KFBRV Ch 72

It was a relief that the debuff had vanished. From now on, she wouldn't need to hesitate whenever she wanted to check someone's Loathing. Using it twice a day wouldn't pose much of a problem.

Yet, despite the good news, she couldn't bring herself to be entirely happy. There was a specific phrasing that weighed on her mind.

[The conditions to "Lift the Debuff when Checking Loathing" have been met.]

The phrasing "conditions have been met."

The status window had used a similar expression to explain why she couldn't see Karl's Loathing level.

[Loathing: Unable to check (Conditions not met)]

Could these conditions be linked to her dreams? She had been dreaming of the heart wasps even before she obtained the status window.

How could the conditions of the status window and my dreams be connected?

Her musing was cut short by a sharp shink!

The terrace curtains flew open. It was Marco.

[Odette] "Corporal Marco. You've returned. I heard you were currently running laps around the drill grounds."

She feigned ignorance, even though she had clearly seen him earlier in the banquet hall.

[Marco] "How could I possibly stay on the drill grounds when such a noble and haughty lady was calling for me so desperately? Even if it was an order from His Highness."

He was just as much of a sleaze as she remembered.

[Marco] "I have a subordinate disguised as me, running in my place. Hahaha! So, can you imagine how incensed I was when I returned?"

Why on earth would you be incensed?

His tone was irritating, but now was not the time to snap. Destroying this wretch was far more important.

[Odette] "And what could have made you so angry the moment you returned?"

She spoke in a soothing, gentle voice as she drifted toward the terrace railing.

[Marco] "I'm angry for obvious reasons. Shouldn't you be dancing only with me today? That was the very core of my threat."

[Odette] "Ah. So that's what upset you?"

[Marco] "If you go and dance with the Crown Prince immediately, what does that make me? Hmm?"

She honestly didn't care what it made him. He could be whatever he wanted. Why was he asking her? Regardless, she offered a moderate apology.

[Odette] "I'm sorry."

He would only become loose-lipped if she let him indulge in the delusion that his blackmail was working.

[Marco] "And of all things, you danced a waltz with His Highness? Ha! Won't the quadrille I danced with you be completely forgotten then? Ha! It's problematic when you hurt my feelings. What if I get worked up and start running my mouth?"

He leaned in so close that his breath brushed against her. She lowered her eyes, looking as though she were afraid.

[Marco] "Don't forget. I know about your secret outing and how you smuggled those children out while pretending they were in the graves. If you don't want that reaching the Count's ears, you'd best not upset my mood."

He spoke in a voice that tried to sound fatal, clearly intoxicated by the power he thought he held over her.

[Odette] "I'm terrified that you might tell my father...... but it will be difficult to comply with your demands."

She spoke with a trembling voice. She was testing him.

[Odette] "You can't be the only one who knows about my outing. If the camp commander knew, then every soldier working at the containment zone must know as well."

[Marco] "......"

[Odette] "Even if I silence the commander, another soldier might tell my father. In that case, I'd rather just confess to him now and take my punishment."

It was a probe—a way to confirm if others knew of her movements and if this man fully understood how she was treated at home.

[Marco] "Puhahaha!"

He burst into a fit of raucous laughter.

[Marco] "I suspected as much from the Count's personality, but he certainly raised his daughter with a heavy hand."

[Odette] "......"

[Marco] "Just how severely does he punish you that the great Odette, famous for being a villainess, is this terrified? You're so scared that the other soldiers might tell on you. It's quite cute, actually."

After laughing a while longer, he continued.

[Marco] "You don't have to worry about that. I killed all those underlings the moment the disaster broke out at the camp."

He offered a wicked grin.

[Marco] "Investigators were scheduled to visit the camp because of the disaster. We had embezzled so much of the rations...... wouldn't it have been awkward for everyone if we got caught?"

[Odette] "......"

[Marco] "Do you think the Count would have left anyone alive who knew the reality of that camp? He only kept me alive because I'm his right hand and Ferdinand's backer......"

[Marco] "There's a reason why only non-transcendent with no connections were hired as camp guards. They were meant to be wiped out eventually anyway."

He spoke boastfully, but Odette took away only one vital point.

In short, if I shut this bastard's mouth, it's over.

She stole a glance down at the fountain below.

[Marco] "So, as long as you do exactly what I say, your secret stays safe. Do you understand? Do you see why you need to get on my good side?"

[Odette] "......I understand."

[Marco] "You're as pretty as a flower, so try being a bit more charming. Who knows? If you please me enough, I might even propose to you and save you from that strict father of yours."

The potato man's eyes lewdly swept over her body.

Look at this. This half-wit knows absolutely nothing.

Marriage? Do you think my father would ever let me marry?

If this were a household I could escape so easily, do you think I'd be going through all this hell?

[Odette] "Then, Corporal Marco. If I follow your orders faithfully, you'll keep my secret, won't you?"

As she pretended to give in to the blackmail, his mouth hung open in a gormless grin.

