The Fortune Teller Says All

The crown prince's expression hardened for a moment. He knew the meaning behind those words.

He had been aware there was an assassin among his guards, but learning that all six of them were involved was far too unexpected.

Tap.

Setting down the pen he had refused to release even while acting, the crown prince leaned back comfortably in the plush chair.

"All of them..."

"Yes, that is correct."

"Haha. That is truly..."

A relief.

The crown prince murmured the rest of his sentence quietly, without hiding it. The fact that he felt relieved upon learning every single one of his close aides was an assassin—was it because he himself had been the one behind the order to assassinate the princess?

No.

It wasn't. Though the crown prince and princess snarled at each other like rivals, they would never try to kill one another. The princess, who was more outstanding than the prince, had voluntarily given up her claim to the throne. In exchange, she had taken on the empire's darker duties. The crown prince knew this well. More than anyone, these siblings understood what kind of aftermath would follow if one of them died. That was precisely why it could never happen.

Then why was the crown prince murmuring that it was a relief?

"Are you that pleased that your compatibility with that woman is perfect in every way?"

"Of course I am. It was quite the headache of a problem, after all."

As he said, this assassination issue had been a major concern for the crown prince. He had no intention of assassinating the princess. Nor did she have any reason to stage such a farce. The other factions within the imperial family had already been dealt with long ago. Was there anyone else who might wish her harm?

There was.

Someone even greater than the crown prince and princess.

The emperor.

Kim Seo-jun, the current emperor of the Unified Korean Empire. It was entirely possible for him. The crown prince must have been genuinely worried about the tragedy of father and children killing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠each other. Even if they were a threat to his power. Even if they had to share authority. Even if they were constantly at odds. They were still family. They were the people Kim Seong-il loved more than anyone else.

"I'm glad your worries have been resolved, Your Highness."

Then why had the crown prince felt relieved upon hearing there were six assassins?

…In truth, this entire assassination commotion had been strange from the very beginning.

First, the fact that they sent an assassination notice.

Assassination wasn't some childish prank. Logically, no one would send a warning letter when trying to kill someone as significant as the princess. But well, it could happen. Maybe the assassin was someone with a sense of honor (laughable).

Second, the fact that the assassins were the crown prince's own guards.

Why would they bother embedding assassins among the crown prince's guards instead of simply sneaking them into the imperial residence? Being a royal guard was an extreme job that required never leaving the crown prince's side for even a moment. It made secretly approaching the princess or entering the imperial residence on personal business completely impossible.

Third, the fact that all six guards were assassins.

More assassins weren't necessarily better. If even one was caught, the whole plan would collapse. There was no reason to commit so many people. Especially when the target was the princess—a figure with massive political influence. The risk of being traced back would be even higher.

If there had been only one assassin, the crown prince would have taken the threat seriously. But the absurd number of six had instead put him at ease.

Why?

Because they weren't actually trying to assassinate her.

The warning letter. The assassins being his guards. The number being six. All of it was only possible because this entire assassination commotion was fake.

It was also why I could remain so relaxed even though the princess could have been in real danger. If it had been a genuine threat, I would have told her exactly who the assassins were. I wouldn't have given her those strange excuses about needing to stay vigilant. I had been able to confidently assure her there would be no assassination precisely because I knew the whole thing was fake from the start.

"So, what do you plan to do moving forward?"

This incident was an act of insubordination by the crown prince's subordinates. Even if the crown prince himself trusted the princess, the mere existence of a royal with both the qualifications and ability to aim for the throne was a threat to his supporters. But they couldn't actually eliminate her, so they had chosen to intimidate her with assassination threats in order to make her withdraw.

Why send an assassination notice?

To threaten her with the possibility of assassination.

Why use the crown prince's guards?

Because they were already part of the crown prince's faction.

Why all six of them?

Because it would have been impossible otherwise.

The fact that someone could leave their post without suspicion. The way messages from the crown prince to the princess kept getting intercepted. None of it would have worked unless every single guard was involved.

The crown prince had immediately seen through all of it and grasped the full picture.

But his subordinates had overlooked one thing.

"Since we've seen that the compatibility is perfect in every regard... I suppose I must take action myself."

The fact that his familial love ran far deeper than they could have imagined. He would never tolerate his subordinates running amok like this. They claimed they hadn't actually intended to kill her? Attempted murder was still a crime, wasn't it?

In other words, this event was meant to highlight an appealing aspect of the crown prince's character—his unexpectedly warm heart beneath his dignified exterior...

The beginning of a dating sim.

Yes. I mustn't forget. This was a female-oriented dating simulation game. And within it, Crown Prince Kim Seong-il was one of the main capture targets.

Originally, after the assassination attempt, the heroine would resolve the situation, meet the crown prince, learn the truth, and grow closer to him. The story about the princess who had been the target of the assassination attempt? It would have ended with just a few lines of dialogue.

