KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 31

[Odette] "What...?"

Shocked by the identity of the person embracing her, she struggled to break free from his arms.

Johan, however, refused to release her. Instead, he tightened his grip, pulling her deeper into his chest.

She twisted her body, straining against him.

[Johan] "Wait, Odette. Please, just a moment."

His voice shook as he pleaded. Her arms stilled at the raw desperation in his tone.

[Johan] "......A moment is all I need. Please, endure it for just a moment."

That voice sparked a question in her mind—a suspicion that had gnawed at her throughout the relentless pursuit of this life.

---

Having successfully hidden in an alleyway, she let out a hollow laugh.

[Odette] "I’m repeating this cursed chase yet again."

All the agonizing effort she had poured into avoiding this hunt felt wasted.

The repetition itself was wretched, but this life’s pursuit proved significantly more difficult than the last.

Cornered more frequently, she had no room to breathe. The only mercy was that only Viktor pursued her with such ferocity.

Why is that man hunting me so relentlessly?

Odette felt a surge of resentment. She had struggled to reset everyone's loathing to zero, yet she saw no reward for her labor.

Viktor...... that man, every single time......

No matter where she fled, a tightening noose of blockades closed in on her. Every day felt like a breaking point.

Under extreme pressure, humans instinctively choose familiar paths. Odette was no different.

As exhaustion set in, she gravitated toward the escape routes that had worked in her previous life.

This meant she relied on the same people who had helped her before. These individuals, who had extended a hand even when everyone hated her, showed her the same kindness in this life.

Initially, she felt nothing but gratitude, but eventually, a sense of wrongness took hold.

The first seed of suspicion took root with an innkeeper in a suburban village. In her previous life, this woman had found Odette collapsed and injured, hiding and nursing her for weeks in a vacant room.

In this life, the hospitality remained the same.

[Innkeeper] "I don't know your circumstances, but stay as long as you like. We have plenty of empty rooms."

The innkeeper had an exotic complexion. In the previous life, she claimed to be from a small island across the sea, staying in Barzeha illegally without a permit.

She had assured Odette that since her own presence was a crime, she couldn't report a fugitive even if she wanted to.

[Innkeeper] "It’s good since we don't have many guests."

It was a small, cozy wooden inn. The suburban village was secluded, far from any tourist attractions, so guests were rare.

The room she provided, described in halting Barzeha, was identical to the one Odette had occupied before.

She is still a kind-hearted soul. I feel guilty for imposing twice, but I’m glad she’s here.

However, this life held a discrepancy. In the dead of night, Odette woke up, parched.

I should mind my footsteps so I don't wake her.

She stepped out and approached the wooden staircase. As she gripped the railing, a conversation drifted up from the lower floor.

[Innkeeper] "Yes. Inform His Highness that she arrived safely at our base."

The innkeeper’s Barzeha was perfect. The pronunciation and intonation were flawless. Furthermore, her words were chilling.

His Highness? Base?

She froze, holding her breath.

[Aide] "Understood. I will pass it along. Sigh...... It’s a relief Lady Odette came here."

The man's voice was familiar. She had heard it on Athena Island.

It was the voice of the Crown Prince’s aide—the B-class Transcendent who had fulfilled her request to find Charlotte.

The implication hit her instantly. Goosebumps erupted across her skin.

She managed to retreat to her room without being discovered. At dawn, she fled the inn, leaving behind a letter that feigned nothing but gratitude.

The inn was a trap. If I had stayed, Johan would have dragged me away.

At the time, she believed she had narrowly escaped a trap set by him in both lives. She thought she had simply left before he arrived.

---

But after the incident at the inn, her heightened senses revealed the pattern again and again.

At a private tutor’s residence, at a small convent, whenever she sought help from someone who had assisted her in the past, Johan’s aide appeared or contacted him.

What... what is this?

Looking back, it was bizarre.

She had spent two years on the run in her previous life, yet only Viktor ever caught her. Strangely, whenever Johan was involved, she always spotted him first.

Whether she was about to cross a bridge with rotting ropes, walk into a dark alleyway, or tread a mountain path infested with bandits, Johan always stood at the end of the dangerous route. He always faced away from her.

How had she managed to spot him first every single time?

Why did he never notice her?

And finally... why did he always wear his conspicuous, brilliant white uniform?

A pursuer should hide as much as the pursued.

If he wanted to catch her, he should have remained hidden. Instead, he stood out like a beacon, as if his sole purpose was to draw her eye. As if his entire body served as a warning.

Because he worried about me?

In this life, that explanation made sense. She had already saddled him with a debt of guilt and sympathy.

She viewed his decree regarding the Crown Princess title as an extension of that guilt. The decree specifically stated there was no need for marriage.

He felt guilty for being cold to a real Purifier, guilty for his past hatred.

She believed it was an impulsive decree born from his inability to handle the weight of her "suicide."

But how does that explain the previous life?

In the previous life, Johan endured agony worse than death for over six months. Because the Count refused to provide purification, Johan eventually had to gouge out his own eye.

It doesn't make sense. Our relationship was horrific. I still remember the resentment you spat at me in that prison.

What could he possibly have been thinking to help her?

Because of these questions, her hands were not as cold as they should have been as she tried to push him away.

[Odette] "......Your Highness. I can't breathe."

She could only manage those few words.

[Johan] "I'm sorry, Odette. Please, please, just a little longer......"

His voice sounded like a man who had been drowning and had finally found air.

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