[Marco] "Of course. I'll keep your outing a secret, and I'll hide the fact that you took the children from the containment zone."

The last thing she needed to check was whether he had any physical evidence. He had sounded so certain about the graves earlier that he seemed quite confident. She had cleaned up the aftermath meticulously, so finding anything in the graves should have been impossible.

[Odette] "By the way, I'm not sure what you mean by taking them out. I indeed visited the zone out of curiosity, but I never took the Fenrir children. They died in the disaster."

[Marco] "Don't feign ignorance. I heard it from the locomotive driver. He said he saw a veiled noblewoman going from the circus to the Fenrir containment zone on the final day of the Founding Festival. He saw her with three young children. Ah, don't worry—I killed that driver too."

[Odette] "And you're saying that woman was me?"

She felt a sharp prick of tension, but she kept a straight face.

[Marco] "That driver was a huge fan of Johan and hated you passionately. He said he recognized you just by your silhouette. Even with the veil and hat, he was certain it was you."

[Odette] "Is that all?"

She couldn't help but let out a laugh at the sheer absurdity.

Had he come to blackmail her without a single shred of clear evidence?

Just the testimony of a locomotive driver? And a witness he killed with his own hands?

[Marco] "Hey, now. Does evidence even matter? What matters is the fact that the Count might punish you severely. This time, His Excellency might even whip your calves."

As she thought, this man had no idea how dire the consequences of her outing truly were.

Whip my calves?

If my father found out I visited that zone, he'd bury me alive in some secret spot immediately. Then he'd make it look like his daughter had died of an illness after a period of seclusion.

[Odette] "What is it you want from me?"

Whatever he wanted was likely trivial.

[Marco] "This is my first time attending the social season. I want to save some face, so you'll have to dance with me several times in a row today."

See?

That was the extent of his small-minded thinking. A spoiled daughter who snuck out against her father's orders. An order to "dance with me if you don't want to get in trouble."

The blackmailer was even more pathetic than she had anticipated, and a dry chuckle escaped her.

[Odette] "You killed a driver just because you wanted to ask for that?"

[Marco] "I told you. I'm doing this for your sake. That's why I'm hiding your secret from the Count and why I killed the driver for you."

Indeed, how ridiculous.

[Marco] "My demand is quite light compared to that, isn't it? Just cast aside that mask of a haughty villainess and dance with me. It's a simple task—using your reputation as a villainess to bolster my status."

[Odette] "The reputation of a villainess, you say."

She savored the words as if they were a dark joke.

The reason she was currently called the "Empire's Greatest Villainess" was that she received an astronomical amount of money as a Purifier but had never performed a single purification. On top of that, there were rumors of her extreme cruelty.

She was essentially at the level of a "socialite villainess." People cursed and criticized her behind her back, yet she remained an object of envy. The proof was that commoners gossiped about her while gossip rags sold ten times more copies when her face was on the cover. Young noblewomen even mimicked her when she wore something as simple as a candy wrapper.

This man clearly didn't know what a "real villainess' reputation" was like. The kind of reputation where every citizen of the Empire wanted to hang her from a gallows with one mind.

If she were actually that kind of villainess, this potato bastard wouldn't dare blackmail her without evidence.

Dancing with him wouldn't be that big of a deal.

In fact, if he had requested a dance politely, she might have even agreed.

But I know the nature of blackmailers.

There was no way a man who had committed murder would stop at such a trivial request. Furthermore, he was her father's right hand and Ferdinand's supporter. That meant he was skilled in all sorts of dirty work.

Did he think she hadn't met a blackmailer or two while she was crawling through the mud with a pack of beggars in her previous life?

An initial demand always starts simple. It's small enough to make the victim think, "It's not a big deal, maybe I should just do it?"

And in the end, it turns them into a slave.

Therefore, she had no choice but to deal with him with everything she had from the very first demand.

[Odette] "Corporal Marco."

There was a fountain below.

She sat lightly on the railing, out of his line of sight, and offered a smile. The C-class potato stared at her face as if entranced.

[Odette] "There's one secret you don't know. Shall I tell you?"

She spoke as she lightly tugged on his tie. His mouth stretched into a wide grin. He seemed to be expecting something else entirely, his face turning as red as a burning potato.

[Marco] "Please, tell me, My Lady."

[Odette] "The truth is, I'm not actually that afraid of my father."

[Marco] "That can't be right. Don't try to act tough—"

[Odette] "And there's one more thing you don't know. You blundering idiot."

[Marco] "What?"

His eyes grew wide at the sudden shift to informal speech and the insult.

[Odette] "I'm actually a rather gifted actress, you know. Especially when it comes to acting in real-life situations."

[Marco] "What are you talking about all of a sudden—"

What do you think? I'm saying you're finished.

She took a deep, filling breath, and then—

[Odette] "Aaaaaah! Please, stop this!"

She screamed so loudly it seemed the entire banquet hall would come apart.

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