Chapter 16
“From now on, don’t enter my room without knocking,” Odette said firmly.
“R-right. I shouldn’t just barge into a grown daughter’s room,” Count Anderson mumbled, looking away.
“I’ll be eating out in the city from now on. I nearly died recently after drinking poisoned tea,” she added pointedly.
The count cleared his throat awkwardly. “Ahem. As you wish.”
“I’ll need a carriage and a personal attendant since I’ll be going out for meals three times a day. Assign Emma as my maid.”
“How dare you try to take my maid?!” Katarina screeched, her face twisting with rage. She had stayed silent up until now, but the moment Emma’s name was mentioned, she exploded. “Do you think you can just take whatever you want?!”
“Be quiet, woman! We have no choice but to give her whatever she asks for!” Anderson snapped.
“This is all your fault! Why did you send that girl to Caesar Maes? You turned a mere maid into my daughter!”
“You should have kept a better eye on Amelia!”
The bickering was like a broken record on repeat.
Odette didn’t bother listening any longer. She simply took Emma and left the room.
“Miss,” Jovern called after her, approaching with a hesitant smile. “C-congratulations. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Perfect timing. I do need something,” she replied smoothly.
“Oh? What is it?”
“Call for a carriage first.”
Odette climbed into Amelia’s personal carriage, staring at the luxurious interior.
She was now living in Amelia’s bedroom, wearing Amelia’s dresses, and using Amelia’s carriage.
It almost felt like she had stepped into the original heroine’s place, following the script of a tragic novel.
Would she truly be doomed to live like the suffering heroine of the original story?
“Miss,” Jovern spoke hesitantly as he opened the carriage door. “Where exactly are you headed?”
“I’m going shopping. So you’ll be accompanying me.”
“M-me?”
“How else am I supposed to prove I’m Count Anderson’s adopted daughter? You’ll follow me around, handle the payments, or arrange for credit. That’s not too difficult, is it?”
Jovern’s face twitched in irritation.
She was already set to receive a hundred million gold, and now she was demanding to go shopping on top of that?
But when Odette met his gaze, he quickly smoothed out his expression and attempted to reason with her.
“The master hasn’t set a fixed monthly allowance for you yet. Wouldn’t it be wiser to wait until tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow, huh?”
That was out of the question.
She needed to gather as much money as possible and escape as soon as possible.
“Did you know that Hans, the steward, and Anna, the head chef from Caesar Maes’ estate, were executed?”
“E-executed?” Jovern paled.
“Yes. Beheaded.”
Jovern visibly trembled.
“Before they died, they confessed quite a lot.”
“Do… do you know what they said?” His voice quivered with desperation.
Jovern and his fellow spies had embezzled funds, harassed loyal servants until they left, and siphoned off Caesar Maes’ wealth—splitting the profits between themselves and sending the rest to Count Anderson.
“Of course, I know.”
Jovern gulped. “D-did they mention my name?”
Fear often makes the imagination worse than reality.
Odette merely shrugged without answering.
Her silence made Jovern sweat even more. He clasped his hands together desperately.
“Miss, please spare me!”
“That depends on your behavior.”
“O-of course! Let’s get going. I’ll handle all your shopping needs!”
The carriage soon arrived at a bustling shopping district filled with high-end boutiques.
Odette stepped into the grandest jewelry store in the area and casually pointed to a display case.
“I’ll take everything from here to there.”
It was something she had always wanted to do.
A luxury shopping spree!
Of course, these jewels would soon be sold off to fund her escape, but the act of splurging without hesitation sent a thrill through her.
And knowing that Count Anderson would be the one footing the bill made it all the more satisfying.
The jeweler’s mouth fell open in shock.
“A-ahem! Might I ask which family the lady is from?”
It wasn’t every day that an unfamiliar young woman walked in and demanded an entire display case of jewels. He must have been wondering if she could even afford it.
“Jovern?” Odette called.
The steward, who had been trying to shrink into the background, sighed and stepped forward.
