CHAPTER 29
Everett, without laying out a spread, pulled a single card from the deck she held in her hand.
As soon as she checked it, she let out a low, involuntary sound.
“Card Fifteen… the Devil?”
It was a card she had never drawn before in any session.
“Those who draw this card tend to be attractive and popular—but they also often have violent or domineering traits.”
The Devil card signified irresistible temptation or addiction.
It represented someone with great skill in manipulating people, whose desires and obsessions ran deep.
“If she’s a noble lady in high society, she must already be dominating the scene with a personality like this… Maybe she’s covering her face completely because she’s famous?”
Everett quietly slipped the Devil card back into the deck.
The masked lady seemed to be watching even the slightest of her movements with intensity.
“Now then, Lady Naz, shall we begin today’s tarot session?”
said Lady Charlotte, her voice filled with anticipation, lifting the mood of the gathered women.
But Everett couldn’t stop being distracted by the presence of the masked lady, who sat perfectly still.
It felt like her gaze clung to Everett’s body like a sticky film.
“This is… uncomfortable.”
Everett had dealt with plenty of people who came to tarot sessions just for fun.
But never before had she felt such unpleasant chills from one of them.
“I should change my approach today.”
She decided to trust her instincts—and the Devil card.
“If you want to stare so badly, my lady, then go ahead and watch all you like.”
Everett placed her hands on the table and began shuffling the tarot cards quickly and elegantly.
There were many ways to conduct a tarot consultation.
There were methods where the tarot master led the session, and others where the participant played the central role.
In large groups or when therapeutic conversation was needed, the latter was usually preferred.
So today, Everett chose the group participation method.
“First, I’ll have everyone draw one card…”
She skipped the usual attention-grabbing semicircle spread.
Instead, she planned to have each person draw directly from the stack—just like when she had pulled the Devil card.
Holding the cards in one hand, Everett rose from her seat and walked around to each participant, having them draw a card.
Eventually, she reached the masked lady.
The woman, who had been staring as though trying to pierce Everett through her mask, now didn’t even turn her head.
A strong perfume wafted up from below, wrinkling Everett’s brow.
“You don’t have to participate. But since everyone is drawing, please take just one.”
At Everett’s gentle urging, the woman reluctantly raised her hand and drew a card.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Under the woman’s right thumb, Everett spotted an unusual scar.
“Spacing and shape… looks like a bite mark. A mole? Or an injury?”
The masked lady flicked the card onto the table without a word.
“…No way. That card?”
It was the exact same Devil card Everett had drawn earlier.
“Now I’m even more curious to know who she is.”
Everett’s gaze sparkled with curiosity as she stared down at the elaborate mask.
The other ladies examined the cards they had drawn with interest.
“There’s nothing complicated about this,” Everett said. “You don’t need a professional interpretation. Just look at your card and say the first word that comes to mind.”
In group sessions, open participation was crucial.
It could be slow to get started, as people hesitated to speak first.
But if even one person stepped forward sincerely, it created a ripple effect of openness.
“This only works because we’re in Lady Charlotte’s circle.”
Just as Everett expected, Charlotte stood up first with her card.
She began speaking candidly about what it made her think of.
Following her lead, the other women began sharing their thoughts, cautiously at first.
Some, unfamiliar with the format, declined to participate.
But as time passed, each woman began sharing her concerns and listening to others.
Just like Charlotte had said, the gathering was turning into a healing circle through tarot.
After a short break, Everett returned to find the masked lady had disappeared.
“Lady Charlotte, where did the young lady sitting there go?”
“She left a little while ago. I’m sorry, Lady Naz. I’m sure she made you uncomfortable.”
“It’s alright. We often get observers like her.”
“Sigh… I didn’t really want to invite her since she said she wouldn’t participate, but it just happened.”
Throughout the session, the masked woman had fixated on Everett’s every move like an obsessive fan.
Charlotte, sharp as ever, had clearly noticed too.
