A fortune-telling princess - Chapter 11

“Why… Why isn’t it here!”

“I’m sure this was the right place…….”

“Dig over there some more!”

The hands searching through the rose garden grew more and more urgent. The maids and attendants, who had come to find the very ring they had hidden themselves, hurriedly moved their bodies under Camila’s orders.

“Why isn’t it here!”

“Shit!”

They had been searching the place for over two hours, but I haven’t been able to find a single piece of wire, let alone a ring.

“It hurts…….”

Their hands were already scarred and stung by the rose thorns.

“What are you doing! Dig quickly!”

“…Okay.”

But they didn’t have the time to care about the wounds on their hands. If they couldn’t find the ring by the end of today, they couldn’t know what kind of trouble will come.

If it was the Camila they had just faced, she could more than easily make them disappear from the duchy without a trace of a sound.

Or really, as she said, if there was a commotion about her suicide……!

“…not here.”

“Not here either.”

Some time passed again. It was already getting dark.

“It’s driving me crazy!”

“Surely it was here!”

Exhausted, they all sat down on the floor.

Where in the hell did the ring go? Could it be that someone had secretly dug up the ring and sold it?

After doubting each other for a while, they soon shook their heads.

Not everyone was stupid enough to siphon off aristocratic jewels and sell them.

Precious jewelry is a way to immediately reveal where the item came from just by the craftsmanship. Who would do such a thing, when you were bound to be accused of being a thief?

“Wake up.”

“Let’s look some more.”

“Shit!”

The maid and her attendants stood up again.

They had to find the ring somehow. They had to find it, and go and pray to Camila over and over again.

“What are you guys doing here?”

Then there was someone slowly approaching them.

“Bu-, butler.”

It was the butler, Rube.

“I asked, what are you doing?”

“That’s…that is…….”

Rube’s face, usually always smiling, was cold. Seeing this, it was not easy for anyone to speak.

She couldn’t bring herself to say that she had stolen Camila’s ring, hid it here, and couldn’t find it again.

“Follow me.”

The butler, Rube, having said these words, quickly turned around.

Realizing that something had gone completely wrong, they silently followed Rube with bated breath.

However, a smile crept up on the man’s lips as he walked ahead.

‘She’s definitely changed.’

He had already roughly grasped the situation, as to what the girls were up to.

Yesterday he had happened to pass by, and saw Camila digging up her ring here. Only then did he understand why Camila had been making a mess of the ground here a few months ago.

And so he could guess why the servants were doing that to some extent. Just as the chef, Gelard, couldn’t even lift his head in front of Camila, it’s clear that she had something on the girls as well.

Butler Rube laughed silently as if he was having fun.

Boom!

“Steal something?”

“…….”

That was a desk made by a master craftsman for over five years.

Rube sighed inwardly as he looked at the corner of the desk that had been broken by Duke Sorpel’s hand. Would he be able to repair it?

“So, that’s the reason why Camila had made her rose garden like that last time?”

“I believe it was to find the ring.”

Boom!!!

Seeing the desk fall completely broken, Rube quickly pulled out a quote to order a new one.

“I don’t understand.”

Why hadn’t she told me herself?

“If such a thing had happened, you could have just said as it happened…….”

For sure, he had called Camila and asked why she had damaged the rose garden, but the child had kept her mouth shut and made no excuses.

In the end, he sent Camila away with the words that he would punish her if she caused another commotion.

“Why…….”

It’s the same with what had happened at the restaurant, and this time too. Duke Sorpel, who had not been able to find an answer for a long time, turned his attention to Rube again.

“Get Camila.”

“All right.”

Watching the butler Rube go outside, Duke Sorpel let out a small sigh.

He remembered the first time he met Camila. She was a child who didn’t even want to make eye contact with himself.

I thought so. A strange man had suddenly took his father’s place, and he took it for granted that she was awkward and uncomfortable.

‘It was the same for me too.’

He didn’t bother to approach a child who didn’t open up. It was just as awkward for him too.

He thought that he was doing his duty by allowing him to enjoy everything a duke’s daughter could enjoy.

‘However…….’

How had my daughter been treated in the duchy?

Knock-knock.

After a while, the door opened and Camila stepped inside.

* * *

“Father, I heard you found it?”

Unlike her bright smile on her face, she wasn’t comfortable inside. In response to her uneasy feelings, she tightened her hand’s grip on her other hand.

It had never been good when the Duke had called upon her personally. Did she have another accident without her knowledge? Could Ravi have done something already?

‘Ah, what the hell is going on.’

