The Fortune Teller Says: Five Days After the Forced March They Called the First Class
Five days had passed since we finished that brutal forced march disguised as the first class. Instructor Redfield hadn't gone back on his word. He'd sent the five of us home, leaving only the Hero and Saint who failed to pass—along with Prince Kim Seong-il. During this precious time when I could finally relax, I spent it thinking about skills, considering future events, and worrying about the midterms that were coming up soon. Yet not even a full day had gone by. Once I'd finished all my preparations, I was left with nothing but free time. I tried to meet with Princess Liu Na, but she only said we'd talk next time. Approaching the Arthur siblings myself felt too awkward. After wasting one day doing absolutely nothing and wandering around the academy for the past few days...
"...Honestly, this is quite bewildering."
"I understand."
...I'd been caught. By Prince Kim Seong-il, who had just finished his classes, and the students enrolled in the academy under the pretext of serving as his bodyguards. Half-dragged into a classroom in one of the buildings, I sat down on an ornate chair that felt completely out of place and glanced around.
There are six of them in total.
Prince Kim Seong-il sat directly across from me, surrounded by six students standing in a protective circle. Three burly male students, one guy with glasses who looked like a prick, and two female students staring at me with odd eyes. Every single one of them was an exclusive privilege granted only to Prince Kim Seong-il.
Honestly, I didn't realize it in the game... but the position of successor to a global superpower really carries that much weight.
It didn't make sense for the crown prince—the one slated to become the next emperor—to attend the academy at all. But here he was. Had my insane little sister just thrown him into the story without thinking because she wanted to try capturing him? And because that had become reality, the academy made an exception and allowed his close aides to enroll as a precaution against potential threats. Of course, they were academy students in name only. They weren't actually attending Romance Academy; they'd simply been given an excuse to follow the prince around.
But then.
"First, I thank Your Highness for seeking out this humble Fortune Teller."
"It's nothing."
"But if I may ask... a love reading...?"
What the hell kind of love reading? You didn't have an event like this, did you? Weren't you the pure-hearted type who only had eyes for the protagonist?
"It's exactly as it sounds."
"...You truly mean a love fortune?"
"Yes."
The prince answered every question with short, indifferent responses. I knew it was an act, so it didn't bother me.
Can't you see the looks your guards are giving me!?
Refuse. Refuse. Refuse. The guys standing behind you are shooting me every kind of glare imaginable! They're pressuring me to turn you down no matter what!
Yeah, even from their perspective, if the next emperor suddenly fell in love and called a fortune teller for a love reading, they'd find it suspicious. But if that's the case, why come to the fortune teller instead of telling the prince himself? Are these guys really the type to be strong against the weak and weak against the strong?
"Your Highness, may I speak for a moment?"
"Go ahead."
"Even among all forms of fortune telling, love readings are the most uncertain. The human heart cannot be easily known through divination, and even if it could, love is something that changes in the blink of an eye."
If someone came for a fortune, it was almost always one of three things: the future, academics, or romance. That's how popular love readings were. In practice, you could examine compatibility, four pillars of destiny, birth dates, tarot, physiognomy, and more. But in truth, love readings were the biggest nonsense of all fortune telling.
"Continue."
"Peeking into someone's heart through fortune telling abandons human ethics, and forcing a connection between people abandons heavenly principles. Even if a good result appears, a love reading is something that can change with the smallest shift."
What? The love reading came out positive so you confessed and they accepted? Then they liked you from the start. It had nothing to do with the fortune. What? The reading came out bad so you didn't confess? Then what was the difference from not getting a reading at all?
That's what fortunes did. They made people think that success was thanks to the fortune, while failure was their own fault. That's why people who got love readings weren't really following the fortune itself—they were seeking a kind of 'courage.' Because the fortune said it would work. They drew courage from that and confessed. They might get rejected, but very few people blamed the fortune for it. They hadn't truly believed in it from the beginning anyway.
But if the confession succeeded? They thought, Ah, it was thanks to the fortune, and kept visiting that fortune teller. That was how scammers operated.
"Therefore, rather than having me perform a love reading, I believe it would be wiser to confess directly or build the relationship step by step."
"........."
When I put it that way, the guards gave me approving looks or nodded. No, you guys are supposed to be stopping him. Why are you making me do your job?
Anyway, after saying this much, surely he wouldn't insist on—
"Even so, I ask that you do it."
"........."
...This was strange. Even though I'd refused tactfully, he was pushing forward, and the guards' expressions were now tinged with confusion.
Yes, Prince Kim Seong-il wasn't this kind of person. The fact that he'd come looking for me in the first place was odd. He despised professions like Fortune Teller. He was the type to hate jobs like Fortune Teller, Hero, or Singer—professions he judged as useless for running a nation. An efficiency fanatic, I suppose. Anyway, he was someone with extremely firm personal standards.
Yet he'd come to me for a fortune? And not by summoning me, but coming in person?
There must be something going on.
Let's think. Prince Kim Seong-il had deliberately sought me out. In other words, there was something he wanted to say or hear from me. He'd used the pretext of a love reading for that purpose and was insisting on it to an excessive degree.
Why? What connection existed between me and Prince Kim Seong-il?
...No way?
"Um, if Your Highness insists... everyone, could you step back for a moment?"
"What? Hey, what's with the sudden request?"
"A love reading is quite a sensitive fortune. If the subject and others are too close, your romantic fortunes might mix together..."
"Is that... how it works?"
"Yes. I'm not asking you to leave the room entirely. Just stick close to the wall, please."
"Hey, we're responsible for guarding His Highness. Such an unreasonable demand...!"
