Chapter 119
“Damn it. Albrecht, please, don’t scare people like that. What were you doing here?”
There was a tremor in Zion’s voice as he finally descended to the floor. Even Johann, who had known him for a long time, had never heard him sound like that.
It was as if he had nearly lost something precious and had barely managed to save it.
“I went for a walk on the beach… and got caught up in a disaster. I’m sorry for causing trouble.”
Odette was trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing that, Johann immediately tried to offer his jacket to her. But before he could even remove his uniform jacket, Zion took off his own coat and wrapped it around Odette.
“This isn’t about inconvenience. It’s fine. You’re alive… that’s enough.”
Zion fastened the coat for her. Even his hands, as he helped her, were shaking slightly. Watching this, Johann frowned.
‘Since when have these two been this close?’
Close enough to be this relieved just because she’s alive?
It was unlike Zion’s usual demeanor. The Zion who always growled at the mere mention of Odette?
The expression and tone of his voice were completely different from the Zion who had always recoiled whenever Johann asked about her.
Johann felt something boil up inside him.
‘I thought Odette had stopped hating me… but maybe she’s just stopped hating all transcendent beings.’
He was anxious and uneasy, but Johann quietly clenched and unclenched his fist to hide it. He drew blood from the pressure of his own fist.
He couldn’t make a mistake. It had only been a month since he had stopped appearing frightening to Odette.
He didn’t want to make another mistake.
“The only way Your Highness can help me is by hating me a little less. I’m not asking you to stop hating me completely… just a little less. Is that so hard…?”
Johann mulled over her words for a long time.
He had been ignorant of Odette’s situation. Because he liked her too much, he had cowardly decided to remain indifferent, or even to hate her—decisions that had caused her considerable pain.
Just as too-late salvation isn’t really salvation, immature love isn’t truly love.
Johann was already full of regret. He didn’t want to make another mistake with Odette.
So instead of taking Zion’s coat or clumsily asking Odette if the two of them were close, he removed his own uniform jacket.
His white uniform wrapped over Zion’s coat once again.
“Odette, are you hurt anywhere?”
The more mistakes he had made, the more kindness he should show.
So Johann spoke with genuine care. Odette needed genuine affection. Zion couldn’t provide it, but he could.
For now, that was all that mattered.
“Zion, go back to the capital immediately. Contact Victor right away too.”
‘That was definitely Charlotte earlier.’
There was no way she had been mistaken.
Pink hair was only allowed for Charlotte in this game’s world.
‘Then why was Charlotte here? Before she went up to the capital to report the discovery of Knight Glory, she should never have left the mountain village.’
On top of that, a disaster that hadn’t appeared in her previous life suddenly emerged.
Charlotte’s early appearance and the sudden emergence of a new disaster—could these two events happening at the same time really be a coincidence?
“Odette, are you hurt anywhere?”
I snapped out of my thoughts at Johann’s voice.
Now was not the time to be distracted. If the 61x disgust multiplier applied from this point…
With a trembling heart, I opened the status window.
‘Check the disgust levels of both of them.’
[Johann’s disgust level: 5]
[Zion’s disgust level: 8]
‘Ha….’
I finally felt relieved.
Perhaps it was because neither of them had encountered Charlotte yet, or maybe because that date hadn’t arrived, but the 61x effect hadn’t appeared.
‘And their disgust levels are both still single digits…’
The zero I had imagined was right within reach.
If only Charlotte hadn’t appeared, I would have been overjoyed that the goal was this close.
“I’m not hurt, so there’s no need to worry.”
I pushed aside my complicated thoughts and replied calmly.
Then it happened.
“Oh my! You’re… Lady Albrecht, aren’t you?”
Because of the commotion caused by the disaster, people who had taken shelter in the evacuation center began to come out one by one.
“Lady Odette?”
“What? That villainess is here?”
Among the murmurs were the voices of the patients I had just treated.
I felt a pang of regret.
‘I should have treated them a little longer and revealed myself more dramatically… Why now, when there’s not even a reporter around?’
[Current negative reputation you hold:
▶ Wicked villainess
▶ Selfish purifier (11 people/▼4)
▶ Arrogant flower of society (8 people/▼18)
▶ Empty-headed young lady]
To avoid a disgust penalty, I had to improve my reputation in Athena Island’s ‘social circle.’ Improving only my reputation among the residents wouldn’t be enough.
But as if responding to my regret, a voice pushed through the crowd.
“Lady Odette? Oh my! Wait a moment! I’m a reporter. A journalist!”
Rough-looking and shabby, he seemed to be a disaster specialist reporter. Someone who professionally photographed calamities.
Comparing to Hansuwan’s era, he was like a war correspondent.
Click-
The flash from his glass plate camera blinded me.
“Oh my… so you were the lady who helped me earlier.”
At that moment, even the pregnant woman I had treated gasped and stepped out of the shelter.
“I… I had only heard rumors and called you a villainess… but to think you’d save even commoners like us, you’re such a wonderful person.”
She gripped my hands tightly with both of hers, tears streaming from her eyes in gratitude.
I had thought the dramatic reveal had failed in the chaos of unforeseen events… but somehow, I had reached the moment I wanted.
“I just did what anyone would.”
Since it was the moment I had waited for, I put on the practiced expression: “How embarrassing to be praised for something so trivial.”
‘Now that an unexpected variable has appeared, I must avoid the disgust penalty at all costs.’
Though my acting was calculated and slightly obnoxious, the reporter, Johann, the pregnant woman, and other patients I had helped all looked impressed.
The only one showing no emotion was Zion.
I patted the pregnant woman and said,
“I know you’re grateful enough already. Go back inside and rest. You’re not in a condition to wander around freely, are you?”
She nodded and headed back into the shelter.
Johann, with a displeased tone, said to me,
“You should rest, Odette. You’re still sweating and trembling.”
“It’s just that I was startled by the disaster. Don’t worry, I’m not hurt.”
Of course, that was a lie.
What made me tremble like this was the female protagonist. Charlotte, grinning at the disaster-stricken village, had appeared in the most outrageous way.
How were you on Athena Island? Why were you laughing at a disaster? Was your appearance coinciding with the new disaster just a coincidence? Surely you… are connected to the cause of this disaster?
The fear came from realizing that the female protagonist’s true identity might be different from what I had known.
‘For now… I’ll focus on what I can do. Complete the quest and further lower the male leads’ disgust levels…’
“Even in this state, how can you say you’re not hurt?”
It was then Johann spoke.
“Odette, ride on my back. I’ll take you to the summer palace.”
And without giving me a chance to refuse, he lifted me onto his back.
