KFBRV Ch 117

Startled, she straightened her body.

[Patient] "Uh, miss? Where are you going?"

The patient called out in bewilderment as Odette walked away as if possessed, but she had no time to look back.

Thud, thud.

She headed straight for the shelter door. And the moment she took a step toward where the woman stood.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—!

The bell tower, which shouldn't have been ringing, began to toll furiously again.

SCREEEEEEECH!

Simultaneously, a sound like a death rattle tore through the air from directly above.

Impossible...

It was the sound of a new calamity emerging.

Before she could even grasp the situation, a wind so fierce it was hard to keep her eyes open began to blow.

What is this? Such a calamity definitely never occurred in my past life.

Looking around with difficulty, she saw a freshly materialized calamity flying rapidly from directly overhead, aiming straight for her. As if its goal were to swallow her whole.

I can't... move... at all.

The calamity sucked in the surrounding air at tremendous speed.

In the distance, she could see Zion and Johan approaching to eliminate the new threat.

If I can endure... just for a moment—

She barely managed to grab the shelter door, but the door itself was ripped away by the wind created by the disaster.

Unable to hold on any longer, her body floated into the air in an instant, and the hat she was wearing was stripped away.

[Zion] "Of all places, near the shelter—Odette?"

[Johan] "Odette!"

Spotting her, Zion and Johan shouted in horrified voices. But she was not looking at the two men rushing to save her; she was staring at a woman on the ground.

Before she knew it, the bonnet the woman had been wearing was gone, and the pink hair hidden beneath it was fluttering in the wind.

A lovely and harmless face. Front teeth reminiscent of a rabbit. It was undoubtedly Charlotte.

But the fact that she was Charlotte was not what shocked her.

It was...

She... is smiling right now.

It was the expression Charlotte wore. The corners of her mouth, as she stared out at the sea, were curled up eerily.

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Within the Summer Palace’s conservatory gardens, there was a place the Emperor cherished exceptionally.

It was the "Exotic Garden."

A garden composed solely of colorful and unique tropical birds and plants.

Every single living creature that made up the place was exorbitantly expensive. For this reason, the Emperor had the keeper lock it, and it was opened rarely, only by his command.

But today is different.

Because Doly had the key right now.

Rudolf had just given the key to her and left. This meant he had succeeded in stealing the key from the keeper and had finished setting up the alcohol inside the Exotic Garden.

Now, all she had to do was bring Karl and Odette.

I would rather have stolen the key myself. Compared to dragging Karl to the Exotic Garden, that would have been nothing.

Because the Emperor cherished the "Exotic Garden" excessively, key management was paradoxically lax.

The guests invited to the Summer Palace were all the Emperor's closest confidants. Even if someone obtained the key, no madman would enter that place prepared to be marked by the Emperor.

So, how hard could it be to make the keeper drink fruit wine and swipe the key while he was distracted?

Yet Rudolf had asked her, "What's so hard about taking Karl from the infirmary?"

Ha... You try it! See if it's really easy!

Doly had been glaring at the doorknob of the infirmary for several minutes now.

She couldn't muster the courage to open the door. She lacked the courage to face the unpleasant, bleak, and uncomfortable thing inside.

I know. I know. But I can't make Rudolf do this.

Only if I do it will the claim that Odette summoned Karl be credible.

Odette from the salon flashed through Doly's hesitating mind.

Idiot.

The shape of her mouth as she said that.

Anger surged instantly. Gaining courage from it, Doly grabbed the knob and opened the door.

However, as soon as she saw Karl's back standing inside the infirmary, her courage plummeted back to rock bottom.

Can that thing even be called human?

Rudolf had described him as having a "sleek face," but that was something one could say because they had only seen a photograph.

Facing him in reality, one couldn't care less about his appearance. The sticky, disgusting air surrounding him—

Huh? Strange. It's not as unpleasant as last time.

Back then, it felt difficult even to breathe, but now, facing him directly, she had no trouble breathing.

However, she called out to him without fully relaxing her tension.

[Doly] "Hey, you."

At those words, he looked back with an emotionless expression. Red eyes without a single glint of light touched her.

