---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly ‌‌‌on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

23.
Danae sat in the ornate Reception Room, delicately lifting a strawberry crêpe to her lips.
The sweet cream ‌‌‌melted softly across her tongue.
'My daughters would love this as well.'
Part of me wanted to pack everything here and take it home with me.
But immediately I felt embarrassed at such an audacious thought.
'What am I thinking, ashamed before Rebecca? How shameless of you, Danae of House of Obelia.'
"How is the refreshment? Does it suit your palate?"
Julian asked while reading Rebecca's letter that Danae had brought, frequently glancing at her complexion.
"Oh, yes. Everything is delicious. I'm overwhelmed by such generous hospitality."
"What are you saying? You are Rebecca's mother, which makes you my mother as well. Please speak freely with me."
"How could I possibly speak so casually with Your Grace...?"
"It's simply more comfortable for me that way."
"Well then... I understand."
Julian smiled with satisfaction before returning to the letter with sharp, focused eyes.
Danae watched him as though entranced.
'He is handsome, certainly—not inferior to our Rebecca. But appearance isn't everything. Look at Zeppelin. I cannot allow that to happen again.'
Danae collected herself and observed his every gesture with careful vigilance.
Should she sense anything amiss, she was prepared to urge Rebecca to reconsider.
'Pretend to be in love?'
The letter Rebecca ‌‌‌had sent to Julian was mostly about the business ventures she ‌‌‌planned to undertake.
But at the end, there was a request—that they pretend to be in love ‌‌‌and married, so her mother wouldn't worry.
Julian found himself ‌‌‌at a loss.
Among ‌‌‌‌the tasks Rebecca had asked of him, none were particularly difficult.
The moment she mentioned needing a research laboratory with a greenhouse in Montfort, he immediately ordered construction.
He arranged for a Trading Company just as quickly and hired someone to manage ‌‌it.
Whatever he commanded came to pass. He was more confident than anyone in matters of spending money.
When Rebecca's mother said she would visit, he was somewhat taken aback, but ‌‌it posed no real problem.
He understood basic courtesy well enough.
He only neglected propriety when he deemed it unnecessary.
But Rebecca's mother was different. She was someone who deserved the utmost respect.
Such a basic courtesy was hardly a difficult task.
But pretend to be in love?
Julian had never experienced romance in his entire life. ‌‌‌He'd never even harbored an unrequited love.
His parents had been too busy disparaging each other for him to learn what affection between spouses meant.
The only male-female relationship ‌‌he dimly understood was the passionate intimacy that occurred in bed.
Therefore, Rebecca's request to feign a man in love was more difficult ‌‌‌than any other favor she'd asked. ‌‌‌
Yet his pride would not allow him to refuse.
Asking Croa for help would only guarantee a lifetime of ridicule.
'I'll simply change the subject.' ‌‌
In the end, Julian decided to talk only about business matters, making ‌‌‌‌sure the word "love" never came up at all.
"I understand the general nature of the matter. Mother, you've agreed to take on a new business venture?"
"Hmm? Ah, Rebecca asked me to do it. I'm not sure if I'll be any good at it, but..."
"I'm confident you'll do wonderfully. After all, you've been leading the House of ‌‌Obelia all this time."
"Thank you ‌‌for saying that."
Danae's cheeks flushed slightly.
Watching her, Julian recalled a conversation he'd had with Rebecca at ‌‌the Orphanage not long ago.
'Why insist ‌‌‌on starting a business? If there are ‌‌‌debts, I could pay them off for her.'
'Paying off debts is only a temporary solution. Father might ‌‌hold out his hand to the Count again. I intend to transfer the ‌‌‌‌position of head of household to Mother. For that to happen, she needs ‌‌wealth.'

Danae had kept the House ‌‌‌of Obelia afloat despite their tight finances. Without her, the family would have collapsed long ago.
Rebecca held this in high regard.
Danae was not a woman meant merely to manage a household. She possessed a natural talent for reading people and a brilliant ‌‌‌mind for handling money.
Before divorcing Zeppelin, I needed to eliminate every factor that could be used ‌‌as leverage against me.
Currently, there were two weaknesses through which Zeppelin could seize and shake me.
My family of origin and the Liberta Orphanage.
I decided to first remove my family from Zeppelin's grasp.
Julian asked with a slight smile.
"By the way, would you explain the details of this business? The letter said to ask Mother directly about the specifics."
"Ah, I'll explain that. It's a sort of rental salon business."
Danae's eyes, which had been ