Chapter 20
Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the room.
On the white bed bathed in moonlight lay a woman wearing only a thin chemise. It was Odette, who had suddenly returned to normal temperature after two days of suffering from a high fever.
She was drenched in cold sweat. Judging by the faint whimpering, she seemed to be trapped in a nightmare.
Sion let out a long sigh. It finally felt real that this woman was still alive.
When he found her collapsed on the floor two days ago, she had looked like a pale, lifeless corpse.
“I found some information about your biological parents. If you’re curious, I’ll tell you.”
That was the simple reason he came here. And yet—look what happened.
Now he was stuck standing in this room at dawn, afraid he might have to deal with a corpse.
“Damn woman. Always such a pain in the ass.”
Annoyance filled Sion’s violet eyes.
That neatly composed expression. Those clear turquoise eyes. If she was going to lecture him so precisely about her philosophy on revenge with that sharp face, shouldn’t she at least take proper care of her body?
How could she carry out any revenge in this miserable physical state? She didn’t even have the basics down.
Sion pressed his fingers against his brow. The gruesome burns on her legs that he saw while moving her to the bed still lingered in his mind like an afterimage.
“A lady of her status is in this condition, and not a single person in the mansion is looking after her?”
Judging by this state, he could guess what her path of revenge would look like. With nothing to lose, she’d throw her own body into the fire the more she pursued revenge.
“I always wished she’d disappear. So why does the thought of her burning out like this make me feel so annoyed?”
And that was when it happened.
The woman’s eyes snapped open, as if she’d never been unconscious at all.
“…”
She stared at Sion with a gaze so sharp and clear it was hard to believe she had just woken up.
He couldn’t breathe.
Her turquoise eyes were like bottomless lakes—so clear they almost looked hollow.
Sion met her gaze as if he were hypnotized.
“Am I caught?”
She asked an abrupt question.
‘…Why’d she suddenly drop the polite speech?’
He couldn’t look away. Though her face was expressionless, she looked dangerously fragile.
Like a falling leaf just before it hit the ground. Like a wild animal searching for a place to die. Like a lost child who knew she’d been abandoned. Like something barely holding on at the edge of a cliff.
‘Those burns must be agonizing, but she shows no sign of pain. As if…’
As if pain was nothing new to her.
“Answer me, Sion. Is there no escape anymore?”
She urged him to answer. What made her ask if she was caught?
Was she slow-witted? His thoughts were sluggish.
‘The criminal syndicates tied to Albrecht’s illicit business… that must be it.’
Slowly coming to a conclusion, Sion replied gently. Stupidly docile.
“You’re completely caught. There’s no room to escape.”
Her expression suddenly grew bleak. Her turquoise eyes briefly filled with tears—but they never fell and disappeared just as quickly.
‘Why that expression?’
Sion felt his heart drop. He knew that look. It was the look his mother had when she was betrayed and stripped of everything by his father—right before her death.
“I wanted to know what it felt like to be loved, just once.”
Her whisper wasn’t pleading. It felt like a will.
Sion furrowed his brows. Who knew this tough, spiteful woman could sound so exhausted?
And that damned look in her eyes—as if he were Death himself, come to take her life.
“When I die, throw my body in the desert. I don’t want to be hated even after death. Besides, you people wouldn’t want to carry my corpse anyway.”
Seriously? She was actually writing her will now.
Only then did Sion finally breathe.
‘She must be confusing dreams and reality.’
It was understandable, given how high her fever had been.
It was obviously sleep-talking. Why was he so flustered?
Now that he realized it was total nonsense, he felt ridiculous for being so bewitched.
“I don’t hate you that much.”
That lightly spoken phrase slipped out because of that. Of course, he did hate her. But there was no need to correct a sleep-talker with facts.
‘And if she says she’ll disappear on her own, do I really need to hate her corpse too?’
All her filthy deeds were actually—
‘…’
Sion’s thoughts stopped.
