Chapter 136
“Ha… haha…”
Odette let out a hollow laugh as she stared up at the ceiling.
Honestly, she was sick of everything. Every last bit of it.
They’d given her only ten minutes for the quest, but the hatred penalty was a whopping forty.
Considering Charlotte would arrive the moment she failed, that penalty was sixty‑one times worse. Wasn’t this basically the system pushing her to die in Karl’s hands?
“And it just had to be Karl’s penalty. If it were any other Transcendent’s hatred, they wouldn’t hurt me because of purification.”
But if Karl felt killing intent… Odette’s safety was not guaranteed. Even with the constraints of the imprint, he could still put her on the verge of death.
Cornered to the extreme, Odette grit her teeth silently. According to the original plan, she was supposed to use the prepared item three days later in front of the Count— but it seemed she needed to be flexible.
She did not have the luxury to wait anymore.
“Inventory. Show me that item.”
At her call, the status window projected a single item stored inside her inventory.
[ Customizable Corpse ]
There was no choice left but to execute it now—her “fake death” plan.
Originally, Odette planned to summon the Count to the Meursault villa and die in front of his eyes.
The status window kept informing her:
[ Charlotte is heading toward the Meursault region. ]
Meaning Charlotte would also come to this villa.
Odette intended to die right before Charlotte arrived. To deceive the two of them completely.
If the Count, having lost his money‑maker—the Purifier—saw Charlotte suddenly appear, he would inevitably covet her.
And only if those two ended up working together could Odette carry out her ultimate revenge on the Count.
To prepare for this, Odette spent the week on the Meursault coast customizing the corpse to look exactly like her.
Blonde hair and teal eyes. Placement and shape of every facial feature. Height and body type. Even the tiniest details of skin and form. A perfect replica.
“But plans changed. So I guess I’ll just have to die in front of you three instead.”
Tricking three Transcendents would be far harder than tricking the Count.
The plan could collapse in an instant, yet Odette found herself strangely amused.
Because she liked this new direction far more than she expected.
“I really did hate them this much, huh.”
The fact that she finally had a chance to smack these guys across the head—figuratively—felt unbelievably satisfying.
Only the sound of rain echoed in the room.
I slowly pushed my still‑foggy body upright.
None of the male leads spoke as I staggered toward the wooden desk in front of the balcony window, leaning on it for support.
“Odette.”
The one who broke the silence was Johann. Tugging at the collar of his shirt, he spoke in a voice thick with emotion.
“Odette. I was wrong. But… worrying about you is the truth. I genuinely care about you.”
I turned my back to the curtained balcony and faced Johann.
I needed my back to be in a blind spot from their view—so they wouldn’t see me pulling a gun from my inventory.
Hiding my right hand behind my waist, I called the status window in my mind.
“The gun with the silver bullets, into my hand—”
But at that moment—
“Baby. Don’t.”
Viktor had instantly moved behind me, grabbing my arm.
“Koenig! Remove your hands from Odette this instant. How dare you grab a lady like—”
“Your Highness. Trust my instincts. Something feels off. Our baby is about to do something bad. With these cute hands of hers.”
With one hand, Viktor seized both of my wrists, raising them above my head as if restraining me.
That damn animal‑like intuition.
He was terrifyingly sharp.
“Karl!”
I called Karl, who should’ve been waiting outside. The door immediately slammed open.
“Restrain Viktor! Don’t let him come near me.”
Karl immediately grabbed Viktor and hurled him toward the opposite wall.
It happened so fast that by the time my eyes caught up, Karl was already pinning Viktor’s arm behind his back.
“You insane bastard, let go!!”
Karl hadn’t Awakened yet, but in terms of physical strength he was nearly Viktor’s equal.
“Koenig. You need to calm down.”
And because Viktor had shown hostility toward me just now, even Johann was helping restrain him, pushing down on his shoulder.
The only way Viktor could overturn this situation was to unleash his flame ability. But no matter how deranged he was, even he wouldn’t use fire indoors with a Purifier present.
My gaze dropped to Karl’s bleeding palm as I rubbed my aching wrist.
The crescent‑shaped dents from his nails showed how hard he had clenched his fists.
He must’ve been desperately waiting for my next command.
Such obedient behavior… something I could never have imagined from the old Karl who constantly ignored my orders. The change hit me anew, but…
What meaning does it hold?
A slave that loyal will want to kill me in ten minutes.
But I had no time to drown in bitterness.
“Let go! Odette’s about to do something dangerous!”
“Shut it. Whatever my master does is none of your damn business.”
“Damn it! Odette is planning something that will hurt herself!”
He’s practically a ghost with that intuition.
Unlike Karl—who ignored him completely—Sion and Johann, knowing Viktor’s sensitivity, turned their eyes toward me.
“……!”
And then their expressions froze.
Because they saw it.
“Inventory. Put the gun in my hand.”
I had already summoned the gun, and its muzzle was pointed directly at Sion’s face.
“Haa…”
But the three of them immediately relaxed.
The person being aimed at even smiled—brightly. As if he was genuinely delighted.
“Shoot. Fire as many rounds as you want. If it makes you feel better, go ahead and shoot me.”
“……”
“My regeneration might be too slow, though. I’m worried that’ll irritate you more. Should I bring every gun from the Marquisate? Do you want to shoot them all into my face?”
Of course. Which of these monsters would be afraid of bullets? No matter where I hit them, they’d regenerate anyway.
I know. A gun like this isn’t a threat to any of you.
I wasn’t pointing the gun to shoot Sion.
I raised it to grab their attention. To make them pause—just for a moment.
Because the status window needed that moment to bind them.
[ Would you like to use ‘Shackles of Time (Intangible)’? ]
Yes.
[ 4 targets selected. ]
[ The legs of Johann, Sion, Viktor, and Karl are immobilized. ]
[ ‘Shackles of Time’ has been successfully applied to all 4 targets! ]
The notification arrived at last.
“No, Your Lordship. You’re not the one I want to shoot.”
Smiling faintly, I lightly twisted the wrist holding the gun.
Their eyes followed the muzzle instantly—
Straight to my own head.
“……!”
Someone sucked in a sharp breath.
“Albrecht.”
Sion’s voice dropped cold and sharp, thick with warning.
Normally, they would’ve snatched the gun away before I could blink. But not now.
[ Calculating targets’ stats… ]
[ Adjusting duration. ]
[ Each shackle will bind their movements for 5 minutes. ]
[ 00 : 05 : 00 ]
[ 00 : 04 : 59 ]
The shackles would hold them.
I refused to think about how absurd it was that 1000 hours of restriction were reduced to just five minutes because of their ridiculous physical abilities.
All that mattered was:
They would now become the perfect witnesses to my “death.”
“Odette, put the gun down. Please?”
Johann’s voice trembled. Viktor’s face had gone pale.
“What are you doing, baby? I’m getting angry.”
I exhaled slowly, steadying my breathing.
Even the slightest mistake in this plan could cost me my real life. I tightened my grip on the gun and spoke slowly.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing serious.”
“How is that not serious?! Put the gun down right now!”
“You forget contempt and hatred so easily. I’m sure you’ll forget my existence just as quickly.”
I said, letting out a cold, bitter laugh.
