Odette, frowning at his insistence, retorted in a low voice.
"Don't force yourself. Where is the intention behind this outfit? You covered your whole body with such dignity."
If you want to make an excuse, you'll have to make it a little plausible. She thought it was such an insincere excuse that she couldn't be fooled.
But Victor didn't seem to have made excuses.
"Have you ever worn a blouse that is tight around your neck? You had no choice but to wear this outfit."
It was as if he could see through her.
In fact, there was no other choice but this blouse.
"It's disgusting that you can clearly see that you're trying to show off."
"Oh..."
"What's more, that skirt is completely perfumed, but you didn't even notice it. It was exactly the same scent as the balm on my calf. That bastard hit it on purpose. I'm going to remind you who is taking care of your clothes and bathing."
Odette thought back to what had happened this morning. Speaking of which, Shion's service was especially sincere today. Unlike usual, the foot massage was unusually elaborate, and the clothes were chosen one by one... This happened after she informed Shion that she was going to meet with Victor.
She thought it was a useless accusation, but after being completely refuted like this, Odette had nothing to say.
She had no choice but to admit it. That he was genuinely upset with her clothes.
"You want to keep wearing that kind of clothes? I was against you entering the mansion in the first place. It's terrible, but now it's like he's monopolized you."
Victor's voice suddenly cut off. Oh, no. As he crouched down as if to cover his scars, it was clear that he was in unbearable pain.
'Look, it's like this because you avoid purification every time.'
Odette reached out to Victor to soothe the pain.
"If you don't want the Marquis to monopolize me, you can come into my mansion."
But he refused her hand even as he writhed in pain, staring at Odette with eyes glistening with anger.
"You want me to watch with your own eyes as you purify them?"
'Bear with that face... Aren't you tired of it?'
What kind of scuffle is this? Now Odette was almost sighing.
It was clear that he had passed the limit, but Victor was still stubborn. He never set foot in Shion's mansion, and when it was his turn to purify, he did everything he could to avoid Odette.
Worried that the pain would be severe, Odette summoned him to purify, but at most, they ate together and walked the streets together. It was best for her to hold his hand.
Extinction is approaching every day, and the more urgent the situation becomes, the more he avoids her and draws a line. There was no truth.
"... You're too stubborn. How long are you going to reject me?"
It is a body that has been torn in all directions. It means that it is not something that can be done with a clumsy purification. To stop the extinction, Odette really had to pour out the purification on him.
"I know it's the limit, so I'm going to stop this kind of sloppiness now. You have to know how to accept the situation."
Odette, who had received the warm oracle of the World Tree last night, also had no intention of retreating today. What kind of pain Victor is feeling, and how he is holding on. She was given an oracle to experience that pain firsthand.
"How can you keep that body intact like that?"
When Odette thought of the oracle, she felt that patience was disgusting.
He bit the back of his hand so much to endure the pain, and the muscles and bones on the back of his hand were exposed, as if he had been bitten by an animal.
A pain that far surpasses human imagination, as if a bone is being crushed. Odette, who had experienced it herself, could assure Victor that he wouldn't have much time left.
Even now, when she has to enjoy Paula's end, will she still take Victor with her? She was also determined to put an end to him at all costs.
"That's it. I don't have a mattress."
But even in a cold sweat, Victor was adamant.
"Why? That's what I understood first. His Highness and His Excellency the Marquis were all convinced. Why can't you be convinced? You don't have to feel guilty..."
"I don't know because they don't have any experience."
Victor interrupted Odette with a crushing voice.
"They don't know how terrible it is to not be able to reject someone you don't like. They don't know anything, so they can do that. Even if you do it, you can be forgiven."
Victor's voice was soft. He was facing Odette, but his eyes were staring at her as if he were looking at someone who had exploited him in the past, not Odette.
"You don't want me? When that puppy provoked me, I was willing to be purified by you. I'm going to get stronger than that puppy. I'm going to take the puppy away from you. But, damn it. I know. I know what that is like! Odette... You, do you think you're not going to break? Do you think your spirit will remain after giving way like that?"
"...Colonel."
"Are you really okay? Won't the relationship created by your unilateral sacrifice ruin you? Do you think I've ever had that kind of misunderstanding? I thought I had endured and overcome them all. You don't know how it drives people crazy!"
Victor's raw anger. It was a passionate form, but in the end, it was a concern for Odette. He was afraid that she would get hurt in the same way that she did, and that she would suffer because of it.
'I really don't have time anymore.'
