KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 18
- 13 hours ago
- 6 min read
With her brown hair and glasses, Charlotte failed to recognize her as Odette.
Charlotte wore a highly familiar expression. A smile masquerading as boundless humility. An expression designed to render anyone defenseless, radiating absolute harmlessness.
While others remained ignorant, Han Suwan knew the truth. Han Songyi reached her peak arrogance when wearing that exact expression.
[Charlotte] "May the grace of God be with you!"
She shouted the blessing and tossed chocolates and a single silver coin over Odette's head. The items struck her crown with a sharp clack before hitting the ground.
Odette flinched reflexively from the sting. Misinterpreting the reaction, Charlotte spoke with a voice dripping with pity.
[Charlotte] "Don't cower! I will pray for you to become like me."
[Odette] "......."
[Charlotte] "Please, be happy!"
Her habits, her smile, her tone—they are absolutely identical.......
The carriage and procession swept past her, exiting the bridge. Only the retreating figure of her light pink hair whipping in the autumn wind remained visible.
The spectators left in the parade's wake wore exhausted expressions from the aggressive security.
Melted, crushed chocolates littered the ground, staining the bridge.
She turned her back to the departed procession, facing the exact opposite direction of the carriage's path.
The Grand Cathedral, Charlotte's point of departure, served as her current destination.
She directed her steps toward the cathedral.
Charlotte and Odette couldn't coexist in this world.
If her hypothesis regarding Charlotte's identity proved correct, Charlotte would attempt to kill her.
Naturally, she harbored zero intention of letting Charlotte live in peace.
Han Suwan owed a massive debt to the Han Songyi, who had thoroughly exploited and ultimately killed her.
Did she pray for my happiness?
[Odette] "That is what I intend to do, Charlotte. I will be unequivocally happy in this life."
Right after I shatter your happiness into a thousand pieces.
A small chapel on the first floor of the Grand Cathedral.
Rolf sat nearest to the small window on the right wall, staring bitterly at the scenery outside.
Those wretched rose petals and confetti rained through the air all day.
Just how much does all of that cost?
Would I have donated if I knew they would waste it on endless showers of paper?
That is the Albrecht estate's hard-earned money......!
Every single piece of confetti fluttering uselessly in the wind represented raw gold to Rolf.
The agonizing realization that the massive bribe paid to enter the Grand Cathedral funded this frivolous display nearly drove him to tears.
Barzeha operated as a devout nation. While temples dotted every corner of the Empire, the Grand Cathedral existed on an entirely different level.
Unlike ordinary temples open to any faithful citizen, the Grand Cathedral restricted access exclusively to the Pope, the High Priests, the Saintess, and the assistant priests granted explicit papal permission.
Even ordinary priests and the Emperor required the Pope's clearance to enter the sacred grounds. This absolute strictness only amplified the public's desperate desire to visit.
Devout believers considered stepping inside the Grand Cathedral just once in their lives an ultimate dream.
The Pope understood this fervent aspiration better than anyone. Consequently, he announced a special decree for this Victory Day: he would open the cathedral doors to the 'ten most devout believers.'
The decree applied equally to priests and laypeople. Regardless of whether their status belonged to the commonry, the nobility, or the imperial family. Deep faith served as the sole requirement for entry.
Opening the Grand Cathedral to commoner believers marked an unprecedented event in history.
He even proclaimed that one individual among the ten would receive the supreme honor of standing in the front row of the candlelight service beside Charlotte.
The Victory Day candlelight service utilized the sacred flame perpetually preserved within the Grand Cathedral.
Merely attending the service constituted a once-in-a-lifetime glory for any believer, let alone standing beside the Saintess.
The structure practically forced the zealots to empty their pockets in a frenzy of donations.
The problem lies in proving that faith with money. What a disgustingly corrupt, worldly institution.
Rolf clicked his tongue.
The Pope never stated it explicitly, but anyone familiar with the Temple's mechanics understood the reality. The 'faith' the Pope championed equated purely to the volume of donations.
In the end, they evaluated me as the citizen with the highest faith. It proves they ranked us by our financial contributions.
He secured his place among the ten permitted to enter the Grand Cathedral and claimed the title of the 'sole believer' to stand beside the Saintess in the front row. He poured a staggering sum of blind money to secure the spot.
Naturally, it was not his personal wealth. He drained the Count's assets for the endeavor.
[Ulrich] "Recruit the Purifier by any means necessary, Rolf. Spend whatever it takes, but manufacture an opportunity for me to speak properly with the girl!"
