“What, what did you say?”
“But I just can’t decide whose choker I should open. So, you two, discuss it and decide. I will follow your decision.”
Then Dolly and Rudolph slowly turned their heads towards each other with pale faces.
Their eyes exchanged tense glances. Rudolph swallowed hard, wondering what Dolly was thinking.
“Aren’t you close enough to promise marriage? You’ll arrive at the port tomorrow afternoon, so come to a conclusion by tomorrow morning. Then, before we arrive at the port, I’ll open the choker and the cage door secretly.”
She emphasized once more.
“Don’t forget. It’s until tomorrow morning.”
The two people, at a loss for words, just looked at each other.
“Oh, just in case, I’m saying this, but you shouldn’t think about running away together. That choker recognizes the person with the real key as its owner. If you move more than a certain distance away from the Count, the choker will explode.”
As she said this, Odette turned and left the warehouse. Even before she closed the door, voices arguing could already be heard inside.
“Do, Dolly. If you had a conscience, you would give in to me, right? It was your fault that things got messed up in the first place, wasn’t it?”
“Are you crazy? Who the hell planned this impossible plot?”
It's already that bad, so it'll be quite a sight to see by tomorrow morning.
Biting and attacking each other, their feelings for each other will be the worst.
'There's no way those two could come to the same conclusion.'
Odette closed the thick door. The sounds of the two fighting were instantly silenced.
She had no intention of freeing either of them. She was just trying to sow discord between them so that they would hate each other to death.
'So this is useless.'
Odette threw the key into the sea with confidence. With a splash, the key fell and sank into the deep abyss.
Because of the height of the ship, Odette did not see it.
The sea that touched the key fell with a clear sound, and for a moment, it gave off the fragrance of peach blossoms and glowed white.
The laundry maid, Paula, heard the news very late, for no maid wanted to talk to Paula, whose string had fallen off.
Because of that, Paula only learned the story of the 'Count of Invisibility', who had already swept through the capital once, today.
She went out to cool off after a hard day of laundry, and thanks to that, she picked up a newspaper that another employee had read and thrown away.
“...How could this happen!”
And when Paula heard the news, she couldn't contain her anger.
“Yeah, that was weird. You were weirdly defending that cheap maid... You son of a bitch! You were messing around with your wife’s maid?!”
These dirty, filthy traitors!
Paula hurled curses at the Count and Madame Becker.
What did the Count say when he demoted her to a laundry maid? Didn't he say that the Countess was locked up in the convent because she didn't understand her subject?
'That was just bullshit. In fact, it was nothing more than a courtship act for an adulteress...!'
Paula's once soft hands had become swollen in the past few days, from the endless hours of washing heavy laundry in the steamy corner of the laundry room.
‘...You dare blame it on me?’
Paula was convinced that the events of that day were the result of 'someone's plot' because she had no idea how Karl had been released.
Up until now, she had assumed that it was Odette who had hatched the plot, but it seems that the real mastermind is...
Paula tore apart the photo of the two people in the newspaper. At that moment, she heard the sound of several people's busy footsteps.
'Everyone, we have to hide right now. If someone tells us that we're fooling around here...'
In her current, insignificant situation, it was clear that anyone who caught her would be severely scolded.
Paula hid in a narrow space between the water pump and the fence. The owners of the place didn't seem to notice her because of the sound of footsteps.
“Butler. Are you here? We’re in trouble. The Countess has run away from the monastery...!”
“What? How did that happen?!”
“I don't know; the priests don't know either. They say he evaporated in the room where the Countess locked him up!”
“But I just can’t decide whose choker I should open. So, you two, discuss it and decide. I will follow your decision.”
Then Dolly and Rudolph slowly turned their heads towards each other with pale faces.
Their eyes exchanged tense glances. Rudolph swallowed hard, wondering what Dolly was thinking.
“Aren’t you close enough to promise marriage? You’ll arrive at the port tomorrow afternoon, so come to a conclusion by tomorrow morning. Then, before we arrive at the port, I’ll open the choker and the cage door secretly.”
