KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 7
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
[Odette] "Karin, you'll get hurt. Come slowly."
She tried to dissuade Karin, but slowing down was impossible.
Karin's legs, trembling with a mix of euphoric relief and profound anxiety, sprinted of their own accord.
However, the joy illuminating her face warped into horror as she drew closer to Odette.
[Karin] "H-How can you be standing out here in this cold without an umbrella? You'll catch your death!"
Odette stood there, enduring the torrential downpour with nothing but a thin hood pulled tightly over her head.
It was a winter rain so frigid that stepping into the garden for even a moment turned one's lips blue. The raindrops splashing against her legs as she ran felt like shards of ice.
[Karin] "Just how long have you been standing in the rain?"
Whether Odette had been standing in that freezing downpour endlessly or not, just standing near her made Karin feel the chill radiating from her body.
Odette must have waited for her to come out for quite some time. If only the iron gate weren't blocking the way.
She agonized over the fact that she couldn't share her umbrella with Odette.
I should have worn a shawl. I could have passed it to her.
[Odette] "I was worried. I feared you might be drowning in unnecessary grief."
Oblivious to Karin's turmoil, she spoke with a flat, unassuming tone.
[Karin] "Unnecessary grief...... you say?"
Is there a way to hand her the umbrella?
Karin, who had been inspecting the iron gate, paused at her words.
[Odette] "That's why I felt I had to let you know I was alive. More honestly...... I wanted to tell you. I didn't want to lie to you, Karin."
Karin tried to comprehend the sentiment logically. Odette was actually alive, so mourning someone who wasn't dead could indeed be considered 'unnecessary grief.'
But why? Odette's tone didn't convey that meaning. It felt more like she was saying her grief was unnecessary because Odette herself was an unnecessary existence.
No. Don't overthink it. She is alive and well. Moreover, she's speaking so resolutely.
She should have been immensely relieved....... So why did she feel this suffocating anxiety?
While Karin floundered in confusion, Odette offered a farewell. Crisp and gentle.
[Odette] "That was my only business here. I will be going now."
[Karin] "Odette!"
[Odette] "Take care, Karin. And...... please, stay healthy."
As Odette turned away, Karin realized the true nature of the anxiety she had been feeling.
It was because Odette's demeanor was excessively resolute.
Why isn't she asking me for a single favor?
Shouldn't she ask to keep her visit a secret, or at least ask for help to escape the rain in the estate for a moment?
They had finally met after she waited in the freezing rain. With a body as cold as ice, the least she could do was ask to borrow an umbrella.
Her attitude carried a familiar, lingering resignation. A steadfast conviction that absolutely no one would help her.
Did she even know? That acting so 'excessively' resolute made her look even more precarious. That it practically tortured the person watching her.
Odette. Is there anyone at all who will help you?
Karin herself had experienced times when she desperately needed help. The Brentano family had also faced the threat of annihilation.
During those nightmarish times, she had repeatedly pleaded for help from people she trusted. Naturally, she had experienced betrayal.
She had been ignored by people she believed without a doubt would help her.
But despite all that, she had never once surrendered to resignation. She had never believed that absolutely no one would help her.
Because she always had someone by her side.
Retainers, maids, cousins. People were willing to risk their lives and brave any danger to aid her.
Therefore.......
Odette was completely alone. For so long that she genuinely believes no one will ever help her.
Realizing this truth filled Karin with an unbearable sorrow. The sudden conviction that she must not let the departing Odette go seized her.
She reached through the bars of the gate and seized the wrist of the retreating Odette.
[Karin] "Wait a moment!!"
[Odette] "......Yes?"
The umbrella Karin held clattered to the ground. The rain continued to pour relentlessly.
The cold felt as if it would freeze her entire body, but she felt no desire to retrieve the umbrella.
Facing Odette, who had turned back, she poured out her desperate plea.
[Karin] "The gardener's position at my villa is vacant! The Gottsched Villa is highly secluded; no one besides my people is allowed entry. The staff is all extremely tight-lipped. They are the same people who stayed with me even when the Dukedom faced ruin. The gardener's quarters are especially isolated, and......."
The words spilled out in a chaotic jumble. For someone who usually chose her vocabulary with meticulous care, this was her first time babbling so incoherently.
But if I lose Odette now, she will definitely vanish into an even lonelier hiding place.
The wrist she gripped was as terrifyingly cold as ice. That sensation only solidified her resolve that she absolutely couldn't let go.
[Karin] "Since you'd be a person I brought in, no one will question your presence. Even if your identity isn't clear, no one will raise any doubts."
So please, let my heart reach you.
Did Karin's desperation get through? Or was this girl always this kind?
Odette listened patiently to Karin's frantic, stumbling proposal until the very end.
[Karin] "So, what I mean is....... If you have nowhere to hide, I will hide you there. It doesn't matter when, and it doesn't matter for how long. As long as you need it, Odette."
Even after she finished speaking, Odette offered no response.
[Karin] "......."
Did I make a mistake?
Just as she began to worry, Odette offered a faint smile.
[Odette] "Thank you. Karin."
As if to soothe Karin's anxiety.
[Karin] "Odet—"
[Odette] "I will remember your offer."
Saying she will remember it means...... she doesn't intend to stay right now.
Understanding the underlying rejection, Karin had no choice but to weakly release Odette's wrist.
[Odette] "Thank you so much."
With that heartfelt emphasis, Odette departed the scene.
About a year later, Odette sought Karin out once more with her entire body battered and bruised.
Karin asked absolutely no questions and willingly offered the cabin at the Gottsched Villa.
The very cabin she had personally swept and scrubbed in the faint hope that Odette might one day arrive.
Side Story 5. Viktor's POV
A place where the impoverished and the diseased congregate. An underworld saturated with hostility and malice.
This was the environment where Viktor was born and raised. Compassion only made life more grueling; love only ensured your life went to hell.
A parent's love for their child, or a child's love for their parent, was merely a subject of mockery.
Alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and gambling enriched one's life.
Expecting salvation from humans who might betray you at any second was a delusion reserved for the absolute fools.
Didn't Viktor understand the hideous nature of humanity better than anyone? How utterly powerless concepts like trust and morality were against greed and lust.
Did you know the common trait among humans who plummet to rock bottom? A woman who loved a man, a child who loved their parents, a commoner who loved a noble.
The fatal flaw was loving others too much and giving everything away without hesitation. Completely oblivious to their own vulnerability.
The lesson the gutter imparted was crystal clear. Go ahead, trust and love a human being. See where you end up.
Viktor had zero intention of becoming like those pathetic wretches. Like the fools who babbled about how happy they were to have loved, even as they sank into the mire.
However.......
[Odette] "Thank you for saving me, Colonel König."
Perhaps being a fool would have been vastly preferable.
If he had been, he might have orchestrated a much better first encounter with her.
To support the original author and publisher, please consider rating the official release on Kakaopage.
Comments