“Lady Charlotte, do you know what family she’s from?”
Everett had never asked about a participant’s identity before.
Charlotte also took her hosting duty seriously and kept such information private.
But today was different.
She stepped closer and whispered quietly.
“Lady Naz, did you change the format today because of her?”
Everett gave a slight nod.
Charlotte sighed, guilt on her face.
“It was my mistake not to mention it in advance.”
She believed that the masked lady’s attitude had also added to Everett’s discomfort.
“To be honest… I don’t know her very well either. She’s the daughter of a lady I met recently.”
“Is she from a high-ranking family?”
“No, she’s a noble, but from some countryside. I’d never heard the name before.”
Charlotte sighed again.
“She’s just so beautiful… I got a little greedy.”
“Beautiful?”
At Everett’s question, Charlotte smiled awkwardly.
“She has long platinum hair that flows in the wind… absolutely enchanting. I wanted to debut her in society.”
While many young noble ladies came to Charlotte’s club, she sometimes scouted them herself.
“I was too impulsive this time. I didn’t even ask you… I’m sorry, Lady Naz, for making you uncomfortable.”
“If she’s that beautiful, now I’m curious. I’d like to meet her again someday.”
Hearing Everett say it was fine, Charlotte’s smile returned.
“By the way, Lady Naz, have you heard the news?”
“News?”
“Grand Duke Kyle is said to be returning next spring. His Majesty the Emperor summoned him personally.”
“Kyle… the Grand Duke?”
Next spring would mark just one year since Everett had entered this world.
“In the original story, Kyle returned three years after fighting monsters in the North…”
This unexpected news tangled Everett’s thoughts.
There had been small changes from the original story so far, but nothing this major.
Hearing Kyle’s name, the other ladies began gathering.
“I heard the same rumor—that the Grand Duke is returning.”
“At last, we’ll see the Empire’s Frozen Sun with our own eyes!”
“Someone who visited the North said Kyle is even more handsome now.”
“Oh, he was already good-looking! And next year he’ll be twenty-five—he must be even more masculine now.”
“What did they say again? Even when drenched in monster blood, he had a magnetic charm that made it impossible to look away.”
Their laughter filled the glass conservatory.
“Lady Naz, have you ever seen the Grand Duke?”
“No, unfortunately. I arrived in the capital after he’d already left for the North.”
“Then you must try to see him next spring, even from afar!”
“Why? Is he that charming?”
One lady folded her fan and tapped her chin thoughtfully.
“Hmm, his red hair is incredibly striking.”
“Red hair?”
“Yes, red hair symbolizes the Bartman royal family.”
Everett nodded.
“I read that too. Isn’t that why the first emperor was called the Lion King?”
Lubere Sau Bartman.
The emperor who united the continent and founded the Bartman Empire—a madman obsessed with blood and war.
In the final war, he slaughtered so many enemies that it was said he stood atop a mountain of corpses.
As the sun set behind him, his wind-blown red hair looked like a lion’s mane—that’s how the nickname began.
“Yes. That’s why red is the royal color. But most of the family had more brownish hair—except Emperor Lubere.”
“There’s a saying, right? That his hair turned red because he killed so many people.”
“Because of all the blood?”
“Yes. Some say the blood of the dead cursed his hair, turning it red.”
At that moment, Everett recalled Kyle’s red hair glinting in the sun.
“To call such beautiful hair a curse…”
Kyle—said to resemble Lubere the most in recent history.
How many times must he have heard things like this?
Poor Kyle.
The Frozen Sun.
Only now did Everett begin to understand why he was called that.
“But why is he returning so suddenly? I thought he was doing well in the North?”
“Exactly. And doesn’t His Majesty dislike him?”
Charlotte gave a meaningful smile.
“At his age, it’s time for the Grand Duke to start thinking about marriage.”
“Marriage? All of a sudden?”
Charlotte had already sent the staff away so the ladies could chat freely.
Even so, she glanced around once more before lowering her voice.
