KFBRV Ch 115

[Rudolf] "But baby, we need to confirm that first. You can bring that woman out of her room, right?"

[Doly] "Bringing her out is easy. But she has been strangely cunning lately, you know? She won't try to leave unless she has a justifiable reason."

She spoke sullenly.

[Rudolf] "If it's a reason, we just need to make one. The Count's ruby cufflinks—you have them, don't you, baby? Can't you just show them to her and say it's the Count's order?"

Cufflinks adorned with a bright red gem were a promised symbol of the "Count's urgent command" among the family members and high-ranking employees.

The person holding that item was considered the Count's proxy. No matter what one was doing, they had to stop immediately and obey the command of the cufflink holder as if it were the Count's own order.

It was a method of communication established by the Count, who hated being caught acting overbearing at official events.

Originally, Doly didn't possess those ruby cufflinks, but the Count had given her a spare pair on his way out of the prayer room. He had instructed her that if Odette acted strangely, she should use the ruby cufflinks to summon Mrs. Becker or Ferdinand to stop her.

[Doly] "So what if I call her out? What then?"

[Rudolf] "Hey now. For things like this, the 'when,' 'where,' and 'with whom' are important, baby. You tell her to come to the Exotic Garden at 10 PM, with Karl."

She tilted her head.

[Doly] "So what?"

He grinned slyly as he spoke.

[Rudolf] "I told you, everyone is highly interested in the romantic relationship between Karl and Odette. The Exotic Garden, just the two of them, at 10 PM. Doesn't anything come to mind?"

[Doly] "Surely not—."

[Rudolf] "Exactly. We summon her and the combat slave bastard together. If we snap a picture of them having a secret meeting and release an article, how shocked would that impudent little thing be? We can pay her back far more than what my baby suffered."

In a class-based society, a slave pledging eternal loyalty to a noble is a romantic story. But a noble falling in love with a slave? That was an affair that made the noble's reputation laughable and filthy.

A slave was someone from whom to receive loyalty, not someone to beg for love. Odette's reputation would be dragged through the mud.

[Doly] "You're a genius!"

Doly, clearly pleased with the plan, threw her arms around his neck.

[Rudolf] "It'll be the talk of the town. I saw a photo of the combat slave's face, and he's quite sleek, isn't he? That'll make it even noisier. The vulgar love between a handsome slave and a beautiful villainess—isn't it thrilling?"

Furthermore, Rudolf possessed a very peculiar alcohol he had received as a gift a few days ago. It was colorless and odorless, feeling just like water, but possessed a significantly high alcohol content. If he used that to lure them into a trap, he could capture quite a plausible photo.

While he was caught up in his excitement, she groaned. Ugh.

[Doly] "But honey. How do you plan to lure Karl out?"

Then she asked a trivial question.

[Rudolf] "He's Odette's slave, isn't he? Can't you just go and tell him Lady Odette is looking for him right now?"

[Doly] "What? I have to be the one to lure him out, too?"

As if it were a difficult task. Yet she spoke with sheer horror. Then, preposterously, she said this:

[Doly] "Then we have to give up on that plan."

[Rudolf] "What? Just because you can't bring him?"

[Doly] "You don't know, honey. He's... creepy."

[Rudolf] "Why? He's just a slave at best. You're the head maid; your rank is higher. Can't you naturally summon him?"

[Doly] "No... It's not about status. He's a bit strange. He's absolutely terrifying."

A few days ago, she had gone near the infirmary to spread rumors about Odette. There, she had locked eyes with Karl just once. That chilling mouth, hung with a sneer.

The moment she faced him, she felt a terrible sensation, as if she were being strangled. It was a damp and ominous feeling, like facing a nightmare.

[Rudolf] "Is it because he's a former Crown Prince that you feel burdened? Or are you scared because he's of the Fenrir Clan?"

[Doly] "No. It's not like that."

