Chapter 91
“If you don’t share this umbrella with me, the butterfly you’ve been so carefully looking after will crumble into dust.”
“Your Excellency.”
I bit my lip. Damn bastard, what the hell is he trying to pull now?
“You know I’m a Transcendent, right? Want me to show you just how fine a powder I can make it?”
“Let the butterfly go.”
“Ah, I could even put on a show where every butterfly under this umbrella all drops to the ground at once. The Empire doesn’t have any laws against using powers on animals, after all.”
“Are you insane?”
“Don’t worry. Even as they crash to the ground and die, I’ll grant them the mercy of purest joy. It would be a bliss far too good for a butterfly’s life.”
This bastard—completely deranged, isn’t he?
“Still don’t want to share the umbrella with me?”
He tilted his head as though asking if I could really refuse. His face wore the perfect sneer of a villain drawn straight from a painting.
“I’d love to share the umbrella with Your Excellency. Love it so much I could go crazy if I don’t.”
I glared at Zion and spoke clearly, word by word.
“A passionate plea. A gentleman mustn’t ignore a lady’s heart, after all.”
With that, Zion opened his hand.
Thanks to the size of his palm, the butterfly bore no new injuries. Freed, it fluttered lightly back beneath my umbrella, completely unaware of how close it had just come to being reduced to dust.
‘Why does this guy get ruder every time we meet?’
His dislike for me seemed to have grown in the meantime. I opened my status window.
‘He doesn’t even usually go out of his way to torment people… with him being like this, his hostility should be at least 40—’
[ “Zion”’s Hostility: 15 ]
‘What?’
The number was far lower than I expected, and I froze for a moment.
‘Fifteen?’
A hostility level of 15 was only something you’d see if you consistently chose the best options in <Zion’s Route>.
That extreme misanthrope had a base hostility much higher than the other male leads.
So if his hostility has actually gone down, why is he tormenting me more?
‘I thought he was bothering me because he hated me too much… but maybe that’s not it?’
Could it be because he… likes me?
…No. As tempting as it was to believe, that wasn’t it.
Zion’s setting was a warm-hearted bastard, but only to the girl he loves.
If so, then why is he tormenting me like this…
“Would you mind holding the umbrella properly, if you’re going to hold it at all?”
I spoke sharply and met Zion’s violet eyes. For an instant, something flickered in them.
‘…Of all people, I didn’t expect Zion to look at me like that.’
I sighed inwardly. It was the first time I’d seen that look in a male lead, but not the first time from a man.
‘Especially back when I was running with the beggar gangs.’
Eyes that desired my body. Eyes filled with base lust.
“Gladly.”
He pulled me in by the waist with his free hand and adjusted the umbrella so that even the slightest step away from him would leave me exposed to the rain.
Base desire. Not unfamiliar. Not the first man I’ve seen with it. Fernan’s feelings toward me were exactly that kind of filth.
The only surprise was that Zion had this side to him. He was supposed to be the greatest eunuch of the male leads.
‘Didn’t you pursue a platonic ideal with Charlotte? Where did that lofty “Tall Uncle” go?’
You preached that true love was a spiritual connection, built on reason and noble feeling… that base desire was nothing but animalistic release…
‘So the lofty love goes to Charlotte, and the animal desire you reserve for me?’
If it were affection, I could find a way to use it. But what good was lust? Zion himself saw it as the foulest of impulses—how could I possibly use that?
Then, drenched in rain, Zion spoke.
“There’s something I want to ask you, Albrecht.”
“Yes, Your Excellency?”
“…Do you know anything about your real parents?”
A chill shot down my spine. I almost screamed.
‘What the hell? How does he know about that?’
I had told Viktor once, but there’s no way he’d ever pass it along—least of all to Zion, his worst enemy.
“No. Not at all. I don’t even know what kind of people they were.”
I forced a calm expression and shook my head.
Of course, I knew exactly who my parents were, and how they’d died—I had learned it in my past life, from Fernan’s nurse.
But there was no way Zion could know that. The only living person who had known was Fernan’s nurse, and she was dead.
‘Unbelievable. Just how far does this bastard’s information network reach?’
Inside I shuddered, but outwardly I asked calmly:
“Did Your Excellency find out something?”
“Roughly.”
“I’d like to know. I never had any way of finding out.”
