The worst phoenix. Ever since it took up residence in Victor's body, Victor had always suffered from a burning pain all over his body.
Whenever he used his powers, even if it was clumsily. He felt excruciating pain as if he had been shot with a hunting rifle.
The pain grew worse and more intense. Even Victor, who had such a strong will to live, begged every day to just kill him.
As he thirsted for purification, he wrote dozens of letters of pleading to Odette.
However.
"I have no intention of associating with a lowly human being who is worse than an insect. How dare you, a dirty and vulgar thief, try to meet me."
How many times did he read that silent reply? Since it was written by the Purifier, perhaps even this letter had the power of purification. He held onto that letter like a talisman every time pain pierced through him.
As he read it over and over again, almost compulsively, the Odette in the letter became clearer and clearer.
A lowly human being, worse than an insect. A dirty, vulgar son of a thief.
Odette in his imagination had exactly the same speech as the noblewoman who had toyed with Victor like a stallion. The woman who had inflicted unforgettable humiliation on him.
A series of nights so painful that he wished he had died, and all night long he could hear Odette's mocking voice in the letter in his ears.
I'm going crazy. I'm going crazy. Please, someone kill me.
Victor eventually poured his supernatural power into his own body.
Perhaps it truly felt his will to die.
But just before Victor was about to burn to ashes, the supernatural power that had been parasitizing him took a step back, having lost some of its energy.
The pain was still excruciating, but enough to keep him alive.
The first thing Victor did after he was able to get out of bed was to burn the reply from Odette, who he had been holding onto as his only salvation.
He thinks it's crazy to seek salvation from others.
***
So when they first met, Victor was dumbfounded. The woman named Odette was so different from the villainess he had imagined in the letters.
The turquoise eyes somehow seem dangerous. The elegant yet cautious way of speaking. Even the scent of spring passed by for a moment.
But what was most unexpected of all was the child's vulnerability.
"Cough, cough! Victor."
The look in her eyes was as if she was looking up at him with a pitiful look as if asking for help, at that moment she vomited blood.
"I'm sorry that someone like me wants to live."
The dangerous inner self that was shown every now and then. The amazingly small and thin frame that could be held under the palm of his hand.
The child was as upright as she was fragile. As if she knew that uprightness was the shield that could protect her.
Every time he saw that sight, his heart raced. He had a gut feeling that this race would one day bring down Victor.
That's why he spoke more harshly. He felt like he would collapse from something like stupid love. He felt like he would fall into the abyss in a state no different from ignorance.
"Colonel Koenig. Why are you making such a face? You should be happier. Isn't this the best scene you've ever wanted to see?"
He don't even know what kind of scars those words left on her.
He felt like the memory of that moment when Odette trembled and pointed the gun at her own head was stuck in his throat.
No matter how hard he tried to shake it off, it felt like it would strangle his throat forever, without being able to spit it out or swallow it.
From the beginning to the last moment. Why was Victor so bad in front of Odette? Why did he do so many things he regretted?
He had to reach out to Odette as she fell into the sea. He had to do whatever it took to save her.
So that the child doesn't fall down alone and lonely.
'In the end, it was I who lost Odette.'
Victor clenched his fist. His clenched hand turned white and trembled slightly.
Victor was held by Karl at that moment, but that did not prevent him from reaching out to Odette.
Even though Karl's power was extraordinary, it was before his awakening. By Victor's standards, it was no different from that of an immature child.
The problem was the hunting gun trauma.
The moment he saw Odette holding the pistol, Victor's arms reflexively loosened.
After the day he was almost discarded in the hunting grounds of the female aristocrat, he became unable to move from the gun and the sound of gunfire.
The gap created by his trauma caused Odette to fall into that cold, dark sea.
He made that weak child fall like that.
Regret after regret. And today. Finally, finally.
Victor finally found Odette, whom he had been searching for so desperately.
"As expected, she was alive."
Under an ashen sky, on a snowy mountain swept by a fierce snowstorm.
***
Victor doesn't feel cold. He doesn't have any shortness of breath even at high altitudes. His stamina is also excellent.
A steep snowy mountain. Odette was no ordinary person, having been able to outmaneuver him to this extent in such a one-sidedly advantageous terrain for Victor.
'How dangerous is this snowy mountain. Without fear...'
Even though it was his first time on this mountain, he climbed it without hesitation as if he knew the way well.
Victor might have really lost Odette. She had she not stepped into the hunter's trap and spilled blood under her every step.
The dark blood stains that had fallen were slowly getting darker, evidence that her wounds were continuing to open.
'You came all the way up to this high place, bleeding so much?'
"She's truly amazing. She's a woman with a natural talent for driving people crazy."
Victor muttered softly as he looked at the last blood trail leading to the small cave in vain. Because of the cold weather, white steam came out of his mouth along with his sigh-like whisper.
Odette, too, seemed to be worried that Victor would track her down because of the footprints and blood, so she chose a path that would leave less of a trace. Judging from the way she desperately insisted on following the paths that wild beasts roamed.
'You seem willing to be eaten by beasts as long as you don't get caught by me.'
With that small body that is not even a bite for wild beasts.
"Even at this moment, there is still something that makes people turn their eyes."
As she walked into the cave, a small laugh escaped Victor's mouth.
How much he regretted and blamed himself during this past year.
He wanted to apologize to Odette. He's sorry he didn't know her weakness. Please give hi. a chance to protect her in the future.
He will never do anything she doesn't like again. Of course, that includes calling her honey.
Victor had been dreaming of this moment of reunion. Just seeing Odette alive with his own eyes seemed to relieve his breathing. The guilt that had been strangling him since the funeral mass seemed to be barely swallowed.
But, Ironically, it was now, with her right in front of him, that Victor felt the most crazy.
Odette crawled into a narrow, dirty cave and sat in a corner, bleeding. She looked like a weak animal hiding in a crevice of a rock right before it died.
The wound seemed to be deep, and the smell of blood was quite strong. The monster noticed this and started to boil inside Victor, urging him on.
'Hold still, you little turkey. Who doesn't get nervous?'
Victor was far more eager to storm into that damned cave and drag her out of that damp place. He was barely holding on with superhuman endurance.
Victor held the upper part of the small rock cave. On the outside, he looked fine, but in reality, he was turned around. He didn't even notice that Odette's scent had disappeared.
Holding the cave entrance with one's hand was also an action to resist the urge to rush into the cave.
The rock dug into his hand, blood flowed from his palm, and his arm shook as if it would seize at any moment.
But Victor bent his knees and controlled his expression so that his true feelings would not be revealed at all.
As he lowered his head through the hole, he saw Odette crouching inside the cave.
"Long time no see, Odette. How have you been?"
Let's talk sweetly. To reassure her. Like reassuring a small animal. Keeping a distance. Whispering.
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