Chapter 37 ……………………………………….
The table was covered with cake crumbs that the gypsy had eaten by herself.
Everett’s lips twisted crookedly as she looked down at them.
Damn… What kind of situation is this?
Only then did the gypsy’s sanity—which had flown away at the sight of glittering gold coins and sweet cake—finally return.
Everett was a noble.
With just a word from her, the gypsy could end up in prison.
Her sweaty hands were soaked with nervousness, and she kept wiping them on her skirt.
“You don’t need to be that nervous. Just tell me the information you know—accurately.”
Everett called a server and ordered a cup of warm tea for herself.
The tea arrived, but the gypsy still didn’t speak.
“Well, if you don’t know where to start, shall I ask the questions?”
The frozen gypsy flinched even at the tiny sound of the teacup being set down.
“Do you live in the capital?”
“It is the capital… but not inside the castle. I live on the outskirts.”
“Did you come with the people lined up in front of the temple?”
“Some of them were with me, and the rest… I don’t know.”
“You look like a gypsy, and the others aren’t commoners either, are they?”
“W–Well…”
“They were wearing new clothes to look like commoners, but to my eyes, they just looked like a band of vagrants.”
Everett spoke as if she already knew everything, and the gypsy’s thoughts tangled into knots.
“Everyone else was wearing clean clothes, so why are you still wearing your own?”
At the final question, the gypsy grabbed her worn skirt tightly.
When she first approached Everett, she thought she could talk smoothly. But now, for some reason, she kept hesitating.
I thought she’d be an easy lady to fool…
The gypsy planned to make up a few things and take the money.
But the noble girl—who had looked so naive—suddenly changed.
A habitual gentle smile appeared on Everett’s face.
“Did someone tell you that you’d be paid if you stood in line?”
The startled gypsy hiccuped without meaning to.
She hurried to cover her mouth, but the hiccups continued for a while.
So she’s still more afraid of the one who told her to stand in line than she is of me.
Everett dropped her smile and looked at the gypsy with cold, emotionless eyes.
“Do you even understand how grave the crime is—to deceive a noble?”
At that, the gypsy’s hands, gripping her skirt, began to tremble.
Then she clawed at her messy hair as if scolding herself.
After muttering to herself for some time, she looked up at Everett carefully.
“Um… Miss. What I’m about to say… only you will know about it, right?”
“That depends on what you say.”
Everett placed three gold coins on the table.
“T–Three… gold coins…?”
It was an amount the gypsy could hardly hope to touch in her entire life.
“Whoever told you to stand in line—whatever they offered you, it wasn’t more than this, was it?”
Before Everett even finished, the gypsy snatched up the coins.
“Oh heavens, gold coins? They only offered us a few chunks of meat. And only for those who kept standing in line for a whole month.”
She spat out her resentment, nearly spitting on the floor.
“How did you end up lining up at the temple?”
“A man came to us. Said we’d get food if we just stood in front of the temple.”
“Just for standing?”
“Yes. And if anyone asked, we were to say we were waiting to meet the Saintess.”
“What about the clothes…? Did the man give them to you?”
“You can’t get inside the castle walls dressed like this. He bought new clothes for us. Said it was an easy job—just wearing them and standing there.”
“Then why are you…?”
The gypsy looked down at her clothes and let out a short laugh.
“I already sold mine. When I entered the castle, I borrowed someone else’s coat. I like money more than new clothes, you see.”
Everett fell silent for a moment, her expression unchanged.
In the original novel, there was no story about the Saintess’s rise. She was already famous in chapter one.
As Everett tapped the table with her fingers, the gypsy continued.
“The man who told us to stand in line had a cane.”
“A cane?”
“Yes, but he didn’t look like he had trouble walking. It was strange. He wasn’t a noble, yet he was holding this fancy, thin cane.”
The gypsy stretched out her arms to show its length.
A sword, then.
“And he looked scary. He wore a hat so I couldn’t see his eyes well, but… he had lots of scars around his cheeks and jaw.”
Identifying someone by vague scars was difficult.
Sometimes nobles hired knights or mercenaries as butlers, partly for protection.
Judging by the hidden sword cane and the description, Everett could only guess he was one of those types.
Anyway, it’s now clear that the rumors about the Saintess were fabricated.
Everett set down her empty teacup.
