KFBRV - Chapter 42




[Kleist Bank]

A building that looks more like an opera house than a bank.

The building, which seemed practical but never gave up on aesthetics, closely resembled its bank owner.

Odette stopped talking in front of a building that resembled the Beaux-Arts style she had learned about when she was a student.

“Whoa, whoa.”

Odette dismounted from her horse and lightly bit her lip as she checked the watch with the Margrave Kleist family crest engraved on it through the veil covering her face.

'It's already 11 o'clock. It's later than I thought.'

When the children were taken out of the detention center, Theodore was cursing.

Theodore could not accept that Karl was left behind in the asylum.

“Everyone is disgusted with Brother Karl! They’re definitely trying to kill him!”

Theodore, who was crying because he was convinced that Odette was trying to kill Karl, spent a long time trying to convince him.

If Karl hadn't struck Theodore in the back of the neck and knocked him unconscious, it would have been well past midnight.

Odette rubbed her bruised shoulder from where she had bumped into Theodore's struggles, took the letter out of her pocket, and clutched it.

'I need to ask the bank manager to deliver this letter to Sion and then go straight to the mansion.'

Odette clutched the hastily scribbled letter she had written on the train.

It was a letter with the gist of 'I want to buy everything Your Excellency knows about Karl.'

That son of a bitch would surely demand a fair price, but first, she had to send the letter before the day was out.

It may take some time to organize the information.

It was written in a letter from Sion once. If you need anything, just go to the bank and show them the necklace.

The effect of the necklace was great. As soon as the private guard guarding the main entrance of the bank saw the necklace Odette held out,

“Please wait here for a moment!”

And then he hurriedly called the bank manager.

The bank manager, in his mid-30s, came down to the lobby barefoot and bowed at a 90-degree angle to Odette.

“Good morning, Ma’am. I am Max Kleist, the president of the Capital Bank. Please follow me to the VIP reception room.”

Odette blinked behind the veil after receiving the bank manager's greeting. It was unexpected.

'I thought the head of the capital bank would be Max.'

It was a face Odette knew.

A character seen in <Sion Route>, he is a collateral descendant of the Marquis Kleist family and is even the third son, so he has no title to inherit.

'I knew he was a great financial savvy, but... I never imagined he would be working so close to Sion.'

Because this person is one of the villains appearing in <Sion Route>.

He was a character who opposed her to the end, saying that it would be crazy for the head of the Marquis family to marry a commoner like Charlotte and that he would rather take her as his mistress.

Because he spoke his mind to the end no matter how much Sion told him to shut up, in the end, Sion took away Kleist's last name.

'They were originally on good terms. To the point where he was put in charge of the capital bank.'

Well, I guess he'll have to end that relationship to prove his true love for Charlotte.

“It’s our first time meeting. Nice to meet you, Max.”

But Odette pretended not to know him and greeted him, handing him the letter.

“You don’t have to go to the reception room. My business is not that important. I just want to send this letter to His Excellency as soon as possible. That’s all.”

It will be incomparably faster than using the central post office since there will be a separate contact person only for Kleist Bank.

But Max shook his head and looked troubled.

“His Excellency has given orders. Any matter related to the young lady who brought the necklace is to be dealt with after His Excellency meets her in person.”

'It's difficult. I don't have enough time to meet you in person.'

“His Excellency has given me a definite answer that he will arrive within five minutes, so please come to the reception room.”

But Odette had no choice but to face Max's hard-line attitude.

'Within 5 minutes, it should be fine.'

“Then, I would like to ask you to guide me.”

Odette followed Max's lead to the reception room.

***

Max glared at the Marquis with a chewed expression.

“What kind of new disease is this?”

"Shut up."

“Why am I being so rude right now? The chairman, whose only good point is keeping his promises, is lying around here, wasting his time.”

Max checked his pocket watch again anxiously.

“When exactly are you going to leave?”

It's almost midnight now.

Embarrassingly, Lady Albrecht had been waiting for almost an hour, despite having declared that it would only take five minutes.

'If it was going to be like this, should I have just received the letter?'

The reception room where the veiled lady is waiting is just below this room.

He couldn't understand why Sion was wasting time in the bank president's office when he had already arrived early.

“Why are you in such a bad mood again? After all, I was having a blast tormenting Count Albrecht at the palace until he fell asleep.”

I'm sure you've just been playing with Count Albrecht.

'Purify His Highness the Crown Prince, and I will fulfill all conditions.'

Starting tomorrow, they will once again torture you with hope, saying, "Although this rampage passed without incident, something like this can happen again in the future. We will give you the compensation promised in advance to purify it."

While Count Albrecht was dreaming, the Sion were busy laundering the Count's illegal funds. All the cleaned money was put into the Kleist Bank vault.

But why do you feel so bad?

“No, if that’s the case, why did you come running like an excited monkey in just 30 seconds?”

It was absurd to see him suddenly sitting at the head of the office, shuffling through some useless papers as if he had become some kind of gloomy philosopher.

“If you’re going to read the document, at least read it straight. Why are you reading it upside down?”

"...Ah."

Seeing that document-reading monster read so slowly, Max wondered if it was upside down.

He returns the papers back to him with that stupid question.

Even in the midst of all that, he could sense the scent of a young child from the way he stubbornly kept his head down.

It was a word that had never occurred to him to describe my brother, a perennial asshole.

“No, what the hell, when are you going, when are you going, downstairs, why are you wasting your time here? You may be the biggest son of a bitch in the Empire, but the only thing you have going for you is that you don't break your time commitments, eh?!”

“I told you to shut up. I said I can’t go.”

“Huh? Why? Did you hurt your leg?”

But Sion looked at Max pitifully and sighed.

'Are you crazy? Who is the pathetic one right now?'

Max grumbled, exhausted.

“Ugh. Don’t I become a guy who breaks promises to that pretty girl? You know what I’m talking about.”

Even though he knew she was a villainess, Odette was too beautiful. Max was worried that he would look like a man who was inferior to her.

Max licked his lips as he thought of the girl he had seen in the reception room earlier.

How surprised he was when she took off the veiled hat and realized that it was Odette who had the necklace.

That upright posture, that polite greeting. Who would have thought that such a noble person could be the villainess of the rumor?

When, after a long patience, 30 minutes later, she quietly rang the bell to call himself and asked, “When do you think His Excellency will be arriving?” Max’s face turned red.

“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll give up too. Well, my lord has always been emotional when it comes to the name Odette.”

He looked at Sion's flinching arm.

“I know very well. How much the master hates the young lady. Well, from the master’s perspective, that young lady’s face is something you hate to look at.”

“No. Not that kind of thing.”

Sion immediately denied it in a suppressed voice, but Max guessed that it was actually a positive.

How could that guy, who has not only time obsession but also time dysphoria, act like that? Sion anxiously checks his watch dozens of times, but he never gets to see Odette.



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