The Fortune Teller Behind the Election
The news that Crown Prince Kim Seong-il was running for student council president spread like wildfire among the first-year students.
“……Is that actually true?”
“It is. The rumor’s already everywhere.”
In a single day. The rumor had exploded at an impossible speed on the very day he decided to run, throwing the entire first-year class into chaos. Thanks to that frenzy, the first-years realized two things.
“Wait, did you even know there was an election?”
“No? I was shocked when I first heard about it. I thought first-years couldn’t vote, but apparently we can?”
“This damn academy……”
The first realization was that they hadn’t even known the election existed until now. The juicy gossip about the crown prince running for student council president had flown from mouth to mouth, etching the very existence of the election into everyone’s minds. Naturally, details began circulating—when and where to vote, how to do it, who the other candidates were—and the overwhelming majority of public opinion was leaning toward the crown prince.
They preferred the prince, who had shown a friendly side in various ways, over two unfamiliar seniors. The fact that he was in the same year probably helped too, unlike the more distant third-years.
“Did you hear the other thing?”
“What?”
“About Senior Lily White-Rose. You know who she is, right?”
“Of course I do! She was on the admission poster.”
“I heard she ran as a first-year just like His Highness and has held the president position for two straight years. They say she’s kind and has a great reputation.”
“Well, when you think about it, the student council president should probably be a senior anyway……”
The second realization concerned the current student council president, Lily White-Rose. As the face of the academy, she had appeared in the admission posters, promotional videos, and every other piece of marketing material. There wasn’t a single person who didn’t know her. The problem was that most only knew her as “that pretty senior” and had no idea what kind of person she actually was.
With Kim Seong-il’s candidacy putting the election on everyone’s lips, favorable rumors about Lily White-Rose—who had apparently performed her duties splendidly—began to circulate. Both the news of Kim Seong-il’s candidacy and the friendly rumors about Lily had spread far too quickly and too deliberately, yet none of the first-years paid any mind to that fact.
None of them.
“I will be withdrawing my candidacy.”
“……That was fast.”
The crown prince answered in a rather arrogant posture, legs crossed as he received his guest. Sitting across from him, the imperial family member Kim Hae-neul kept her head bowed in a polite, submissive stance.
“If I had known Your Highness would step forward, I never would have run in the first place.”
“It almost sounds like you’re asking why I decided to run now.”
“N-no, that is absolutely not what I meant! As a member of the Korean Empire’s imperial family, I only ran to uphold the family’s honor!”
“……Hmm.”
Even though Kim Hae-neul was several years older than Kim Seong-il, she trembled at his every word and maintained perfect etiquette. The difference in status between Kim Seong-il—the next emperor and the only legitimate son—and Kim Hae-neul, the sixth daughter born from one of the emperor’s many concubines, was so vast that no exaggeration could overstate it.
That was why, the moment she made even a slight verbal slip despite being imperial family herself, the crown prince’s close aides glared at her with open contempt. The prepared high-quality coffee touched the prince’s lips before he quietly set the cup down.
“At least you’re quick on the uptake. That’s fortunate.”
“It is an honor!”
“You know what you must do from here on, yes?”
“In three days, I will announce that personal matters have forced me to withdraw!”
“Good. It’s best not to create any grounds for conflict, even if only on the surface.”
The reason for Kim Hae-neul’s withdrawal was simple. The next emperor, Kim Seong-il, had declared his intention to become student council president. It would be unacceptable for another member of the imperial family—especially her—to stand as his rival. If she continued her candidacy? The fate awaiting an imperial family member who had fallen from the next emperor’s favor was painfully obvious.
The moment the rumor spread and was confirmed as fact, Kim Hae-neul’s visit to Kim Seong-il was only natural. Additionally, announcing her withdrawal immediately or revealing the true reason would make the crown prince’s pressure too obvious, so she had chosen to wait a few days before making the statement. In reality it was indeed pressure from the crown prince, but to outsiders who didn’t know the full story, it would simply appear as the prince disciplining the imperial family.
“Then you may leave.”
“………Your Highness.”
“I told you to leave?”
“I apologize, but I beg you to hear just one thing from me!”
Click.
Despite the crown prince’s order, Kim Hae-neul kept her head bowed. His aides immediately surrounded her. They were permitted to carry weapons under the pretext of protecting the crown prince, and now they leveled blades and cold weapons at her. Because their opponent was also a member of the imperial family—and therefore someone who could potentially threaten the next emperor—they reacted with excessive force.
