KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 86

The Count never loved Sasha, yet a crushing sense of betrayal washed over him. He had spent his life insulting her through endless affairs, but he never imagined she would insult him like this.

A master may keep many slaves, but a slave could never serve many masters. This was the imbalance of their relationship.

As an aristocrat, he ruled the commoners; as a husband, he ruled his wife. To him, even if they committed the same sin, his status made her crime far heavier.

Moreover, Sasha had mocked him for over twenty years. She smuggled her secret daughter into his house as a maid and forced him to pay that bastard's wages with his own money.

That lowly woman... she mocked and deceived me from the very start?

This was more than a blow to his pride. Had he known this truth sooner, the court never would have granted her such a massive alimony. The public wouldn't have beaten him so one-sidedly in the press.

[Ulrich] "Sashaaa!"

He let out a roar of fury. He intended to unleash a lion's cry filled with righteous anger, but his voice came out weak and hollow.

How dare you bring a bastard into my house as a maid?

The words he meant to scream caught in his throat.

[Ulrich] "Cough! Hack!"

Simply shouting her name triggered a violent, dry cough.

What is this?

As the coughing continued, the Count realized his body felt wrong. He remembered the bizarre nightmare he had right before waking—a dream where he became a peach, and someone ate him.

Is my throat raw because I screamed so much in the dream?

His breath came in sharp, metallic wheezes. While he struggled for air, the argument between Sasha and Paula grew more heated. His desperate shout clearly hadn't even reached their ears.

[Sasha] "How can you lie with such a shameless face? It's more than chilling; it's disgusting!"

She shuddered as she spoke.

While she owned that blue diamond, she had it appraised by experts numerous times. Checking the market price of her gems was once her only joy. She was certain she had received the real gem.

[Paula] "Look who's talking! You're the disgusting one, clinging to me just because I'm becoming a noble. You threw away your child just so you could be a Countess, and now you're jealous because your child is the one rising?"

Paula felt the same fury. The idea that she had swapped the ring was absurd. Since receiving it, she had guarded it with her life.

She never lowered her guard, even in the guest rooms of the Köndel estate. She locked her jewelry box behind multiple locks and changed its hiding spot every night. She never let the maids touch it while cleaning.

[Sasha] "If you were going to act like this, you shouldn't have given it at all. I am so disappointed. Fine. I don't want to argue anymore. Just hand over the ring."

Even in her excitement, Sasha carefully avoided words that might reveal their relationship to others.

Paula, however, used the word "child" without hesitation, despite the many ears nearby.

Paradoxically, Paula could speak so openly because she was ready to break the bond forever. She knew how hard Sasha had worked to hide this secret.

Back when she still loved her mother, Paula had carefully erased that word from her vocabulary in public.

Let them hear. I don't care if the Count hears it either. It would be better if he kicked her out of here.

Shylock had already legally registered Paula as an orphan from a poorhouse, not Sasha's daughter.

Sasha had far more to lose if the truth came out. The Count could sue her again or leak the story to the papers.

Paula used her identity as a weapon to corner her mother.

Seeing her daughter's cold heart, Sasha looked at Paula with disappointment. Paula merely stared back, exhausted.

Suddenly, a voice boomed.

[???] "Stooooop!"

An old man's roar echoed through the garden. Sasha turned toward the sound and gasped.

[Sasha] "......Father-in-law?"

It was the previous Count—Sasha's former father-in-law. The man standing there looked exactly like him in his prime, right before he took to his bed in his final years.

[Ulrich] "You acted like a pure victim, yet Paula is indeed your daughter? You became my wife after carrying another man's child?"

The words coming from his mouth, however, were not something her father-in-law would say. She asked cautiously, unsure.

[Sasha] "Sir...... are you... Ulrich?"

Sasha called him "Sir" despite knowing only Ulrich would speak those words. She decided it was more likely a distant relative of the Albrecht family.

With his deep wrinkles, white hair, hunched back, and missing teeth, the man looked at least thirty years older than Ulrich. It felt more realistic to believe an old relative had gone mad than to believe Ulrich had aged so much in a few months.

[Ulrich] "If I am not the Count, then who am I?"

The arrogant reply was unmistakably Ulrich's. The accent, the habit of placing hands on his hips when annoyed, and the flickering, snake-like gaze—everything belonged to him.

It took a moment for the truth to sink in for Sasha and Paula.

Sasha stared for a long time before a laugh escaped her.

[Sasha] "Pfft......!"

She covered her mouth with her palm, but giggles leaked through her fingers. It was enough to send a chill down the Count's spine.

He knew his body felt strange, but he blamed the nightmare and the shock of the news.

But shouldn't she be terrified now that I've discovered her secret?

Instead of turning pale and begging for mercy, her insane reaction proved something terrible had happened to his body. Something others noticed before he did.

The Count stumbled toward the fountain in the center of the garden and looked at his reflection in the water. Shock paralyzed him.

[Ulrich] "Wh-what is this?"

---

Odette watched the chaos in the garden with a faint smile. They were fighting so viciously that they had forgotten all sense of dignity.

The gatekeeper, the servants cleaning the garden, and the maids all stopped their work. Their eyes sparkled as they watched the drama. They even held their breath, fearing they might interrupt the spectacle.

Mrs. Becker, who had been in despair over the group's return, now crouched in a blind spot, listening intently.

Look at her face.

Mrs. Becker's expression had shifted from devastation to a strange, manic light. Seeing the withered Count had clearly sparked a new plan in her mind.

Falling into the Calamity wasn't part of the plan, but it might make things move even faster.

The end of Sasha and Paula's struggle was predictable.

Paula, believing Sasha was talking nonsense, would kick her out. That would leave the bitter Sasha with only one option.

She will report Paula to the authorities for theft.

Sasha no longer had the money or power to force Paula's hand.

She probably thinks she’ll just scare her daughter into giving back the ring, but......

It wouldn't end that simply. Odette intended to keep Paula behind bars forever.

---

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