CHAPTER 08
When encountering a new tarot deck, the first thing to do was to familiarize her hands with it.
True to its magical nature, the cards shuffled far more smoothly than the play-deck she had handled at the store.
“It’s like these cards were made to be used for tarot.”
Everett spread the cards in a deep arc over a black cloth.
Before drawing a card, she took a few deep breaths to calm her mind.
“I’ve never done a tarot reading in this world before. The people and their lives are completely different from where I’m from. So I need to approach this with the same mindset I had when I first started. Most importantly, I have to trust what the cards are telling me…”
Everett reached out her left hand and hovered it above the spread cards.
With her eyes closed, she slowly moved her hand from left to right, and back again.
Since the connection between a tarot reader and their deck was crucial, time to build familiarity was essential.
Stopping her moving hand, Everett asked softly:
“Who am I in this world?”
She lowered her hand and pulled out a card that felt right.
Opening her eyes, she turned over the first card she drew in this world.
“Ha!”
Morning sunlight had begun to seep into the room.
Looking down at the card, Everett let out a soft laugh.
“The Fool card, huh…”
The first card she drew after entering The Saintess’s Arcana was card 0 — The Fool.
“I didn’t expect to pull this one.”
In the original story, the card that represented the Saintess Angelus was The High Priestess.
But since Angelus had yet to appear, Everett would be using the tarot cards first.
“Wishing for the High Priestess might’ve been selfish of me. I’m not even the heroine.”
She felt a bit disappointed that the card she’d secretly hoped for hadn’t appeared.
Still, since this was a novel themed around tarot cards, she was quietly surprised by how fitting the draw had been.
The Fool card typically symbolized accepting new beginnings and challenges—an awkward step into an unfamiliar world.
“Given my current situation, The Fool suits me more than The High Priestess.”
Brand-new and unused cards often gave erratic results.
It was natural to pull a card unrelated to the question.
That was true whether you were a seasoned tarot master or a casual hobbyist.
No one could expect accurate readings before forming a bond with the deck.
“Have I ever pulled a card that matched so perfectly on my first try?”
Even Everett found herself mesmerized by the Fool card.
The room was now flooded with bright sunlight.
Soon, Daisy would be calling her down for breakfast.
Everett stuck a note on the door saying she would sleep in until lunch and lay back down.
***
“Miss? It’s lunchtime. Are you still asleep?”
Daisy was always on time with meals, but Everett still hadn’t stirred.
“Miss, I’m coming in.”
In Daisy’s hands were warm soup and freshly baked bread.
“Did she stay up late last night? Why isn’t she waking up?”
She set down the food and turned to leave—
“I’m awake.”
The smell of fresh bread filled the room, making Everett’s eyes fly open.
She must have been hungrier than usual after focusing so hard on designing the tarot deck all night.
“You look tired. You should sleep a little more.”
“No, I should get up. What about you, Daisy? Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. I was about to go down.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
The freshly baked bread was incomparably more delicious than before.
“It was the ingredients. This is amazing, Daisy.”
Daisy blushed at Everett’s compliment.
The money left by Baron Gronje barely covered basic hunger.
So Everett had started selling unused items from around the house.
“See? Selling those things that were just taking up space means we get to eat delicious bread like this. Isn’t it great?”
Daisy stayed silent, still worried about what would happen when Baron Gronje returned.
“Don’t worry, Daisy. I won’t sell anything else from the house.”
Her face brightened at those words.
“Really, miss? You won’t sell any more?”
“Yup. Instead, I’m going to start a business.”
Everett’s mention of starting a business was far more shocking than just selling things.
Daisy opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish thrown out of water.
Everett was planning to set up a tarot reading booth near a fortune teller’s tent in the corner of the town square.
But after scoping out the square, she was once again reminded that this world was nothing like her own.
“Sometimes, it’s smarter to use your surroundings than to charge ahead blindly.”