In truth, the person they should have been most wary of was Princess Kim Eun-ha, but after the previous assassination attempt, Kim Seong-il had personally ordered them not to touch his sister. So the aides were now directing their vigilance toward the other imperial family members.
“Your Highness, shall we restrain her?”
“………That’s enough. I’ll hear what she has to say.”
“Thank you for your mercy, Your Highness!”
Kim Hae-neul remained despite the crown prince’s command to leave. Even under the sharp gazes of his aides, her eyes burned with some inner fire as she looked directly at him. The crown prince didn’t bother trying to decipher the emotion in them. He had already heard what it was.
“If—purely hypothetically—Your Highness were to withdraw…… I would like permission to run again.”
“You want me to withdraw from the student council president election?”
“Of course it is only a hypothetical. Unlike someone like me, a mere daughter of a concubine, Your Highness has many important duties. Even if the position of president is largely ceremonial, the actual workload is considerable.”
“Are you saying this out of concern for me?”
“Yes. Should such a thing occur, I would step forward in Your Highness’s place—no matter how insignificant my power may be—to uphold the honor of the Korean Empire’s imperial family!”
“Hmm……”
What should he do? Honestly, the crown prince didn’t particularly care either way. This matter fell outside his deal with Namgung Min.
‘No. In this case, I should prioritize Namgung Min’s side.’
While the crown prince himself held great favor toward Namgung Min, when it came to internal imperial family affairs, he could not allow personal feelings to interfere. Even so, the reason he chose to side with Namgung Min over Kim Hae-neul was simple.
Her attitude.
‘She’s hiding something.’
It wasn’t that he found her rude for defying his order to leave. What the crown prince suspected was Kim Hae-neul’s true intention behind running for student council president.
‘Kim Hae-neul has lived quietly for the past two years without causing any major issues. She isn’t the central figure of the third-years, nor has she been as active as that person in the second year. Yet now she suddenly aims for the presidency……’
The crown prince held no particular grudge against Kim Hae-neul. There was no political reason for him to harass her in this half-mocking way. However, the information Namgung Min had provided made him question her motives. Thanks to Namgung Min’s advice, he had already finished investigating her “dog.”
“I forbid it.”
“U-understood.”
“Ah, and I heard you recently picked up a dog.”
“Y-yes, that is correct!”
“It would be excessive for me to interfere with that as well. However, do not do anything that would tarnish your status as a member of the imperial family.”
“Understood!”
“Above all, make sure the Great Wealthy does not catch wind of it. Even from the imperial family’s perspective, she is a troublesome existence.”
“I will keep it in mind!”
“Good.”
Even though her desperate request had been rejected, Kim Hae-neul bowed politely and left the room. Honestly, whether she employed a gambling addict as a subordinate or not wouldn’t have mattered if she had properly reported it through official channels. ……But Kim Hae-neul was clearly plotting something.
‘The recent reorganization of my close aides disrupted the intelligence network.’
The new aides were competent, but the complete overhaul of his faction had created a brief window where surveillance on the other imperial family members had grown lax. Coincidentally, that was exactly when Kim Hae-neul had recruited her “dog.” If not for Namgung Min’s information, he never would have learned of its existence.
A mere daughter of a concubine was secretly commanding a job holder without any official report. In the imperial family, which feared nothing more than a coup d’état carried out by the minority of armed job holders, such behavior was utterly unacceptable. Kim Hae-neul knew that perfectly well. Had it not been for Namgung Min’s request when he delivered the information, the crown prince would have dealt with it long ago.
‘……Come to think of it, Eun-ha also granted one of Namgung Min’s requests.’
She had given bonuses to every worker at the airport, apparently. It wasn’t a large sum, so he didn’t mind, but he couldn’t help letting out a small, involuntary chuckle.
“It seems both the crown prince and the princess are now serving him.”
“Your Highness?”
“Never mind. Bring me another cup of coffee.”
“Yes!”
Namgung Min. He never expected to feel this much favor toward someone he had only met a little over two months ago—especially not toward a mere Fortune Teller. And not just toward one person, but both the crown prince and the princess.
‘No. It isn’t just us, is it?’
All the students in the special class he attended were watching Namgung Min closely. When Eun-ha had first made a fuss about recruiting him into the imperial family, he had thought she was overreacting. Now even Kim Seong-il himself was in a position to offer him a scouting proposal.
‘He might even make a good husband for Eun-ha.’
