KFBRV Ch 80
- Feb 19
- 5 min read
[Karl has entered a 20-meter radius.]
[Verifying Loathing levels...…]
[Specific Loathing details unavailable (Conditions unmet)]
[An increase in Loathing detected. (+5)]
Her lungs burned.
[Odette] "Cough, hack!"
[Karl] "Master, command me to save you immediately."
[Odette] "Cough, Karl......"
[Karl] "Hurry, Master."
[Odette] "Save me. Now. Cough, cough!"
She gasped out the command.
[Karl] "By your will."
As if he had been waiting for those exact words, he pulled her from the depths. For a heartbeat, the world blurred into a dark, freezing haze.
[Vanessa] "No one else saw it. No one else in that room saw the letter with their own eyes. Sasha read it aloud."
Her unwavering confidence swayed him. Ulrich began to believe her.
[Ulrich] "If what you say is true, Vanessa, then this is perfect. Nothing remains to stop me from removing that woman permanently."
He yanked the bell pull. Rolf appeared within moments, breathless.
[Ulrich] "Mrs. Becker has been falsely accused of theft. We shall uncover the truth. Gather every servant and maid in the Main Hall at once!"
Typically, the Count handled household disputes in the privacy of his study. Summoning the entire household to the Main Hall—a space reserved for high-ranking guests—signaled a deliberate escalation.
The staff understood the subtext immediately. Ulrich intended to humiliate the Countess before everyone.
Sasha had already lost her dignity when her son placed her under house arrest. Marriage usually meant shielding one another's flaws, but his actions served as a warning. He would never respect her as his wife again; he intended to crush her.
He stood at the head of the hall, his voice echoing.
[Ulrich] "I loathe those who use their rank to torment innocent subordinates. It disappoints me that such an act occurred while I was away."
The gatekeeper announced the Countess' arrival.
[Ulrich] "Excellent. Drag Sasha here immediately!"
He discarded her title entirely. By calling her "Sasha," he treated her like a common servant, a pointed jab at her commoner roots.
The servants, sensing the Count's intent, hauled the Countess in like a criminal and forced her to her knees.
Vanessa Becker stood beside the Count's seat, sobbing softly.
The hierarchy had inverted; looking at the room, one might wonder who the true mistress was.
[Sasha] "What is the meaning of this?"
[Ulrich] "The meaning? The innocent Mrs. Becker had to rot in a dungeon because you willed it. Do you find it unfair to kneel when you are the one at fault?"
[Sasha] "Ha! You are causing this insane scene because of her?"
[Ulrich] "I have heard the full story. You accused her without a single shred of evidence. You treated her like a common thief, shamed her publicly, and threw her into the dungeon. Your arrogance knows no bounds!"
[Sasha] "Framed? You believe the words of this... this maid over your own wife? You believe this thieving girl?"
[Ulrich] "Calling an innocent woman a thieving girl? Sasha, your tongue is vulgar. My staff informs me that not a single piece of jewelry appeared in her room!"
Doly, the head maid, stepped forward and knelt.
[Doly] "My Lord! That is not the case. I found something in Mrs. Becker's room today. Madam's diamond earrings were tucked away in her nightstand."
His eyes narrowed as he stared at the head maid.
Unobservant, insolent girl.
He looked at Vanessa. She gasped and scrambled down from her position near the seat.
[Vanessa] "My Lord, I am innocent! I never stole those earrings!"
She knelt beside the Countess, prostrating herself before Ulrich. She pointed a trembling finger at Doly.
[Vanessa] "The head maid is slandering me! I haven't touched those earrings! I would stake my life on it! The head maid must be working for someone else!"
Her voice rose in pitch.
[Vanessa] "Those earrings were still in the Countess' room the day I was dragged to the dungeon. Ask the other maids! Someone must remember seeing them!"
Doly flinched.
[Vanessa] "It's suspicious! Nothing appeared in my room for two weeks, yet they suddenly surfaced the moment the Count returned? Only a blind man would fail to see this frame-up!"
Her voice trembled with faux-emotion.
[Vanessa] "I may be a maid, but I have my honor. How could someone I served so devotedly treat me like—"
She trailed off into piteous sobs. Her gaunt face, a result of her recent "hardship," drew sympathy from the servants. Then, a maid raised her hand.
[Malea] "I... I remember. I did a final check of the Countess' outfit for the ball today...... She tried on those diamond earrings herself."
She was one of Sasha's confidantes; her words carried absolute weight. Sasha glared at her with betrayal, but Malea did not waver.
[Malea] "Those earrings were undeniably in the Countess' room as recently as this afternoon."
Other maids began to murmur in agreement.
Since Vanessa had been locked in the dungeon, she couldn't have moved the earrings. The evidence pointed toward a deliberate plan by the Countess herself.
[Vanessa] "Oh! My Lord, please, believe my innocence."
Vanessa cast a thankful look at Malea and burst into fresh tears.
[Sasha] "How dare that girl lie—"
[Ulrich] "Silence, Sasha!"
His roar cut her off.
[Ulrich] "You framed an innocent subordinate, and now you lie to my face? You create this disgusting mess in my mansion and feel no shame?"
Fury radiated from him. Silence smothered the hall.
No one dared take the Countess' side—not even the senior staff who had worked with her for years.
Karl carried Odette to a small hut. The mansion's gardens bled into a forest where a small shack stood. It had been abandoned for three years, ever since the Count killed the gardener who lived there.
He draped a blanket over her shoulders. She sat on the weathered floor before the fireplace, shivering. She accepted the blanket and wrapped it tightly around her.
[Odette] "Thank you."
Her stamina had always been poor. The shock of the cold water and the blood she had coughed up pushed her to her limit.
[Odette] "You don't need to look after me further. You may go. Follow my orders. You remember them, don't you?"
[Karl] "Escape the mansion immediately and meet the carriage waiting outside. I remember."
His crimson eyes lingered on her. He had likely stumbled upon her while heading for the forest.
[Odette] "Once you meet Goetz, he will take you to where the Fenrir children are. I have given him instructions. Follow his lead."
[Karl] "......"
[Odette] "You may stay with them until I summon you again."
For a man obsessed with the Fenrir, this should have been joyous news. Yet, he only stared at her, his gaze unreadable.
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