Recalling that tyrannical command made his chest tighten with dread.
Who in their right mind would accept Count Albrecht's sponsorship right now?
The Count clearly lacked the capacity to view the situation objectively.
During the peak of his pristine reputation, everyone craved the Albrecht family's backing.
Now, even destitute painters and composers shook their heads in disgust at the mere mention of the Albrecht name.
Therefore, the Empire's sole Purifier, currently basking in absolute adulation, possessed zero reason to desire such sponsorship.
Furthermore, the Count's ultimate objective is to adopt her.
Aristocrats lined up to adopt Purifiers born as commoners or slaves, regardless of their low ranks.
And she is an A-class Purifier.
Count Albrecht clung to the delusion that her unadopted status meant the Albrecht house still harbored a chance.
However, Rolf concluded that Charlotte remained unadopted simply because her standards for selecting a family were exceptionally high.
The families that proposed adoption to her all belonged to the minor or provincial nobility.
This resulted from the quiet rumors circulating about the Brentano Duke's daughter despising Charlotte. High-ranking nobles lay low, terrified of crossing the Ducal house by adopting the Purifier.
But that atmosphere would inevitably shatter. The Brentano Duke's daughter aggressively hindered the high nobility, but the Pope entrusting Charlotte to officiate the Victory Day functioned as a public declaration of her absolute value.
Starting today, a massive faction of zealous believers devoted to the Grand Cathedral would rally behind her.
Consequently, why would Charlotte, riding a meteoric rise to power, ever choose the disgraced Albrecht house?
Rolf argued repeatedly that they were just hemorrhaging gold, but the Count remained inflexible.
[Ulrich] "The Albrecht house is already cornered. We must attempt this, regardless of the abysmal odds."
The Count transferred complete control of the estate's finances and personnel to Rolf. It was the absolute authority once wielded by Mrs. Becker.
It served as a brutal pressure tactic: drain the entire treasury if necessary, but secure a meeting with Charlotte.
The sweet taste of authority compelled him to obey the Count for now.
But managing the ledgers daily amplified his agony over the wasted funds. He understood the exact, disastrous state of the Albrecht finances.
Just two years ago, this level of donation wouldn't even dent the Albrecht treasury.
Squandering gold on a futile endeavor when every single coin mattered twisted his stomach into knots.
Realizing that the massive sum had mutated into the confetti and rose petals raining down outside, left him feeling utterly hollow.
Right then. With a sharp rattle and a thud, the window on the exact opposite side of the chapel slid open.
A gust of wind rushed past his back. Before he could register his shock, the candles illuminating the chapel extinguished simultaneously.
[Rolf] "What the......?"
The chapel housed only a couple of small windows. Consequently, the loss of candlelight plunged the interior into absolute darkness.
A startled Rolf scrambled to his feet.
The distinct creak of the chapel door opening echoed through the silence.
[Rolf] "Who is it? Who's there?"
While he flailed in the dark, the heavy thud of the door closing locked him in.
The rhythmic click of approaching footsteps followed.
Engulfed in tension, Rolf narrowed his eyes and swallowed dryly.
However, his fear proved unfounded. The intruder stepping into the chapel was a petite woman shrouded in a cloak.
Bypassing the abundance of empty pews, she specifically claimed a seat on his bench.
The long bench offered substantial distance, ensuring her facial features remained obscured in the dark. He could only deduce she was a young woman.
I panicked over nothing.
He felt a flush of embarrassment for his dramatic reaction to a simple visitor. His confidence grew as he deduced the woman's identity.
Only one young woman possesses the authority to roam the Grand Cathedral freely.......
He had already sent Charlotte a letter stating he would wait in the small chapel all day, begging for an audience.
Clearing his throat, he asked with swelling anticipation.
[Rolf] "Are you...... Lady Charlotte?"
[Odette] "......."
The woman's silence caused him to tilt his head.
The High Priests included no young women. Was she an assistant priest handling menial tasks for the cathedral?
[Rolf] "Are you perhaps...... an assistant priest?"
While he puzzled over her identity, his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness.
The moment he recognized the undeniable familiarity of her face, the corners of the woman's mouth curled into a sharp smirk.
[Odette] "It's been a while, hasn't it? Rolf."
A voice as clear as a flute echoed through the chapel. Rolf nearly lost his mind on the spot.
An intimately familiar voice he could never forget. The voice of a person who should be dead.
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