KFBRV Ch 119

[Zion] "Damn it. Albrecht, please, stop startling people. What were you doing here?"

A tremor could be felt in his voice as he belatedly descended to the ground. It was a voice unfamiliar even to Johan, who had known him for a long time.

It sounded as if he had barely managed to save something precious from being lost.

[Odette] "I came out for a seaside stroll... and got swept up in the calamity. I apologize for causing trouble."

She was trembling uncontrollably. At that sight, Johan immediately tried to take off his clothes to give to her. However, before he could even unbutton his uniform jacket, Zion took off his own coat and draped it over her.

[Zion] "I'm not talking about trouble. It's fine. You're alive... so it's fine."

Then he fastened the coat for her. His hands, tending to her clothes, were also trembling minutely. Watching this, Johan furrowed his brow.

Since when were those two this close?

Close enough to be that relieved just by the fact she was alive?

It was different from Zion’s usual attitude. Wasn't he the one who growled whenever Odette was mentioned?

His expression and tone were unbelievably different from the Zion who used to be so repulsed whenever Johan asked about her.

Johan felt something boiling inside him.

I felt that she no longer dislikes me... but was it just that she stopped disliking all Transcendents?

Johan felt anxious and uneasy. But to hide it, he quietly clenched and unclenched his fist. Blood trickled from his palm due to the force.

He must not make a mistake. It had only been a month since he stopped frightening her. He didn't want to make any more mistakes.

[Odette] "The only way Your Highness can help me is to dislike me less. Not to stop hating me, but just to dislike me less. Is that so difficult..."

He had chewed on that sentence for a very long time.

Johan had been ignorant of Odette’s circumstances. Because he liked her too much, he had made the cowardly decision to be indifferent, to choose to hate her instead, and she had to suffer that much more for it.

Just as salvation that comes too late is not salvation, love that is too immature is not love.

Johan was already regretting. He didn't want to fail her anymore. Thus, instead of removing Zion’s coat or pitifully asking if the two were close, he took off his uniform jacket. The white military uniform was wrapped over Zion’s coat.

Since he had made mistakes, he had to be kinder. Therefore, he spoke with sincerity.

[Johan] "Odette, are you hurt anywhere?"

She needed sincere kindness. Zion couldn't give that, but he could. For now, that fact alone was important.

[Johan] "Zion, you return to the capital immediately. Contact Viktor right away as well."

---

That was definitely Charlotte earlier.

There was no way she had mistaken the person. Pink hair was something permitted only to Charlotte in this game’s worldview.

But why was she here? Until she comes up to the capital to announce the discovery of Night Glory, she shouldn't have left the mountain village even once.

Furthermore, a calamity that had never appeared in her past life had suddenly emerged.

Charlotte's early appearance and the emergence of a new calamity. Was it really a coincidence that these two events occurred simultaneously?

[Johan] "Odette, are you hurt anywhere?"

Lost in thought, she snapped back to reality at his voice.

There was no time to be spacing out. If by any chance the 61-times Loathing multiplier applied from this point on...

With a trembling heart, she summoned the status window.

Check the Loathing of both.

[Johan's Loathing: 5]

[Zion's Loathing: 8]

Ha...

Only then could she feel relieved. Whether it was because the two hadn't encountered Charlotte or because that specific date hadn't arrived yet, the 61-times effect hadn't appeared.

Besides, single-digit Loathing for both of them...

Almost zero loathing, which she had only imagined, was right before her eyes.

If only Charlotte hadn't appeared, she would have been purely happy that the goal was this close.

[Odette] "I am not injured, so you do not need to worry."

Pushing her complicated thoughts aside, she answered with feigned calm.

[Guest] "Good heavens. Are you... Lady Albrecht?"

Due to the commotion caused by the recent calamity, people who had taken shelter in the refuge began to come out one by one.

[Guest] "Lady Odette?"

[Guest] "What? Why is that villainess here?"

Mixed in those murmurs were the voices of the patients she had just treated. She felt a pang of regret.

I should have treated them a bit longer and been revealed dramatically. To be revealed now, when there isn't even a reporter.

[Current Bad Reputation You Possess:

▶ Vicious Villainess (0 people / ▼ Decrease of 32)

▶ Selfish Purifier (11 people / ▼ Decrease of 4)

▶ Arrogant Flower of Society (8 people / ▼ Decrease of 18)

▶ Ignorant Lady with an Empty Head]

To avoid the Loathing penalty, she had to improve her reputation in the Athena Island "social circle." Improving her reputation among the residents alone would be meaningless.

But as if responding to her regret, a voice cut through the gathered crowd.

[Reporter] "Lady Odette? Heavens! Wait a moment! I am a reporter. A reporter!"

A rugged appearance like a bandit and shabby clothes. Judging by his look, he was a calamity specialist reporter. A reporter who professionally captured the tragedies related to calamities.

To use an analogy from Han Suwan's time, perhaps a war correspondent?

Click.

She was blinded by the flash popping from the glass plate camera.

[Woman] "Goodness... So the person who helped me earlier was the Young Lady."

Right on time, even the pregnant woman she had helped treat came panting out of the shelter.

[Woman] "I only listened to rumors and slandered the Young Lady as a villainess. I never knew you were such a good person who would save commoners like us."

The woman grasped Odette's hands tightly with both of hers, shedding tears of emotion.

Odette thought the dramatic presentation had failed as she got swept up in an unexpected event... but regardless, she reached the desired moment successfully.

[Odette] "I only did what was obvious."

Since it was the moment she had waited for, she put on the practiced "Oh, I am embarrassed to be praised for something so trivial" expression.

Since an unexpected variable has appeared, I must avoid the Loathing penalty at all costs.

It was a detestable act born of thorough calculation, yet the reporter, Johan, the pregnant woman, and the other patients she helped all wore moved expressions.

The only one with an unmoved expression was that bastard Zion.

She patted the pregnant woman and spoke.

[Odette] "I have fully understood your gratitude, so please go back and rest. Your body is not in a condition to wander around freely, is it?"

The woman nodded and headed back into the shelter.

Johan spoke to her in a disapproving voice.

[Johan] "You are the one who should rest, Odette. You are sweating cold sweat, and your body keeps trembling."

[Odette] "It is because I was startled, having been swept up in a calamity for the first time. I am not ill, so please do not worry."

Of course, it was a lie.

What made her tremble this much was the female protagonist. Charlotte, with her bizarre appearance, laughed while looking at the village ruined by the calamity.

How were you on Athena Island? Why were you laughing at the calamity?

Is the overlap of your appearance and the new calamity's occurrence a coincidence?

Don't tell me you... are related to the cause of the calamity?

The fear stemmed from the fact that the female protagonist's true identity seemed different from what she knew.

For now... let's focus on what I can do. Succeed in the quest, and lower the male leads' Loathing further...

[Johan] "How can you say you aren't sick in this condition?"

He spoke to her.

[Johan] "Odette, get on my back. I will take you to the Summer Palace."

Then, without even giving her a chance to refuse, he piggybacked her.

Prev

TOC

Next

---

To support the original author and publisher, please consider rating the official release on Kakaopage.