This was a game for women, after all. They were too busy focusing on the capture targets (like the crown prince) to give significant weight to another female character. The fact that the people who usually hung around her were Liu and Lane made me keep forgetting that too.

"You will be taking direct action?"

"Naturally. For something this important... I cannot entrust it to others."

"A wise decision."

Following this incident, all of the crown prince's guards would be replaced, and those who had ordered the assassination threat against the princess would be immediately purged. Well, having every member of his closest protection detail involved did raise questions about his leadership, but...

Whatever.

There wouldn't be any major issues after this anyway. This would simply be seen as him properly disciplining his forces.

"Thank you, Namgung Min. I had a slight unease about the reading, but now it feels like everything has been swept away."

"It is my honor."

The princess was happy to be free from the assassination threat. The crown prince was happy to have purged his runaway internal faction. And I was happy to have properly built rapport with both of them.

Everyone was happy, so it was all good.

I rose from my seat and took the hand the crown prince offered with both of mine. Both he and I were smiling.

Everything that followed went smoothly.

The crown prince began purging his internal faction the day after our conversation, and all the guards were replaced. Since it was an internal imperial matter, Romance Academy remained peaceful.

"...And that is how the matter was resolved."

"...I see."

Thanks to that, I was now able to sit here with the princess, smiling and talking like this. Since the crown prince was busy cleaning up his faction, I had offered to explain the full story of the assassination commotion to the princess instead. She seemed relieved by my explanation that there had never been any real assassination attempt from the beginning.

I took a sip of the clearly expensive black tea, barely managed to swallow the catastrophically bitter taste, then immediately pushed the cup aside. The princess, who somehow drank that bitter stuff regularly, spoke up.

"To be honest, I was anxious."

"That's only natural."

"Even though I said I trusted you, I was trembling with fear. I'm confident in my own strength, but it's not invincible. The fact that I could still be attacked was painful in its own way."

That was exactly what the crown prince's internal faction had wanted. To ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intimidate the princess with assassination threats, making her shrink back and diminishing her authority and influence. The warning letter had been for that purpose, and they had probably planned to continue such threats afterward.

"But... it really has been resolved. Because I trusted you and left it in your hands..."

"The fortune teller says: Did I not tell you to trust only me?"

The princess looked at me with a renewed gaze. What I felt from those eyes was trust. Faith in the fortune teller named Namgung Min.

"Fortune telling... is truly remarkable."

Princess Kim Eun-ha felt all her preconceptions about fortune telling completely shatter. She had thought it was nothing but superstition, something only those lacking confidence clung to, a scam used to extract money. But the fortune teller had turned out to be such an extraordinary being.

"...Your Highness, there is something you must keep in mind."

"Yes?"

"Do not believe in fortune telling."

"...Pardon?"

Don't believe in fortune telling? Escaping the maze, passing the class in a single day, resolving this incident—hadn't all of it been thanks to fortune telling? So why—

"Believe in me, not in fortune telling."

"......"

"Every other fortune teller is a fraud. Only I am real. Only I can tell Your Highness the truth."

The look in Namgung Min's eyes as he said this was so utterly serious. Without his usual smile, speaking with a heavy expression. The princess—Kim Eun-ha—

"...Yes."

—nodded. If anyone had seen it, they might have thought the princess was being deceived by a con artist fortune teller.

"Ahem, the mood has grown rather heavy. Your Highness, how have things been at the academy lately?"

"Are you asking a classmate that? Well, the next class is apparently next Monday, so I suppose we'll have some time off until then."

"I'm enrolled here too, but while the other students are busy with classes and such, the special class seems quite unique."

"I heard that normally the special class isn't all that different. But this time, it seems the academy is holding an emergency meeting."

"A meeting... you say?"

A meeting, huh. After the princess assassination attempt, there shouldn't be anything else. Just casual communication with the capture targets, growing our classes through training, and going about academy life.

The first major event must be coming.

An event on a completely different scale from the entrance ceremony or the princess assassination attempt—one that would be hugely significant both at the academy level and within the game itself.

The midterm exams and the Skill Thief event were approaching.

To intervene in the Skill Thief event, I need to at least place in the top five during the midterms...

Come to think of it, I'm second place. Don't I get a special event? The valedictorian had an event that raised their aptitude. I seem to remember the salutatorian having something similar. But it would be awkward to go up to them and ask, "I'm second place, don't I get anything?"

"Are you perhaps curious about what the meeting is regarding?"

"...Wait, are members of the imperial family allowed to know internal academy affairs?"

"Who do you think is Romance Academy's biggest donor?"

Was this crony capitalism? Or school corruption? Still, the fact that she was telling me this...

It could be taken as proof that the princess trusted me quite a bit. I had no intention of revealing this, and it felt good to have our relationship of trust confirmed.

"I would very much like to hear it."

"Hehe, I knew you'd be curious. It's nothing major. Apparently the academy is going to impose a penalty on a certain student."