Seeing Duke Sorpel’s hardened expression, Camila became even more nervous.

“I heard you had lost your ring.”

“…Yes, Father?”

Some unexpected words came out of Duke Sorpel’s mouth.

‘What’s that?’

Had word reached Duke Sorpel? Already?

‘It’s strange.’

If they were sane, they would never have talked about stealing the ring.

To do such a thing was a real crime. I had thought that even if others stumbled upon them, they would have spun a different story to explain their wrecking the garden.

‘Damn, such good skills.’

Camila, still unaware that they had been caught out by the butler Rube, briefly admired the ability of the person who had caught and interrogated the servants.

‘So, something I don’t know about didn’t happen, right?’

Hearing the voice of Duke Sorpel, it didn’t seem like he had called to scold her.

‘But…….’

The atmosphere was a bit odd. I don’t think he’s angry, but he still seems a bit depressed?

I had lost the ring, but why is he the one who seems so down here?

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

After a while, Duke Sorpel’s voice rang out again.

“Why didn’t you tell me at the time?”

By that time he was probably referring to when Camila had first lost her ring, and then rummaged through the rose garden.

‘Would you believe me if I had told you?’

The look in Duke Sorpel’s eyes that day was still vivid in her mind. “What kind of accident did you commit again?” he asked with his eyes.

Boredom and annoyance. And what could she have said to defend herself, looking into his eyes that contained such disappointed resignation?

‘It would have been as they said.’

There was little point in telling the truth then.

The maidservants would have been listened to more, with their teary words, and in the end Camila would have been branded again as the liar child.

Who was there to blame?

‘That was that.’

But I still don’t understand.

‘Why is he so serious?’

As always, it was something that could be done simply by giving orders to the lower ones. Hasn’t that always been the case with anything involving Camila?

She had no idea what Duke Sorpel had in mind, deigning to call her personally and ask what she was doing.

“You should have said it sooner.”

Duke Sorpel clicked his tongue. He seemed to pity her…….

‘You’re sorry?’

That man? Sorry for Camila?

I have watched that man kill Camila for over 20 years. I’d seen him turn his back on Camila countless times, always cold and emotionless.

Although I’ve been feeling that our relationship has been getting a little bit, a tiny bit better lately.

‘Because I know very well that we’re not like that.’

Camila, who had calmed herself by saying that she shouldn’t let her guard down yet, lowered her head apologetically.

“I didn’t want to bother you with useless things.”

“It’s useless.”

Camila smiled sadly at Duke Sorpel, who raised her voice slightly.

“I know you’re busy enough with work as it is, so I didn’t want you to feel more burdened with me.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry, Father. Due to my stupidity… I had tried to solve it by myself somehow…….”

“Why are you apologizing!”

Duke Sorpel, who had raised his voice in tears, stopped short in his words. Seeing Camila sullen like a scolded child, he hurriedly continued.

“Camila.”

“Yes, Father.”

“From now on, tell me first about anything.”

Unlike usual, Duke Sorpel’s voice was very soft.

‘What’s that?’

The same was true for his eyes. Seeing the affectionate gaze of the Duke of Sorpel, which she had never seen before, Camila looked at the Duke of Sorpel with even more vigilance.

Chapter. Resemblance

[What are you doing now?]

“I’m looking at the map.”

[Why a map all of a sudden?]

Ferrol, the cook ghost, sat in the library, staring curiously at Camila, who had been poring over a map for a while.

She was the one who had come to discuss her cooking for dinner, yet she was the one who wouldn’t let go of her map for a while now.

“I was wondering where it would be nice to rabbit out.”

Where would be the farthest and safest place in this manor?

[Rabbit out? What does that mean?]

“It’s a thing.”

Camila gave a rough answer without even looking up.

‘It would be nice if things worked out and there was nothing to run away from, but…….’

That’s not the way the world works, though.

‘Ravi, I don’t know when that bastard will cause another accident.’

The other day, when I was called in by the duke, I realized it clearly. The fact that other measures had to be prepared in advance. The anxiety I felt then…….

Hearing the duke calling him, she broke into a cold sweat.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a big deal, but she felt the need to make something else to live with to get rid of that anxiety.

It was too uneasy to hold on to the Duke’s heart and try to save his life.

But the problem is.

“Pfft.”

…No point in looking.

Why was the map so crude and complicated? Looking at the map, I couldn’t get a good feel for anything.

[Donna is coming.]

When she raised her head at Ferrol’s words, she saw Donna walking through the library entrance. She too found herself right away and quickly approached.