Chapter 128
The count had locked himself away in his office. He was busy trying to cover his own scandal by spreading stories about “the witch Dolly.”
He contacted every newspaper he could to push more sensational stories about Dolly, bribed them to remove articles about the “Invisible Count,” bribed Dolly’s lawyer so her testimony wouldn’t matter, and even sent a private letter to the judge to ensure the trial would be held behind closed doors…
Even ten bodies wouldn’t have been enough for everything he was doing.
Meanwhile, Odette’s status had changed significantly.
Most notably, the room she stayed in had changed. She was moved from the small room next to Fernand’s to the largest room on the second floor.
The grand, luxurious room traditionally given to the eldest daughter of the Albrecht Count family.
“While you reside in the Count’s estate, Karl will stay in the room closest to Odette.
If you use it for anything else, I will gladly pay the price with my arm.”
Thanks to the count not wanting to lose his arm, he kept that oath.
And since Dolly was now in that state, Mallea had temporarily taken over as head maid. Thanks to her, Odette received far better treatment. The maids stopped looking down on her completely.
With Karl always by my side, I don’t have to worry about being dragged to the attic anymore.
But while her status improved, her freedom was more restricted than ever. The count had instructed Fernand repeatedly to watch Odette closely, so he stuck to her like glue whenever she was awake.
He’s unbearably annoying.
Being forced back into corsets and lace dresses because of him only made her mood worse.
With that lazy, selfish temper of his, how the hell has he been watching me for a whole week? He must be itching to explode.
Just when she desperately wanted to shake Fernand off, a notification window popped up in front of her eyes.
[ ♡ Quest Triggered ♡ ]
Quest Objective: Gain overwhelming support from the Capital’s citizens
Duration: 7 days
Reward: Restore “Shop” function in Status Window
Penalty: Victor’s Hatred +20
The quest is accepted automatically.
Finally… the shop is back as a reward.
Since it was the prize she had been desperately waiting for, she read the window carefully.
It was another quest tied to her reputation.
But “overwhelming support” is too vague. How are they measuring success?
She frowned. As if responding to her thought, another window appeared.
[ Overwhelming Support = Fame 500 or higher ]
[ Calculating Odette’s fame among capital citizens… ]
[ Current Fame: 8 ]
Is this thing insane?
Her fame was only 8. How was she supposed to raise it to 500 in seven days?
[ Much of the capital has been devastated by an unexpected calamity! ]
[ Use the situation to build fame ♥ ]
[ Recommended Location: Hospital in front of the Rotbart River ]
If she had known this, she would’ve chosen the +20 Fame reward earlier…
She bit her lip in regret.
I don’t know how I’ll reach 500 fame, but first… I have to lose Fernand. I can’t do anything with him stuck to me.
The penalty—Victor’s hatred increasing by 20—was disastrous.
Avoiding it was only natural… but restoring the shop function was even more important.
Especially with suspicion around the heroine rising.
If it’s a shop like <DanGuwon>… I absolutely need that function back.
She knew what the shop sold.
And she knew there was one special item inside it.
If she failed to lower Victor’s hatred enough by Charlotte’s appearance…
If her identity as a fake purifier was exposed…
Or if anything spiraled into the worst-case scenario—
That one item could overturn everything.
Seven days means not a single day can be wasted. I have to ditch Fernand today no matter what.
Ugh, I’m suffocating. I’m going crazy with restlessness!
Fernand was completely sick of watching Odette.
If he could at least play various “doll games” with her, he wouldn’t have gotten bored so fast. But now, he couldn’t even order her to bring him tea.
Because of something that happened the day they returned from Athena Island.
“Odette, go make me a good cup of tea.”
“Master, please rest. I will prepare it instead. With your permission, Sir Fernand?”
Karl brought the teapot instead of Odette—
and tried to pour the boiling water straight into Fernand’s mouth.
“A-Are you crazy? Trying to boil my lips off, you damn slave?!”
When Fernand barely dodged the scalding water and yelled, Karl whispered into his ear:
“Try to make Master do it again, and next time you’ll drink it through your nose.”
When Fernand saw those red eyes, he realized it wasn’t a threat.
It was a promise.
