A fortune-telling princess

“The reason Miss Sia and Miss Camilla were repeatedly sent back to the past was primarily to give you both time to recognize each other. But there was also the hope that you would grow familiar with and adapt to the world you would eventually return to.”

“…”

Sia.

It was undeniably her name, yet it now felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Still, does it normally take this long for two people to recognize each other?”

“I didn’t think it would take this long either. But my authority to intervene was quite limited…”

Donna let out a long sigh.

“Thankfully, Miss Camilla, who was here in this world, finally recognized Miss Sia from the other world in the nick of time. That allowed us to break the cycle at last.”

She recognized me in the end?

“Ah!”

A scene flashed through Camilla’s mind.

The day she locked eyes with Camilla, whose head had been severed. That same day, she had also suffered an accident. No, she had died. The chandelier had fallen—wait.

“That ghost…”

The ghost hanging from the chandelier, looking just like her.

“…That really was Sia.”

“If you’re talking about the soul you saw for the last time that day, then yes, that was her.”

As if reading Camilla’s mind, Donna nodded and continued.

“If you had missed that moment, you two would still be stuck in your endless cycles of life and death. It was at that precise moment when one of you fully recognized the other, creating a perfect gap between the two worlds. Only then could we return you both to your rightful places.”

Watching Donna’s self-satisfied expression, as though she had achieved something incredible, made Camilla unconsciously tighten her grip on the shoe in her hand.

“And you think that’s something to be proud of?”

Returning to her rightful place didn’t erase everything she had endured!

“Should I just smash this over your head?”

Donna flinched, raising her arms to shield her face, making Camilla sigh.

“And you’re so tiny…”

Donna was petite, even for a woman. If she were larger, at least hitting her would be satisfying.

“Is my small size a problem for you?”

Hearing Camilla’s muttering, Donna clapped her hands and smiled brightly. Her form began to blur.

“What the—?!”

Suddenly, Donna disappeared, and a tall, slender man stood before her. With long lavender hair tied back and glasses perched on his nose, he bowed and smiled politely.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Dormann.”

“Dormant?”

“No, Dormann…”

“…”

“This is my true form.”

“You’re Donna?”

“Yes.”

“…You look like a man.”

“For beings like me, gender is irrelevant. But if I must choose, then yes.”

“Why did you bother appearing as a woman?”

“I thought it more appropriate to serve Miss Camilla closely in that form rather than as a man.”

“Didn’t you even help me bathe?”

“As I’ve mentioned, gender is meaningless to beings like me…”

“Shut up.”

“Yes.”

Camilla couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. Seeing her expression, Dormann cautiously continued.

“In any case, I was dismissed from my position due to the mistake of misplacing your souls. I’ve lost much of my power and can no longer see souls.”

He looked genuinely dejected.

“Does my ability to see ghosts have something to do with my soul being switched?”

“No, that’s a natural gift of yours.”

“Damn.”

She had been hoping to blame that on him too.

As Camilla clicked her tongue in disappointment, Dormann sighed in relief and resumed speaking.

“If the two of you live out your lives peacefully and fulfill your natural lifespans, then I may be reinstated.”

Reinstatement, my foot.

“So, everything we went through, all the deaths—it was because of you.”

“Well, if you put it that way, yes…”

“Call your superior.”

“Pardon?”

“Summon your superior. Now.”

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“When the subordinate messes up, the superior takes responsibility. Isn’t that basic common sense?”

“But we’ve been doing our best to take responsibility…”

“Responsibility? What responsibility? What exactly have you done?”

The more she spoke, the angrier she became.

“Each time you two died, we worked hard to send your souls back to the past without causing harm to either world. That effort allowed you to recognize each other…”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Miss Sia was naturally gifted—with a sharp mind, exceptional acting skills, and stunning beauty. All we could do was grant her small strokes of good luck.”

“Good luck?”

“To ensure that everything she did would succeed…”

Looking back, every drama and movie she chose became a hit. So that was thanks to them? Not because of her ghostly insights?

“What about Camilla?”

If that was true for the other Sia, what about her? What blessings had she received? Because as far as Camilla could see, she hadn’t benefited in the slightest.

