KFBRV Ch 16

The moment the footmen finished the injections and left the drawing room, her sobbing stopped instantly.

Acting as if she were in pain was second nature to her. During the two years she had spent outsmarting the male leads, she had mastered every kind of performance.

Besides, since touching the Night Glory, her temperature had been rising steadily, so she didn't even need to pretend to look flushed and ill.

The immediate crisis is over.

She stood up and took a seat in one of the plush drawing room chairs. Her expression was relaxed—a strange sight for someone who had just been injected with five doses of Mengele.

The reason was simple: when she had sneaked into the apothecary warehouse, she hadn't just taken the Berserk Suppressants. She had also swapped the Mengele with her mother's expensive green beauty serum.

Mother used that serum so sparingly because of the ridiculous price, yet I just took five doses at once.

Since the liquids were the exact same shade of green, no one could tell the difference with the naked eye.

The Countess would eventually realize the truth if she tried to use her serum, but for now, she was locked in her room. It would be a long time before she had the chance to worry about her beauty routine.

Odette allowed a small smile to play on her lips. From this point on, the relationship between Ferdinand and his mother would only continue to rot.

While she had swapped most of the Mengele with the beauty serum, she had hidden several real doses in the mansion's secret passages. She wanted to ensure she had them ready whenever a specific moment called for them.

I'll be fine even if I don't take a real dose for a while.

Her father was under the foolish impression that the scent of Mengele only lasted for twenty-four hours. In reality, during her two years on the run in her previous life, the male leads had been able to track her artificial rose scent the entire time.

[Zion] "For a fake Purifier, you certainly have a foul scent."

She had heard those words until the very moment of her death.

The real chaos in this mansion is only just beginning.

Locking up her mother, the woman who had managed every detail of the Albrecht estate, was only the first step. Her true goal was to create a situation where Mrs. Becker could take over.

Managing a noble household was a massive undertaking. It was a mountain of work that no one noticed until it stopped being done. Ferdinand was far too lazy and arrogant to handle the accounts and the staff himself. Eventually, he would have to hand that power to someone he trusted.

I need to make sure he gives that power to Mrs. Becker.

Usually, such a task would fall to the head butler, but Rolf had already sided with the Countess, so he was out of the question. The housekeeper and the head maid might have been options if they were smart enough to flatter Ferdinand, but they were far too loyal to his mother.

Her smile widened. She was actually looking forward to the "cleaning" she was about to do.

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Odette walked up the central staircase toward her room. Her limbs felt heavy as the fever from the Night Glory worsened, but she didn't let it show. She had once been forced to run across a desert with a broken ankle; a simple fever was nothing compared to that.

Why is my body reacting to the Night Glory when I'm not even a real Purifier?

A fake like her shouldn't be experiencing "Awakening Fever."

Was the world itself discriminating against her because she was a villainess?

She stopped in front of her door, a hollow laugh escaping her. Just then, she heard the sound of loud, shrill laughter coming from inside her room. The door wasn't fully closed, allowing her to see a group of maids lounging on her bed as if they owned the place.

[Dolly] "Don't you all agree that Lady Odette is just... gloomy? She's nothing like Master Ferdinand. She's so full of bitterness. Honestly, she's quite vulgar."

[Maid] "I completely agree, Dolly."

[Dolly] "Well, you girls haven't had to serve her directly, so you wouldn't know. But I have. Her tantrums are legendary. She screams and hits people constantly."

[Maid] "I heard from Paula! She said Odette pulled her hair so hard she lost clumps of it. She said her whole body is covered in bruises because of the Lady."

How predictable. Don't they ever get tired of the same old lies?

Only the high-ranking servants knew that Odette was a fake and an orphan. However, even the low-ranking maids who didn't know the truth still treated her with contempt.

This was by design. When hiring new staff, the butler specifically chose people who already hated "the villainess Odette."

Rolf and Dolly also spent their time brainwashing the staff, telling them that Odette's cruelty was beyond imagination. They claimed that the family only locked her in the dungeon or injected her with "medicine" because they had no other choice.

What was happening in her room now was an extension of that brainwashing. It was a "mocking session" designed to teach the new maids how to treat her. They were likely letting off steam because Odette had been uncharacteristically rebellious earlier that day.

Odette watched as the Head Maid and the Housekeeper sat on her pillows with their shoes on, dipping cookies into milk. She felt a surge of annoyance.

They have a lot of nerve entering my space without permission.

The new maids, unaware that Odette was watching from the doorway, joined in eagerly.

[Maid] "Honestly, who could ever like a villain like her? There's no reason to treat her like a precious Purifier when she doesn't actually purify anything anyway."

[Maid] "Oh, I thought I was the only one who felt that way! Everyone really does hate her."

[Maid] "It would be hard to find someone who hates her as much as I do. I just wish she would hurry up and die."

Mockery was like a wildfire; it spread easily.

The new maids, who had never even spoken to Odette, began to imitate her based on the trashy gossip they had read in tabloids. They competed to see who could make the most ridiculous faces.

Odette felt a wave of disgust. Even in this new life, she was living the same existence as she had when her name was Han Suwan.

In her previous life, she had been adopted solely to make her parents look good to investors. She remembered her "sister" mocking her then, too.

"Mom, even the housekeeper hates her. She says that while I eat with grace, Han Suwan just looks like she's stuffing her face."

"Oh, what a perfect way to put it. Even when she follows all the rules, she still looks vulgar. It's quite a talent to be that unlovable."

In every life, she was a "fake" compared to something "real." The harder she tried to be loved, the more she was laughed at.

I'm so sick of this. It makes me want to vomit.

Her expression hardened. She stepped into the room and slammed the door behind her with a loud thud.

The Head Maid and the Housekeeper froze on the bed. The younger maids, who had been laughing and dancing, turned toward the door with wide, terrified eyes.

[Maid] "Hic—! My Lady."

[Dolly] "Oh dear."

Clatter!

One of the maids was so startled that she dropped a cup of hot tea. It shattered on the floor, splashing tea all over Odette's dress. She recognized the girl. Her name was Malea.

Despite their initial shock, the maids didn't move to help. They glanced at each other and began to giggle, bonded by the insults they had just shared.

The Housekeeper and Head Maid are acting so boldly that the younger ones think they can get away with this, too.

To prove their point, the Housekeeper intentionally pressed her dirty shoe deeper into Odette's pillow.

They were used to Odette being weak and desperate for their approval. They expected her to cower.

But she had no intention of staying quiet. In fact, this was perfect. She needed to teach them never to set foot in her room again, especially since she planned to use the secret passages frequently.

And it just so happens that the one who spilled the tea is Malea.

Currently, Malea was just a new maid. But in the future, she was destined to become the Countess' most trusted assistant.

Malea was the daughter of a black-market dealer and had a sharp eye for valuable art and jewelry—something the Countess lacked. In the past, she had helped the Countess grow her fortune significantly.

Odette looked down at her ruined dress and spoke in a voice as cold as ice.

[Odette] "You spilled tea on my dress, Malea."

She wasn't about to pass up a chance to destroy her mother's future source of income.

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