She emphasized once more.
“Don’t forget. It’s until tomorrow morning.”
The two people, at a loss for words, just looked at each other.
“Oh, just in case, I’m saying this, but you shouldn’t think about running away together. That choker recognizes the person with the real key as its owner. If you move more than a certain distance away from the Count, the choker will explode.”
As she said this, Odette turned and left the warehouse. Even before she closed the door, voices arguing could already be heard inside.
“Do, Dolly. If you had a conscience, you would give in to me, right? It was your fault that things got messed up in the first place, wasn’t it?”
“Are you crazy? Who the hell planned this impossible plot?”
It's already that bad, so it'll be quite a sight to see by tomorrow morning.
Biting and attacking each other, their feelings for each other will be the worst.
'There's no way those two could come to the same conclusion.'
Odette closed the thick door. The sounds of the two fighting were instantly silenced.
She had no intention of freeing either of them. She was just trying to sow discord between them so that they would hate each other to death.
'So this is useless.'
Odette threw the key into the sea with confidence. With a splash, the key fell and sank into the deep abyss.
Because of the height of the ship, Odette did not see it.
The sea that touched the key fell with a clear sound, and for a moment, it gave off the fragrance of peach blossoms and glowed white.
***
The laundry maid, Paula, heard the news very late, for no maid wanted to talk to Paula, whose string had fallen off.
Because of that, Paula only learned the story of the 'Count of Invisibility', who had already swept through the capital once, today.
She went out to cool off after a hard day of laundry, and thanks to that, she picked up a newspaper that another employee had read and thrown away.
“...How could this happen!”
And when Paula heard the news, she couldn't contain her anger.
“Yeah, that was weird. You were weirdly defending that cheap maid... You son of a bitch! You were messing around with your wife’s maid?!”
These dirty, filthy traitors!
Paula hurled curses at the Count and Madame Becker.
What did the Count say when he demoted her to a laundry maid? Didn't he say that the Countess was locked up in the convent because she didn't understand her subject?
'That was just bullshit. In fact, it was nothing more than a courtship act for an adulteress...!'
Paula's once soft hands had become swollen in the past few days, from the endless hours of washing heavy laundry in the steamy corner of the laundry room.
‘...You dare blame it on me?’
Paula was convinced that the events of that day were the result of 'someone's plot' because she had no idea how Karl had been released.
Up until now, she had assumed that it was Odette who had hatched the plot, but it seems that the real mastermind is...
Paula tore apart the photo of the two people in the newspaper. At that moment, she heard the sound of several people's busy footsteps.
'Everyone, we have to hide right now. If someone tells us that we're fooling around here...'
In her current, insignificant situation, it was clear that anyone who caught her would be severely scolded.
Paula hid in a narrow space between the water pump and the fence. The owners of the place didn't seem to notice her because of the sound of footsteps.
“Butler. Are you here? We’re in trouble. The Countess has run away from the monastery...!”
“What? How did that happen?!”
“I don't know; the priests don't know either. They say he evaporated in the room where the Countess locked him up!”
'What?'
Paula was shocked, but soon her eyes lit up.
'If my mother ran away from the monastery...then I have no reason to continue staying here, right?'
In the first place, it was the job of a laundry maid that she was assigned to because her mother was taken hostage.
She had been hiding in silence for a while, but as soon as they left, she ran to her room.
Then she packed a trunk and filled it with valuables and expensive clothes.
She hid the trunk in a large wooden bucket and covered it with freshly laundered towels.
Then she grabbed a bucket and went out the front door.
“What’s the matter, Paula? Where are you going?”
The gatekeeper guarding the gate stopped her. It was the same guy who had been trying to impress her only a month ago.
“I’ll just go as far as the front gate... You know? I have to hand over the washed towels to the handymen up front.”
The other day, a disaster suddenly struck this area.
It was a very minor disaster and there were no casualties, but the road in front of the Count's residence became a mess because so many corpses were thrown up.
