Part 2
The villainess Odette.
Her death shocked the entire empire.
Wasn't it just a week ago that she performed a great miracle that will go down in history? And then she took her own life.
'We have lost the greatest purifier God has ever given us.'
As if to fuel the sense of loss and depression felt by the people of the empire, a commemorative coin was issued at the same time. It was a silver coin with the face of Odette, the winner of the hunting competition, engraved on it.
Unlike gold coins, which commoners rarely touched, silver coins were the currency used almost every day by people of various classes.
As they had more to look at than just silver coins, they couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt rather than a sense of loss.
'Your face is too young...'
Because the Odette smiling in that coin was just a delicate girl.
Many people talked about Odette, but only a very small number of people in the empire were able to actually meet her in person.
As such, most commoners knew of Odette only through newspapers or gossip, through viciously photographed photographs or viciously drawn illustrations.
As such, they had no choice but to realize this when they saw the sea-like face on the coin.
The Saint, the purifier, the greatest villainess in the empire.
The fact that the real Odette, hidden behind all those fancy nicknames, was actually just an 18-year-old girl.
"The girl we bullied and called a villain was just a girl in need of protection."
The shock they received soon turned into immense anger.
"Who the hell made Odette a villainess!"
Many people in the empire remember Odette, who left with a confused expression immediately after performing the miracle.
The imperial subjects, the popes, the high priests, and the transcendent beings who bowed down to her.
How can you call it simple suicide when you run away from all those people with a look of disgust on your face and then jump off a cliff?
The people of the empire concluded that there was a sinner who had forced Odette to commit suicide, and they wanted to find that sinner and punish him.
As if only they could shake off their guilt towards Odette. With a rage that would surely crush anyone who got caught.
The newspapers that reproduced and spread the rumors created by the gossip press, the employees who willingly ignored and sympathized with the rumors for three years and the Emperor who openly looked down on Odette and created an atmosphere in which she was ridiculed.
They all held their breath and fell flat on their faces, allowing the crowd's anger to subside with time. After all, public anger has an expiration date.
But the Brentano newspaper would not let that happen. After Odette's death, it began to publish only articles related to Odette, almost as if by design.
"No one from the Count Albrecht family attended Lady Odette's funeral mass..."
"On the day of the funeral mass, Count Albrech, who went back after meeting only the Pope"
"Was the Count really in trouble with Lady Odette?"
The first target of the Brentano newspaper was Count Albrecht.
He was known to be a fool for his daughter, so he didn't even attend his daughter's funeral mass? Everyone was thinking it was strange at the time.
After much speculation, the Brentano newspaper came up with a sensational headline:
"What if the person who brainwashed the people of the empire into thinking Odette was a 'villain' was 'Count Albrecht'?!?"
The reporter for "The Secret Leak," Rudolf Kaspar, presents evidence that he was supported by the Count.
Count Albrecht's reputation was not what it used to be.
As he had already been ridiculed as the 'Count of Invisibility', the public's anger was directed at the Count without any hesitation.
At that moment, when the anger towards Count Albrecht was boiling over, the Brentano newspaper cleverly changed its target to Fernand.
"The Purifier is already dead, so why does Count Fernand enjoy immunity?"
Isn't the reason why the second immunity from the death penalty 'to protect the purifier in a stable environment'? How can someone who failed to fulfill that duty of protection enjoy the privilege of immunity from the death penalty?
By fanning public opinion Fernand should be executed with endless questions.
If it had been like this, no matter how angry the commoners were, they would have had no means of taking action against the Count.
In the first place, couldn't commoners even initiate a lawsuit against nobles? In a class society, public opinion has very limited power.
However, if a palace trial were held to examine the validity of the exemption, the story would be different.
"Is there anyone who would like to join the petition for the execution of murderer Fernand Albrecht'?!"
From then on, public opinion also began to be conscious of the palace court.
It was an exquisite command that showed the will not to waste even a single bit of the crowd's anger and influence.
***
The sound of birds chirping echoed outside the square wooden window.
At that sound, a brown-haired girl opened her eyes in bed. It was Odette, disguised with her hair and eye colors changed.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she first checked the trunk on one side of the door, as was her habit.
She doesn't need a trunk since she has an inventory, but she still needs a visible symbol.
A symbol that confirms that you are ready to escape anytime, anywhere.
After that, Odette's gaze turned to the wind-up grandfather clock.
"...Is it that time already?"
Odette muttered in a hazy voice and got out of bed. She felt the cozy wooden floor under her feet.
She got up and walked towards the window, stepping on the floor.
In her smooth gait, she didn't feel the stiff tension she had felt before. Her footsteps, which always felt like she was walking on thin ice, seemed a little more relaxed.
As she opened the wooden window with her pure white hands, the morning sunlight poured down lazily onto Odette's hair with a squeak.
"It's warm."
She stretched her hand out the window and basked in the sunshine, her cheeks flushed with an uncharacteristic rosiness.
Could it be because the solemn and cold expression that was like armor had softened?
Her expression was so much more lively than it had been two years ago. Thanks to that, she actually looked younger than she did two years ago, like her age.
But that relaxed expression only lasted for a moment.
Pudduck.
The moment she heard the sound of a small bird flapping its wings, the sharpness returned to her eyes.
What soon came into view was a white bird she knew well. Odette felt relieved and whistled lightly at the bird.
"Whew, whew..."
As if responding to the sound, a white bird with its ears pricked up flew toward Odette and landed gently on her arm.
"You worked hard. You did well."
A letter was wrapped around the bird's leg and tied with a ribbon. At the end of the ribbon was Lise's signature, which only Odette could read.
Judging by the thickness of the rolled parchment, it seemed to contain quite a lot of content.
'Well, the results of Fernand's trial will finally come out.'
"Good job. Thank you."
Odette carefully ran her fingers over the bird's head and untied the letter from its legs.
The bird, which had been acting cute by rubbing its head on Odette's finger for a while, soon ran to the cage prepared for it.
After looking at the sight with affectionate eyes for a moment, Odette carefully unfolded the parchment.
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