A fortune-telling princess Chapter 179

Why the hell is he acting like this?

The rest of the family had finally calmed down, but this guy was still acting completely out of it.

Did that even make sense?

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What?”

“I told you, I’m fine now.”

This wasn’t like him.

He wasn’t the kind of person to overreact like this, which made it all the more suspicious.

She had already noticed that he didn’t hate her as much as he used to.

‘But even so, this is way too much. He’s never been like this before!’

Something had changed recently.

Ever since she had suffered from the divine fever, he had started acting even more strangely.

And the weirdest part?

He wouldn’t meet her eyes—like some guilty person avoiding confrontation.

Ravi, you bastard! No way—!

“Tell me the truth, brother. Did you screw up something behind my back?”

At Camilla’s sudden question, Ravi didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he ran a frustrated hand through his hair, his expression unreadable.

But Camilla didn’t back down.

She simply stared at him, pressing him with silent intensity.

And at last—he gave in.

“…Because I hate it.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to regret it, alright?!”

“Regret?”

What the hell was he talking about?

Her eyes widened as she stared at him in confusion.

Once again, he ran a rough hand through his hair, visibly agitated.

Wait a second…

She had recently realized something.

That was one of Ravi’s old habits.

Whenever he was nervous or struggling to say something, he would always rake his fingers through his hair like that.

She used to think it was just him losing his temper.

But now she knew better.

“Not sending you away.”

“Sending me? Where?”

“…To him.”

“Him?”

Who—

Wait a second—

“Are you talking about Duke Escra?”

The way Ravi clamped his mouth shut confirmed her suspicion.

“Hey! Why are you suddenly bringing that man up?!”

Was he trying to give her a heart attack?

Why the hell was that man’s name being mentioned here?!

“Spit it out! Right now!”

“Ugh, damn it! If he had taken you, you wouldn’t have been this sick!”

“What?”

“You—”

While Camilla had been unconscious, the thought had kept haunting him.

If Duke Escra had taken her, she wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.

If she had been with him, she wouldn’t have gotten dragged into one dangerous incident after another.

Everything that had happened since she came back—the constant chaos, the near-death encounters—it all felt wrong.

Like she wasn’t meant to be here.

Maybe she was supposed to be somewhere else.

Maybe this was why everything kept going wrong.

“…You have nothing to say, do you?”

“About what?”

“About him.”

And what if something really happened to her?

“Then I’d regret it.”

Keeping her here.

Not sending her to him…

Ravi’s head dropped in defeat.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

But he barely had time to react before he was forced to lift his head again—his jaw throbbing in pain.

“Hey! What the hell—?!”

“What? You idiot.”

Camilla had just headbutted him straight in the chin.

Still wincing, Ravi hurriedly shut his mouth.

Because standing before him, hands firmly planted on her hips, Camilla looked at him with the most exasperated expression ever.

“Do I really look like such an obedient little sister to you?”

“…What?”

“Do I seem like someone who just goes when told to and stays when told to?”

“That’s…”

…No.

She definitely wasn’t.

“Idiot.”

“Hey!”

“Shut up. Want another headbutt?”

“…Ugh.”

Ravi instinctively rubbed his sore jaw and took a cautious step back.

“Honestly, you really have a talent for digging your own grave.”

Why don’t you just go ahead and blame me when you trip over a rock too?

Sighing, Camilla sat down on her bed, fixing him with an unimpressed stare.

Ravi, visibly uncomfortable, furrowed his brows and averted his gaze.

Oh?

Feeling awkward now, are you?

“This was my choice.”

“…Do you regret it?”

Not going with Duke Escra.

Ever since the man had left, every time Ravi looked at Camilla, he had wanted to ask.

Are you really okay?

Do you regret not going with him?

But in the end, he had been too afraid to hear the answer.

“…Maybe I will.”

“…What?!”

“If you keep being such a damn idiot, that is.”

“……”

…Seriously?

Ravi, who was usually the most arrogant person in the room, actually looked deflated.

It was rare to see him like this.

Usually, even when he was in the wrong, he had a shameless excuse ready to fire back.

Seeing him all quiet and sulking like this…

Camilla couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey, Ravi.”

No answer.

So she got up, walked right up to him, and grabbed his face with both hands before he could turn away.

“What are you—?!”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“……”

“This is my home, and it always will be.”

