KFBRV Ch 82
- Feb 20
- 6 min read
She opened her eyes to find herself in a cavernous bedroom. Bear furs draped the stone walls, their glass eyes staring into the void.
Where am I?
She turned, her gaze landing on a massive window. Beyond the glass, endless snowy fields stretched into the horizon, swallowed by a relentless blizzard.
[Odette] "Is this...... inside the Royal Palace of the Fenrir Kingdom?"
She traced the rough-hewn stone of the walls. Despite her thin dress, the biting chill of the north failed to reach her. She existed within a memory, a phantom in a frozen dream.
A woman's desperate cry pierced the silence of the room.
[Skadi] "Please, please. You must listen to me! I have never asked for anything like this before."
She turned toward the sound. A woman, draped in the finery of a queen, knelt on the floor. Tears tracked through her pale face as she pleaded with a man standing over her.
[King] "Calm yourself. Karl is merely a child."
Karl?
Only then did she notice the small cradle in the center of the room. Inside lay an infant. The baby stared upward with a vacant, mechanical expression. It wasn't simply calm; it was a profound absence of emotion.
The Queen pointed a trembling finger at the child, her face twisted with revulsion.
[Skadi] "I knew it from the moment he quickened in my womb. That child... he is wrong. He terrifies me. Something is broken inside him. He is macabre!"
[King] "Skadi."
[Skadi] "I carried him, so I know! His very existence is a curse. He will ruin our clan. Just as the oracle warned! That child is a living blight, ruin incarnate. I fear him more than the Great Catastrophe! So please, please......"
[King] "......He was born with a power that eclipses my own. I have never seen eyes so crimson. Even if I granted your request, I doubt I could defeat him."
His voice lacked its former edge, softening with a heavy resignation.
[Skadi] "But you are still stronger for now. You must kill it before it grows. You are the Chieftain; no one else can make this choice."
Odette gasped, reaching out toward the Queen.
[Odette] "Wait! That is too cruel!"
Neither reacted. Her voice didn't reach them; her form remained invisible. This was a fragment of the past, a memory projected by the system.
[King] "......It is impossible. Even if I exhausted my entire strength, that infant would likely prevail. It is already too late. I should have ended him the moment he drew breath."
The King sounded hollow. Skadi's face drained of all color, turning a sickly grey.
[King] "Skadi, I feel it too. That child...... his existence is an anomaly. He is less a human and more a living weapon."
[Skadi] "Then... what about the 'Command'? The power of the wolf includes authority. Can you not plant a command within him?"
[King] "Skadi......"
He let out a pained groan. Hope flickered in the Queen's eyes, brightening her features.
[Skadi] "What if you engrave a command? If he was born a weapon, then we must make him a weapon that protects the Fenrir!"
[King] "......"
[Skadi] "The boy has no emotions. He won't even think to resist."
Even as she suggested it, the Queen shuddered as if the idea itself was loathsome.
The crowned King walked slowly toward the cradle. He placed his palm over the infant's eyes. The baby, who had been staring at nothing, did not even flinch as his father's hand obscured his vision.
[King] "You shall become...... a weapon for the Fenrir."
The King's eyes ignited with a brilliant, bloody light. His voice resonated with a low, vibrating power. The very air hummed in response to his authority.
[King] "Prioritize the Fenrir clan above your own life. Grow as the living blade of our people, and exist only to fulfill that duty. Stake your life for the fallen Fenrir, and sacrifice your future for the young. Hold even the smallest pebble of this kingdom more precious than your own soul."
Odette held her breath as the weight of the command settled over the room.
[King] "Your heart, your flesh—devote every fiber of your being to the protection of the Fenrir. If anything attacks this kingdom, offer yourself to annihilate it. Your sole value lies in the destruction of Fenrir's enemies."
In that moment, his voice took on a darker tone.
[King] "If your overwhelming strength cannot kill the threat, you shall capture it instead. Should you fail in this, you will know only a hellish despair."
The infant, whose eyes glowed with the same crimson hue as his father's, suddenly shifted his gaze. He looked directly at the spot where Odette stood.
He shouldn't be able to see me.
Yet, their eyes locked with unnerving precision. Like a sensitive predator, the child had detected her presence.
The vision dissolved, and the world rushed back.
Odette checked the clock on the hut wall. Only a single second had passed. Pink status windows cascaded before her eyes.
[Karl's Actual Loathing History]
[Initial Loathing: 0]
[Current Loathing: 0]
[All detected changes in Loathing: 0]
Not a single red window remained. Everything glowed a soft, pale pink.
Every Loathing notification I saw...... was a fabrication?
[The 'Loathing' values were virtual figures, displayed under the assumption that Karl could feel emotion.]
[Karl is almost entirely incapable of feeling emotion.]
The vision had revealed the truth. Karl didn't seek revenge against the Empire out of a personal vendetta or hatred. He was executing his father's command like a machine programmed to protect the Fenrir.
She faced him, her voice cold and commanding.
[Odette] "Karl, I have no plan to die. Suicide will never be an option for me. So, stop being insolent and take your hands off my wrists."
He immediately released his grip.
[Karl] "It was a joke, Master. I have already imprinted on you; I couldn't use physical force against you even if I wished to."
He talks a big game. Especially after radiating such suffocating pressure.
That killing intent had vanished entirely now.
[King] “If your overwhelming strength cannot kill the threat, you shall capture it instead.”
If Karl decided he needed to "capture" her, his intimidation would vanish instantly. That, too, was likely the result of his father's Command.
I'll deal with Karl's truth later. For now, I must finish cleaning up the Count's house.
She shifted the subject.
[Odette] "Oh, that reminds me. I heard the recovery of the Fenrir Kingdom's remains is nearly complete."
Interest sparked in his eyes the moment she dangled the bait.
[Odette] "I intended to hold a funeral on the scale of a state burial for a Fenrir hero, but if you continue to ignore my orders like this......"
She clicked her tongue. Only then did his eyes return to those of a submissive slave—polite and deferential.
[Karl] "I was wrong, Master. I will move immediately."
He dropped to one knee to offer his apology.
She rose to her feet.
[Odette] "Lift your head."
He obeyed, kneeling while looking up at her. She reached out and lightly gripped his throat.
[Odette] "Never make a joke like that again. Do not even think of grabbing my wrists like that a second time. This is the last time I overlook a slave's mistake."
[Karl] "Master."
[Odette] "If you slip up once more, I will discard you instantly. I loathe those who forget their place. I never give second chances."
His expression stiffened.
Unless she died, he had to seduce her and spirit her out of the Empire to fulfill his programming.
The threat of being discarded was a genuine horror to his mission. He knelt on both knees, bowing until his forehead nearly touched the floor.
[Karl] "I am sorry, Master. It was my mistake."
She looked down at him for a long moment before placing a hand on his shoulder, mimicking the encouraging gesture of a superior to a subordinate.
[Odette] "Good. Do not fail me again. Consider today's insolence forgiven, provided you follow my current orders perfectly."
[Karl] "Yes, Master."
[Odette] "Go now. If you complete this task well, I shall grant you another wish."
She waved him off, her voice thick with exhaustion.
He rose to leave. Before he stepped out of the hut, he looked back.
[Karl] "Meeting you is the greatest stroke of luck in my life."
He wore a smile so faint it was nearly imperceptible to the untrained eye.
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