A fortune-telling princess

     Looks like I did get sick from the food.Camila, who had been slumped on the bed, stood up.As soon as she returned to her room, exhausted from the awkward dinner, she collapsed on the bed, feeling very uncomfortable in her stomach. She felt like she had to go out and walk in the garden for a bit.[Miss Camila.]As she headed outside, thinking of which way to go to the garden, Camila stopped after hearing her name being called. It was Derrin, the butler ghost.“Yes?”Seeing Derrin’s unusual appearance, Camila put on a puzzled expression.His usual soft smile was nowhere to be seen. Rather, he seemed a little nervous.“What’s going on?”[There is someone I would like to introduce to you.]At Derrin’s words, Camila didn’t say anything for a moment. She just stared at him.[Do you know who he…….]“It must be a ghost.”[Yes? Ah yes.]Someone a ghost would introduce you to? Of course it would be another ghost.“Then I’ll have to decline.”[Sorry?]“Is it necessary to meet him?”[Ah, no… I!]It was a request made by Darin, not by anyone else. I’d love to hear it, but…….‘Your facial expression is too serious.’If it was a ghost that was going to be introduced with such a serious face, it surely wasn’t an ordinary one.In my experience, there was nothing good about meeting such a ghost. Very, very much! Very! I could bet my entire fortune that I would just be burdened with some bothersome work.I’m sorry, but it’s a no-go.[Lady, he is…….]“My stomach is a little upset.”[Ah, lady.]“Sorry.”Camila hurried out of her room, leaving behind Derrin, who called at her in his flustered voice. Luckily, Derrin didn’t try to follow.‘I do feel a bit sorry.’He had helped me before, and I had promised him I would listen to any favors he asked of me.‘But then you said you didn’t need such things.’Didn’t you say you didn’t have any wishes? It was Derrin who said that he was happy to be able to help the people of the duchy again.Sorry to say it, but I could really do without being connected with yet another ghost.‘When the ghosts start gathering, there really is no limit.’Ferrol and Derrin were enough for now. I didn’t want to be introduced to even more ghosts.‘Still, he gave up more easily than I thought.’Camila moved her steps with a lighter light heart. But then.[Miss Camila.][Sorry to disturb you while you’re sleeping.][I’m sorry to interrupt during a meal…….][He really wanted to see the lady…….][Couldn’t you please meet him just once?][Miss.][Miss Camila.]That had turned out to be an illusion.‘Shit…….’Butler, were you always this insistent?From the next day, Camila was getting tired of Derrin, who kept repeating the same words around her, day and night.If it was a mean, self-absorbed human… well, a mean ghost that had been chasing her and harassing her, she would have ignored it without much thought. But that wasn’t the case.‘You look so sad!’The more he followed me around with those eyes, with that apologetic face, the harder it was to ignore him.“All right.”Eventually Camila raised her hands.“I’ll meet him.”[Thank you! Thank you very much!]“So he’s a stationary ghost?”[Sorry? A stationary ghost? What is that?]“A ghost tied to one place. Who can’t ever leave it… No?”Rather than chasing after me for days and begging me to meet him, it would be simpler to just bring the ghost with him. Let’s be honest, it’s not like they can’t enter the room even if the door is locked?However, seeing that Derrin was constantly coming to me, there was only one answer. It had to be that the ghost couldn’t move.That meant I had to go meet the ghost in person.[You’re right.]Derrin gave a big nod.[He cannot move freely like we do.]Seeing how Camila was able to discern the situation right away with a few clues, Derrin was amazed.“So where is it?” * * * ‘I hate this.’[Sob… sob.]‘I really hate this.’[Ah! Why did I have to die!]‘I really hate it!’What is it with this place?People often say ghosts are likely to be found in places like funeral halls, charnel houses, or gravesides.‘Ding!’They’re all wrong.Surprisingly, the ghosts do not stay attached to such places. This is because the moment they recognize they are dead, they either ascend to heaven immediately, or try to attend to any unfinished business that had not been concluded during their lifetimes.In fact, it is difficult to find the soul of the person in their place of mourning. Rather, there are more ghosts who don’t even come near the funeral hall or the charnel house because they don’t even want to see themselves dead.‘But then…….’Why is this place full of ghosts!The place where Camila was walking now was a cemetery. On top of that, it was a grave for national heroes.All the nobility of the empire… no, anyone who had served the country in any capacity would want to be buried here. It was an honor for their family just to be buried here.