Chapter 46
“……!”
The golden light vanished from Zion’s eyes, returning to their pure violet hue. Judging by his expression, he was quite surprised that his brainwashing had been broken.
“…Impressive, Albrecht. You’re not just a purifier—are you a transcendent? I’ve never seen anyone withstand this before.”
That damned bastard actually looked genuinely impressed.
“You got me good, Albrecht.”
Even as he admitted defeat, there was a strangely relieved look on his face.
Was it just my imagination, or did he look exactly like the Zion in the game when he realized his feelings for Charlotte?
Zion released the grip he had on my arm and lit a cigar. That look of relief on his face was so detestable I could barely stand it, but I forced the corners of my lips up and smiled.
As if I couldn’t see the vivid hallucinations of the four male leads right before my eyes.
As if I couldn’t hear the voice of Zion from my previous life, muttering from within the hallucination.
“Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with? Charlotte is waiting. I need to hurry back.”
“I even need time to wash up. I can’t meet Charlotte in a body tainted by something this filthy, can I?”
Smiling, I opened my mouth.
“You once said that no matter how precious something is, the moment it touches me, it becomes tainted. You hated that, didn’t you?”
At my words, Zion turned his gaze back to me.
“Ah, that was—”
Then, unable to finish his sentence, his expression stiffened.
“I understand now just how much you despise me. So please, just go. I won’t offer you anything ever again, Your Excellency.”
Damn S-class.
Just resisting his brainwashing for a bit had drained me so much that my limbs were trembling.
Even the corners of my mouth were shaking.
“You—”
The clouds drifted by, and the moonlight revealed Zion’s face, frozen cold.
Just a moment ago, he’d been smiling in relief—was he now angry?
“……Are you crying?”
‘Me? Crying?’
Startled by his words, I touched my cheeks.
They were really wet.
I had managed to resist the compulsion to cry from the brainwashing, only to start sobbing on my own afterward.
So now I must look like someone smiling with tears streaming down her face—how grotesque.
Embarrassed, I wiped my face roughly with my palms.
[ Time until stamina debuff: 15 minutes ]
[ Leave the danger zone immediately. ]
A system window popped up in front of my eyes as if to warn me not to waste any more time.
This wasn’t the time to wallow in embarrassment.
“Your Excellency, I’ll be going now.”
Even as I said my goodbye, Zion remained stiff, unmoving, not even a single strand of his hair shifting. He looked like a statue.
I quickly bowed to him and hurried out of the area.
[ Pause lifted: Hatred level display resumed ]
[ Hatred level decrease during pause: 20 ]
[ Current hatred level: 45 ]
‘Why did the hatred level go down?’
I didn’t understand the system window that popped up, but I focused on running. I had to get back inside the hotel within 15 minutes.
As soon as I arrived at the hotel, a new system message appeared:
[ You have left the danger zone! ]
The moment I saw that reassuring message, my stamina gave out and I collapsed.
* * *
At dawn the next day, Odette returned to the mansion through a secret passage and met with Malea first.
She had to tell her who the peony tea from the salon should be used for.
After sending Malea away, Odette fell deep in thought.
‘It’s probably best not to use the secret passage for a while.’
The Count would soon return with Fernand. Since he often barged into her room unexpectedly, it would be safest to stay inside as much as possible.
Karl would also soon arrive as a slave, so it was better to prepare for that day.
Fortunately, Goetz had recommended someone useful for that time.
Just then, she heard a commotion on the first floor of the mansion. It seemed the Count had finally returned from the palace after long negotiations.
“You damn fools! No one thought to report this mess to me at the palace?!”
“P-please calm down, Master. You said the negotiations were most important and not to be disturbed—”
“Do you people have no brains?! With robbers breaking in, slave ships wrecked, and landslides happening—you didn’t think to inform me?! You should’ve reported it no matter what!”
His furious shouts echoed from the lobby all the way to her room.
She could hear things shattering, breaking—he was clearly furious beyond control.
The mask of the kind Count Albrecht, which he wore for the sake of his reputation, had completely vanished.
Odette opened her door and walked out gracefully. She leaned on the railing and looked down at the lobby.
The chaos of panicking servants and the Count shouting at the top of his lungs was a spectacle.
Soon, pale-faced retainers entered, trying to calm him down and quickly ushered him into his study.
‘He must be shocked. I guess it’s his first time dealing with this much bad luck.’
Odette smiled sweetly.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get used to it.’
The first domino of her revenge against her father was about to fall.
The domino that began with Paula’s resentment.
* * *
Once the noise in the lobby quieted down, Paula headed to the kitchen to get chicken soup for the Countess.
‘Poor Mother…’
The Countess had refused food and stayed bedridden during the entire Founding Festival while under house arrest. She was devastated that her son’s betrayal kept her from attending the Empress’s salon.
She had sent Malea instead, claiming illness, but a mere handmaid could only enter the gallery.
Only noblewomen were allowed into the salon’s inner chambers.
And that inner chamber was the heart of the social world—a golden ticket to status and recognition. It was everything her mother had longed for her entire life.
‘Don’t cry. With Fernand ignoring her like that, if I fall apart too, then what?’
Paula barely held back her tears.
Despite the pleas of the housekeeper and head maid, Fernand had only increased her mother’s confinement.
‘How could he look like he was the one insulted after trampling all over our mother’s lifelong dream?’
She had never realized her half-brother was such a selfish bastard. Not even recognizing his own mother. Now, she was the only one left to protect her mother.
“Is Master still in a bad mood?”
“Don’t even get me started. His secretary told me that His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly stabilized. His condition miraculously improved right after the festival ended. Master spent almost two weeks negotiating for nothing!”
“Gasp. Is that even possible? Once a rampage starts, it can’t stop until purified!”
“Exactly! But apparently, Marquis Kleist said negotiations were still necessary, so they extended talks for two more days. But in the end, it was all canceled. They said only Crown Prince Fenrir can be accepted.”
“Then wouldn’t it have been better to report the failed business deal instead? The footmen probably didn’t interfere because there was so much to gain from the negotiation.”
“Be careful. I heard the atmosphere in the study is terrifying. Jakob spilled hot coffee all over himself just trying to serve it.”
As they packed pudding, cookies, and macarons onto a trolley, the maids chattered on.
Paula, who was ladling chicken soup, twisted up one corner of her lips.
‘Useless Count. All that drama and he still managed to screw up the negotiations?’
Without the slush fund her mother had secured, he would’ve already gone bankrupt. His incompetence was clearer than ever.
‘It was Mother who first suggested Odette pretend to be a fake purifier, wasn’t it?’
He owed everything to her mother, yet now treated her with such contempt—it was unbearable.
Since her mother’s status in the mansion had suddenly plummeted, even the servants had begun to quietly ignore her. And lately, Paula hadn’t even been able to hit Odette.
Her stress had piled up to the max.
Then, one of the other maids chimed in.
“Hey, is it true that His Highness the Crown Prince’s rampage danger has disappeared?”
“You didn’t know? It was all over yesterday’s evening edition and this morning’s papers.”
“So creepy. It’s exactly like that astrologer said.”
‘…Astrologer?’
That odd word made Paula instinctively start listening more closely to their conversation.