"A penalty, you say?"

From the academy itself? Wait, we've only been enrolled for how long? Who could have caused trouble already?

"Whoever this delinquent student is, they're impressive. It's been less than a week since the entrance ceremony."

"Exactly. It's not particularly important news, which is why I'm telling you."

"I am deeply grateful for Your Highness's grace."

"Flattery."

The princess who said that was smiling brightly. Just a few days ago, her smiles had been forced and trembling because of the assassination threat. That seemingly insignificant smile became my motivation to keep intervening and moving forward. For the sake of a perfect ending where no one became unhappy.

...More importantly, it was about time.

"Your Highness, I should be going now. I have some matters to attend to."

The basic etiquette toward royalty that I had mentioned when we parted last time. At those words, the princess—

"...If you wish, you may stay as long as you like."

—replied with a gentle smile. Her reaction was different from before, and it made something in my chest tickle, but this time I really did have something to do.

"This time it's true. I'll see you at the next class."

"Alright. See you then, Namgung Min."

...She stopped adding "sir" now. Was that her own way of distinguishing things?

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠received her farewell and stepped out through the door.

"I will guide you."

"Thank you."

The one waiting in front was the same servant I had met last time. He was still looking at me with suspicious eyes. I approached him first.

"How is work treating you?"

"Casual conversation regarding duties is prohibited."

"Ah, my mistake."

For the task I needed to do.

I looked at the servant once more.

"I'm asking about a different matter."

"What do you—"

"For example, cooperation?"

"............"

The servant continued staring at me with suspicious eyes. What did he think staring like that would accomplish? This was the bastard who had arbitrarily twisted orders and tried to actually assassinate the princess.

"You must have heard that all of His Highness the Crown Prince's close aides have been replaced."

"......"

"So you should have chosen the right side to stand on."

Even though the crown prince's internal faction had never actually intended to assassinate the princess, the assassination attempt had still taken place. That was why the academy had been thrown into an uproar and the player had been able to intervene.

Then who exactly had tried to assassinate the princess? Which of the crown prince's guards would send an assassination notice to the princess inside the imperial residence, then break into that same residence to try to kill her?

Obviously, it would be an accomplice of the assassin who was already inside the imperial residence.

The reason I had tried to smooth over my words so carefully during my first conversation with the princess. It was because this servant—who was the assassin's accomplice—had been standing right outside the door.

The reason I had told her there would be an assassination in three days was because this bastard was actually going to attempt it in three days.

"His Highness the Crown Prince's wrath will reach you in an instant. Your fellow close aides will report you, after all."

"......"

"How does it feel to have your ruin already scheduled?"

"...Shut up!"

In an instant, he drew the blade hidden at his waist and swung it at me. But I wasn't weak enough to lose to an ordinary person who wasn't even a job holder. I was a superhuman, after all.

I lightly twisted my body to avoid the blade, kicked his hand to make him drop it, then grabbed him by the collar.

"Huk, keuk!"

"Did you really think you could assassinate Her Highness? She is a member of the Imperial Family. She's far stronger than the likes of me. Would they really send an ordinary person as an assassin?"

It was truly ironic. It must have been a plan devised by those so-called elites, even if the idea itself was rather stupid. Yet they had sent an idiot to the actual scene and ruined everything.

"With this much commotion, people will be here soon."

"Keuk..."

"Consider yourself lucky to be caught like this."

This time I had caught him in advance, but in the original game, this bastard would have been captured right after his assassination attempt, his entire body fractured by the princess's reflexive punch. He had been an imperial servant who had secretly harbored a hobby of murder, hiding it well. After being assigned to this imperial residence and receiving the order for the assassination threat against the princess, he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simply acted on a sudden impulse. It was a rather anticlimactic backstory.

But while it was anticlimactic in the game, in reality he was a murderer who might kill someone at any moment. If I left him be, who knew what kind of butterfly effect it might cause? Of course I had to take action.

I couldn't tell the relieved princess, "Actually, this guy was really going to commit murder~" so claiming he had tried to kill me—a guest of the princess—with a knife should be reason enough.

"Ke... heuk..."

"You'll probably rot in prison for the rest of your life... That resentful look in your eyes. Why? Because you haven't actually killed anyone yet, so you think you're innocent?"

It was absurd coming from someone who had already killed several people. Did he think that not getting caught meant it wasn't a crime? That was why I mocked the servant until the very end. So that this murderer's final moments would be filled with nothing but suffering.

"I, the fortune teller, say this."

"Eup, kahaak!"

"You are a sinner. When I read your fortune, that is what it showed."

Though he hated fortune telling and fortune tellers so much. Right now, it felt rather satisfying.

"...Ah, please."

"I, the vice principal of Romance Academy, say this."

"No, right? Vice Principal, this isn't right, is it?"

"I shall impose restrictions on Namgung Min's fortune telling."

Damn it. The one getting the penalty was me?