It had been so long since a disaster had struck the capital that it had taken a while to even get professional handymen on board. As a result, the handymen had only just begun cleaning up this morning.
Just as they were asking for extra towels, the doorman believed her and nodded haughtily as he let Paula out.
But as soon as Paula stepped out the front door, she threw her laundry on the floor. Then she grabbed her trunk and started running frantically.
“Hey! Hey! Where are you going?!”
The doorkeeper's panicked voice was heard, but Paula did not turn around.
“Stand there, stand there!”
'What are you standing for? Do you think I'll ever come back to this disgusting mansion?'
After running at full speed for a while and barely getting into a hired carriage, Paula spoke to the coachman in a panting voice.
“Take me to the Odenwald port!”
Paula remembered what the butler had said at the assembly this morning.
The Count's party is expected to return via the port this afternoon, so a notice has been sent to pay more attention to the management of the mansion.
'I'm going to go to the harbor like this and rip out all of Mrs. Becker's hair.'
But it was at that moment that Gisela's voice, which she had heard before, rang in her head.
“I understand that you are angry at your mother’s adopted daughter, but don’t bully her without the permission of the crystal ball. You’ll get in trouble.”
It was a request Gisela made the day she first met her. It was a warning she ignored at the time.
What happened when she ignored that warning? The day she dragged Odette into the pond and tormented her? Didn't she end up getting in trouble?
'It was thanks to Gisela's advice that I was able to meet Gustav Kwendell... If I act on my own again, things might get worse.'
Paula, who was becoming anxious, called the coachman again.
“No, I’ll change the destination... Please take me to Canaris Square.”
It's not too late to go to Gisela's shop and ask for advice before taking action.
'After that day, I decided never to act so recklessly again.'
“It’s not me who’s being the talk, it’s you, Paula. Whatever happens today, remember that it’s because of you.”
How many times had Odette's words tormented Paula since she had been reduced to a laundry maid?
She was afraid that maybe she was still 'showing off' and that she would push her mother into an even more terrible situation.
That's how Paula arrived at Canaris Square.
Fortunately, Gisela welcomed Paula.
“The crystal ball said you would come today. Have you reflected on your foolish actions enough?”
Gisela spoke as if she had already seen through everything.
Of course, Gisela had only received the letter from Odette, but Paula, unaware of this fact, nodded with tears in her eyes.
“Yes, yes...! Gisela! I will never judge on my own again. I will diligently follow Gisela’s advice.”
“Yes. It was a good thing you came to me instead of running to the harbor on your own.”
Paula didn't ask Gisela anything like, 'How did you know I was going to the port?'
Because Gisela was a real astrologer. Someone who could read the stars and predict the future. And someone who could change Paula's fate.
A real astrologer. Her real savior.
“Then am I supposed to just endure this humiliation? Am I supposed to forgive the adulteress who did something dirty? I wanted to just give up at the port...!”
“Gisela. If you really want to save your mother, the port is not the place you should go.”
"Sure?"
“Isn’t there someone among your bloodline whom you can turn to for help? A lynx who can restrain the Count?”
Gisela had a hookah in her mouth and was blowing smoke out, which made her look even more mysterious.
Paula thought for a moment and then someone came to mind.
“...Are you talking about my maternal grandfather...?”
Shylock. Sasha's father and Paula's maternal grandfather.
Gisela nodded as if Paula had figured out the right answer.
“But what can Grandfather do? The Count doesn’t even borrow money from him anymore.”
“There are also legal ways to harass them, right?”
“That’s even more ridiculous! You know? A commoner can’t even sue a noble. The Imperial courts won’t even accept it unless another noble represents them in the case-”
Gisela cut Paula off.
“Paula, isn’t there a nobleman who can do that for you?”
Then she smiled dreamily, blowing out smoke.
“The man of your destiny, the one occupied by the stars.”
***
Odenwald Port. A woman was glaring at a sailing ship coming from afar with a murderous look in her eyes.
'Those crazy guys are coming today.'
The person who was seething with anger was the countess who had escaped from the monastery.
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