KFBRV - Chapter 9




'They said it was about to run away. This is really out of the question.'

The wounds on his torso weren't all there was. His left arm and left leg were broken and bent in the wrong direction, and the grass around the fountain was so red that you couldn't even tell its original color.

If it was a normal person, the amount of blood loss would have caused death long ago.

'If the contamination level had been just a little lower, this level of wound would have healed in a matter of minutes.'

The recovery speed is slow because the runaway is imminent. The nerves that feel pain are also extremely sensitive because the contamination level is high.

“...Get out now... You have no intention of purifying me...What dirty plan did you have...for coming here...”

S-class Transcendent. Proud naval admiral. A hero of humanity created through chivalry. A kindhearted and beloved Crown Prince of the empire.

The blue eyes that looked at Odette, who was ashamed of such a nickname, were filled with contempt. However, she completely ignored the blatant contempt and gave an elegant curtsy.

“Meet the little sun of the empire.”

How could I possibly get hurt now?

'You always had this kind of expression on your face at every audience, but now it's the first time.'

And to this extent, it's cute.

'Compared to the time when he chased me with a greatsword, it was just a cold glare.'

Above all, the Crown Prince was the most kind to Odette among the four male protagonists. He was also the most gentlemanly.

Odette spoke with a grin.

“There is no ulterior motive behind my coming here, Your Highness. What other reason would a Purifier have to meet a Transcendent before going berserk?”

At her words, the Crown Prince's eyes widened in surprise, and then his face suddenly distorted.

“...What symbol is this whim...Knock! Get out. Your purification....”

“Yes, yes. You must be feeling nauseous. I know it well, so you’d better keep your mouth shut. Your blood will boil with every word.”

Odette tried to stop the Crown Prince from bleeding by stopping the fountain of blood with her hand.

“How dare you...”

“Should I hit you in the mouth so you’ll stop talking?”

“I hate you... I can’t stand your smell...”

“Yes, yes. I know.”

Odette answered in a calm, soothing tone as if she were talking to a drunkard.

'You're so kind to everyone, but you only hate me. How perfect.'

Charlotte's most loyal knight. He is more than capable of being the first male protagonist.

Odette feels like giving them a round of applause.

'Even if it's not the setting, you won't like me.'

Although he is the Crown Prince, he actually lives as a soldier and has a frugal personality. The keywords that make him fall for Charlotte are 'affection' and 'simplicity'.

There's no way anyone would like the fact that she insisted on wearing a lot of jewels and fancy clothes to every funeral.

“...Go back. I... have no intention of touching a woman I hate... even a little bit...”

Wow, how brave of you. Even though you're shedding so much blood, you still want to give all the firsts to Charlotte?

Odette smiled bitterly.

'A pure and affectionate man. A loyal knight only for Charlotte, right? That's a keyword that lives up to its name.'

But at best, it is only a fleeting moment.

Because when the clear warning signs of a runaway start to appear, you'll be begging me to cleanse yourself for six months straight.

As expected, it wasn't long before electricity began to flow out of the Crown Prince's body.

'Look at this. The power has already overwhelmed the owner of the body.'

A power that overwhelms the vessel it is contained in. It was a typical warning sign of a runaway.

'You survived half a year in this state in your past life? How incredibly foolish.'

“I guess I shouldn’t have come.”

Odette spoke in a rather cold voice.

“It would be better for me to run wild than to receive your purification, ra...”

Odette's question was leisurely, almost as if she was pondering the meaning behind his words.

“Are you saying that you hate me more than the people of the empire being wiped out by Your Highness’s tyranny?”

When she pointed it out precisely, the blood-covered Crown Prince flinched and closed his mouth.

A D-class transcendent's rampage is called an incident, a C-class is called a disaster, a B-class is called a catastrophe, and an A-class rampage is called a catastrophe.

So, an S-class rampage will definitely destroy the empire. It will be destroyed cleanly as if it never existed in the first place.

“...”

He glared at Odette, his blue eyes shining with hatred. She swallowed the more bitter words that were on her lips.

“Don’t worry. I will protect that noble spirit.”

She never intended to purify him through skinship from the beginning.

Even without purification, he'll have to gouge out one eye and last six months until Charlotte comes. Above all, Odette can't purify before that.

So, the worries about the Crown Prince's chastity were meaningless from the beginning.

'But it's annoying that you hate me to this extent.'

She knows he despises her. She was prepared to face it. It was more like resignation than determination.

'How blatant. How can you not hide your contempt at all?'

It seems she was not prepared enough. She felt a bitter sense of disappointment.

Leaving the Crown Prince behind, Odette rose and headed deeper into the forest, through the heart of the rose garden.

