Chapter 15
“Butler! Prepare the adoption papers and summon a lawyer.”
Butler Jobern glanced at Odette with a troubled expression before speaking.
“I don’t think we should adopt her solely based on her word. Perhaps it would be better to meet Count Cesar Mace first and then decide?”
Odette’s eyes lit up as if Jobern had said a brilliant idea.
“That’s a good idea. Butler, you should meet Count Cesar in person and ask his opinion.”
“Me…?”
“Why? Are you afraid he might kill you like he did Mary?”
He probably didn’t even know that Mary was dead.
Jobern stammered, visibly flustered.
“D…dead?”
“Yes.”
“With…with what…?”
“A sword.”
“Ugh…”
Shivering in terror, Jobern trembled violently.
Odette merely shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh, right. I forgot to tell Count Cesar that you suggested I be killed so they could hold a funeral for me.”
“I’ll go summon the lawyer immediately.”
Jobern bolted out of the study like he was fleeing.
Ha… I’ve come here again.
Arriving at Amelia’s room, Odette wandered inside.
Here, trapped, she had once fainted without knowing whether it was day or night, dreaming of Amelia.
“The Kingdom of Dekan is so beautiful! I should’ve come sooner! Oh my! What is this delicious food? This hotel is amazing!”
The runaway Amelia had arrived in Dekan on a cruise-like ship, enjoying the pleasures of travel.
She looked so happy.
Amelia had purchased wide-brimmed hats, worn flowing dresses, and indulged in shopping.
She ate delicious meals at luxurious hotels.
Meanwhile, Odette—the one standing in for Amelia—was dying. Her mouth dry, tongue parched, barely able to swallow.
The black stains on the carpet over the marble floors were made from Odette’s own blood and tears.
I won’t be victimized so easily again.
“First, let me organize the original story.”
To prepare herself, she needed to know the main points of the original heroine’s narrative.
Odette moved to the sitting room next to the bedroom, taking out pen and paper.
After noting down the major turning points in the heroine’s story, she circled the second point.
‘During the time Amelia was swearing she’d do anything for Cesar, she did this…’
Amelia had returned to her family home to uncover Count Anderson’s weaknesses.
I can find his weaknesses too.
The Count had committed countless misdeeds, so finding a weakness would not be difficult.
Moreover, Odette had the freedom to move around his mansion and knew secret passages.
Even if I run, I’ll do what I must.
She wanted, at the very least, to see the arrogant Count’s face twisted in despair.
Huh?
The fresh scent of the forest seeped deep into her lungs. Opening her eyes, she saw blue sky through the treetops.
She had dozed off in Amelia’s room—and now she was in a forest.
Is this a dream too?
Creaking against her back was something. Turning around, she saw a swing.
This…!
It was the swing her mother had made for young Odette.
She lifted her head to take in the view. Below the hill stood the cabin where she had lived with her mother.
“Mother?”
She ran, desperate to see if her mother might be inside.
She had missed her so much, longing to cling to her and cry.
After her mother had passed, she had felt so lonely and hopeless.
She had been beaten by Count Anderson and strangled, feeling the terror of death.
No… I mustn’t say that.
It would upset her mother.
Odette had to reassure her mother that she had lived bravely and would continue to do so.
She would lie, if necessary, saying she had lived happily, with a smile on her face.
“Mother!”
Arriving at the cabin, Odette flung open the door.
“Ah…”
Dusty furniture, decayed bedding, a fireplace cold to the touch. Mice scurried away through holes at the sight of a stranger.
The cabin, long abandoned, seemed like a deserted house.
The hope that her mother might be there shattered, and tears streamed down her face.
“Odette, after the darkest night, a dazzling morning will come. I bless your future, which will shine brighter than anyone else’s.”
She had forgotten her mother’s words before passing away.
Mother, this feels like the darkest night of all.
Tears welled up as she missed her mother.
The brightest moment of my life was when I was with you. If only I could go back…
She regretted getting lost in the forest while picking raspberries, worrying her mother unnecessarily.
She had begged to move to a village in the valley, to live like others. Each time she had pestered, her mother had patted her head sadly.
“Someday, you’ll live in such a place.”
Her mother must have known she wouldn’t live long, and thought of the pain of leaving her young daughter to face the world alone.
Ugh…
Odette cried for a long while.
She wished she wouldn’t wake from this dream, wishing she could repair the cabin and live alone.
Then she suddenly lifted her head. The sound of hooves grew closer.
Through the dusty window, she saw an armored knight walking toward the forest.
Who is that?
Had she ever met such a knight before? She couldn’t remember.
Then she realized this dream might not be part of her own memories.
Could I be inside this knight’s subconscious?
She had not fallen asleep holding his belongings, nor had she tried to peer into anyone’s subconscious.
But one thing was certain—the knight knew her mother.
He had come to her mother’s grave to pay respects. There must have been a deep connection.
Perhaps he knew the mother’s true identity and even who her father was, secrets her mother had never revealed.
Odette ran out of the cabin toward the direction the knight had gone.
The knight, climbing the hill, stopped and bowed slightly.
When he straightened, he held wildflowers in his hands.
Who could this knight be?
“Great Saintess.”
The knight walked a few more steps to her mother’s grave and placed the flowers carefully.
He immediately began removing weeds tangled around the grave.
In a short time, the grave was clean.
Wiping sweat from his brow and brushing the wooden gravestone, he said:
“When will my trials ever end? When will destiny come to me?”
The voice belonged to a boy entering his voice-change stage.
Cesar?
“If I return alive from the war, I will visit again. I will find and kill whoever stole your Odette.”
The knight turned around.
Black hair, piercing blue eyes, arrogant yet beautiful—a familiar yet strange face.
“Count Cesar.”
Black-blue hair and icy eyes. His face, still that of a boy before fully growing into a man, gave off a delicate, almost angelic impression.
“How do you know my mother?”
“…Do you know me?”
Cesar’s cold gaze met Odette’s.
“I just told you at your mother’s grave. I said I would kill those who stole your Odette. I am Odette.”
Odette pressed her trembling hand to her chest.
“Ridiculous. The Odette Vallon I’m looking for is a seven-year-old girl.”
“Odette Vallon… you know my name exactly.”
Even when they first met, Cesar had known her full name. She had thought it strange…
Cesar must have met my mother.
When exactly had Cesar come? The only visitors to the cabin where Odette and her mother lived had been hunters.
Why don’t I remember meeting Cesar?
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who I am. That’s not important right now.”
Odette was far more concerned with the fact that she had entered Cesar’s memory.