The Fenrir Clan caused repulsion due to their extraordinary strength and pitch-black hair. But Karl was not on that level. He was a human whom any living creature would find repulsive.

[Doly] "No, that's not it. I can't explain it in words."

[Rudolf] "......"

[Doly] "He's like an evil spirit. If you molded a nightmare into a person, it would look exactly like him."

[Rudolf] "Oh dear. My baby doesn't want to do it? Then let's do this. Summon him about 20 minutes before. Then the time you have to be with him will be short, right?"

[Doly] "Even so..."

[Rudolf] "Please. Hmm?"

[Doly] "I can't do it..."

[Rudolf] "Baby. All you have to do is bring Odette and Karl, understand? I'll do the rest. Making the article, staging the steamy scene. I'll take care of everything!"

Even with him speaking like that, she wore a reluctant expression.

[Rudolf] "Baby, recall the humiliation at the salon. If you give up, you can't take any revenge. Are you okay with that?"

Only then did determination settle in her frightened eyes.

After agonizing for a long time, she nodded and spoke resolutely.

[Doly] "Alright."

Even so, she grew anxious just imagining Karl, chewing her fingernails nervously.

[Doly] "Summoning him is a much bigger deal than you think, honey. I'm making a sacrifice here. You know that, right?"

[Rudolf] "I know. My baby gets scared so easily. How cute."

He ruffled her hair with one hand. Grinning as if he were some handsome heartthrob.

[Doly] "Rudolf, since it's come to this, we need to blow this up as much as possible. Since I suffered such a huge humiliation, I want her to be unable to lift her head in the Empire at all."

[Rudolf] "Hmm, if my baby says so. Fine, then I'll call all the reporters together. To make the article as big as possible."

[Doly] "Didn't you want to monopolize the article?"

[Rudolf] "Oh, you silly thing, my baby comes first! Besides, as long as my baby is there, only Secret Leak can get the 'closest aide's testimony,' right? My article is bound to sell the best."

He smacked his lips as he said this.

Many reporters had been invited to Athena Island to report on the Emperor's tour, and among the invited nobles, some owned newspaper companies.

If the secret meeting were caught in a place where those people were gathered, even the ants of the Empire would know of their burning love.

Anyway, other reporters can't write as thrillingly as I can.

Rudolf had an exceptional talent for voyeuristic descriptions.

The flower that seemed too haughty to touch, falling deeply for a slave. Couldn't the story already be drawn in one's mind?

He was that confident. No matter how many reporters saw the scene, his article would sell the most.

Doly would provide the additional details needed to make his novel more interesting, and he had to add the phrase "testimony of the closest aide" to the narrative.

Ruining someone with rumors he created always made him feel alive. The higher and more noble the target's position, the greater the exhilaration when dragging them down to the bottom.

To think he could drag the Flower of Society down into a wanton woman.

He was already dizzy with delight.

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And Odette was watching all of this.

Perhaps Doly had deliberately chosen the beach as the meeting place because it wasn't visible from Odette's room. However, that was her blunder.

From the infirmary where Karl was, that spot was actually the most visible.

Right. You're doing exactly what you did to drag me into the mud in my past life.

This is how it should be. Revenge only tastes sweet when Doly acts like Doly, doesn't it?

Becoming a beggar isn't enough to show Odette hell on earth. Becoming a beautiful beggar is the same.

The true bottom of life is experienced when the "scandal" of being a public wanton woman is attached. Scandal made her a wanton woman who "deserved to be violated" no matter which group she belonged to.

Having no dignity. That was more painful than having no money. Being treated like meat, without the minimum respect due to a human being.

She spoke quietly to Karl, who was standing silently beside her.

[Odette] "Karl, I have a favor to ask of you."

[Karl] "Master simply needs to command me."

He replied in an obedient voice.

[Odette] "Right. Then I will give you a command, Karl."

This would be a test for him as well. A test to prove how accurately he understood his goal as her servant and how efficiently he could follow.

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