The Crown Prince's gaze followed her back for a very long time. But that was only for a moment. He soon lost consciousness due to the pain that was rushing in.

***

Sabaksabak. 

Odette passed through the grass that reached up to her knees.

'Still, compared to my previous life, am I a nobleman?'

The Crown Prince has always hated Odette, but with Charlotte's arrival, his current hatred becomes cute.

Ever since he found out Odette was fake, his eyes always looked like he wanted to cut off her throat right away.

Even if I kill you right now, I won’t feel satisfied. When I think about how much your existence has ruined the empire.”

In retrospect, his hatred was justified.

A fake purifier who has been eating away at the empire. A villainess who lives off of other people's misfortune and suffering to fill her own stomach.

From the Crown Prince's point of view, Odette would be no different from a parasite.

'Of course, that doesn't mean I don't feel sorry.'

What other options did I have? 

Odette could only go out of the mansion or talk to others under the supervision of her family.

On her first outing, she had all her hair cut off with scissors and was thrown into an underground prison for several months because she made eye contact with a girl her age.

After that, whenever she went out, the best thing to do was to always keep an eye on Ferdinand's expression and stare into space with a haughty expression.

She cannot help but know how much they have been longing for purification and how their notoriety has grown.

Anyway, with that kind of physical condition and the heightened senses, the pain must have been beyond imagination. But more than that pain, it was terrible to touch Odette. The depth of his contempt felt unimaginably distant.

But at the same time, her head becomes colder. Even sympathy and gratitude completely disappear. Even the slight yearning she felt for them when she was Han Soo-wan.

'...Yes. What good do I do being liked by him? I didn't come here to be friends with him.'

All she had to do was stop the Crown Prince from going wild, and things got easier after that. She also had to block the first incident that would earn the male protagonists absolute contempt.

It's funny to feel upset about something she did in a calculated way.

While Odette was calming down, she reached her destination, the lake.

“As expected.”

Odette sighed in relief as she looked at the black lotus floating in the water.

There was a flower she was targeting: 'Night Glory', which greatly amplified the effectiveness of temporary runaway delay drugs.

The Count Albrecht family has been running a large pharmaceutical company for generations.

1st Count Albrecht, a talented court apothecary, started a family business that has now grown into a large pharmaceutical company.

After gaining the monopoly on the runaway delay agent by putting Odette in the lead as the purifier, he started raking in the money.

However, it was a secret that even Albrecht did not know that 'Night Glory' was an amplifier for the runaway delay agent.

At this point, only Han Soo-wan, who has thoroughly read the game's settings book, would know this fact.

“How fortunate it is to have that in the palace.”

Odette jumped into the lake without hesitation.

Splash. Splash.

With every step, the dress swept around her legs in the cold waves. The water-soaked clothes quickly became heavy and made Odette stumble, but it was not the time to worry about that.

The lake was quite deep, and with every step, her feet sank into the mud. Odette staggered through the water, which was up to her chest. Only after stretching out her arms could she grasp the black lotus.

Night Glory, which can only survive if there is a blue rose that has bloomed for over 100 years, is now in Odette's grasp.

'They said that if you take the Runaway Delay Agent and Night Glory together, it will have a B-level purification effect.'

Night Glory is a plant that plays an important role in the game's worldview. Charlotte, a local pharmacist, discovers the amplifying effect of a runaway delay drug and heads to the capital to spread the word.

However, the core effect of Night Glory is to hasten the awakening of the Purifier.

'Charlotte was on her way here with this, and she was hungry so she ate a few and then awakened to S-class.'

Odette waded through the water with her dry fingertips and snapped off all the lotus stems.

There are only 8 of them, so she has to use all of the essence.

'My father only supplies the palace with drugs that have a weaker effect on slowing the speed of the explosion, so the medicine in the Count's storehouse will be much more effective.'

Because it was medicine exclusively for his precious son.

Since it also uses Night Glory essence, it should have a decent effect even on S-class Transcendents.

Odette left the lake, careful not to damage the flowers, and put the black lotus in her skirt. Then she turned back to the Crown Prince.

Because it had taken quite some time, the Crowned Prince had already lost consciousness.

“May I borrow a handkerchief, Your Highness?”

“...”

“You know that silence is positivity, right?”

Odette searched through his front pockets for a clean handkerchief and quickly stuffed a handful of the drug into the Crown Prince's mouth.

She tore up the lotus leaves into small pieces and put them on an open handkerchief, then rolled the handkerchief up neatly.

And she wrung the handkerchief with both hands. Odette dropped the liquid flowing through the handkerchief into the Crown Prince's mouth.


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