A fortune-telling princess Chapter 175

[You did well.]

Had she read her unsettled thoughts?

The priest’s ghost smirked and reached out a hand, seemingly about to pat Camilla’s head.

Swish.

But before she could, another hand reached forward first.

It was the familiar touch that had always cradled her forehead whenever she was unconscious.

“Your fever’s gone.”

“Arison.”

At some point, he had woken up.

With his hand resting on her forehead, he let out a short sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness.”

Then, he immediately stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“You need to eat something.”

While she had been unconscious, she hadn’t been able to eat properly.

They had managed to spoon some thin soup into her mouth, but the amount had been so little that it hardly counted as a meal.

Arison clicked his tongue lightly as he glanced at her noticeably thinner face.

“Where’s Dorman?”

“I told him to take a break.”

“Hm.”

Well, Dorman had worked hard, after all.

“Here! I brought the medicine!”

“Should I get more cold towels?”

“We need to raise the room temperature a bit.”

She remembered the voice that had constantly assisted Arison, never stopping.

He must’ve had a rough time too.

Maybe she’d let him off the hook the next time he messed up.

“……”

Meanwhile, as Arison stepped out of the room, his gaze briefly flickered toward the priest’s ghost standing off to the side.

His expression was colder than ever.

He had seen the spirit enter Camilla’s body.

There was no way his eyes could be kind toward the entity he was convinced had caused her collapse.

If Camilla had remained unconscious any longer, he likely would have erased the ghost without hesitation.

With a final, sharp glare filled with unspoken warning, Arison left the room.

[That guy… he can see me, can’t he?]

“Well, something like that.”

He couldn’t see her exact form, just the movement of a dark haze.

But that still counted as seeing.

[Hah. That’s interesting. I’ve never met anyone like you two before. Two people who can perceive me in the same place—how unusual.]

The priest’s ghost shook her head slightly, still remembering the sharp and lethal gaze Arison had fixed on her.

[He’s kind of rude.]

“Hearing that it’s just ‘kind of’ rude is a relief.”

He must’ve really held back if that’s all she had to say.

Camilla chuckled before finally asking the question that had been on her mind.

“But why are you still here?”

The priest’s ghost smirked again.

[Let’s introduce ourselves properly.]

“…Why?”

[What do you mean, why?]

“I mean, why would we do that?”

It wasn’t like they were going to keep seeing each other, so what was the point of introductions?

Camilla’s wariness instantly shot up.

A vague sense of unease began creeping over her.

[Arena Aguilas.]

“No, seriously—why are you introducing—”

Wait. Arena?

Why did that name sound so familiar?

“Don’t tell me…”

[That’s right. That ‘don’t tell me’ is exactly what you think it is.]

The grin on the ghost’s lips deepened.

Camilla’s mouth slowly fell open in shock.

***

“The sacred relic broke? In that child’s hands?”

“Yes, I confirmed it multiple times.”

Interesting.

High Priest Daniel bowed deeply.

His expression was filled with unease.

He had no idea how to interpret this situation.

“The sacred relic has never rejected a person before. I have no idea why it shattered… I will look for other methods.”

“Other methods, you say.”

A figure sitting in the darkness slowly stepped forward.

At the sight of him, Daniel lowered his head even further.

The one who had now fully revealed himself was none other than the Emperor of the Fabler Empire.

The leader of the Eva Church.

While the followers of the Eva Church called him Alberto, no one actually knew his real name.

Even Daniel, who served closely at his side, had never heard his true name spoken.

“You seem to desire that girl.”

“She possesses far too many abilities.”

“I’ve heard the rumors.”

Not just the capital, but the entire empire was buzzing about Camilla yet again.

The scale of interest surrounding her was alarming.

And it was all because of the divine power she had displayed.

“A saintess, huh.”

It was an overwhelming divine power, unlike anything seen before.

No one had wielded such strength in the past several centuries.

“Perhaps that’s why the relic reacted to her. Could it be that her divine power rejected it, causing it to break?”

“That is possible.”

The red stone was a sacred relic of the Eva Church.

If she truly possessed the qualities of a saintess, as people were saying, then it would make sense for a relic from a different faith to be rejected by her power.

“But that body… it’s far too valuable to simply give up on.”

The red stone, created using Eva’s sacred relics, inflicted wounds upon the soul just by being held.

