With a click, the carriage door opened. However, it was not Rize who opened the door, contrary to her expectations.
"How.. Is Your Highness here?"
Odette, puzzled by John's face, took a breath.
"It's quiet. I thought you would be lonely if you looked around this place alone."
As if he were the butler of this house, John with a silver candlestick. It was clear that he had been waiting in the garden the whole time.
'It's a face that makes people feel overly devastated whenever they see it.'
Embarrassed and awkward, she longed for Rize's presence and looked around.
"Where's Rize?"
"She said you were going to go to the main house as soon as I arrived at the Count's residence? So I told her to go. Apparently, taking the Crown Prince alone would be troublesome even for a sincere maid."
John had allowed Rize to go out because he was afraid that she would be bothered, but he was wrong. Odette knew exactly why Rize had gone to the main house.
On the night of her return from the disaster, Odette told Rize frankly about what had happened in the depths.
The World Tree, the Deep Sea, the Disaster, and the Eternal Time Mountain. It was an absurd story, but Rize listened to everything Odette had to say without question, and after listening to all of them, she uttered an absurd sentiment.
"I want to support His Highness the Crown Prince. That slave is unlucky."
"Huh?... Does that matter in this story?"
"Important! Karl...That bastard has yellow buds. Withdraw your promise. A verbal promise is not effective until you go to court. Your happiness is Important, what's important about promises!"
"Huh... Rize? Did I not tell you that Karl is a god?"
"The most important thing for a man is cheapness. Oh, sorry... His face is important, isn't it? The next most important thing after your face is cheapness, Miss. I plead with my heart. Break your promise!"
Because she repeatedly asked in such a strong voice, the reason for Rize's absence was obvious. Do it actively! Your Highness and the young lady should spend as much quality time as possible! Well, that's what it was for.
Rize.
While Odette was mourning, calling her name in his heart, John held out his hand to her.
"May I be the escort of the lady?"
Eventually, Odette had no choice but to get out of the carriage and head for the mansion with his hand. And on the way to the Count's Palace, an unexpected appearance appeared in her eyes.
'Why is the mansion so clean?'
Of course, the Count's house, which should have been in a mess, was neatly repaired. The broken first floor and the walls of the dungeon were also neat, unlike the last time she saw them.
'There is no way that the maids and servants who left in a hurry would have cleaned it up.'
The Interior of the Count's residence continued to be like that. Stairs, tiles, chandeliers. The mess had been replaced with a new house.
"Is this repaired by Your Highness?"
"Didn't I break it? Then I'll fix it."
He had never broken the interior, and John replied in that way
"No way... Your Highness didn't do it yourself, did you?"
Odette remembered John running out to wash his clothes one day, and asked her if she was in danger.
"If I had done it myself, I would have had more to crush. Don't worry. I called the engineers of the Imperial Palace. They are also the most dexterous people."
The mansion was not only repaired. Count, Countess, and Fernand. All traces they left in this mansion were gone.
It was as if she had entered a mansion without an owner. A new home that can be refilled from scratch by Odette's hands.
Odette passed through the lobby and entered the center of the mansion, and her footsteps stopped. It was because she saw a painting hanging on the central staircase.
"Has it changed..."
A huge portrait of the Count's family was hung. There was a painting of another family hanging there. It depicted Odette sitting on a chair, Odette's birth mother, and her biological father standing behind the chair.
It was a made-up painting, but it was full of realism and liveliness, so she felt like she was actually looking at their family. The painting hanging on the central staircase made it seem like they were the only ones who were the full owners of the mansion.
How did you reproduce it? Before she could ask a question, John's answer came back.
"I got some pictures. I ordered the imperial painter to paint it. Do you like it?"
In the painting, she was smiling comfortably. After staring at the painting for a long time, Odette went to the study first.
The family painting of the Count family hung in the study. She was curious about how the family that Odette had always wanted to be a part of had changed.
There, instead of a family portrait of the Count, there was a black-and-white photograph. A young couple was smiling at the photographer while hugging their newborn child. They didn't look opulent or aristocratic, but they looked happy to the viewer. Odette could guess that the child in the middle was herself.
"It wouldn't have been easy to get."
