"Karin, you're hurt. Come slowly."
Odette tried to stop him, but there was no way she could go slowly. Her legs, trembling with a sense of relief bordering on joy and anxiety that was even greater, began to run on their own.
But Karin's expression, which had been filled with joy, turned to shock as she approached Odette.
"Hey, how come it's so cold and you don't even have an umbrella? This is going to be a disaster!"
Odette was standing in the pouring rain with only a thin hood pulled down on her head.
It was a cold winter rain that made her lips turn blue just by coming out to support her for a short while. The raindrops that lightly splashed on her legs while she was running felt like pieces of ice.
"How long have you been out in the rain?"
But Odette had been exposed to such icy rain for so long that she could feel the cold coming from her body even though she was just standing close to her.
It seemed like Odette had been waiting for a long time for her to come out.
'Why is there an iron gate blocking the way?'
Karin was upset that she couldn't give Odette an umbrella. She should have worn a shawl. Then she could have given it to Odette.
"I was worried. I was worried that Karin might be suffering from unnecessary sadness."
But, as if she didn't know Karin's feelings, Odette spoke in a calm voice.
"Unnecessary sadness...?"
Is there any way to pass the umbrella? Karin, who was looking around the iron gate, stopped when she heard Odette's words.
"So I felt like I had to let Karin know that I was alive. To be honest... I wanted to let you know. I didn't want to lie to Karin."
Karina tried to understand it in her head. In fact, Odette was alive, so perhaps the mourning she felt for her as if she were dead could be called unnecessary sorrow.
But why? Odette's tone didn't feel that way. It felt like she was saying that since Odette was unnecessary, sadness was unnecessary.
'No. Let's not overthink it. Odette is alive and well. And she's even speaking so calmly.'
So, Karina should feel relieved... But why is she so anxious?
While Karin was in confusion, Odette greeted her. Refreshingly and gently.
"That's all for now. I'll be going now."
"Odette!"
"Take care, Karin. Don't be sick."
As Odette turned, Karin realized the source of the uneasiness she had been feeling all along.
Because her attitude was overly righteous.
'Why don't you ask me anything?'
Odette should probably ask Karin to keep her visit a secret or ask Karin to help her get out of the cold and take shelter in the mansion for a bit.
After waiting for Karin in the cold rain and barely meeting her, Odette should have at least asked her to lend her an umbrella, given her body was like ice.
There was a familiar sense of resignation in Odette's attitude.
Of course, there was a firm belief that no one would come to help her.
Does that kid know that the way she looks so 'too' righteous makes her look even more dangerous? Tha the actually makes the person watching him suffer.
'Odette. Is there anyone who can help you?'
There was a time when Karin also needed help. The Brentano family was also on the verge of extinction.
During that nightmarish time, Karin asked for help from people she trusted many times. Of course, there were times when she was betrayed.
This person has been ignored by people she had no doubt trusted to help her.
But even so, Karin never once gave up. Naturally, she never thought that no one would help her.
Because there was definitely someone next to Karin.
The servants, the maids, the cousins. People who would gladly risk their lives to help Karin...
So...
'That kid was really alone. Long enough to believe that no one could help him.'
When she realized that, Karin became unbearably sad.
The thought suddenly occurred to her that she shouldn't just leave Odette like this.
Karin reached through the bars of the door and grabbed Odette's wrist as she turned around.
"Just a minute!!"
"...Yes?"
The umbrella Karin was holding fell to the floor. The rain was still pouring down.
Her whole body felt like it was freezing, but she had no desire to pick up the umbrella again.
Karin spoke earnestly to Odette, who had turned around.
"The gardener's position at my villa is empty! Gotshet's villa is a very closed place, and no one but me can enter. Everyone who works there is tight-lipped. Even when the dukedom was on the verge of extinction, only those who were with me were here. The place where the gardener lives is especially closed off and..."
Disorganized words came out. As much as she was always careful with her words, this was the first time Karin had ever rambled like this.
'But if I let go of Odette now, she will surely hide in an even lonelier place.'
Odette's wrist, which Karin was holding, was as cold as ice. That made her even more certain that she couldn't let go.
"Since I am the one who called you, no one will wonder about your existence. Even if your identity is not clear, no one will question you."
'So please, I hope my heart reaches you.'
Was Karin's earnestness conveyed? Or was this child originally this affectionate?
Odette listened to Karin's hurried words until the end.
"So, so... What I mean is, if there's no place to hide, I'll hide you there. Anytime, however long it takes. As long as you need it, Odette."
Even after Karin finished speaking, Odette did not respond.
"..."
"Did I do something wrong?"
As she was pondering. Odette faintly smiled at Karin.
"Thank you, Karin."
As if to appease Karin's impatience.
"Ode-"
"I will remember."
'If you want to remember... it means you won't stay for the moment.'
Karin, who realized the implications of the indirect words, had no choice but to let go of Odette's wrist helplessly.
"Really... thank you so much."
Odette, who had emphasized it strongly, left the place.
After about a year had passed, Odette came to see Karin once again.
With her whole body covered in wounds.
Karin willingly gave her the cabin at Gotshet's cottage without asking any questions.
Before Odette came, she had swept and cleaned the cabin with her own hands, just in case.
Side Story 5. Victor's Position
A place where the poor and the sick gather. An underworld full of hostility and malice.
That was the kind of world Victor was born and raised in. A world where pity makes life miserable and love makes life a mess.
The love of parents for their children and the love of children for their parents were both nothing but a mockery.
The things that enrich life are alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and gambling. Expecting salvation from a human who may betray you at any moment is a crazy act that only fools do.
Doesn't Victor know better than anyone how ugly human beings are? How powerless things like trust and morality are in the face of materialism and sexual desire.
Do you know what all the people who fell into the abyss have in common? A woman who loved a man, a child who loved his parents, a commoner who loved a nobleman.
The point is that he loved others too much and gave to them without even realizing that he was weaker than them.
The lesson from the cesspool was clear: trust and love something like a human being for once. That's where it'll end.
Victor had no intention of becoming like those people. Like the fools who say they were happy because they loved while sinking in the gutter.
But...
"Thank you for saving me, Colonel Koenig."
Wouldn't it be better to be an idiot?
If that were the case, he might have had a more proper first meeting with her.
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