…At least, unless they kicked her out.

Stretch!

“Agh—AAAH! HEY!”

After yanking his cheeks as hard as she could, she finally let him go.

“So stop overthinking everything.”

“You little—!”

“Here, take this.”

“…What is it?”

“A newly discovered mana stone.”

“…What?!”

It was about the size of an adult’s thumbnail.

But the power radiating from it…

Ravi’s eyes widened.

This was on a level above even the highest-grade mana stones handled by the Ghost Trading Company.

“This thing is in extremely limited supply.”

And that wasn’t a lie to drive up its price—it was the truth.

It had been discovered recently, and it hadn’t even hit the market yet.

In fact, the only people who knew of its existence were Duke Sephra and Arison.

And now… one more person knew.

“Well, I’m off now.”

The moment those words left her mouth, Ravi disappeared on the spot.

The way he kept staring at the mana stone, even as he activated his teleportation spell, made him look like a kid with a brand-new toy.

She already knew what that meant.

He wouldn’t be leaving his lab for a while.

“Yeah, now that is the Ravi I know.”

Watching him dig pointless holes for himself was getting exhausting.

This was much better.

Later That Night…

Tap.

It was late, and the sky was pitch-black.

A shadowy figure slipped out through the back gate of House Sorpel, moving with effortless agility.

“…Whew.”

Once outside, the figure let out a quiet sigh.

It was Jaynor.

“Having a mage in the house is really inconvenient.”

With Ravi’s level of skill, using a mana stone to teleport inside the mansion would have been too risky.

The guy would have sensed it immediately.

‘Although… getting caught would’ve been pretty fun.’

It would’ve been amusing to see how Camilla reacted—

—desperately trying to cover up the fact that he was the leader of Khan, the notorious underground syndicate.

He was curious.

When someone finally accused him, whose side would she take?

Would she try to protect him?

Would she betray him?

“…But I’d rather not be hated, so.”

Instead, he waited until he was outside the estate before finally pulling out a teleportation stone.

Swish!

But just as he was about to activate it—

—he dodged.

Clang!

A blade sliced through the air, striking the very spot he had just been standing in.

Quickly backing away, Jaynor’s eyes narrowed.

Another sword came for him, relentless.

After dodging several more attacks, he finally got a good look at his assailant.

“Wow. For a joke, that was way too serious.”

Jaynor shook his head as if disappointed, his tone playful.

“…I thought so.”

But his attacker wasn’t interested in banter.

Raising his sword once more, Arison stared him down with chilling intensity.

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

“…What exactly am I supposed to have done?”

“You were wearing a mask last time.”

Jaynor’s eyes flickered.

Ah.

So this was about the underground attacks on Khan’s branches.

“Wasn’t me.”

“Then die anyway.”

“HEY. That’s not how this works.”

Jaynor dodged again, barely avoiding the next strike.

“Okay, I think we have a misunderstanding here.”

“Then I’ll kill you first and apologize later.”

“HEY. That is definitely not how this works.”

But Arison didn’t care.

Dark energy flared around him as he prepared to cast magic.

Realizing he was about to get serious, Jaynor hurriedly shouted—

“I’m Camilla’s older brother!”

Pause.

“…Oh?”

So that was the one thing that could make him hesitate?

“That just makes me want to kill you more.”

But instead of backing down, Arison’s aura grew even more dangerous.

“WHY?!”

“Because someone like you shouldn’t be anywhere near her.”

Did this shameless bastard really think he had the right to stand next to her?

“When you’re the one who tried to kill her.”

“…She knows.”

Arison froze.

“…What?”

“She knows. I told her already.”

Technically, she had figured it out herself—but that wasn’t the point right now.

“You really think I’d believe that?”

“Go ahead. Ask her yourself.”

A long silence.

Jaynor could tell.

The fact that Camilla already knew had made Arison hesitate.

“She knows… and she still let you stay?”

“Because I’m her brother.”

He emphasized the word.

“…Tch.”

Finally, Arison sheathed his sword.

If she had decided to keep him around, then there had to be a reason.

“Are we done?”

Without answering, Arison turned away.

Jaynor could feel his disgust.

‘Tch. He’s sharp.’

That bastard wasn’t even using his full strength just now.

“Hah.”

As Arison walked away, Jaynor let out a breathless laugh.