A trembling voice came from Odette. She also searched for traces of her biological father and mother throughout her two lives, but she could not get a photo.
"I lost them when I was young, so I couldn't even remember my father and mother. So I don't know if I can call what I'm feeling now."
Nevertheless, she searched for it. There was a time when she doubted herself. She doesn't even remember her biological father and mother, so she wonders if it's fair to love them. Maybe she's looking for a family photo to hate the Count even more, to use it as fuel for her hatred.
"It doesn't make sense to feel nostalgic for a hometown you've never been to. That's exactly how I felt when I felt like I wanted to see my parents. I feel like I want to go back to a place that doesn't even exist endlessly."
At some point, Odette realized. She realized that her parents were nothing more than a fairy tale to soothe her loneliness. When you want to imagine yourself being loved, you think of it like a painkiller. However, she can't help but know that the love is not real.
"But really. I had parents who loved me."
Odette carefully smoothed the photo. The affection engraved in their eyes was so clear that it could be felt through the photos.
"It wasn't like a fairy tale."
It was real to her from the moment she was born. When she realized this, a spring filled her heart.
"Lina. Are you happy?"
It seemed that her parents in the photo were asking her. Now Odette could definitely answer Victor's question.
'Yes, I'm happy.'
It's not like I'm happy. It's happy.
What she needed most to love others was the conviction that she could be loved. Odette realized that it was that conviction that filled her body. She also knew that she was finally ready to love someone properly.
"Here."
At that moment, John handed the ring to Odette.
"A new family owner needs a new heirloom."
Originally, when a new family owner succeeded to the title, it was Barceha's custom for family members to buy precious jewelry and present it to the family owner. It seemed that John wanted to give Odette a gift for him, who had no family.
"Your Highness, this is...!"
But what he handed over was not something that could be handed over in this way. This ring was something that the Empress passed on to the Crown Princess. It was a priceless jewel inherited by the mistresses of the most dignified Imperial family on earth.
I can't take this. Just as she was about to refuse, Odette noticed John's eyes burning away.
Odette suddenly realized. John still can't confess his love to her because she feels guilty about exploiting her. She knows that John has shown the utmost courage now, as he will probably do in the future.
This is probably the only expression of his heart.
"Give me this ring once, and I will never go back to the Imperial family."
This meant that Odette could never marry John. She said that she would never become a member of the imperial family in the future.
"I know. But I don't care, so I'm giving it to you. I want you to have it."
His eyes were so distressed as he held out the ring that Odette impulsively asked.
"Your Highness... Are you happy with this situation?"
At the question, his face contorted with anguish.
"I can't lie."
"...Your Highness."
"Even if I'm not happy... Enough, I won't lose you in my pursuit of perfect happiness. I've already done many stupid things and even lost you."
"..."
"So don't worry. If you're happy, I'll be happy in the end. You are my greatest joy."
Odette, who couldn't resist saying that, hesitantly accepted his ring. Even though she had placed the ring on her ring finger on her right hand instead of her left, he smiled as if he was satisfied.
'This would be the best.'
Odette pressed her lips against John's. Fortunately, today was also his turn to purify. So even if this kiss was sincere, it would not betray Karl.
"John."
She called him by name and urged him to do so. He flinched and kissed her deeper. His warmth and weight enveloped Odette.
Odette was going to be happy diligently in the future. John was right. She couldn't lose sight of the person in front of her while chasing something like perfect happiness. So Odette wanted to focus on the transcendentals in front of her. She was going to focus on saving them and filling them with the joy they gave her.
Odette was a young orphan girl whom the Count had ruined, cheated by the Countess, and insulted by Fernand. Odette, a loner, has walked a vicious and lonely path. And she thought she would have to live like that for the rest of her life.
But that will be different now. She knew that no matter what path she chose, there would be men by her side. She knew that she would receive the 'true love' that she had missed so much all her life.
Now that she's ready to love, she'll be able to return the love she's received from them one day. She will also learn the joy and happiness of loving.
Odette realized. Odette, in her past life, longing for a place she had never been to and immersed in nostalgia, had reached the "somewhere" she longed for. In the perfect fairy tale that she dreamed of so much, overflowing with real love.
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