She would probably beat him half to death if he said that in front of her. Still, the crown prince secretly thought his little sister and Namgung Min would suit each other well. Given her painful past, he wanted to at least let her marry someone she actually wanted.
……But there was no point dwelling on such thoughts alone.
“Well, this is it for now.”
The crown prince set down his cup. With this, his deal with Namgung Min was nearing its end. In four days, he would withdraw at an appropriate time and everything would be over. Abandoning a candidacy he had publicly declared only five days later would damage his image and authority somewhat, but he had prepared a suitable reason for withdrawing. Above all, what he had gained far outweighed the cost.
‘I did well to get that love reading.’
A date with the person he had fallen for at first sight was a sweet opportunity even for the next emperor.
*
Honestly, when I first came up with this solution, I thought I had lost my mind. Even thinking about it now, it really does seem crazy.
“Does Crown Prince Kim Seong-il truly like President Lily……?”
“According to what Her Highness told me, it was love at first sight.”
“Good heavens, how terrible his taste in women must be……”
Samuel Lipson let out a heartfelt sigh. He too had joined the student council after seeing only Lily’s appearance, but as a senior who had realized her true nature in just two days, he had plenty he wanted to say to the crown prince. Still, gain always came with loss. Samuel lamented the fact that they had sacrificed one male student’s pure heart for Lily’s re-election.
“……Anyway, this should resolve the issue.”
“Now we just have to wait and it will be over.”
Since I had heard from the crown prince that Kim Hae-neul would announce her withdrawal tomorrow, all that remained was to literally sit back and wait. Kim Seong-il would also withdraw after Kim Hae-neul stepped down, using his crown prince education as an excuse. That would leave only one candidate. Lily White-Rose’s re-election as student council president was all but assured.
“Hmm……”
“Senior Samuel?”
“But this…… is ultimately just a temporary fix. Next semester, Kim Hae-neul will run again……”
“Well, that’s true.”
Just as he said, Kim Hae-neul was only withdrawing because of the massive irregular factor known as Crown Prince Kim Seong-il. She had not given up on her goal of becoming student council president. But whoever became president next semester was no longer my concern.
Rather, I had gained one crucial piece of information from this incident.
‘……Kim Hae-neul.’
A name that had never appeared in the game at all. Well, if I was being honest, the names I knew probably didn’t even make up ten percent of the entire student body. But she was a member of the imperial family. When you considered that the imperial family member in the second year played a central role in multiple major events, the complete lack of presence from Kim Hae-neul despite being imperial family was clearly strange.
In the first place, among the third-years the only name I knew was Lily White-Rose. I didn’t know any of the others, and they hadn’t appeared in the game either.
‘Kim Eun-ha’s past, and now the existence of this imperial family member named Kim Hae-neul.’
The story was slowly diverging from the game’s original progression. Was this the world’s way of making it harder to reach an ending? I swallowed the curses I wanted to hurl at my little sister several times over.
“Junior?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I was just…… thinking about my family for a moment.”
“That makes sense. Living in this floating city is bound to bring on homesickness eventually.”
Should I tell Liu Yen? But if I revealed the existence of the “dog” to him now, he would charge straight in. While the crown prince or princess might be difficult, a mere daughter of a concubine could probably be suppressed using the authority of the Great Wealthy.
In the worst case, if Liu Yen cut off the funds flowing into the Korean Empire, the imperial family would expel Kim Hae-neul themselves.
‘So it stays a secret for now.’
Anyway, the crown prince’s side was monitoring the “dog” thoroughly. If anything suspicious happened, they would inform me. In exchange, I had to guarantee Lily’s date and give him another love reading, but that seemed like a cheap price to pay.
When I suddenly looked toward the far end of the view, I saw the Great Lake glowing blue, stretching all the way to the horizon. The largest event of the first semester for first-years would unfold there.
The Skill Thief was coming soon.
“……Let’s do this.”
Since even the character events had changed, I couldn’t let my guard down just because it was a major event. But whether I liked it or not, I was a Fortune Teller.
‘If I’m a fortune teller, I’ll act like one.’
I had no choice but to face it with composure and a smile.
……A wind blew in. It was a refreshing breeze, yet to me it felt like the calm before a storm.
*
“What?”
“You heard correctly. I, Lucas Arthur…… am ashamed to admit that it seems I have fallen for Lily White-Rose.”
“No, that’s—”
“Even I am sick of my own fickle nature, but I must ask this of you. Fortune Teller.”
“When you say ‘ask this of you’……?”
“A love reading……!”
Hey, Lucas you bastard. Why are you like this?