A fortune-telling princess

 A day passed.

Two days passed… and then another. With each passing day, Camila’s face turned more rotten.

‘Why, why….!’

Why couldn’t she wake up?!

This was the first time she’d been in such a situation. Had she ever stayed this long in this space?

As time passed, Camila became more agitated.

‘No way….’

It can’t be?

‘Staying stuck in this place…!’

Camila shook her head. Just the thought of being stuck was awful. She knew too well how her life would end in here. She massaged her still-healthy neck repeatedly.

Knock-knock.

A second later, someone entered the room. It was her personal servant, Dona.

“My lady?”

Dona recoiled at the sight of Camila, lying dormant with her head drooped and arms outstretched.

“What is it?”

Camila lifted her head, and Dona gave out a sigh of relief.

“The chef has personally prepared a meal for you”

“A meal?”

“My lady, you haven’t been eating well these days”

Because of what had happened previously, most of the kitchen maids had been replaced. The servant girls who had fooled around with Camila’s food were fired without any compensation. In addition, the Duke had personally ordered that greater care be taken towards Camila’s food.

“I don’t want to eat”

Since it looked like she could never return to being Sia, Camila lost all sense of appetite and refused to eat.

No matter how good the food, she would only take a single bite and leave it there. Eventually, the chief chef had personally cooked her a meal.

“Please have a taste, Chef Gelard has put in so much effort”

“…..”

Dona’s voice was filled with concern. Camila’s gaze, which was filtering below the bed, fixated on Dona again.

What was she, if not the only person who truly cared for Camila in this whole Mansion?

When Camila had been caught as a murder suspect, Dona had always stood by her side. She had also been the only person who cried when Camila died.

‘She had always been outraged at the other servants’ nasty behaviour’

Dona would always jump with agitation, saying she had to tell the Duke at once, only to keep her mouth shut from Camila’s orders.

And then she would fight with the other servants, in an effort to make up for all the injustices Camila had suffered. At the end, even if she got a bruised eye from all the fighting, she would smile, saying she had at least delivered one more punch.

“Alright”

Camila, giving in to Dona’s pleas, stood upright. At this sight, Dona’s face lit up. Dona left the room hurriedly and came back with someone who had been waiting outside.

“Excuse me, my lady”

It was a man in his mid-40s, of slightly lean build. Bowing slightly to Camila, he put the food down on the table.

“Tis’ apple pie, my lady”

It was a pie filled of a lot of sliced apples, well-done in sugar.

“Please have a taste”

The chef’s voice was brimming with pride. No, one could say it was filled with arrogance.

Though he did not say anything out loud, the chef’s eyes did not gaze upon Camila with kindness. He resented the Duke’s orders to personally take care of Camila’s food, and it showed in his face. Nothing about the situation gave him any pleasure. To have his beautiful masterpiece go into that little brat’s mouth…it made his stomach turn. It felt like such a waste, having his precious food be consumed by someone who knew nothing about good taste.

‘Just eat whatever you’re given, God damn it!’

Chef Gelard’s insides had turned at the sight of Camila’s uneaten meals returning to his kitchen.

How dare she leave her food like that!

‘Those servant girls had behaved insolently though…..’

Not long ago, the servant girls had been kicked from the mansion after playing around with the princess’s food. The chef was angry at them for messing with the food, but in all honesty he could see why they did so.

It’s not as if she was a real princess anyway. The sight of this girl, from who knows where, being so picky with her food… it was annoying to say the least.

If it wasn’t for the Duke’s orders, he couldn’t care less if she starved or not.

“I have put heart and soul into this, my lady”

“……”

Camila’s gaze fixated again on the chef.

‘Sigh’

Having met Chef Gelard’s resentful gaze, Camila let out a small sigh.

She didn’t take issue with the chef’s lack of manners.

‘I’m used to it’

Having lived for a long time as a celebrity, she knew how to ignore those hated her.

That wasn’t the problem right now.

‘Shut up!’

Her head already felt like it was going to explode.

[Damn it! I’ve told you multiple times! Your food shines best when someone else is eating it for you!]

What is that loud-ass old man doing here?!

[Doesn’t matter how good the food is, if no one wants to eat it, it’s just trash!]

