KFBRV Ch 104

A massive, luxurious door painted in deep blue stood proudly before them. Silver hinges added a touch of brilliance to its grandeur.

[Odette] "Thank you for guiding me."

The room reserved for the hunting competition's victor was the finest suite in the Summer Palace, second only to those occupied by the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince. It was a VIP suite opened only for foreign royalty.

When she opened the door, the balcony offered a breathtaking view of the sea. The room was vast, cool, and splendid—satisfying in every way.

[Doly] "Wow, this room really doesn't suit you, My Lady."

Except for Doly's sneering remark.

Here she goes again. That habit of scratching nerves.

She had a talent for grating on people's nerves, just enough to stay on the safe side while slowly cracking their mental state as the conversation dragged on.

Even now, she's opening my trunk and drawers without permission.

If Odette exploded in anger, Doly would twist the narrative, spreading rumors that painted Odette as the strange one.

She's always been good at manufacturing gossip.

[Odette] "......"

She sat on the sofa, ignoring Doly's words and actions as if the maid were invisible.

Provoked by the silence, Doly scurried over and sat on the sofa opposite Odette. She then deliberately fiddled with an expensive teacup, making a show of it.

[Doly] "Even the small tools here are incredibly expensive, 'genuine' luxury items, aren't they? The person who prepared this room must be sad. They worked so hard, not knowing a fake lady wouldn't know how to use them."

It seemed the incident in the conservatory earlier that day had dealt her a significant blow. Seeing how quickly she tried to counterattack proved it.

She wants me to be as hurt as she is.

Odette stole a glance at Mrs. Becker.

Mrs. Becker simply stood by the door, watching the situation with a look of vindictive pleasure.

You can't even fight me yourself, yet you enjoy watching this spectacle?

[Odette] "Your empathy is remarkable, Doly."

She considered entertaining them for the sake of prenatal care, but unfortunately, Doly was far too amateurish.

[Odette] "Why don't you extend that empathy to the person who prepared the Athena Cream? How sad must they be? Who would have thought a lowly maid would boldly spread jam over a specialty even the Emperor eats with jam on top?"

If you want to annoy someone, you have to smile. Why look so grim?

When Odette reminded her of the fresh humiliation, Doly clamped her mouth shut.

As expected, she's an amateur.

Odette was already well-accustomed to such sarcasm, thanks to her younger sister from her previous life. Thanks to Han Songyi, who possessed an overwhelming talent for infuriating people.

The playful eyes, the constant smile, the tone that gently scraped the nerves. Songyi had been meticulously cruel in a way Doly couldn't even compare to.

[Songyi] "Unnie. What's wrong? Were you offended because I introduced you as a high school graduate earlier? Come on, who here has a college degree? We're all high school graduates until the year after next."

Doly chewed her fingernails in humiliation.

Now I can finally rest in peace.

Odette turned her gaze toward the sea visible from the sofa. The moonlit ocean was mesmerizingly beautiful.

Her legs, which had gone numb after kneeling for two hours, were slowly regaining feeling. She had struggled desperately to drag her numb legs here without falling in front of those people.

Pushing the pharmacist into the Summer Palace was the right move, after all.

She leaned back against the sofa, lost in thought.

She had already used Damian to swap the drugs intended for Karl with sleeping pills, so the brainwashing effects were naturally all lies.

The pharmacist who had visited her father earlier was the same one who had treated Gisella's son. The trash pharmacist who sold expired, rotten herbs.

The answer is always blackmail, not reporting.

When she threatened to throw him in prison, he begged, promising to do anything she asked. He cried, claiming he was terrified of jail.

Initially, she intended to extract money for Gisella...... but "I'll do anything" meant "Please, order me to do anything," didn't it?

A petty criminal who was despicable yet cowardly and timid. Such rats were useful. Bold villains were unpredictable and hard to handle, but these petty criminals were easy to use. They didn't question even the strangest orders.

Commands like 'Find weed seeds that resemble valuable seeds' or 'Enter the Summer Palace.'

The herbs her father bought were merely weed seeds that looked identical to the precious ones.

To select the weed seeds that most closely resembled the valuable ones, she had to read dozens of thick botanical encyclopedias and examine hundreds of thousands of seeds.