“Do you?”
I shook my head. I already knew. Why feign curiosity?
“There’d be a price, wouldn’t there? Then no, I’m not curious.”
I made an excuse and refused.
“…At least for this, there’s no price at all.”
His tone softened in a rare way, and I caught a glimpse of the emotion within.
‘Whenever he talks about revenge… that’s when Zion feels kinship with me.’
And possession is the easiest thing to mistake for love. Just a small spark could make it feel like more.
‘Zion claimed that spiritual communion was the true form of love. Couldn’t revenge be the bond that ties us together?’
Shared resentment. A sense of comradeship. Maybe I could turn that into affection, into something I could use.
And if he developed affection, Zion would be utterly devoted.
“In that case… please tell me, Your Excellency.”
I asked in a careful voice.
“You know the Albrecht family had frequent rebellions among its cadet branches, yes? Ulrich’s grandfather even seized the title through one.”
I nodded, pretending to pay close attention.
‘What a terrifying man. He really did find it all out.’
Though in my mind, I thought—
“Your grandfather, Kucheler, was originally a viscount of Albrecht. Your great-grandfather was the Albrecht Count. Both were executed in the rebellion Ulrich’s grandfather raised.”
“…”
“Only your grandmother, the Viscountess, survived. She fled—pregnant at the time.”
“…Your Excellency, what are you saying?”
“Listen. She hid her identity and lived as a commoner. She bore a son, later married. But as soon as Ulrich inherited the title, he remembered the tale of the escaped Viscountess. He sent men to track her down. They found your real parents, and shot them dead.”
Though I already knew this story, my body trembled violently.
When Fernan’s nurse had told me, I’d reacted the same way—unable to hold back my fury.
“However… the retainer who found them couldn’t bring himself to kill the infant. He didn’t even report it to Ulrich. By some twist of fate, he left the baby at an orphanage.”
In a shaking voice, I asked:
“The girl’s name…?”
“Lina.”
The Albrecht family’s eldest daughter’s name was always Odette.
My adoptive father had pretended to give me the name Odette and the Albrecht surname as gifts—but in truth, they’d been stolen from me.
When I’d first heard this in my past life, I had collapsed on the spot before Fernan’s nurse.
And just as then, my knees buckled now—only to be caught by Zion’s quick reflexes.
“I see…”
“Are you all right? Your face has gone white.”
“So all that time, I was struggling to win the love of my real father’s murderer.”
What mattered now wasn’t acting, but memory. I needed to recall vividly the shame I had felt when I first learned this.
“How… did you find all this out?”
“You don’t need to worry about its truth. It’s certain.”
That retainer was long dead. Fernan’s nurse too. I recalled that moment from my past life—the crushing despair when I first heard the story.
“So my adoptive father… was my true father’s killer…”
The sound of rain on the umbrella rang loud. My pale face leaned against Zion.
Even while recalling despair, I kept thinking—what words would make him feel as though we shared true communion?
“In that case… there’s only you, Your Excellency. You’re the only one who can truly understand me and help me…”
“…!”
“You alone know my suffering. You alone can understand this thirst for vengeance.”
The arms supporting me stiffened. Then Zion’s voice came, like someone struck by sudden realization.
“…Yes.”
He pulled me into his arms, holding me tight against him.
“…You’re right.”
I had to fight to keep my surprise hidden. I hadn’t expected such an intense reaction.
“That’s the answer. The only one truly on your side is me, Odette.”
His voice was lower, as though he had shed a heavy burden and found clarity.
“It was never about what my feelings were called. The answer was that only I am yours.”
“Your Excellency.”
“No one else understands you but me. The pain of a family turned to enemies… the loss of family by family.”
[ Hostility decreased by 5. ]
A pale pink window appeared. Zion’s arms tightened around me.
“Neither Johann nor Viktor… could ever be your answer. They’ve never known vengeance like ours.”
I couldn’t understand every murmur of his, but one thing was certain—I’d succeeded in making him mistake this for spiritual love.
Unlike before, he now tilted the umbrella far toward me. That sort of consideration was unthinkable for a demon like him—unless affection was involved.
‘If he’s grown fond of me, maybe I can use Zion to deal with Karl’s intimidation problem too…’
I was so busy scheming, I didn’t notice.
The madness flickering in Zion’s violet eyes.