Yeah. It would be absurd to suddenly ask them to distance themselves. But I was just as bewildered, you bastards. Besides, romantic fortunes mixing if you're close by? It was obviously nonsense—the kind of thing that would make even people ignorant about fortune telling say "what are you talking about."
But.
"Step back."
"Y-Your Highness! If something happens to your safety..."
"Step back."
"...Understood."
That's right. I knew you'd help. At the prince's command, combined with the fact that I was supposedly a skilled (?) fortune teller, plus the background check they'd surely run on me, they judged that I had no particular grudge against the prince. Since I wasn't a combat class, I posed no threat. It was enough to get the guards to move to the wall. If I'd asked them to leave the room completely they wouldn't have listened, but staying by the wall wasn't a big deal.
"Then I'll begin the love reading. First, I'll draw on this paper while asking questions. Your Highness, please answer and copy the drawings as I make them."
"Alright."
And this room was quite spacious. If they stood all the way at the wall, only our heads would be visible from the center where we sat. If I covered the paper properly with my body, even combat-class holders would have trouble seeing what was written on it.
I leaned forward first to shield the paper and moved my pen.
Is this about Her Highness the Princess?
"Yes. I'd like you to look at both compatibility and the love fortune."
Thank goodness you're quick-witted. I'm grateful.
"Not at all. Then I'll draw the woman's picture first. Could you take a look?"
Would this method be safe? Can we avoid the guards' eyes?
"It's an interesting approach. I understand."
This should be no problem.
As expected. The fact that he wasn't speaking directly despite wanting to talk to me this badly meant it had to be something secretive. If the matter wasn't problematic, he would have spoken normally. Since he wasn't, he wanted to talk alone while avoiding even his guards' eyes.
And the only connection between me and the prince was naturally Princess Kim Eun-ha.
But why approach me specifically? What had I done to the princess?
Hmm.........
I hadn't done anything? I'd just used her to break walls, made some mutually beneficial deals, used her to create paths in the mountains, and used her to catch that crazy knight woman... There wasn't much, so what was it?
Well, I'd find out once we talked.
"Could I know that woman's name?"
May I know what your business is?
"I don't know her well yet. I want to approach slowly."
I want to ask you to act as a messenger. There are too many eyes around me.
"Um, then what about her appearance?"
Is it a message for the princess?
"That shouldn't be a problem."
Yes.
A message for the princess. Too many eyes around him. ...I was starting to get the picture.
"Then while thinking of her appearance, please write it down."
What should I convey?
"Long straight hair, beautiful eyes, a straight nose, red lips, large eyes, a pleasant smile. She was a beautiful woman."
'The one I like and protect.' That will do. No need to know more.
"I see."
I see.
Now I understood the situation. The prince had something he wanted to secretly convey to the princess, but with too many eyes on him, he was using me as an intermediary like this. There were other ways to use different students... but since I was a citizen of the Unified Korean Empire, had shown closeness to the princess during the last class, and had the decent pretext of performing a love reading, it made sense.
The physical description had been unnecessarily detailed, but anyway. If I hadn't caught on first, he probably wouldn't have contacted me this way.
Anyway, if I agreed here and simply delivered the message, that should be the end of it.
But then.
"I see. Finally, while thinking of her, could you draw a circle?"
May I ask just one thing?
"Go ahead."
For compensation, I'll pay you in money.
"Ah, once you've drawn the circle, please draw a triangle as well."
It's a different question.
"Yes."
Since I'm the one making the request, I'll allow just one.
This seemed like...
It looked like something I needed to get involved in.
"You've drawn them all."
Who is it?
"Yes."
What do you mean?
"...Um, it seems a rather bad result has come out."
I'm asking which of the guards is the one trying to assassinate the princess.
Clack. The prince dropped his pen.
"...What?"
"It's an unfortunate result, but I can help you."
Rip. Rip. Rip.
Leaving the dazed prince behind, I crumpled and tore apart the paper we'd been using. The guards flinched at my sudden action, looking ready to rush forward.
But among them, who would care more about the paper the prince and I had written on than about the prince's safety?
"Bad results should be torn away. Rather than leaving it like this, it's much better to tear it up, pretend it never happened, and try again."
"...You'll help?"
"Of course. I can't send Your Highness away like this."
Tearing, tearing, and tearing again. I crumpled and shredded it so thoroughly that the writing was completely unrecognizable, then scattered the pieces across the table. The still-dazed yet bewildered prince stared at me.
"Aren't you a fortune teller? For matters like this, you'd need someone like me."
"...Ha, haha. Yes."
He hid his bewilderment, leaving only gratitude visible on his face. That was an act. An act to deceive the eyes watching him—that is, his guards. The act of a prince being grateful to a fortune teller offering to help with a bad love reading.
But to me, the prince's true feelings were clear.
He's suspicious of me.
He might even think he'd fallen into a trap. One of his guards was a traitor, so he'd had no choice but to use a fortune teller as a messenger, but that fortune teller knew about the assassination? It was only natural to be suspicious. Even if it wasn't Liu, anyone would suspect.
But this is an opportunity.
Gaining the trust of the prince and princess wasn't easy. Their character events had high difficulty and appeared much later. However, if I intervened here in the 'princess assassination attempt' that I could only watch helplessly in the game...
"Then when would be good for the next reading?"
"...Let's make it tomorrow."
"Understood. Please contact me once you've decided on the exact time and place!"
One day until I met the prince again. During that day, the prince would investigate me thoroughly. But I'd already been investigated twice by Liu and Lane. I was a pro at this. A true professional had nothing to hide!
"Have a safe journey."
"...Yes."
Now then. Shall I go meet the princess?