Thankfully, she had Daisy by her side.
“Come to think of it, the Fool card features a white dog that warns of danger and guides the path. Could Daisy be that for me?”
“Miss, you’re joking, right? You’re seriously starting a business?”
Everett nodded.
“Just hear me out. I’m not selling goods or food. I’m going to be a fortune teller.”
Just sell stuff from the house like before…
That thought nearly slipped from Daisy’s lips.
“Excuse me? Did you just say fortune teller? You mean, you’re going to tell people’s fortunes? You, the daughter of a baron?”
Daisy fumbled for words, only letting out vague syllables like “Uh,” “Ah,” and “Um.”
Though Baron Gronje had asked her to look after Everett, she was still just a maid. She couldn’t strongly oppose her.
Seeing Daisy’s bewildered face, Everett chuckled.
“I knew she’d react like that.”
Since she needed Daisy’s help to run the tarot business, Everett decided to persuade her first.
After swallowing the bread, she stood up.
“Let’s go upstairs. I’ll show you exactly what I’m going to do.”
They sat facing each other across the black cloth-draped table.
Everett put on a black mask with an intricate knot design. The motion was smooth and practiced, as if second nature.
Curiosity began to bubble up in Daisy’s eyes.
“Welcome, dear guest. I am a tarot master—Naz.”
At the sudden introduction, Daisy’s eyes widened.
“N-Naz?”
Naz was the alias Everett had used during her career as a tarot reader.
Daisy stared at the unfamiliar Everett, half worried and half intrigued.
To dispel her doubts, Everett began a flashy card shuffle.
“Wow, miss! How can you even do that?”
Daisy couldn’t stop gasping in amazement.
“A little performance like this goes a long way in building trust and focus.”
Dazzling white cards fanned out in a circle atop the gleaming black cloth.
Looking at Daisy, Everett thought:
“Daisy, who are you?”
She drew a card while thinking of her.
Ace of Cups.
A golden chalice overflowing with water was in her hand.
“I knew you were a good person.”
Daisy looked at the card and asked with a smile:
“Miss, what’s that one?”
“It’s the card that tells me what kind of person you are.”
Tarot readers sometimes used birthdates to determine someone’s personality through Major Arcana cards.
Knowing someone’s nature helped with readings, so Everett always asked for birthdays beforehand.
But in this world, the concept of birthdays wasn’t clear.
Only royalty or nobles celebrated their birthdays properly. Commoners barely even knew their age.
So instead of calculating it, Everett chose to pull a card while thinking of the person.
After drawing cards for various characters in the original story, she was convinced by the accuracy—even if not all were Major Arcana.
After confirming Daisy’s personality, Everett reshuffled all 78 cards.
“So, dear guest, what would you like to know?”
“Huh? Curious… Uh, well, um…”
Daisy, who was interested in fortune telling, had visited square fortune tellers with friends multiple times.
Thanks to that, she quickly adapted to Everett’s roleplay.
She rolled her eyes around, seriously considering what to ask.
“There’s a boy learning gardening from Mr. Yunkel. What does he think of me? Is that… an okay question?”
Two men had recently come to tend the mansion’s garden.
An older man and a young man in his twenties.
“No wonder he kept asking for tea because he was ‘thirsty.’”
Daisy’s first love.
A small smile flickered at the corner of Everett’s mouth.
“Alright then, let’s begin. First, think about what you feel, and draw one card.”
Daisy pointed nervously at a card, like a student taking a crucial exam.
Following Everett’s instructions, she drew two more.
Daisy’s current state was represented by The Hermit, and the apprentice gardener by the Page of Wands, holding a wooden staff.
The final card, Two of Wands, depicted someone looking out beyond the castle walls, yearning for a bigger world.
In pure tarot terms, it was unrequited love.
Everett carefully considered how to phrase it.
She was a professional. When cards like this appeared, there was one thing to say:
“Daisy, this card means…!”
