Chapter 92
Before the rain stopped, Zion summoned his carriage. It was to let Odette, who had lost her color, rest.
“It must have been a shock.”
The woman, who had been silent for a long while, finally spoke in a tired voice.
“Your Excellency… did you report to His Majesty the Emperor about my biological parents?”
“No. Only you and I know.”
“Do you plan to report it?”
“Not at all.”
Zion worried that his feelings might be something unnecessarily grand like love.
He and Odette were entangled in a history of long-standing hatred—a “tainted” relationship. One could not hold the filthiest and the purest emotions for the same person simultaneously. Zion was fastidious by nature.
So he thought it must be desire. The unclean emotion should go with the unclean.
Yet, just now, he recognized in Odette’s response that he himself was the answer.
Whether it was love or desire didn’t matter. With Odette, it was fine even if it was dirty, confusing, or chaotic. He felt he could hold the purest and the filthiest together without disgust.
“…So I don’t need to report this to His Majesty?”
“It’s better to keep information from that fool Gregory whenever possible. That idiot thinks the three S-rank transcendentals who appeared during his term were his own achievement.”
“Are you… insane? The Emperor is your friend?”
Odette panicked and glanced around hurriedly.
“Why would you say the Emperor’s name like that? And call him an idiot! If anyone heard, I’d be executed for insulting the royal family!”
“We’re inside the carriage—who’s going to hear it?”
“You’re the Emperor’s watchdog. How can you speak so boldly—”
“Isn’t calling me a watchdog even bolder? Right to my face? At least I use honorifics with Gregory.”
“…Ah… I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
She seemed less intimidated by Zion now than when they first met or when they fought over a handkerchief.
Zion found comfort in this. She had always hated anyone else saying the word “watchdog,” but the fact that she felt at ease with him made him feel good.
Perhaps because of that, he heard a strange chuckle escaping himself—a laugh unfamiliar even to him.
Yes. So what if it was a messy love? Love and hatred, love and desire could coexist.
It was laughable to have once feared that strange, viscous lump of emotion would destroy him. Love surpasses desire, reason surpasses love—ultimately, no emotion could harm him.
Even among the past Marquises of Kleist, known for their rationality, he was the most exceptional.
“There’s no benefit in reporting this. Gregory is politically sharp but low in intelligence and character. He finds weaknesses and wastes time scheming over them.”
Zion, holding back a laugh, put a cigar to his mouth out of habit, then removed it. He remembered the report that Odette had weak lungs and had coughed up blood.
“Do you know what the last thing that idiot Gregory made the watchdog do was? He ordered the death of the victims of Corporal Marco I found.”
“Eh?”
“He couldn’t maintain his dignity if someone he decorated turned out to be a blackmailer. So he found about five victims and ordered them all killed.”
“No matter that he’s the Emperor… that’s a bit—”
“When he found twelve, only then did he revoke Marco’s medal.”
“…I understand. No wonder you call him that.”
“Exactly.”
Zion smiled inwardly at Odette’s reluctant expression.
She asked if he could take her to the storage area for the carriage. Zion gladly obliged.
To the port on Athena Island, where the storage for cargo carriages should be.
“…Do you have something to find? Why did you want to come here—”
As he stepped out of the carriage, Zion stopped and furrowed his brows. Around the Quendel family’s cargo carriage, a familiar yet disgusting wolfish scent lingered.
“This… it’s the scent of that wolf brat…”
“I trust Your Excellency will keep this secret. It’s necessary for my revenge.”
“I heard that slave brat ran away from the Count’s mansion?”
Zion, anxious, put a new cigar to his mouth. He struck a match, but due to the woman in front of him, he couldn’t light it and spat it back onto the ground.
To shake off this disgusting smell, he would have to suck the cigar so hard his cheeks would hollow.
Zion instantly became very irritated.
Odette inserted a key into the Quendel carriage’s lock and turned it.
‘Quendel Marquis again… Is there another man helping this woman besides me?’
He knew the supposed Quendel Marquis circulating in society was fake.
The Quendel family wasn’t particularly important, so he had let it slide. But was that arrogant man somehow involved with Odette?
As soon as he thought this, his mouth moved on its own.
“Does that slave brat treat you well?”
“Huh?”
“You said you liked his face. Isn’t he just for rolling around?”
In that instant, disgust flashed across Odette’s eyes. Her gaze seemed to scream, ‘What disgusting thoughts are you having, damn it.’
But Zion felt relieved. At least Odette hadn’t used him that way.
“I never did. That’s why Karl is such a precious being.”
Yet his mood soured again.
Zion glared at Karl. Karl, in turn, glared directly at him.
‘That damned brat’s escape… it was all Odette’s plan, wasn’t it?’
“You said you were the only one empathizing with revenge. Wasn’t I your only understanding companion?”
In a moment of irritation, Zion muttered something pathetic. Odette responded indifferently.
“That’s right. Only the two of us have had similar experiences.”
Though her tone was indifferent, Zion oddly felt comforted. He was like a mad dog craving his master’s love—reacting to Odette’s words.
He felt a twinge of self-deprecation.
“Then I’d like to ask a favor of Your Excellency.”
Even now, Zion’s attention was entirely on Odette’s hands, lightly restraining Karl’s wrists.
“Please make it so His Majesty doesn’t feel Karl’s intimidation.”
“…Why?”
“Everyone feels Karl’s presence as overwhelming. Like a monster. Today, His Majesty is needed for a plan, and if he senses Karl’s intimidation, it would be troublesome.”
It made sense. The head of the Fenrir clan’s power was said to rival a B-rank transcendental.
But Karl surpassed that. He radiated the intimidation of an S-rank transcendental.
Yet all transcendents instinctively suppress their intimidation. Because of the Purifiers.
Purifiers, aside from their purification power, were as fragile as normal humans. Instinctively, they wouldn’t provoke a fragile Purifier.
‘But that wolf brat has probably never needed to do that in his life.’
The more overwhelming the intimidation, the more effort and experience it takes to suppress. Karl had never needed to restrain himself.
‘Still, he does hide it in front of Odette.’
Compared to when he branded a slave on Karl’s back.
That attitude irritated Zion.
“Fine. But for me to suppress his intimidation, Odette, you’ll need to step away for a bit.”
Odette looked skeptical, but Zion persuaded her with elaborate excuses—about mind-control powers and potential side effects for onlookers. With lies layered on lies, he finally got her to leave.
Alone with Karl, Zion finally lit the cigar and inhaled deeply.
“You little hyena. Can’t control your intimidation, can you?”
“….”
Even facing Karl, who openly ignored him, Zion kept his composure.
“If you can’t control it, I think your master might abandon you. Should I make you disappear?”
Karl’s eyes glinted with danger, but he stayed silent, showing he didn’t want to be abandoned.
That annoyed Zion even more, but he forced a smile.
“There’s no way to learn how to control intimidation in a day. You probably have no social skills. Such creatures take longer to learn.”
“….”
“Show me—try it.”