That bastard is serious. He’ll really boil my nose off.
Fernand was not the type of man who tolerated abuse from a slave.
But he simply could not fight Karl. The crushing, nauseating pressure made it impossible to resist.
And the slave didn’t tire. He stood beside Odette all day without budging.
It made watching her feel utterly pointless.
I’m so sick of this!
Fernand slapped the Brentano Daily newspaper shut with a harsh sound.
By now, he was even angry at his father, who had ordered him to watch Odette.
If you’re that worried, why not watch her yourself? You have nothing else to do anyway.
His father had canceled all his external schedules because he was being ridiculed everywhere. The count was desperately trying to bury his own scandal under Dolly’s… but from Fernand’s perspective, it was a waste of time.
Even the Empire’s leading paper, the Brentano, refused to drop the Invisible Count story.
Today again, it filled pages 1 and 2 with filthy stories about the count and his lover—almost like the paper had decided to outdo even Secret Whispers tabloid.
But the kicker was the ending:
“Which is why it is admirable how upright and noble Odette has grown under such circumstances.”
Her name wasn’t even mentioned once in the entire two pages—why suddenly praise her at the end?
Not knowing Lady Brentano had intervened, Fernand found it nonsensical.
Ugh, from Father to the newspapers, none of them please me.
As he grumbled internally, Odette called to him.
“Brother, shall I pour you some tea?”
At her words, Fernand glanced sharply at Karl—
who silently tapped his own nose.
“Forget it. I’ll drink it myself.”
Fernand answered stiffly. He didn’t want his nose boiled.
“You haven’t been able to go out at all lately because you’ve been taking care of me. You must miss your friends.”
“Are you teasing me? I can’t go out unless someone invites me. And thanks to Father’s public humiliation— No, never mind. What’s the point? I don’t have money to go out anyway.”
“Why don’t you have money?”
Odette blinked innocently.
“Father hasn’t given me allowance lately. Says he needs it all for bribing reporters and entertaining them.”
“That’s terrible. No matter what, you’re the young count. He should at least preserve your dignity.”
Fernand agreed wholeheartedly. It made him resent his father even more.
“Hm… Do you dislike casinos? I heard someone made three thousand times their money once.”
Fernand had heard that rumor too.
Quendel bragged about it at every banquet. After Athena Island, Fernand’s friends talked about nothing but Wolfgang Casino.
But Odette shouldn’t have known such rumors without permission. Fernand narrowed his eyes.
“And how did you hear that? Did you talk to someone without permission?”
“I’m sorry, brother. Dolly told me. I thought it was something I was allowed to know.”
That treacherous woman… She even babbled useless stories.
Fernand scowled. It was that woman who caused all of this—
who made the count paranoid enough to force Fernand to monitor Odette.
“Why don’t you go there and earn money yourself, brother?”
“Idiot. Don’t you know it’s Father’s rival business? How much do you think he’d hate it?”
Fernand desperately wanted to go, but outwardly denied it strongly.
“Because it’s a rival business, you should go. I heard it opened right across from Ulrich Casino without any business ethics. Isn’t it proper to inspect it?”
Odette smiled sweetly.
“Well—”
…She has a point.
His desire to go was strong. He wavered immediately.
“You’ll need money soon, won’t you? Didn’t the Marquess of Kleist suddenly withdraw the proposal about making you the imperial consort? If you want to meet the imperial princess yourself, you’ll need a bribe to win over her lady-in-waiting.”
Odette’s gentle tone made Fernand nod.
Right. I do need money for my future.
The Marquess of Kleist, who had kept summoning Fernand about the consort proposal, had cut contact as soon as they returned to the capital.
Of course, Zion had simply grown bored of teasing him—but Fernand misunderstood completely.
“Isn’t it unfair? Father was the one who kept a lover, not you. Yet because of him, the proposal that was practically confirmed fell apart—”
Something twisted inside Fernand.
Exactly. It was basically a done deal, but Father ruined it with his scandal.
He had suspected as much, but hearing Odette say it made him believe it fully.
I can’t lose the consort position because of Father. I need money.
Fernand made up his mind.
“Then I should go. For inspection… and other reasons.”
