KFBRV - Chapter 44

He felt like he couldn't stop having dirty thoughts in front of that woman.

Sion's emotions were always neatly refined. Feelings of being humbled and one-sided emotions were both unfamiliar to Sion.

Looking into those calm, blue-green eyes, he felt like a criminal about to be interrogated in the torture chamber.

What if that woman sees through these dirty feelings, what if she laughs at my desires?

'What kind of victim mentality is this? What do you mean you see through it? I'm the one with the mind control ability, not that woman.'

'Besides, would that woman be upset if she found out I was having these dreams? She'd just laugh at me.'

But when he imagined that bland laughter, he felt like all the pride he had built up was crumbling.

What was even more fucked up was that even in that imaginary laughter, something was moving about her.

'This crazy kid. Should I just cut him off so he'll stop thinking?'

Even if it wasn't the body of a transcendent being that had been regenerated, it would have been cut off a long time ago.

It was at that moment that Sion's purple eyes, which had been chewing a cigar anxiously, suddenly filled with mild bewilderment.

‘Why am I wasting such a stupid amount of time... with that woman?’

Why should my pride be hurt by going to see that woman? Why should I feel lowly when I meet that woman?

What is the meaning of dreams? Dreams are basically like a processing plant for the unconscious.

The strange anxiety he had felt just now seemed like an illusion.

'I haven't been able to sleep lately, so maybe my brain is a bit out of whack?'

Sion took off his monocle and let out a hollow laugh. He sat up gracefully and lightly adjusted his clothes.

“Is the bullying over now?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Lady Albrecht. You left her in the drawing room to harass her, didn’t you?”

Sion looked at Max pitifully and then walked towards the door with long strides.

“Wasn’t it?”

“Why am I bothering that woman?”

“Ah. That’s not it. Of course, I thought you were saying that because you hated her so much.”

“It sucks. What a bully. She's not the one who's been bothering me for the past hour-”

Sion couldn't finish the sentence. The hand that was holding the doorknob of the office suddenly stopped in an uncharacteristic jerk.

'It's not her, it's me.'

It was because he couldn't believe what was about to happen next.

“Well... No matter how much you hate it, Your Excellency isn’t the type to harass women, right? There was also the matter of your mother.”

Max followed him without much question as if he hadn't heard the last sentence Sion uttered.

Sion opened the door violently and frowned.

You seem to be out of your mind. Are you going to say such nonsense?

But the reception room they arrived at was empty and no one was there.

“Huh? Where did she go? Did she go down to the lobby for a bit?”

While Max was looking around busily, Sion looked at the table. There was an envelope lying there.

"First of all, please forgive my rudeness in leaving you. I hope you will be satisfied with the price of your company."

The handwriting on the envelope. It is elegant, not like someone who has only recently learned to write. A warm spot that shows a uniquely stiff personality.

'Price?'

Only then did he notice the white handkerchief lying next to the envelope?

Sion's body froze as he realized the identity of the object.

"May the grace and protection of God be with you."

“My lord, what is that low-level embroidery?”

Yes, that's how it looks. It looks crooked to anyone, so it's not the work of a professional.

The finest silk and thread. The embroidery workmanship is incredibly poor considering the price of the material.

It was a crude embroidery that looked like someone's first embroidery, but Sion knew that it was the result of thousands of attempts and all the effort put into it by someone with absolutely no talent for embroidery.

Sion felt the back of the embroidery with trembling fingers. The habits of women he knew. Initials are embroidered small on the back, as unseen as possible.

He instinctively knew that this was his mother's embroidery.

“...”

“Don’t laugh, Sion. Mom embroidered it for eight hours.”

S-class Transcendent, outstanding successor to the Kleist family. A 12-year-old boy hero who will save the empire.

He had so much power that no one dared worry about his future, except his own mother.

His mother was always worried that the Purifier would not appear before she died, and that her son would live a life filled with suffering.

Because to her mother, her son came first, before the empire he would save.

So the Marchioness worked very hard to embroider a present for the future Purifier who would one day appear. If that mother could embroider something as good as this, she must have embroidered thousands of lesser ones.

He thought she had asked the palace to give it to the Purifier when she appeared someday.

So Sion was even more surprised. He never thought that whoever received this as a gift would still have it.

Whoever received it, the embroidery was too ugly to be considered valuable. A high-quality silk handkerchief before it was embroidered would have been worth hundreds of times more.

But this is what she treasured? Why on earth?

The fact that she brought this means that she knows his mother made it for him.

The relationship between Sion and Odette was already ruined by hatred. Even if Odette was the victim of abuse, the fact that she was the perpetrator of the Transcendents did not change.

Why did you keep such an item so preciously, even though it wouldn't have been strange if you had thrown it away a long time ago?

“Excuse me- Your Excellency.”

At that moment, he heard the coachman's voice calling him as he came up the stairs.

“The young lady has left, so I came up to tell you.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to ever give her that horse?”

Sion's voice was surprisingly cold.

“Of course, it was Your Excellency’s order, but I never gave it! But the young lady insisted on walking.”

Sion was astonished at those words.

“That crazy woman...”

The area around this bank was entirely the private property of the Margrave Kleist family, so not even carriages were allowed to pass through.

It's quite a distance to get to the square, and it's almost midnight now.

'Even if you're not afraid, you shouldn't be afraid.'

He jumped out the window and checked the stable, and felt a sense of emptiness when he saw the black horse tied up there.

'Why do you have to go that far? Isn't the living room better than your mansion?'

What could be worse than this reception room than a place that treats you like that?

He can't figure it out. Sion looked down at the handkerchief he was holding without thinking.

The sight of Odette that he spied on one night was not like Odette's.

With a woman who sat upright and asked to do business with an elegant and calm attitude.

“Is it okay for me to say this? Actually, I’ve admired you guys for a long time. If you find it unpleasant, I’ll take it back.”

So, he thought that the words Odette whispered that day were just simple sleep talk.

“I’m so happy. Those are the warmest words I’ve ever heard in my life.”

But what a handkerchief that was kept so preciously.

The handkerchief seemed to be saying that it was the real Odette who was at that moment.

It was terribly nerve-wracking. Sion had a headache.

Sion hated anything that was beyond his control, but Odette kept failing his expectations.

From the moment she came to him and told him the truth about Count Albrecht, to Odette's tears that he happened to see, to the handkerchief she handed him today.

What is the real Odette? Do I feel pity or disgust for Odette? It's useless information to find out, so why do I care about it?

The handkerchief came into view again.

'Fuck.'

Sion made up his mind. It seemed that he had to dig into her piece by piece to find the answer. Sion started running up the building.

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