‘What the…’
A bright, innocent smile bloomed on the woman’s face. A smile full of purity and happiness—like a girl of eighteen.
“That makes me so happy. It’s the warmest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
She could… smile like that?
Sion’s expression froze like a broken machine. It was his unconscious reaction whenever he was extremely flustered.
“Is it okay for me to say this? Honestly, I’ve admired you all for a long time. But if it bothers you, I’ll take it back.”
Odette’s smile remained radiant. Just seeing that excited look made his chest tremble.
Why was she looking at him like he’d just confessed his love? All he said was that he didn’t hate her. Surely she didn’t consider that the warmest thing ever said to her?
What admiration? What offense?
The more confused he felt, the colder Sion’s face became.
Her mind was clearly not right. Otherwise, how could his thoughts slip away like water through his fingers?
Her voice sank into a murmur.
“…Not that it means anything anymore.”
…Means anything? What meaning?
Her innocent smile slowly turned bittersweet. Sion could only stare dumbly as his thoughts completely stopped.
Her jewel-like turquoise eyes slipped shut again, and the room was left with only the sound of her breathing.
Only then did his frozen thoughts start to creak back into motion.
‘…Shit.’
He cursed in his mind—a crude word he had never used in his life.
Something terrible had just happened, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He bolted from the room as if running away.
‘Shit, shit! What the hell was that just now…’
He hated that woman. That fact remained unchanged.
The fact that she lived a life of abuse. That the terrible deeds he thought were hers were actually her family’s. That the nauseating rose scent had faded significantly in the past few days—none of that could reverse the hatred built over three years.
How many times had he swallowed suppressant pills in agony as if his nerves were being torn apart? Even if Odette was a victim in her family, to the Transcendent, she was still a perpetrator.
‘I hate that woman.’
He still felt murderous rage and loathing toward her.
It was always easy to hate her. Just recalling those hellish moments of pain was enough. Sometimes it felt like hating her was the natural, rightful order of things.
He must not allow himself to feel these soft emotions. His instincts as a divine beast roared in protest.
Sion walked quickly—as if fleeing from a foul stench or the emotions that stank of it.
At 4 a.m., with a light drizzle falling outside—
Odette slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the unfamiliar surroundings with a dazed expression, then let out a relieved sigh.
‘I thought Sion had caught me… It was just a dream.’
It had been three years since she dreamed of anything besides the hornet nightmare. And now, of all dreams, it had to be a nightmare of being hunted by a Transcendent?
‘That chase was already awful enough to live through once. Why’d it have to play out vividly again in my dreams?’
Odette, her face pale, pulled on a robe and struck a match to light the silver candlestick on the bedside table.
Only then did her trembling body start to calm.
As the candlelight glowed warmly, her eyes caught a piece of paper by the bed.
A high-quality card, neatly folded in half. It bore the seal of the Marquess of Kleist at the border.
Odette opened the card and frowned. It was full of incomprehensible squiggly characters.
‘I told them I’m illiterate, but they don’t bother to consider that.’
The only thing she could read was a long string of numbers with way too many zeroes.
‘Since I’ve already convinced Sion, there’s no need to stay illiterate any longer. I’ve got a lot to do, so I’d better study reading soon.’
But before that, there was something she needed to do.
She got up from bed and removed the necklace from around her neck, placing it on the nightstand.
It was the necklace Sion had given her. Something she never imagined she’d receive.
This was a <Sion route> item—something Charlotte only receives during the late stages of his romance path.
< Lotte. If you’re ever in mortal danger, this necklace will summon me. So take it with you. >
‘That’s probably all Sion knows about it.’
If that summoning function was all it had, Odette would have rejected the gift. It wasn’t even given out of genuine concern like it had been to Charlotte. It might even be used to track her later.
But this necklace had another function—one Odette desperately needed.
Opening the locket, Odette bit her fingertip and let a drop of blood fall onto the tiny clock inside.
The necklace glowed white and began to hum softly.
