~Chapter 122~
Kim Si-eom sat in the carriage and checked the address Marie had given her one more time.
“She said I’ll see it soon if I go into the third alley…”
She had asked Marie to find out who the fortune-teller was—the one Lady McCurry, the count’s daughter, had invited to the duke’s mansion.
“You want me to pretend I want a reading from Riden and trick her? I don’t want to deceive Riden, ma’am.”
At first, Marie had refused coldly. But Kim Si-eom knew well how to deal with a young girl in love.
Marie probably thought she was hiding her feelings, but with Kim Si-eom’s experience, she could see right through to Marie’s interest in her son.
Marie acted like she would never do it, but when Kim Si-eom mentioned Damian’s name a few times, Marie’s attitude quickly changed.
“You keep asking, so I guess I have no choice. But please don’t tell Riden I was the one who told you. I care about loyalty. I wouldn’t normally do this, but your situation made me feel bad… Just this once, okay?”
“Lady Hern, you think I don’t know that? This isn’t tricking a friend—it’s helping someone in need. Who could blame a kind person like you for helping someone in trouble?”
‘Her eyes got so big when I mentioned Damian… Hmph.’
She really had to keep an eye on her son. Having such a great son made things easier—Marie did whatever she asked after just a few words.
Kim Si-eom already felt as if she had received a grand fortune.
It didn’t take Marie long to find out who the fortune-teller was or where she lived. She even brought a letter of introduction from Lady McCurry. Now, Kim Si-eom held it in her hand.
At that moment, the carriage stopped in a shabby neighborhood on the edge of the capital.
“Madam, we’ve arrived.”
The coachman’s voice sounded worried.
“This is a poor area. It could be dangerous. Should I go with you?”
“It’s fine. Wait here for me.”
Kim Si-eom got out of the carriage and looked around. Normally, she would never have set foot in such a rundown place.
Old, shabby houses crowded the narrow alleyways, and all sorts of smells mixed together. Poor-looking people peeked out at her expensive clothes.
Kim Si-eom frowned openly and pinched her nose.
‘Well… She hasn’t been a fortune-teller for long, so she probably hasn’t made much money yet.’
According to Marie, the fortune-teller called by Lady McCurry was someone who’d only recently started seeing fortunes.
Even in her past life, shamans who had just received their powers often had better spiritual energy. It seemed the same here.
‘Yes, those who don’t know much yet are better.’
The more experienced ones just got greedy and charged high prices, but a beginner shouldn’t be a problem.
“Ugh, the smell.”
She exhaled through her mouth and walked quickly.
Following the address, she soon found a small well. Next to it was a run-down house just like the others, with no sign, but a faint scent of incense drifted from inside.
She knocked on the door. A young woman’s voice answered.
“Who is it?”
“I came with a letter from Lady McCurry.”
A young woman, maybe in her late teens or early twenties, opened the door.
‘She’s really young.’
“Please come in.”
Kim Si-eom followed her inside. At first, the girl seemed unremarkable.
“Welcome, baron’s wife. Please sit here.”
When the young woman called her “baron’s wife,” Kim Si-eom was shocked.
‘How did she know I was a baron’s wife?’
Maybe Marie had given away her identity when she got the information. She tried to keep her face calm—looking surprised would just make the fortune-teller raise her prices.
She sat down quietly.
The fortune-teller smiled faintly.
“I just saw it, that’s all.”
Kim Si-eom was impressed by how the woman seemed to see right through her.
‘Wow, what a spooky girl. Did I really come to the right place?’
The inside was cleaner than she expected. Papers with charms were on the wall, and there was a small altar in the corner. The incense was different from what she knew in her past life, but the setup felt familiar.
Kim Si-eom already felt herself relaxing.
“You came with Lady McCurry’s introduction?”
“Here.”
She excitedly handed over the letter. The fortune-teller checked it and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“I heard you’re very accurate…”
Kim Si-eom looked her up and down, still a bit suspicious.
But the fortune-teller just replied,
“I don’t know about accurate. I just say what I see.”
The young woman looked at Kim Si-eom for a while.
“Hmm… I see two young men. Ah, they’re your sons. You’re here about your second son. There’s a dark aura on his shoulder—was there an accident recently?”
Kim Si-eom’s mouth started to open in surprise.
‘No, this level of shaman isn’t so rare—’
“Wait, I was wrong. I thought you came about your second son’s injury, but actually, you’re more worried about your first son.”
She was interested but still not fully convinced.
‘Of course, a middle-aged woman worrying about her kids is normal… Maybe she guessed my status from my face.’
She wanted to test the fortune-teller, so she asked a question.
“Should I have my first son get divorced?”
The fortune-teller was silent for a moment.
Inside her, Berbes asked Riden:
[She’s asking if her first son should get divorced?]
Riden, at a distance, was listening to everything through Berbes. She answered with a small laugh.
‘He hasn’t even gotten married, so how can he get divorced?’
The fortune-teller repeated Riden’s words out loud:
“He hasn’t even gotten married, so how can he get divorced?”
Even though she used informal speech, Kim Si-eom didn’t get angry. If anything, it made her seem even more genuine.
‘Can she really see things?’
Watching Kim Si-eom’s reaction, the fortune-teller suddenly said something even more surprising.
“But it’s strange. It looks like one person, but I see two lives. And there are some odd things with him that don’t seem of this world…”
Kim Si-eom felt chills run down her spine.
The young fortune-teller kept blinking as if she was seeing something unbelievable, but it was clear she was even seeing things from Kim Si-eom’s past life.
‘She can see everything because it’s one soul?’
I’ve found the real thing!
“T-teacher!”
“Yes?”
Kim Si-eom ignored the fortune-teller’s startled look and began to ask questions quickly.
“How can my dear first son be happy? I think he needs to marry well to be happy… Maybe a princess, for example…”
“…”
“Or if not a princess, then at least someone similar… How can he marry someone like that?”
Just a moment ago the fortune-teller had been talking freely, but now she stayed quiet.
Oh no, she thought. She was trying to get her fortune without even paying first.
She hadn’t planned to pay much, but this fortune-teller was the real thing.
Kim Si-eom put a heavy purse on the table.
“If you just tell me what to do, I can prepare as much as you want…”
Inside, Berbes was asking Riden:
[She wants to know how her son can marry a princess or someone similar.]
Riden couldn’t help but laugh as she listened through Berbes.
In her past life and this one, Mrs. Kim Si-eom never changes what she wants.
‘Hmm, what should I say?’