“Well, there’s me.”

“What?”

“I’ve been by your side, haven’t I?”

Dormann grinned and pointed to himself.

“You?”

“Yes.”

“You’re saying you’re my blessing?”

“Exactly.”

“…”

Should I just kill him?

“Sigh.”

After driving Dormann out of her room by hurling a shoe at him, Camilla changed out of her wet clothes and let out a deep sigh. Her breathing felt warm, as if her body temperature had dropped significantly.

‘So, you’ve been watching me all along?’

Donna—or rather, Dormann—had appeared the moment she jumped into the lake because he had been monitoring her the whole time.

Dormann insisted it wasn’t surveillance but concern, but wasn’t that basically the same thing?

After the semester started, he had secretly watched her and, seeing that she was adjusting well, had stopped. But after the incident with Jude’s group, he resumed his watch.

Then he saw her jump into the water and, thinking it was a suicide attempt, leapt in to save her.

‘Oh, thank you so much.’

Her gratitude made her grit her teeth.

“Damn it.”

Though he had saved her, she wasn’t grateful at all. He had only been helping her because he wanted to be reinstated.

Had Dormann not interfered, she would have left the lake without any issue. She had only panicked and lost her rhythm because of him.

“Sigh…”

While it was satisfying to finally understand why she had ended up in this world,

“It feels disgusting.”

The foul mood sapped her energy.

She glanced at the divine beast’s egg she had retrieved and placed safely in a corner. At least she had managed to secure that.

“Well, I should get going.”

She picked up the divine beast’s egg. Keeping it around wouldn’t do her any good and might only invite misunderstanding.

Click!

Camilla left her room, the egg safely tucked away in her pocket.

But then…

“Dormann, carry this for me.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Dormann, join us for snacks later!”

“I’ll be there.”

…What the hell?

The moment she stepped out, Camilla saw a strange sight.

The people of the duke’s household were interacting naturally with Dormann, who was in his true form.

“Ah, Lady Camilla!”

Dormann spotted her and ran over.

“What is it?”

“Pardon?”

“Why is everyone acting so naturally around you?”

“Oh…”

Dormann smiled knowingly, realizing what she was asking.

“That’s one of my remaining abilities.”

“Ability?”

“No matter how suddenly I appear, people instinctively accept my presence as normal. It’s as though they’ve known me for years. It was essential to stay close to you, so I was lucky this ability wasn’t taken away.”

“You don’t need to stay close.”

“Pardon?”

“Your presence didn’t stop me from dying, did it?”

What use was he, really? Crying the hardest when she died? Mourning for her out of guilt?

‘Come to think of it…’

He probably cried because he had failed his mission and wouldn’t get reinstated.

“You could’ve just told me everything from the start.”

If he had told her about the soul swap and warned her to live carefully to avoid dying again, she wouldn’t have died so easily each time.

“I might have at least clung to some hope that everything would be okay once the souls were swapped back.”

“That wasn’t within my authority.”

Dormann looked genuinely aggrieved.

“Revealing the truth before the souls returned to their rightful places was strictly prohibited. Unstable souls are highly susceptible to breaking under even the smallest shock.”

“So.”

“Pardon?”

“What help have you been to me?”

“…Shall I fetch you some tea?”

“…”

“I’ll clean your room immediately.”

“…”

“I’ll do the laundry…”

“Useless.”

“You’re too harsh!”

Realizing further conversation was meaningless, Camilla started walking away.

“Huh?”

When she reached Duke Sorpel’s study, she saw the butler, Luve, about to enter with a tea tray

.

Noticing her approach, Luve paused and turned to her.

“My lady.”

“Is Father inside?”

“Yes, he’s speaking with a guest.”

“A guest?”

“The Duke of Jabilon has arrived.”

“Oh.”

Having gone straight to her room earlier, she hadn’t been informed about the guest’s visit.

“Are you alright?”

Luve glanced at her still-damp hair, concerned.

He had already heard about her returning drenched and forbidding anyone from entering her room, but hadn’t had the chance to report it to the duke due to the guest’s arrival.