced similar events, the intensity of their suffering was always different. Who was she to claim to fully understand someone else’s pain?

‘Still…’

It pissed her off. Why did the ones who’d been hurt have to struggle with such dilemmas their whole lives?

She glanced at Arsion again.

His gaze had noticeably calmed since earlier.

Camilla clicked her tongue as she caught sight of his hands. She had assumed they were only covered in the other student’s blood, but now she saw that his knuckles were split open as well.

Pulling out a handkerchief, she wrapped it around Arsion’s wounded hand to temporarily bandage it.

“Stop making Sier cry, will you? Every time you get hurt, he starts bawling.”

With that, Camilla turned her back on him.

Arsion stood there silently, watching her retreating figure for a long time. The end of the handkerchief tied around his hand fluttered gently in the breeze.

****

“Oh, right. He can use magic, can’t he?”

If he just healed himself with mana, his wounds would be gone in no time. I shouldn’t have bothered. That was expensive.

Realizing her mistake too late, Camilla sighed heavily. Oh well, he’ll probably return it someday.

For now, she didn’t want to waste even a moment retrieving the handkerchief. She was too busy organizing her thoughts from earlier.

‘Wasn’t this around the time Duke Sephra died?’

The duke had no known illnesses and had suffered no accidents. His death had been startlingly sudden.

When Arsion inherited the title and left school, it had caused a stir on campus. The gossip surrounding his ascension to patriarch had been relentless, fueled by Arsion’s refusal to explain anything.

[Father always said, “Hurry and grow strong enough to kill me.”]

Recalling what Sier had said before, it seemed likely Arsion had killed the duke himself.

‘What a crazy family.’

What kind of father begged his son every day to end his life?

After Duke Sephra’s death, only one person had been able to rein in Arsion’s madness.

‘Lila.’

As the object of affection for all men, she had somehow managed to calm even Arsion.

“Looks like I should take out some insurance.”

****

“Hey, did you hear? Jude dropped out of school.”

“Yeah, his family went completely bankrupt, apparently.”

“Really? All of a sudden?”

“No idea. They said all their business partners suddenly pulled out.”

“Well, serves him right.”

“Yeah, he was such a jerk.”

Lila looked up from the book she was reading under a tree. Nearby, a group of students were chatting excitedly.

‘Jude…’

If it’s the Jude I’m thinking of, he’s the one who harassed me in the forest.

Her ankle still ached slightly from the encounter, but not everything about it had been bad.

She smiled softly as she remembered the person who had intervened to stop Jude. Her eyes sparkled with gratitude.

Lila had heard bits and pieces about him since then. She had wanted to visit and thank him properly, but she hesitated, fearing she might inconvenience him.

“I really want to express my gratitude.”

Maybe I should bring a gift. But what would be appropriate? What would he like?

“Lila! Here you are!”

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Her classmates approached in a group, surrounding Lila with cheerful smiles.

She returned their smiles warmly. These were the students she had grown closest to since transferring.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just reading.”

“Wow, you’ve got free time.”

“What about the history assignment? It’s due this afternoon.”

“Oh, I finished it yesterday.”

“Really?”

“Wow… Lucky you. We haven’t even started.”

“Same here.”

The three girls sighed in unison, looking pitiful.

“Something came up at home yesterday.”

“Me too.”

“We didn’t have time to work on it at all.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I guess we’ll just have to take the scolding. If I fail this assignment, my dad’s going to kill me…”

Lila couldn’t help but frown as she watched her friends look so downtrodden.

“I’ll help you.”

“What?”

“Really?”

“Sure. You can use my assignment as a reference.”

“Lila!”

“You’re the best!”

“Honestly, you’re a lifesaver!”

The three girls beamed and hugged her tightly. Seeing their joy, Lila smiled as well, pulling her completed assignment out of her bag.

“Just don’t copy it word for word like last time. We all got in trouble for that.”

“Of course!”

“This time, we’ll be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

The three nodded vigorously, their eyes already glued to her assignment.

Lila laughed and handed it over.

“Thank you so mu—Oh?!”

Before they could take it, the assignment floated out of their reach.

“Are you an idiot?”

“Ah!”

The startled Lila looked up, her lips parting in shock before breaking into a bright smile.

“Lady Camilla!”

Why does she look so happy to see me?

Camilla stared at Lila for a moment before turning her gaze to the other three.

They froze, their expressions quickly stiffening.

“L-Lady Camilla, it’s been a while.”

“Do I know you?”

Sorry, I don’t remember you.

Her blunt response left Grace, the first to speak, blushing furiously. Naturally, her next words came out sharper than intended.

“Please return that.”

“Is it yours?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not even yours. How can you be so confident in asking for it back?”

“That’s not what I meant! We were just going to—”

“What kept you so busy?”

Camilla cut her off.

“You said you were too busy to finish your assignment. What were you doing?”

Her question made Grace falter, her earlier bravado vanishing.

“W-Why should I have to tell you?”

“Let me guess.”

Camilla smirked and waved Lila’s assignment teasingly in the air.

“Didn’t you hear the rumors?”

Camilla stepped closer, lowering her voice conspiratorially.

“That the Lady of Sorpel can see the future?”

“…!”

“And sometimes even recount the past?”

Grace paled visibly as Camilla’s smile widened.

“Didn’t you spend last night partying with a group of noble boys instead of working on your assignment?”

“Gasp!”

“You probably didn’t get home until dawn, did you? No wonder you didn’t have time.”

The three girls froze, their faces drained of all color.

“Want me to go into more detail? Should I tell you exactly who you were with and what you did?”

“Excuse us!”

The trio scrambled to their feet and fled without a backward glance.

‘Good thing they bought it.’

Not that I actually knew anything more.

Camilla glanced at Amy, the ghost girl laughing gleefully beside her.

It had been Amy who told her everything. Having overheard the girls’ conversation earlier that morning, Amy had relayed how they’d spent the night drinking and flirting instead of studying.

‘Ugh, I hate people like that.’

Those who act friendly just to take advantage of you—how exhausting.

“Why do you keep letting people use you like that?”

“Lady Camilla, why do you keep helping me?”

“Good question.”

I’m not usually the type to stick my neck out for people.

Lila’s cluelessness about the world, combined with her constant vulnerability, was starting to get on my nerves.

But maybe it was that very cluelessness that drew people to her.

“Do you really have the power to see the future?”

Her innocent, sparkling eyes made Camilla sigh.

“Want some candy?”

“Yes!”

Why does this feel less like taking out insurance and more like adopting a pet?