KFBRV Ch 113

If she was a 99, Odette was a 100. If she could be described as "flawless," Odette was "perfect." Odette adhered to the standard in every aspect.

She wanted to win, needed to win. But she could not win. The angle of that girl’s fingertips, the flow of her gait—they were always slightly more perfect than her own.

Struggling to surpass her, she came to resent Odette. Yet, as much as she resented her, she came to understand her.

She realized that Odette must have undergone even harsher training than herself. To make those movements appear natural, that girl must have practiced hundreds, thousands of times more than she had.

There were times of hatred and jealousy. Times when she felt she would have no other wish if she could win just once.

However, she never wanted to win like this. She never desired for Odette to crumble in such a manner.

[Karin] "Lady Odette."

She crumpled the newspaper in her grip. The rumor of the "wanton woman," which a gossip rag had been chattering about, had now become the common designation for Odette.

Fake Purifier. Hanging. The Villainess of the Century. The words in the newspaper distorted under her hand.

[Karin] "What does it matter if she is a fake purifier? Lady Odette’s etiquette has always been genuine."

She subtly defended Odette in social circles, but people attributed it to her kindness.

That was when she realized. People didn't know. Because they had never strived as hard as she had to achieve not just adequate etiquette, but perfect etiquette.

Those who didn't put in the effort could not grasp how remarkable that girl was. Only those who had polished themselves could understand her perfection.

You don't know. You don't know how perfect she is.

Do you have any idea what effort is required to be perfect to the fingertips every single moment? Do you know how much practice it takes to walk without a single superfluous movement?

To raise a 99 to 100 requires as much effort as making a 1 from 0 to 99!

These foolish people...

Ah... I wanted to be acknowledged by her.

She wanted to be acknowledged as a rival. She hadn't wanted that girl to be worse than her. She had wanted herself to be better than that girl.

You were my aspiration. A wall I wished to surmount.

I hold dislike and resentment toward you, but those were not my only emotions.

You must not crumble like this.

She cheered for Odette.

Run away. Run further away.

You are a hard worker. You are more tenacious than I am. You can do it.

Shake off all those S-class things...

On the day she saw the article that Odette had been beheaded, Karin broke down and cried like a child for the first time.

---

Gasp.

Her vision returned. As always, it felt as though no time had passed here.

[Reward: Invisible Sincerity (Dagger)]

[Reward is automatically received into 'Inventory'.]

[In 4 months, a need to sever the invisible will arise. Use it then.]

What on earth is the reason the status window is showing me, Karin?

Karl was a male lead in the game, so that was understandable, but Karin wasn't even a capture target.

The creator of the necklace was said to be the First Transcendent.

After obtaining the necklace, she had already researched the "First Transcendent" in this world's records. However, the literature on him was extremely brief, mere lines in the scriptures.

Only the fact that he became a Transcendent, dared to kill a god, became a god himself, and subsequently gave up godhood.

He had a moment where he was a god. Being omnipotent, he must have seen the future.

Was this necklace created with the foresight that she would eventually possess it?

However, she could not remain lost in thought for long. The crying Karin spoke to her.

[Karin] "As, as expected... you think I joined hands with Doly, don't you?"

At first, she had certainly thought so. But now, she had seen Karin's memories. The emotion of losing a one-of-a-kind rival was akin to losing a lifelong friend.

Grief, mourning, despair. The endless emptiness felt after habitually searching for a rival in social circles. It was a sensation as if a part of her own world had shattered.

Having been Karin for a brief moment, she knew. This girl possessed too much pride in herself to ruin another person through despicable methods.

Her pride was solid, built upon walking only the upright path to the point of being old-fashioned and stifling.

[Odette] "No. That is not it. Though truthfully, I misunderstood for a moment."

Now she understood. Why had Karin sat at the same table with her?

[Odette] "You were trying to protect me from Doly's slander. That is why you deliberately chose theology."

Karin hadn't chosen theology to humiliate her, thinking she was ignorant. She had believed that as a purifier, theology would be the subject Odette was most confident in.

She had intended to save Odette's face before others in the salon. To cut off the gossip behind her back.

Creating the salon's rule must have been for my sake as well.

Since the Duke of Brentano had a deep ill-fate with Count Albrecht, he knew the Count was a terrible person, contrary to his reputation. The Duke's thoughts stopped there, but Karin went a step further.

The evil deeds known to be committed by Odette might actually be the Count's doing.

In her past life, Karin, reading the newspaper, had surmised that Odette, feigning the role of a purifier, might have been a scheme orchestrated by Count Albrecht.