Over time, it weakened the connection between body and soul.

As the spirit became increasingly detached from the body, the pain of illnesses dulled as well.

It didn’t cure diseases—rather, it merely numbed the pain.

But people mistook that effect for sacred healing.

“That’s why we gave her the relic.”

Once the red stone turned black, it became incredibly easy to extract the soul.

They had been certain Camilla would succumb to it as well.

Not once had it ever failed before.

And because the energy of the relic was so subtle, there was no need to worry about divine retribution.

But evidently, that method would not work on her.

“…I do desire her.”

Prophetic abilities and now divine power as well.

Her value was increasing by the day.

If they could take control of her body, it would be a tremendous asset to the church.

“What did you think of her, having met her in person?”

At Daniel’s question, the Emperor recalled his meeting with her in the imperial greenhouse.

“…Well.”

She had been innocent.

Her bright, unwavering smile was still fresh in his memory.

Even when he had asked her directly, “What do you know about me?”, her demeanor had remained unchanged.

“She’s a girl who smiles a lot.”

“Pardon?”

“But if that smile is a lie…”

He clicked his tongue in irritation.

Everything about her was troublesome.

She left him with an odd sense of unease, something he could not ignore.

“…Extracting her soul will not be easy.”

Daniel nodded slowly in agreement.

Above all, the biggest obstacle was that she was under the protection of House Sorpel.

And now, even her biological father had appeared—someone with an identity that was far from ordinary.

“If soul extraction is difficult, then perhaps we should try bringing her to our side instead.”

“…Do you think that’s possible?”

“I will find a way.”

***

Meanwhile, at House Sorpel…

“Say ah.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Hurry up. Ah.”

Camilla narrowed her eyes at the spoon Arison was holding up to her.

Ugh. This is so embarrassing.

She felt like she might choke from sheer awkwardness.

If it were just the two of them in the room, she might have given in and taken the bite.

But that wasn’t the case.

Several pairs of eyes were staring at them with visible displeasure.

However, none of them dared to outright tell Arison to stop.

“You need to eat well to recover quickly. Now, hurry up and eat.”

As Camilla hesitated, Duke Sorpel sighed and urged her gently.

He hated seeing Arison glued to her side, but for now, he decided to let it slide.

“……”

Duke Sorpel’s gaze drifted to Arison’s hands.

The scars were still visible.

A faint sigh escaped his lips.

Unlike the rest of them, who had been utterly at a loss while watching Camilla suffer in agony, Arison had acted immediately.

Without hesitation, he had reached his hands into the divine light.

His hands had bled, but he had never flinched.

He hadn’t even spared a thought for himself—his only concern had been Camilla.

And that wasn’t all.

After she collapsed with a fever, it had been Arison who had taken charge of her care.

Her body temperature had fluctuated wildly—one moment, she radiated unbearable heat, and the next, she was as cold as ice.

None of the doctors had been able to do anything but stand around helplessly.

Even the best medicines were useless against symptoms caused by divine fever.

In the end, it was Arison who had stepped up.

Whenever her temperature rose too high, he used magic to cool her down.

Whenever she grew too cold, he used magic to warm her up.

For an entire week, he had remained by her side without rest, adjusting her condition constantly.

So what could they do?

Even if they wanted him gone, they couldn’t just kick him out the moment Camilla showed signs of recovery.

“You heard him, right? Father says you should eat. Ah.”

“Who’s your—”

“……”

“…Fine, just eat.”

That damn brat.

Who said you could call me father?!

Duke Sorpel wanted nothing more than to lash out, but the moment he saw Camilla hesitate again, he clenched his teeth and swallowed his anger.

Her health comes first.

“Father.”

“Yes, what is it? Do you need something?”

Camilla, after taking a small sip of soup, quietly called out to Duke Sorpel.

There was something on her mind.

“Are they still outside?”

The people from the temple.

From the High Priest to the cardinals, they had been showing up at House Sorpel one after another.

All to take her back to the church.

No sense of awareness whatsoever.

Did they not understand that there was a time and place for such things?

She had heard that they had come on the very first day she collapsed.

This isn’t just any ordinary household.

Either they had completely lost their sense of fear, or the saintess was that valuable to them.

Or perhaps… they were being pressured from above.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

At the mention of the church, Duke Sorpel’s expression darkened.

His eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.

He looked as if he were ready to kill someone.