“Well at the end of the day it’s just a graveyard anyway.”What good did it do if you contributed to the country and were buried here? The place was filled with those who were unable to leave this world and left wandering around their graves, unable to come to peace with their lingering resentments.In fact, wasn’t it evident that they were less willing to accept their deaths, precisely because of the fact that they didn’t exercise more power, or achieve more in their lifetimes?Camila did not pay the slightest attention to the singing of the ghosts around her. If she did, they would cling to her, thinking they had found someone to talk to.So Camila only followed Derrin’s tracks, who was walking ahead of her.[It’s this way.]The place where I followed Derrin was not an ordinary graveyard. Could I say it was a more upscale space? Right at first glance, it was a place where the tombs of those of high position were buried.The number of tombs rapidly decreased as we went up the stairs towards higher ground.‘It’s a bloody good day.’The sunlight shining on the tomb was especially warm. To think that I should be wandering around in such a place when the weather was so nice.[Miss Camila.]After a moment, Derin stopped her and quietly called out to Camila.Raising her head, she could see a middle-aged man sitting comfortably at the edge of a grave.[Good sir.]Derrin quickly walked up and spoke cautiously to him. Then the middle-aged ghost, who had been closing his eyes, slowly opened them, and gazed at Camila.[Is that the child.][Yes, good sir.]Camila had not been properly told who she was supposed to meet. She was just helplessly dragged by Derrin, who had repeated that she had to meet him.[…….]The middle-aged ghost stared at her. Camila also stared blankly at him.[You can really see me.]“I can hear you too.”[Haha…ho…….]The laugh he let out was very despondent. It seemed happy, it seemed sad, it was a laugh mixed with various emotions.[At last… Are we finally seeing some closure?]Some closure. As it turned out, he had something to ask of her.[I should introduce myself first.]“Hersel Sorpel.”[……!]“You are the former duke who led the Sorpel family in the past.”[…How did you know? Did Derrin tell you?]At the confusion of the puzzled middle-aged ghost… no, Hersel, Camila let out a small sigh and pointed to the back where he was sitting.“I know how to read letters, too.”[Ah…….]His name was written on the tombstone where he was sitting. <The 39th Sorpel Family Leader, Hersel. Rests Here> ‘It’s been a very long time if you’re the 39th leader.’Because the current Duke of Sorpel was the 42nd leader of the Sorpel family.[The reason I called you here…….]“Before that, can I ask you one question?”[……? Ask me anything.]With Hersel’s permission, Camila’s gaze turned to his head.“Is it hereditary?”[Hereditary?]“The hair.”The shape of his head was very pretty.‘Glitter glitter.’Glistening in the sunlight… His hairless head kept coming into view. * * * ‘They’re Divine Beasts?’After meeting Hersel, Camila’s head felt complicated. Camila had also heard of them.The three Ducal Houses of the Empire that control the Divine Beasts. And the Divine Beast of the Sorpel family that had disappeared long ago.She knew very well what Divine Beast symbolized the Sorpel family.‘Baekho (White Tiger).’A white tiger.‘Goes very well with Ludeville.’Camila let out a small sigh as she recalled Ludeville’s white hair, which had no other colors at all.‘So then…….’You’re asking me to look for it?Hersel, a middle-aged ghost whom I have been meeting. He was the one who made the Divine Beast disappear from the Sorpel family.‘Well, strictly speaking, it’s not his fault.’It’s not like he was poisoned because he wanted to be poisoned.He became a ghost because he couldn’t leave this world, anxious as he was to tell his descendants the location of the newly born Divine Beast.He had to tell the location somehow, but he hadn’t been able to find a way until now, after all these years.How pained must he have been of his own death, that he would become a stationary ghost, unable to leave in peace to the afterlife?‘It is unfortunate…….’But what do you want me to do?Hersel told her where the Divine Beast of House Sorpel resided.But things were not as simple as they seemed. What would everyone say if she suddenly brought back the egg of the Divine Beast, which no one could find for all those years?‘How horrifying.’Imagining the barrage of questions the family members would inevitably pour on her made her head hurt already.‘Why do I have to act like an exorcist even here?’Camila gave a heavy sigh at the thought of all the divination and fortune-telling she had to do.‘And what he’d also say? That it’s in the water?’What a perfect way to be labelled a crazy bitch.