Tears welled up just thinking about the effort. Of course, not from her eyes, but from the rat pharmacist's eyes.

Though his conscience went on vacation, he was a master at finding differences in pictures.

All she did was infiltrate Damian among the research institute staff and spread rumors about a farmer who dealt only in expensive seeds.

Given Ferdinand's personality, it was obvious he would seek out the con artist she had prepared without proper verification.

Making him a Summer Palace pharmacist was even easier.

She had pointed out exactly which questions would appear on the pharmacist selection exam.

In <The Only Savior>, there was an episode where Charlotte studied past exam questions while preparing for the 'Imperial Palace Pharmacist Selection Exam.'

I'm grateful to Gisella for giving me such a useful rat. She must have wanted to throw him in prison for giving her son rotten herbs, yet she willingly handed him over to me first.

Gisella even took on the role of delivering orders to that trash to hide the fact that Odette was pulling the strings.

Commendable Gisella. For the sake of her noble heart, Odette intended to use this rat thoroughly before discarding him.

The astronomical sum her father paid for the seeds was safely stored with Goetz.

Come to think of it, I need to check the inventory function too.

If it were the same as <The Only Savior>, the inventory would have money-related features.

But she couldn't summon the inventory right now. Doly spoke to her with a determined expression.

[Doly] "Now that I look at it, you are a very cunning person, My Lady."

[Odette] "Cunning?"

She found the word absurd.

[Doly] "I was so naive. To think I saw such a lady as a simple person."

She continued with a face full of grievance.

[Doly] "Making me suffer in the conservatory...... that was your scheme, wasn't it? Aren't you ashamed? As a superior, you should embrace your subordinates, not humiliate them."

She offered an incredulous smile to Doly, who fired off accusations like a machine gun.

[Odette] "A scheme. You have quite an interesting imagination."

[Doly] "My Lady."

[Odette] "Where in the world would you find a trivial scheme about asking someone to spread cream on bread? Even if such a scheme existed, it would be even funnier if it worked."

She indirectly criticized Doly for not knowing the basic etiquette a maid should possess.

[Doly] "Are you done speaking?"

[Odette] "If you call that a scheme, aren't you the schemer? You are the only one who made yourself fail to meet the basics of a maid."

Provoked, Doly's voice rose a pitch higher.

[Doly] "If you hadn't ordered me to spread the cream, I wouldn't have become a laughingstock! You are the one who humiliated me!"

[Odette] "I humiliated you? Do you blame others every time you are corrected or embarrassed? Then I understand. I see why you lack the basics."

[Doly] "Just because I didn't know a few basic things, how can you say such harsh words—"

[Odette] "They aren't called basics because they are easy. They are called basics because they are the most important. Seeing you call them 'just a few things' clearly shows your bottom, and the limits of your future."

Doly didn't know, but Han Suwan had grown up watching Han Songyi. Odette was a level above when it came to scratching nerves while smiling brightly.

Huffing in frustration, Doly finally screamed out of spite.

[Doly] "My Lady, do you think you are a real lady right now? You are a fake. Your bloodline is fake, and your status as a Purifier is fake! Just because others don't know you're a fake doesn't make a fake real!"

[Odette] "......"

[Doly] "If I go out that door and say just one word about you being an orphan, you'll become a laughingstock in an instant, you know?"

Odette didn't refute her further.

I won.

Intoxicated by victory, Doly failed to notice. She missed the fact that Odette's teal eyes were shining with delight.

I waited for this, Doly. The moment you spat out a threat with your own mouth.

From the moment Doly first entered the room and began scratching her nerves, she knew. She knew Doly had an objective in provoking her.

Given the Count's personality, he wouldn't have failed to strengthen surveillance. He must have told Doly something. To report immediately if there was even the slightest strange behavior.

That was why she wanted Odette to get angry. For the justification to go report to the Count.

Lady Odette got angry at me like this. Her personality seems to have changed. She wanted to make such a report to be recognized for her usefulness by the Count.

If you wanted something, you shouldn't have been swayed by emotion, Doly.

Now, Odette didn't need to hold back.

[Odette] "Then why don't you go outside and say it? That I am not a real lady, but a fake."

She stood up, walked to the door, and threw it wide open.

As the door opened, the palace maids passing through the hallway glanced inside curiously.

Doly's face turned white as a sheet.

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