“If you hadn’t acted so foolishly, I wouldn’t have had to set such an example,” he sneered. “Do I need to take the life of that boy you coddle to make you understand?
“…You bastard,” Odelliana replied, her voice filled with contempt.
“No one is coming to save you, so stop living in your delusions. Be grateful you’re still alive. No knight on a white horse is going to help a cripple like that. Imagine thinking you could make a knight out of a lowly insect. There are limits to how far madness should go,” Hermann taunted.
His words echoed like a death knell, a stinging rebuke that implied she should abandon hope, accept her fate, and remain silent, broken, and worthless. No knight in shining armor would come to her rescue, no fairy-tale ending awaited her.
Perhaps he was right. In her past life, she had experienced a tragic ending. Betrayed by the man she had believed to be her knight, she had died a queen, a sword piercing her heart.
“You must fear that Matthias will return as a knight in shining armor,” she said. Hermann remained silent.
She hesitated, then admitted, “Perhaps I do. I’ve placed my faith in that boy, and yes, I am hoping for salvation. But what’s wrong with that? I’m simply playing the cards I’ve been dealt, doing what I can with what I have.”
Damn you all for cutting off my limbs—this is the only way I can fight. Odelliana scoffed. Influence, noble bloodlines—none of that matters. Am I supposed to crawl on the ground, looking up at the sky, simply because I was born broken? Live a pathetic life, trampled underfoot, never knowing when it will end?
“I will not live like a worm,” she declared.
“Your scheming and seduction are the actions of a worm,” he spat.
“Perhaps I learned from my family of worms,” she retorted, her voice laced with bitterness. “They discarded their child simply because she was born with a disability.”
“You still do not understand your place,” he snarled.
His patience snapped at her insult. With a swift, brutal move, he hurled her to the ground, pinning her with his foot. He gloated over her, expecting her to cower in fear. Instead, she met his gaze with a defiant laugh, surprising him.
“I have never waited idly for a knight or prince to rescue me,” she declared. “And I never will.”
“What?” he scoffed, disbelief evident in his tone.
“I will choose my knight, and I will make him,” she replied, her determination unwavering.
“You insolent—!” he roared, anger fueling his rage. He kicked her and yanked her up by the collar, but even as she dangled from his grip, she remained unyielding. Enraged, he raised his fist to strike her.
Just as his hand was about to connect, something intervened. A dull thud echoed through the room as a young boy stepped between them.
Everyone froze—Hermann, the knights, even Odelliana. The boy had moved with astonishing speed, shielding her from the blow.
“Why are you hitting someone who has done nothing wrong?” Odelliana bellowed. She hurled a perfume bottle at Hermann. It shattered with a loud crash, soaking him in fragrant oil. Without hesitation, she grabbed a nearby candle.
“Leave. Now. This is your final warning,” she hissed, her voice laced with a chilling threat. “If you cause any more trouble, I will set your body on fire.”
The lethal intent in her voice made Hermann hesitate. Her cold, murderous gaze sent him stumbling backward. One spark, and the oil would ignite. Fear overcame him, and he quickly retreated behind the knights.
He remembered Adella, who had been carried out with her mouth split open. Crazy women do crazy things. Realizing she was serious about setting him ablaze, he turned and fled the annex in a hurry.
The room was a chaotic aftermath of the storm. The servants, sensing the tension, quietly began to gather the broken glass shards before discreetly leaving. Odelliana, still clutching the candle, threw it to the ground in frustration.
She then turned to Matthias and Malena, who had both taken blows for her, her voice rising with anger.
“Why did you intervene and risk your own safety?” she demanded.
