Chapter 141
By the time the sea reached my waist, the dolphin finally let me down from its back.
“Thank you for bringing me here.”
After circling around me a few times as if showing affection, the dolphin sliced through the water and headed back out to sea.
I waved goodbye to its retreating figure, then turned toward the white sandy beach—only to freeze in surprise.
What stood before me was a lighthouse.
No wonder the whale kept swimming for so long… I came this far?!
Even by railway standards, this was at least three stations away from the villa.
I did ask to be dropped far from the cliff, but… this is practically the very edge of the Meurso coast.
For someone who needed to escape the Transcendent, this was extremely fortunate—but the fact that everything had gone so smoothly left me feeling strangely unsettled.
Perhaps because of the violent wind and rain, the night sea was deserted. Still, I pulled a dark green robe from my inventory and threw it over myself, pulling the hood down deep enough to hide my face.
Experience from my previous life—playing hide-and-seek with Transcendents—had taught me one thing.
Even when there were no witnesses, concealment had to be perfect.
To be safe, I should change clothes as well.
Walking barefoot across the sand, I summoned the shop through my status window. The clothes in my inventory were far too aristocratic.
[ Would you like to purchase a tunic? ]
[ Tunic: 1 Selene ]
[ Would you like to purchase a white hood? ]
[ Hood: 30 Copper ]
[ Apply tunic and hood? (Current clothing will be stored in inventory) ]
YES / NO
When I pressed YES, the clothes beneath my robe instantly changed into a simple tunic.
Near the end of the beach, I summoned the status window again and put on shoes.
[ Would you like to purchase brown shoes? ]
[ Shoes: 5 Selene ]
[ Apply shoes? ]
YES / NO
Since this is near the lighthouse, there should be plenty of hired carriages.
With this, no one would mistake me for Odette. Confident, I quickened my pace toward the main road, pulling my hood down tightly.
Contrary to expectations, Odette had trouble finding a carriage.
Several passed by near the lighthouse, but every single one was already full.
Is it because of the storm? How can every carriage be packed?
Only after waiting a full hour did one finally stop in front of her.
“I’d like to go to Meurso Station. Would it be possible to ride all the way there? I’ll pay whatever you ask.”
The coachman looked at the brown-haired commoner girl in a robe and answered grimly.
“No need for money. Everyone’s heading to the Grand Cathedral anyway. The station’s on the way—I’ll let you off there.”
“Thank you.”
But when Odette opened the carriage door, she froze in surprise.
There were already five passengers inside.
Only one seat remained—and she barely fit into it.
She would have preferred to avoid traveling with others, given the need to hide her identity, but she couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
Odette climbed in and closed the door.
That’s strange… Why is everyone dressed in black?
Men and women alike— even children—were wearing neat black clothing.
She seemed to be the only one in everyday clothes.
Now that I think about it, the passengers in the earlier carriages were all dressed in black too. Did something serious happen?
The implication was obvious. People dressed in black, all heading to the Grand Cathedral—this was for a funeral.
In an empire where disasters struck regularly, large-scale funeral masses were hardly rare.
But according to my memories from my previous life, there was never a funeral of this scale in the Meurso region. There was no major catastrophe, either.
Thinking something different from her past life might have occurred, Odette asked another passenger.
“It seems there’s a funeral mass at the Grand Cathedral… Did something happen?”
“You haven’t heard the news at all?”
A lady stared at her in shock. Odette shook her head.
“My goodness. To think there’s still someone who doesn’t know! Everyone’s talking about it. Brace yourself—tragically… Lady Odette has passed away.”
“…What?”
“They say His Holiness is personally coming to the Meurso Grand Cathedral to preside over the funeral mass. That’s why everyone is on their way there.”
“Ah… I see…”
Caught off guard, Odette answered awkwardly and pulled her hood down further.
“That’s all the reaction you have? You’ve just heard that Lady Odette has died…?”
The woman looked utterly horrified, as if questioning whether Odette even had human emotions.
“I’m just… too shocked. I can’t seem to react properly. That’s… truly unfortunate.”
Odette forced her voice to sound mournful.
It was painfully awkward, but fortunately the lady turned away, too busy wiping her tears with a handkerchief.
To think my body was discovered this quickly.
She had expected the search to begin tomorrow at the earliest, after Charlotte appeared once the shackles of time were released.
The sobbing wasn’t limited to just one woman.
“How could this happen…”
“Just a few days ago, everyone was celebrating because of her miracle…”
Everyone in the carriage sighed heavily and began to cry.
Odette endured the damp, stifling atmosphere in silence.
Charlotte should’ve arrived at the Meurso villa by now… Has the news of the new purifier’s awakening not spread yet?
If it had, they wouldn’t be mourning this deeply.
Just as the air became suffocating, the carriage finally arrived at the station.
Meurso Station was packed with people—but all of them were headed for the Grand Cathedral.
Thanks to that, every outbound train from Meurso was completely empty, allowing Odette to buy a ticket with ease.
Seated comfortably in first class, she gazed out the window.
Now that she had awakened as a true purifier, most of her old revenge plans were unusable.
The Count had begun to suspect her, so pretending to be dead—lulling him into complacency—was far more advantageous.
Besides, everything she had set in motion required time to bear fruit.
Paula’s lawsuit. Madam Becker’s illegitimate child. Fernand’s gambling addiction.
While waiting for those seeds to fully ripen, Odette planned to hide within Count Albrecht’s territory—
In the village where her biological father had once lived with her mother after fleeing.
With a powerful hiss, the steam locomotive began to move.
For the first time in a long while, Odette felt her heart tremble.
I finally feel alive.
No more catering to male leads or appeasing family members. At last, it felt like her real life had begun.
As the rain clouds cleared, a beautiful nightscape unfolded beyond the window. Gazing at the open scenery, Odette’s eyes shone with freedom.
Upon hearing that Odette’s body had been found, the Pope rushed from the Papal Palace to the Grand Cathedral of Meurso without a moment’s rest.
As the empire’s sole purifier, her funeral mass naturally had to be presided over by him personally.
Certain that the Crown Prince had summoned him for that very purpose, the Pope had even publicly announced her death himself.
O God… why do You test an old, frail servant such as I…
Johann had not summoned the Pope to conduct Odette’s funeral.
“I don’t care if it’s some absurd legend from scripture. You’re the Pope—there must be a way. Try everything.”
He wanted Odette brought back to life.
The Crown Prince’s eyes, as he issued the command, were filled with a madness so deep it seemed bottomless.
“Find a way. If you fail, I’ll wipe out the entire useless Papal Order.”
It was a demand so insane that even a tyrant wouldn’t dare make it. Did he think the Pope was a god?
The Pope nearly screamed, Then kill me instead, Your Highness!—but the words never left his mouth.
The Crown Prince, beloved by the entire empire, had always been a righteous man who upheld the law.
So who was the man standing before him now?
That terrifying face—if he begged for death, Johann would truly grant it.
Faced with the overwhelming pressure radiating from a Transcendent who had just lost his purifier, the Pope struggled just to remain standing.