Sensing that meant the conversation was over, the gypsy hurriedly shoved the leftover cake crumbs into her mouth.
“Are you going back to the temple?”
She shook her head vigorously.
“Everyone saw me walking with you, miss. They’ll think I got paid.”
“So you’re planning to leave the capital…?”
“Yes. I’m leaving the capital as soon as I can.”
She stroked the gold coins tenderly like precious treasure.
“With this kind of money, there’s no reason for me to stay.”
If she returned, someone might steal her money, or worse—someone might tell the man with the snake cane. Something bad could happen.
She was impulsive and ignorant, but her instincts were sharp.
Outside the dessert shop, Daisy handed the gypsy a small box.
“What’s this?”
“Cake. I don’t know where you’re going, but eat it on the way.”
The gypsy was touched by Everett’s kindness, but hesitated, thinking it would be shameless to take more.
“Thank you, miss. You already gave me so much money, and now cake too… I have nothing to offer in return…”
She rummaged through the bag tied at her waist and pulled out a bundle of cloth pieces sewn with thread.
“Well, I AM a gypsy, after all. Let me tell your fortune.”
Daisy snorted lightly.
“What? You don’t believe me because I’m a wandering gypsy?”
“No, that’s not it…”
Everett was the capital’s greatest fortune-teller—the Tarot Card Master, Naz.
To offer Everett a fortune… Daisy couldn’t help but laugh.
The gypsy narrowed her eyes at Daisy, unaware of the irony.
Each cloth piece was dirty from age but had unique patterns.
As Everett looked on with interest, the gypsy cleared her throat dramatically.
“I’m not good at many things, but romance fortunes are my specialty. Go on, miss. Pick one.”
Everett smiled faintly and chose a fabric piece from deep inside.
“Let’s see… what kind of love awaits such a kind and generous young lady?”
The cloth was longer than expected, probably because it had been rolled up.
The gypsy examined it carefully from top to bottom.
“You’ll soon meet your destined man.”
“My destined man?”
As Daisy repeated the words, the gypsy murmured:
“There’s a destined man… but also another destined man…”
Daisy laughed again in disbelief.
“What does that even mean? She has two destined men?”
She leaned toward Everett and whispered:
“Even I could’ve said that.”
The gypsy kept running her fingers along the cloth, frowning.
“How strange… It feels so clear…”
Daisy waved dismissively.
“Oh, stop it. Our young lady is pretty and smart—of course she’s popular with men. Hard to predict, right?”
Still muttering that it was odd, the gypsy packed the cloth pieces away.
“Well then, miss… I’ll be going.”
She bowed deeply and headed toward the city gate, her figure looking endlessly cheerful.
“Miss, are you returning to the temple?”
“No. Since you can’t meet the Saintess without a donation anyway, there’s no reason to go back.”
“Oh… Then where will you go now?”
“To Kuna.”
The tavern was closed for the day, but Marsha was cleaning since early morning.
“Auntie, it’s your day off. Rest a little. And stop doing all the cleaning yourself—hire someone.”
Marsha had pushed all the tables aside and was mopping the floor.
“No one would work if I told them to clean like this. It’s my shop. I enjoy it, so it’s not tiring.”
She said that, but her face was already covered in sweat.
Daisy bit her lip, upset on her behalf.
“If I stay here I’ll just nag you, so I’ll go clean the salon instead.”
As Daisy stomped off irritably, Everett spoke.
“Like Daisy said, you should hire someone just for cleaning. Running Kuna alone is already exhausting, and now weekly cleaning too…”
“I’ve done this all my life. Not doing it would feel strange. It’s become a habit, so it’s fine. Ah, miss—are you free this afternoon?”
“I don’t have any booked consultations. Why?”
“Someone’s coming because they’re curious about Ice Kuna.”
As Ice Kuna’s popularity grew, more and more people wanted to know how to make it or proposed partnerships.
But Marsha had never met any of them privately.
A few persistent ones kept asking for a business partnership, but she always rejected them immediately.
“You told them to come on your day off?”
Marsha scratched the side of her head.
“It’s strange, right? I don’t even know why I said that.”
“Is it someone you know?”
“No. First time seeing him. He said he came from the North. But how should I put it…? You know how I trust my first impressions?”
“Your first impression?”
