KFBRV Ch 85

The scene mirrored the coachman's testimony with haunting accuracy.

[Ulrich] "Is that woman—no, is the child alive?"

He corrected himself mid-sentence, catching the suspicious glint in his servant's eye. Too many witnesses stood present to allow his usual disdain to slip.

[Ferdinand] "Odette! Odette!"

Ferdinand sprinted to her side and struck her back with a heavy hand.

[Odette] "Cough! Hack!"

Water surged from her lungs, and Ferdinand let out a jagged breath of relief. He hoisted her onto his back without a second thought.

Ulrich, too, allowed a momentary sigh of relief at her survival.

[Ulrich] "Ferdinand, bring her to my office. And Rolf! Find Paula immediately!"

Obsessed with the girl's condition, he failed to notice a figure perched atop the high stone walls of the estate, watching his every move with a rifle in hand.

[Karl] "Those are not the eyes of a man cherishing his offspring."

He murmured the words in a flat, gravelly tone.

He had lingered to intercept the hounds before they could tear into Odette, which delayed his departure. It would be inconvenient if the woman he intended to use for his vengeance perished so prematurely.

[Karl] "The Count must die eventually. Perhaps I should end him now?"

Ulrich was an enemy of the Fenrir, and the destruction of the Albrecht house remained the only way to eliminate the berserk suppressants.

His knuckles whitened as he gripped his weapon, a murderous intent igniting in his crimson eyes.

[Odette] “Go now. If you complete this task well, I shall grant you another wish.”

The memory of her voice gave him pause.

It was strange. His status as her slave was merely a tactical necessity for his revenge; he owed her no real obedience. He knew the Fenrir must always come first. Yet, her voice acted as a physical tether, forcing the tension from his hands.

[Karl] "Fine. I can kill him at any time."

He turned to leap from the wall, but his movement faltered. He glanced back at Odette one last time.

He had looked at a woman this way once before—years ago, in the gardens of the Imperial Palace, before the fall of the Fenrir Kingdom. A girl had sat buried in a sea of lace under a brilliant blue sky. She held a bird the color of her own eyes upon her finger, whistling soft, careful notes.

In his life as a predator on the battlefield, Karl had never looked back. That moment in the garden was the singular exception—the only time he had turned his head because he desired to see something again.

That image had burned into his mind with inexplicable permanence. Now and then, that memory surfaced without warning, just as it did now.

It was her again. At the end of his gaze, there she was.

[Karl] "......"

A subtle ripple disturbed the stillness of his heart. He wondered at the nature of this sensation, but he had no time for idle curiosity. His orders took precedence.

The flicker of emotion died as quickly as it had appeared. Karl departed the wall without a trace of lingering attachment.

Behind him, Ulrich's voice roared through the estate.

[Ulrich] "Seize Paula and drag her to my office! I do not care what state she is in as long as she breathes. Beat her if you must, but bring her to me!"

---

Slap!

The head maid, Doly, struck her cheek to rouse her. Odette opened her eyes slowly, feigning disorientation.

[Odette] "Mmm? Where......?"

[Doly] "Wake up, my Lady!"

In truth, she had remained conscious from the moment she collapsed by the pond. She had even exchanged a subtle nod with Lize in the hallway before entering the office.

Lize had signaled that everything was in place—the dungeon key was stashed on Sasha's person, and the maids had been primed to testify against Paula.

[Ulrich] "......Are you awake?"

[Odette] "Yes...... Father."

[Ulrich] "Then get on your knees."

She pulled herself from the sofa and knelt on the floor.

Her father kept his eyes fixed on the documents atop his desk. Those papers undoubtedly contained the gathered testimonies of the coachman and the maids.

Paula had spent her days grumbling to the servants about Karl's arrival. While her complaints weren't entirely baseless given the estate's crumbling finances, only she possessed the arrogance to badmouth her masters so openly.

She had treated her fellow servants like emotional garbage bins, never imagining they might harbor their own grudges.

Lize had merely nudged those resentful maids, encouraging them to speak the "truth" about Paula's constant vitriol.

[Ulrich] "This insolent brat—"

He looked up from his papers and froze. In the light of the office, Odette looked like a walking corpse.

[Ulrich] "A disaster. You look like a total disaster."

Her white dress was soaked in blood, which had smeared and blossomed into grotesque patterns after the dip in the pond. Even a sociopath like Ulrich couldn't help but recoil at such a macabre sight.

Ordinarily, he would have ground his heel into her hand to vent his frustrations, but her current state forced a rare moment of restraint. He merely sighed.

[Ulrich] "Odette, tell me everything that happened today. Every detail. Do not leave a single thing out."

[Odette] "Father."

[Ulrich] "If you omit a single word, I will beat you senseless and throw you into the dungeon."

He gripped the hunting rifle resting on his desk. He meant it; the butt of that gun would be the reward for any perceived lies.

But she was not his target today. His rage stemmed from Karl's disappearance, and he was already convinced of Paula's guilt. He was only threatening Odette to ensure her testimony provided the final nail in the maid's coffin.

[Ulrich] "Speak now!"

[Odette] "I...... I don't understand how this happened, Father."

She shook her head with a frail, bewildered air.

[Odette] "I was in the carriage with Paula when a strange scent filled the air. I lost consciousness...... When I woke, she was whipping me by the pond."

[Ulrich] "And then?"

[Odette] "After the beating, she pushed me into the water and told me to die. I tried to fight back, but my limbs felt like lead."

[Ulrich] "......Go on."

[Odette] "I thrashed, but the water flooded my nose and mouth. I couldn't breathe. I screamed for help, but she ignored me and ran toward the entrance of the villa's dungeon. I thought I was dead, but then I woke up here. ......That is all I know, Father."

[Ulrich] "Is that all? Did she say nothing else?"

She hesitated, letting the silence stretch for a perfect, dramatic beat.

[Odette] "......I think I heard her say something just before I passed out. She said that since I was dead, she only needed to clear Karl from the mansion now."

Ferdinand, standing nearby, spat out a curse.

[Ferdinand] "That wretched bitch......"

[Odette] "I have no memory after that. I am sorry, Father."

[Ferdinand] "Karl likely fled over the wall. We found the carcasses of the hounds and footprints nearby. The trail vanished once it hit the outer perimeter."

[Ulrich] "Damn it!"

He slammed his fist onto the desk. A servant knocked and entered with a report.

[Servant] "Master! We found the sleeping incense in the carriage, exactly as the coachman described."

The trap was closed. With the incense found and the testimonies of the coachman, the maids, and Odette aligning perfectly, Ulrich and Ferdinand had no choice but to believe the lie.

Prev

TOC

Next

---

To support the original author and publisher, please consider rating the official release on Kakaopage.