KFBRV Ch 22

[Odette] "If that is the case... Your Highness, would you be willing to teach me how to read and write?"

It wasn't difficult for her to feign a look of profound shame. In her previous life, the fact that she was illiterate had been a genuine source of humiliation for her. Even now, the memory of it brought a natural, burning flush to her cheeks.

[Johan] "Read... and write?"

He looked as though he had been struck. From the shock written across his face, it was clear that Zion hadn't yet reported her illiteracy to him.

[Johan] "You would be satisfied with... just that?"

His brow furrowed, and a look of deep compassion filled his sapphire eyes. For a man with such a strong sense of humanity, pity was the shortest path to guilt.

And I must use that guilt.

The drizzle slowly soaked her hair, making her look even more desolate and fragile.

[Odette] "Do you remember? At my debutante ball, when you asked me for a dance?"

His body stiffened with tension. He was likely remembering her screaming rejection—how she had acted as if his very presence was an insult.

[Johan] "Why bring that up now—"

[Odette] "The truth is... I couldn't write your name on my dance card. Not with my own hand."

[Johan] "...Lady Albrecht."

[Odette] "I was so terrified that you would discover how lowly I was. The shame was unbearable."

The rain soaked through her white nightgown and robe.

During her time among the beggars, Odette had learned exactly when she looked the most pitiable: when she was drenched, when her eyes were downcast, and when her body trembled. Right now, she was hitting all three marks perfectly.

[Odette] "You call it 'just' letters, Your Highness, but you cannot imagine the feeling of wanting to vanish into thin air rather than let the world know you are illiterate."

[Johan] "..."

[Odette] "Every time the butler called me a fool who her own mother abandoned because she couldn't read..."

She stopped, her voice genuinely wavering.

I shouldn't let myself get caught up in the act.

This was a time for cold calculation, not self-pity.

[Odette] "So please, Your Highness. Give me the ability to read and write. It would be a gift more precious than any jewel."

He watched her for a long time with a conflicted expression before finally nodding.

[Johan] "Very well. If that is enough for you."

[Odette] "You are too kind, Your Highness."

She offered him her brightest, most innocent smile—a smile crafted with surgical precision.

Johan quickly looked away. He seemed lost, unable to find a trace of the "wicked" Lady Albrecht he had once loathed in the woman standing before him.

He had come to clear a debt of the heart, only to leave with a burden twice as heavy.

While he was distracted, Odette secretly checked her necklace.

[ Johan's Loathing has decreased by 5. ]

[ Johan's Loathing: 70 ]

Her smile vanished instantly. Seventy?

Seventy?!

The number was staggering.

This cursed world... a score of 100 means a desire to kill. I saved him from a rampage, and he thinks I purified him, yet his hatred is still this high?

A cold fury washed over her, but she couldn't afford to lose her temper. A loathing of 70 meant she couldn't let her guard down for even a second.

She snapped the locket shut.

---

The Crown Prince departed before dawn.

He had an unexpected talent for teaching, and with Han Suwan’s memories of literacy, Odette managed to decode the geometric script in just two hours.

While the language of Barzeha used unique characters, it was structurally similar to English. Once she matched the symbols to their corresponding sounds, reading became intuitive.

She reopened the postcard Zion had sent.

I have secured your purification reward and future maintenance funds in a hidden account. The amount below is your monthly allowance.

Ah, the words are much clearer now... wait, what?

She stared at the number. It was followed by an absurd amount of zeros.

This wasn't a "maintenance fund"—this was the budget of a high-ranking royal. The Count had been embezzling a fortune. She continued reading, her eyes wide.

Your family will also receive funds disguised as an allowance. It is a portion of the black money I seized from the Count's criminal enterprises. Think of it as stealing 100 Atasha from his right pocket and putting 1 back in his left.

I trust the sight of your father rejoicing like a fool over this "allowance" will provide you with some entertainment. To withdraw cash, show this necklace to the manager of any Kleist Bank.

Even in his writing, Zion’s delight at dismantling the Count’s business was evident.

So that's why there are no needle marks on my arms.

In her previous life, even when her "purification" act was failing, the servants never forgot to administer the Mengele drug. Her father would have beaten them senseless if they had. For them to forget for three days meant the Count’s business was currently in such a state of chaos that no one could focus on her.

Zion was tearing the Count's world apart.

Odette tore the postcard into pieces and tossed them into the fireplace.

Once Zion is done, my father will only have two sources of income left: the Albrecht Pharmaceutical Company and the Ulrich Casino.

If the Count and Ferdinand were stuck at the Palace, and the servants were too distracted to watch her... this was her window.

Knock, knock, knock.

[Odette] "Who is it?"

[Malea] "It’s Malea, My Lady."

The maid had arrived early to avoid being seen.

At least she has some sense.

[Odette] "Wait outside."

She took her time changing out of her damp nightgown. But as she pulled on a fresh chemise—

[Odette] "Ouch!"

A sewing pin pricked her waist. She pulled it out and glared at it. She knew exactly whose work this was.

Petty and shadow-dwelling... just like that woman.

Mrs. Becker was clearly still fuming after their confrontation. But Odette didn't have time for her right now. She threw the pin aside and called out.

[Odette] "You may enter."

Malea entered, pushing a trolley. Her footsteps were cautious, a stark contrast to three days ago when she would lounge on Odette's bed eating cookies.

[Malea] "I was worried because you haven't left your room in three days, My Lady."

[Odette] "How hypocritical. You weren't worried about me, Malea. You were worried about your own skin."

She sat in a velvet armchair. She noticed Malea was wearing a headpiece made of Chapelle pearls.

[Odette] "I see you’ve successfully become my mother's favorite maid."

[Malea] "How... how did you know?"

[Odette] "Those pearls are my mother's favorites. She wouldn't have given them to anyone but her closest attendant."

A quiet awe had replaced the defiance in Malea's eyes.

[Malea] "It was as you said. The gallery was full of clumsy forgeries. When I pointed them out, the butler secretly took me to the Countess' room."

[Odette] "And?"

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