Chapter 19
The butler, realizing that the new maid had a surprisingly keen eye, immediately reported this to the Countess.
The Countess, who had once given up on increasing her dowry through art due to her lack of discernment, quickly took notice of Malea and grew fond of her.
“My lady, how could there be counterfeits in a place like the Count’s estate? What you’re saying is just too far-fetched to believe—”
“Go see for yourself. The place is filled with cheap knockoffs. I even feel sorry for Rolf, who has to clean and dust them every day.”
Malea looked utterly bewildered.
The young lady’s personality was nothing like what the gossip magazines portrayed. The talk of fake artworks that couldn’t possibly be real. And her strange intent in trying to make Malea the Countess’s personal maid.
Her eyes were lost in confusion, unable to grasp any of it. But Odette couldn’t have cared less about the girl’s confusion.
“Then, use your skills to secure the position of my mother’s closest maid. I’ll give you until the first day of the Founding Festival.”
“Pardon? My lady, are you insane? That’s only three days from now! It’s impossible in that time!”
‘You managed it just fine in a single day in your last life, even without my help.’
As Malea kept whining, Odette’s teal eyes showed a hint of irritation.
“Stop whining. Don’t you think I know better than you how poorly educated this household is? With the eye you have—as a fence’s daughter—it should be more than enough.”
She wasn’t just saying that. With Malea’s level of discernment, she’d have no trouble picking out those subpar forgeries.
If not for that sharp eye, why would Odette go out of her way to threaten her?
She could say this with confidence because her own eye for art was several steps ahead of Malea’s.
In her previous previous life, Odette—then Han Soo-wan—had an intense love for art. Those memories had overly refined her taste.
‘Han Soo-wan, who picked up her stepsister’s discarded books like a beggar and still adored them, was a total pushover.’
That stepsister had taken private lessons from all the top professors and got into an art university. In a way, Odette had received a top-tier education just by watching from the sidelines.
“My lady, what you’re saying just doesn’t make sense. No matter how you look at it—”
“You really can’t do it? Then forget it.”
“Pardon?”
“A maid who dares try to spar with me through whining isn’t worth keeping around—not even under threat. I just have to tell my brother about the scar you gave him.”
“M-my lady…”
“If you really can’t obey me, then so be it. I suppose dying at my brother’s hands would be easier for you.”
As Odette turned away without hesitation, Malea scrambled forward on her knees and clung to her leg.
“M-my lady! I was wrong!”
“Remember this well. I loathe whining. Don’t even think about crawling to me again. I won’t forgive a second time.”
“Y-yes! I was wrong. It won’t happen again!”
Odette grabbed Malea’s chin, forcing her to meet her gaze.
“From now on, don’t even think of whining or challenging me. Never forget with your body and mind that it’s me who’s keeping you alive.”
Murderous intent glimmered in her teal eyes. Overwhelmed by fear, Malea fell silent.
“You may go. Congratulations in advance—on gaining Mother’s favor.”
“I-I’ll take my leave!”
Odette stared intently at the retreating maid as she hurried out.
‘That girl treated me like some foolish, spoiled brat in the past life too. After gaining Mother’s favor, she openly looked down on me like I was an idiot.’
With this, Malea was unlikely to become the Countess’s faithful maid in this life. That was enough.
Odette glanced down at her ugly calf.
The purpose of this dramatic wound wasn’t just to threaten Malea.
‘Soon, Johan will surely come to greet me.’
It was also meant for her reunion with Johan.
The man obsessed with chivalry. There was no way Johan, with his upright nature, could accept her help and just let it go.
Even in The Sanctuary Garden, when Charlotte pricked herself on a rose thorn while healing him, he was wracked with guilt until his death.
He wasn’t the type to stay still after hearing reports that Odette had been abused by her parents. He was the kind-hearted crown prince who never forgot a wound suffered by the weak.
‘I need to secure his sympathy well in advance.’
The damn Count’s family had only left wounds and scars in places others couldn’t see.
If there was one thing she’d learned from the courtroom in her past life, it was that only visible wounds and scars could garner sympathy. She hadn’t received any.
By the time she had wrapped up threatening Malea, the mild fever that had been bothering her quietly had turned into a burning high fever.
Barely making it up the stairs and into her room, Odette collapsed to the floor and fell asleep.
As always, Odette opened her eyes in a dream. In a place filled with wasps with heart-shaped wings.
‘I didn’t even get injected by Mengele today. Why am I having this nightmare again?’
Instinctively curling up in fear, Odette noticed something different from her usual dreams.
The heart wasps, which usually swarmed her like mad and drove her to the brink, weren’t attacking her today.
‘Why are they all so weak?’
Those cursed pests used to ravenously bite her skin and suck her blood. But today, all they did was tremble their wings.
Rather than flying at her, they were barely crawling toward her, struggling even to bite.
‘Come to think of it… their numbers are way down too.’
It was still about the size of a lake, but still—being able to gauge its depth was progress.
Compared to the bottomless pit it used to be, it was practically nothing now.
And what’s more, the wasps couldn’t even bite her. As soon as they touched her, they crumbled into dust.
‘Weird. Every time one of them dies, my fever drops little by little.’
As the fever subsided, Odette was finally able to move and pushed herself upright.
‘I’ve had this dream every night for three years, but today’s the first time I’ve actually been able to move in it.’
Those damn heart wasps were so calm it was eerie. Then, something came into view.
‘What is that… a post?’
A giant pillar loomed in the far distance, piercing through sky and earth alike, making Odette frown.
Looking closely, it wasn’t a post—it was an enormous tree growing up into the heavens, with brittle branches and dead leaves hanging off it.
‘Even a fairy-tale beanstalk wouldn’t grow that ridiculously big. What kind of tree is that?’
Its sheer size and blackened, dead appearance made it look like a column.
In that moment, a voice echoed in her head.
“The Purification Tree.”
Like lightning striking her mind, Odette suddenly realized something.
Then, memories from her past life surged forward without her will.
It wasn’t her recalling them—someone else seemed to be playing them back without permission.
**“They’re now called Transcendents or Purifiers, but in ancient times, they were known as the godbeast and the saint.
A Purifier is someone who holds the Purification Tree in their inner world. The larger the tree, the stronger their ability to purify the godbeast.
The very first saint—the original Purifier—was said to possess a Purification Tree of five Quejeta(m).”**
It was a sermon she had overheard while hiding in the monastery’s basement as part of a group of beggars. Odette hadn’t even been aware she’d heard it.
‘Why is this memory coming back to me now?’
It didn’t make sense. That tree couldn’t possibly be a Purification Tree.
If she were a real Purifier, she wouldn’t have been killed by Transcendents in her past life.
‘And there’s no way someone like me could have a Purification Tree bigger than the original saint’s.’
The strange memory burrowed into her mind. Feeling a brief dizziness, Odette tightly shut her eyes.
Because of that, she failed to see the leaves of the once-dead tree slowly turning a vibrant green.