184 pesetas. He wasn't unreasonably tall, yet why did he feel so colossal?

[Karl] "What is it?"

A bored voice without a shred of interest. Despite being a slave, his natural and arrogant condescension was still that of a Crown Prince. Yet, the thought "he is impudent" didn't arise. Rather, it felt as if it were only proper.

It's still uncomfortable, but at least it's not as disgusting as last time, right?

Gulp. She opened her mouth.

[Doly] "The Young Lady... summons you."

After she spoke, silence settled.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The sound of the clock's second hand sounded exceptionally loud to her.

He won't kill me just for using casual speech, right? Maybe I should have used polite speech.

Cold sweat trickled down her back. But rendering her fear meaningless, Karl quietly rose from the bed.

[Karl] "Where should I go?"

[Doly] "Follow m... no, follow me."

Instinctively about to use polite speech, she barely managed to finish in casual speech and turned toward the hallway.

Clack, clack.

Over the sound of her walking, the sound of his footsteps overlapped.

Phew. He is following me.

In a way, she had passed the biggest hurdle. Now she just had to go to the Exotic Garden like this.

She had already planned the entire route. A path using underground passages where no one traveled, to avoid being seen with Karl.

In front of the damp underground warehouse. Only the footsteps of the two echoed, thud, thud, as they walked down the hallway.

Is it because we're underground...? Why does it feel increasingly stifling?

At first, her chest felt tight, but now it felt as if she were slowly being strangled. And as the stifling feeling intensified, the presence of him following behind seemed to grow gradually larger.

Faster. Let's go faster.

Just as she was about to quicken her pace. Karl threw a question from behind in a low voice.

[Karl] "What is your name?"

It was a trivial question, yet her heart felt like it sank with a thud. She gasped and asked back.

[Doly] "Huk, what?"

Suddenly, breathing became difficult.

[Karl] "Paula, I found out that girl's name. I was curious about yours, too."

[Doly] "Why, why... are you asking such a thing?"

Her voice came out trembling.

Do not answer. Absolutely do not answer.

Her survival instinct was screaming at her.

But seeing her like that, he tilted his head very slowly.

[Karl] "You seem scared."

[Doly] "......"

[Karl] "Strange. All I did was ask your name, so why are you frightened?"

He wore an expression of incomprehension. His red eyes looked at her as if looking at something utterly useless.

She knew intuitively in that moment.

Why are you frightened?

That question was not out of curiosity about her.

That evil spirit couldn't possibly be curious about why I'm scared.

He was recalling someone else from some time ago, someone who had been frightened just like her.

D-Disgusting.

It felt like snakes were crawling all over her body.

[Karl] "Reassuring a person is difficult. Erasing intimidation alone isn't enough. Acting docile is useless, too. It's annoying having to care about so many things. Because she has a lot of anxiety and is surprisingly timid."

A low laugh was heard.

[Karl] "Well, that part is cute, though."

Doly felt her hands becoming damp with sweat.

Run, let's run away.

Now, schemes and plots didn't even cross her mind. She didn't want to finish the job either.

Driven solely by the desire to leave this place quickly, she tried to spin around and sprint.

Dadadada, she ran down the hallway for a while, but strangely, she kept feeling his presence right behind her.

The only echoing footsteps were hers.

Why do I feel like he is following right behind me?

Feeling ominous, the moment she cautiously looked back.

Thud, something struck the back of her neck.

Her body went stiff, and she fell to the floor like a mannequin.

There were no footsteps, so how was he behind me?

Her body couldn't move an inch, but her consciousness was clear. She felt as if she would go mad right then and there.

[Karl] "Don't worry. I won't kill you."

[Doly] "Heu, huh."

A thick, sticky intimidation flowed from him. That pressure wrecked her reason, and even her consciousness began to slowly fade into a haze.

[Karl] "I don't snatch away Master's prey. So consider it an honor to become her prey."

Vivid emotion was revealed in eyes that had held no light. Terrifyingly, that emotion was "jealousy."

As if becoming the Master's prey was an undeserved honor for her. As if the only one the Master should target ought to be himself.

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