Camila looked at the boisterous old man shouting loudly next to the chef and gave out another small sigh.

‘These aren’t even my real eyes…….’

Why do I have to see something like that, when I don’t even have my eyes from the real world?

What had been invisible to her when she had entered this world as a bystander, suddenly became visible?

Camila despaired again. No matter how I look at it, I’m stuck in this place forever.

‘Fu……’

She wanted to swear.

She didn’t know who it was, but she wanted to curse whoever had forced her into this woman’s body.

‘What am I to do now?’

[And this pie! You put 1 gram less cinnamon than you should! It’s just 1 gram, but it makes all the difference in the world, don’t you know?! And this Camila kid, she doesn’t like apples. How many times have I told you to respect the person’s tastes!]

Ugh, so distracting.

Camila, frowning and wanting to send these people back out, took a bite of the apple pie. Then she laid down her fork, almost as if to throw it down.

“What is the problem, my lady?”

“Take it away”

“What didn’t you like?”

Gelard, thinking Camila would fawn over his apple pie, frowned at the princess’ unexpected reaction.

“It’s tasteless”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, it’s tasteless”

“Ho-, how could!”

Gelard’s face contorted. How dare you say such things – you, who doesn’t know a single thing about taste? To say that my food is tasteless!

“That cannot be, my lady! If I may explain…..”

“You didn’t put enough cinnamon. A whole gram missing! How dare you put something that doesn’t even fulfil the fundamentals of baking. Take it away now!

“Excuse me?”

Cinnamon?

“And I don’t like apples”

“Bu, but……”

“Shouldn’t you think of the person’s preferences first? What good does it do if you’re the only one satisfied? If no one will deign to eat the food, it’s just rubbish.”

“…..!”

That’s what the old master used to say!

Camila glared at the visibly confused Gelard.

“Aren’t you going to leave?”

Finally coming to his senses, the red-faced Gelard took away the food and hurriedly left the room.

‘You would do well to leave too’

Having said all she wanted, Camila waved away the old man, who was staring quite surprised.

At that moment, the old man and her locked eyes. The old man’s eyes widened.

‘What? Why? Never seen a human who can see ghosts?’

I guess he never has.

‘Ah, whatever’

Camila laid down on the bed again.

* * *

[What is it? Perol?]

Another ghost joined the old man, who had just left the room. It was another old man, dressed smartly in a suit.

[We made eye contact.]

[You made eye contact?]

[I swear!]

[Calm down. And tell me slowly. What are you on about?]

[I made eye contact with that girl in the room]

[Who? Lady Camila?]

[Lady my ass. My dear Derin, you still think you’re the butler here?]

[Just because I’m dead doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten my duties]

Derin the butler ghost grinned broadly.

[If the Duke has accepted her as his daughter we too should respect her. That being said, did you really make eye contact with her?]

[I swear to God.]

[Huh.]

Both men gazed at Camila’s door.

They had seen her for a long time, but never had the feeling of being seen before.

[And you weren’t just imagining things?]

[It really happened. She even waved at me.]

[With her hand?]

Derin rubbed his chin, intrigued.

[We’ll find out in good time. We’ve got all the time in the world, after all.]

The old ghost Perol, still dressed in his chef uniform, nodded in agreement.

Soon after, the two ghosts left.

* * *

‘Let’s live’

I have to live.

Another three days passed. And Camila could only come to one conclusion.

‘I can’t make it’

Going back to her original world, that prospect was all gone now.

There is no telling the future, but for now going back seemed impossible. She decided to stop wasting away here.

‘Let’s live life again and see how things go’

Having been lying like a corpse, Camila brought herself back up. Staying like this would do nothing but bring a sore, uncomfortable death.

“I have to change my reputation”

Over all her countless lives, Camila had sometimes refused to participate in Ravi’s plots to assassinate the first son, Ludville.

‘But……’

That didn’t change things much. There were too many who saw her as a thorn in the eye.

Once Ravi was caught in his misdeeds, people would still frame her together and make her a criminal. They would make her a co-conspirator with their fake testimonies. No matter how much she defended herself, saying she didn’t do it, no one would heed her words. Instead, they would listen more carefully to those liars.