The fact that raw emotions burst out in such a way is proof that Victor's pain is just as bad. It is difficult to pretend to be at least normal, and even pretend to be normal.
Odette straightened up. Victor, who was watching her demeanor covered in cold sweat, looked at her as she reached out for him again.
"What, are you doing?"
His brow furrowed, and he shook Odette's arm.
But instead of backing down, she hugged Victor's body as if to soothe him.
"You, really, fearlessly."
Heh, heh. Viktor gnashed his teeth in pain. Odette pushed the purification in, but it was still a small amount compared to his level of contamination.
"I can't stand it anymore."
Victor, who was trying to ignore Odette, screamed low. His arms wrapped around her waist.
It was unbelievably strong enough to come from just one arm. Even though he no longer had a monster in his body, even though he was suffering from such pain, his strength still didn't look like a human being.
Odette was startled and reflexively flinched. Then, his jaw, which was stiffened by pain, became even more bulging.
"Look, what on earth did you understand when you were so scared?"
For some reason, she thought he was going to respond to the purification this time, but it was not for the purpose of warning. A warning to never approach him again without fear.
"I know how stupid this is. I can't do that to you. I didn't like you to break you."
Victor said in a gasping voice.
"I won't make you do fire and say I like you."
He spoke in a desperate and determined tone. He knew what the noblewoman in his trauma had whispered to Victor. That made him even more unhappy.
Odette knows what kind of misfortune Victor is trying to protect her from. Odette also had scars from her previous life when she was almost robbed by Fernand. She managed to escape, but Fernand would come out again and again in her nightmares, holding Odette from escaping.
Victor was the one who had to endure that nightmare. A person who couldn't escape and had to be subordinated to the situation for a very long time. A person who had to see for himself how violence hurts.
"Colonel, I'm not unhappy. I'm happy."
She understands his worries, but they are wrong. Victor can't make her unhappy.
He wanted to protect her from pain and suffering. It was because she was a completely different person from the noblewoman.
"You're being deceived. Two bastards caught on a woven board..."
"I wasn't deceived by Karl."
Odette's resolute voice finally caught Victor's gaze. To Odette, not to a distant memory.
"I know Karl's intentions and the Marquis's intentions. But I'm happy."
Yes. She admits it. At first, she was deceived. Until the decision to purify John, Odette believed that Karl was sacrificing himself unilaterally. So she felt sorry for Karl.
But in the end, she felt uncomfortable. It was because she knew Karl's fundamental nature well.
The World Tree showed Karl in eons. He was so jealous and greedy that he gave up Odette to John. Karl endured such pain when he had nothing to gain?
Odette was sure he would gain something from this situation.
Nevertheless, she continued to love Karl because, whatever the purpose of his scheme, the circumstances he created were helping her to live meaningfully.
So, contrary to Victor's worries, Odette was not swept up in the situation without knowing anything.
"Still, but... Are you happy?"
"I'm happy."
It would be more accurate than happy, but Odette affirmed. If she doubted her own happiness here, Victor would surely refuse to purify.
"Colonel. I was always alone. Even if this situation was all created by Karl's scheme, I don't hate the current situation."
Odette confessed her true feelings to Victor, who was still not convinced.
"If it weren't for the Transcendents, I'd be swallowed up by the Endless Void."
When she decided to take revenge, she only longed for the end of revenge. No matter what kind of emptiness and emptiness there is, she wants them to see her in the end. Then she would be satisfied.
There was certainly a sense of exhilaration when she arrived at the place where she ran so hard, but there was no happiness.
This is because revenge is about destroying the other person, not the process of filling in the already destroyed her.
Even if the revenge is completely over and all of the Count disappears, Odette's life continues.
What is her next step? The closer she got to her destination, the more Odette felt lost. She had no other purpose. Now she has to look for happiness, not exhilaration, because she doesn't know how to do it.
The emptiness opened her mouth to swallow her as she couldn't find her way. As if she would swallow it up at any time when she wandered without finding a new goal.
What opened the next way for her was her mission to save the transcendents and her sense of duty to love Karl.
The mission of salvation, not revenge, became her next goal.
And she had a vague intuition that if she followed this path, there would be real happiness at the end.
To Victor, this might not look like happiness, but it was the closest to happiness Odette had ever had.
"And I will be happier if the colonel receives my purification."
"..."
"It's not coercion, it's not coercion, it's not violence. Because I want a colonel. I really want to get in touch with the colonel."
Victor, who heard that, said, Damn it. He sang it low and kissed her eagerly.
As Victor hugged her tighter, Odette pulled him into her arms.
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