“She is the adopted daughter of Count Anderson and is soon to be married,” he announced reluctantly.
The jeweler’s eyes widened. “Ah, I see. And how will the payment be handled?”
“Start calculating the total first,” Jovern grumbled. “That alone will take quite some time.”
Meanwhile, far from the marketplace, Caesar Maes stood amidst a crowd in Laon Town, his gaze sweeping over the throngs of people.
Had she already left town?
He had been searching for Odette, his senses attuned to the faint traces of her divine power.
Her presence was intoxicating—more alluring than any fragrance, more overwhelming than any scent.
His heart responded to it before his mind did.
Odette’s breath, the objects she touched—Caesar could track her presence through even the faintest traces.
Yet now, he couldn’t feel her anywhere, and it was driving him mad.
“My lord, you haven’t had a single drop of water all day,” Aden said, trying to keep up with his master’s urgent pace.
“I have to find Odette.”
“The city is locked down, and every house is being searched. We’ll find her soon.”
“No.” Caesar’s voice was sharp with certainty. “She’s already left Laon Town.”
There was nothing—no trace of her divine power anywhere.
The thought that he might never see Odette again made his head throb with unbearable pain.
With bloodshot eyes, he gazed up at the bell tower.
If he surveyed the city from above, he might at least catch a clue as to which direction she had gone.
Just then, an unfamiliar vision flashed through his mind.
Odette.
She was near Heraebrua’s grave, looking straight at him, her face streaked with tears.
Her voice trembled with raw emotion. “I know how hard you’re holding on right now.”
He recognized the perspective of the vision—it was his own. And yet, it wasn’t the present him.
It was from his past—before his first battle, just before he had been sent to war.
“If you want revenge on Count Anderson, I know a way,” Odette said.
The younger version of himself regarded her with cold wariness.
Back then, he had trusted no one.
He had inherited a vast fortune as a child, and it wasn’t just Count Anderson who had hoped he would die on the battlefield.
“I’ll help you,” she pleaded.
His past self looked at her as though she were nothing more than an annoyance.
“Why?”
At his blunt question, Odette smiled—a fleeting, delicate expression that seemed as if a single breeze could scatter her away.
“I want freedom.”
Freedom, my ass, Odette.
If her divine power fully awakened, the temple would receive an oracle, and the clergy would begin their search for her.
And if the emperor learned of her existence, he would kill her.
Odette, come to me.
He tried to call out to her, but before he could, the vision vanished.
Caesar stared into the empty air, exhaling a ragged breath.
She had entered his memory.
“Odette…”
Running a hand through his hair, he clenched his jaw.
Her divine power was intensifying.
If he didn’t absorb it soon, it would inevitably bloom—and once it did, he wouldn’t be able to hide her anymore.
With growing urgency, he swung himself onto his horse.
“Hyah!”
He spurred his horse forward, tearing through the streets as his piercing gaze swept through the city, searching for even the faintest trace of her presence.
Where is she? What is she doing that she has the leisure to wander into my consciousness?
Could she have gone to Harak Village, where she once lived with Heraebrua?
The village had been burned to the ground during the war, left in ruins, abandoned.
Odette might not know that.
She had grown up far from the battlefields, lived as a maid, and likely had never traveled far.
Caesar veered his horse toward the carriage station that operated routes to the north.
The moment he arrived, the drivers cowered, bowing low before him in terror.
“The entire city is locked down, carriages are stuck, and the roads are blocked,” one muttered.
“Maybe a criminal escaped?” another speculated.
“Shh! Keep your mouth shut at times like this.”
Their whispered conversations ceased as the massive figure dismounted his horse, his presence suffocating the air around them.
They had seen all sorts of people in their travels, but this man felt like an immovable mountain—an overwhelming force of nature.
His boots hit the ground, and the coachmen instinctively lowered their heads even further.
“Has a carriage for Harak Village departed today?” Caesar’s voice cut through the tense silence.