Of course, initially, she glared because she disliked Odette, but after realizing the truth, she kept watching her to find an opportunity to help.

That way, she could prevent word from reaching the Count's ears. It just so happened that Doly also requested a rule of silence.

[Odette] "Thank you, Karin."

At her sincere gratitude, Karin spoke hurriedly, flustered.

[Karin] "W-What for! I haven't done anything impressive enough to be thanked!"

Her face turned red, and her voice cracked at the end. Then, as if embarrassed, she changed the subject.

[Karin] "R-Rather than that, think of your own safety, Lady Odette! Do you know how much danger you are in right now?"

[Odette] "Danger?"

[Karin] "Doly... that girl wasn't just spreading rumors that you are stupid. The reason she acted to bring you to the salon was that she had something specific to say. I overheard her talking persistently with a reporter."

Odette focused on Karin's words.

[Karin] "A reporter named Rudolf Caspar, who writes for a cheap gossip rag called Secret Leak. I heard them whispering about needing to create a new rumor. The 'closest aide' mentioned in his articles seems to be Doly, so I wanted to tell you to fire her."

So the two were already in contact.

Indeed, a method to screw her over wouldn't suddenly become noble.

It seemed Doly intended to use both methods simultaneously: publishing an article through Secret Leak and humiliating her at the salon.

[Karin] "At first, I tried to send a note via carrier pigeon, but since it is known that I dislike you, I thought sending it myself would only cause more misunderstanding. So I thought if I helped you at the salon, you would believe me. But it seemed I only caused more misunderstanding."

Karin bit her lip. Perhaps that was why she had been biting her lip throughout their conversation.

Far from gaining trust, she had grown anxious seeing Odette's expression turn increasingly disappointed.

It was a chaotic mess of a party between the suspicious Odette and the clumsy Karin.

[Odette] "Karin, firing Doly is difficult."

She smiled bitterly.

[Karin] "If, if you doubt my words—"

[Odette] "That is not it. I do not have the authority to fire her."

[Karin] "As I thought. You are receiving poor treatment in the Count's household, aren't you?"

She nodded. At that, Karin paused for a moment, then spoke with a face so resolute that she looked pale.

[Karin] "I will help you, Lady Odette."

Her voice was so determined that it sounded almost overbearing.

[Odette] "Then, could you go outside and tell them I wasn't crying because of you? My reputation in the salon is in danger of becoming a mess."

[Karin] "Ah...! Oh dear...! I must have caused a misunderstanding. I am sorry. My feelings got ahead of me."

[Odette] "I will likely be caught by Doly and dragged to my room as soon as I leave. So I ask this of you."

[Karin] "Understood. I will remain in the salon and clarify things diligently. Without Doly present, I can defend you to my heart's content."

She coordinated a few details with Odette, deciding to say, "Let us claim I gave Lady Odette a great humiliation in the lounge, for Doly's sake."

[Karin] "Then I will be going. If I stay too long, she will suspect something."

He walked out stiffly, then hesitated and looked back at her.

[Karin] "Do not lose to Doly. Y-You must not lose to anyone until I defeat you."

With that, she ran out again, seemingly embarrassed by her own declaration of war.

Even listening to it makes me embarrassed.

An honest, clumsy personality. She must have cared more about the unseen than the seen. Unlike Odette, who cleverly invested in appearances.

Did Karin consider herself a 99 and Odette a 100?

In her eyes, Karin was the perfect 100. One whom no one could surpass.

---

When Odette left the lounge, feigning tears from the supposed humiliation by the Duke's daughter, a thoroughly cowed Doly was waiting in the hallway.

[Doly] "Let's go. I made the excuse to the salon that the Young Lady is ill."

It seemed she had been thoroughly thrashed by the nobles during Odette's absence.

Lacking the courage to return to that place of shame, she dragged Odette straight to her room without even glancing toward the Hall of Wisdom.

Is it because she trusts without doubt that the events in the salon won't be leaked? Or was the humiliation there just that shocking?

Who would believe Doly's sudden excuse of illness when everyone had seen Odette perfectly fine moments ago?

But Doly seemed to lack the mental capacity to care about such things.

Well. It doesn't matter. I wanted to return to my room and rest anyway.

Odette had no lingering attachment to the salon. She had already taken all the benefits she could.

She had improved her reputation as much as possible, and the useful knowledge from Han Suwan had just run dry.

Had she remained to take more questions, people would have noticed she was recycling a few meager scraps of knowledge.

So, she followed Doly with a comfortable heart.

Just as she returned to her room and lay on the bed, Ding—the status window rang.

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