Chapter 14: The Wheel of Fate

Amy looked extremely excited and didn’t notice how two desserts on Anya’s table had disappeared so quickly.

“This way, please, honored guest.” Amy strode quickly to the round ebony table in the center of the shop and waved at Anya.

Anya paused in the middle of biting her cake, swallowed the sweet richness in her mouth, and reluctantly shuffled toward the round table.

As soon as she stood across from Amy, Amy snapped her fingers.

Most of the lights in the shop suddenly dimmed, leaving only a single beam of light shining steadily onto the ebony table, while the rest of the room was submerged in gloom.

The surroundings turned pitch-black, and only that one lamp illuminated the crystal ball on the table, refracting glimmering light, shrouding the entire table in a mysterious aura.

Iris had never seen such a scene before, so she leaned in with curiosity, looking around intently.

Amy smiled slightly and gathered the scattered cards on the table, stacking them into a pile, and began shuffling.

“What’s that?” Anya looked at the stack of cards, unable to hide her curiosity.

“Tarot Cards. They’re an essential tool for us Fortune Tellers.” Amy explained with a smile.

Iris’s former self had seen these things before, but she didn’t expect that in this world, there would also be divination methods using Tarot Cards.

The white-furred little ball instantly became interested and secretly brought up the System Panel, glancing at the information displayed.

[Amy: Catkin, Second Rank, Junior Fortune Teller.]

She really was a Fortune Teller! Iris had thought the other party was just joking, but it turned out to be real.

“Wait.” Iris sensed something off and quickly took a closer look. The words “Catkin” seemed somewhat out of place.

“Little Anya.” Iris tossed the System Panel in front of Anya. “This one doesn’t seem to be human, you know.”

Anya was stunned for a moment, her eyes sweeping over the words on the System Panel before looking up at Amy.

But the Amy in front of her showed no sign of being Catkin. No furry cat ears, no tail in sight—had she used some way to hide her racial features?

Or could it be that the System Panel sometimes made mistakes?

A question mark popped up in Anya’s mind. Holding a probing attitude, she decided to speak up. “Miss Amy, before we start the reading, I have a rather rude request. I wonder if it’s possible?”

“Of course! What would you like to ask Amy, honored guest?” Amy replied with a gentle smile, showing no sign of refusal.

“Miss Amy, you’re actually Catkin, aren’t you?”

As soon as Anya spoke, the smile on Amy’s face froze, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead, her gaze evasive.

“Eh? Meow…” Amy suddenly hugged her head, her expression turning empty in an instant. “I—I hid it so well, meow! How did the guest see through my disguise, meow?”

Anya cleared her throat, trying to smooth things over. “Well, let’s start the divination, Miss Amy.”

“Guest, you won’t reveal my identity, right, meow?” Amy looked extremely frightened.

Although the Holy Light Empire did not prevent other races from entering its territory, being here without registering one’s identity was considered illegal entry.

Clearly, Amy must belong to that category.

Anya pondered for a few seconds and suddenly had an interesting thought.

She curved her lips into a slow smile and said leisurely, “That depends on Miss Amy’s divination skills. If your reading is accurate, I might consider keeping your secret.”

“Meow!” Amy was nearly in tears. She had hidden so well—how could a human girl see through her disguise!

Iris, meanwhile, was enjoying the spectacle from the side, finding this bystander’s role rather amusing.

Since things had come to this, Amy had no other choice but to push forward.

“Don’t worry, meow!” She took a deep breath, tossed away her messy thoughts, and resumed her earlier mystical manner. “I have absolute confidence in my fortune telling! Let’s begin, meow!”

Anya casually pulled over a chair and sat down, facing Amy directly. Their eyes met briefly, and Amy continued shuffling the cards.

“Honored guest, what would you like to divine?” Amy looked at Anya with utmost seriousness.

Anya thought for a while, unable to come up with anything in particular.

“If you can’t decide, then Amy recommends the classic spread in Tarot Cards—past, present, and future.” Amy suggested with a smile while cutting the deck.

“All right, let’s do that one.” Anya wasn’t familiar with these things, so she agreed.

“Then please shuffle the cards yourself. After all, a Fortune Teller’s main job is to interpret—the fate in your own hands.” Amy pushed the cards to Anya as she spoke.

As soon as she finished, the crystal ball on the table emitted a faint magical fluctuation, and glimmers of starlight-like light hovered over the cards, making them look even more mysterious.

“Okay.” Anya didn’t think much of it and copied Amy’s earlier shuffling and cutting technique, finally handing the shuffled deck back to Amy.

Amy nodded, spread the cards on the table, and then spoke in a low voice to Anya, “Now, please draw three cards at random and place them in order from left to right.”

Following Amy’s instructions, Anya drew three cards at random and placed them from her left to her right.

“So, honored guest, which card would you like to see first?” Amy looked up, her pink eyes gazing deeply at Anya.

“The past.” Anya actually wanted to test Amy’s divination skills; she knew her own past, so if the reading wasn’t accurate, there would be no need to continue.

“Very well.” Amy flipped over the card on Anya’s left. The illustration showed a blindfolded woman seated on a stone bench with swords crossed, her back to surging waves, a new moon hanging in the sky.

“It’s Sword Two.” Before Anya could speak, Amy continued, “Sword Two appearing in the past means that you have—or perhaps still have—a particularly conflicted mindset. You are avoiding something, aren’t you?”

Anya was briefly stunned at her words, then nodded.

Amy went on, “In the past, you were extremely rational—to the point that you didn’t even know what you wanted. You constantly hovered between making choices and avoiding them, ignoring your own inner needs. This problem may have seriously affected you now.”

Anya lowered her gaze, tacitly admitting it. It seemed as if her whole life had been lived according to her father’s expectations—step by step, by the rules.

As for what she truly desired, she honestly didn’t know.

“That’s my reading of your past. Am I wrong?” Amy smiled slightly, her eyes clear with understanding.

Anya looked up, nodded quickly, and her eyes unconsciously drifted to the unopened card on her right. “What about my future?”

Amy let out a light laugh and slowly turned over the card on Anya’s right.

On it, three concentric wheels spun, surrounded by a sword-wielding sphinx, a snake, and Anubis.

In the four corners were four winged, book-holding figures: an eagle, a lion, a bull, and a man.

“It’s the Wheel of Fortune…” Amy paused, her brows knitting slightly, her tone carrying a trace of inscrutability.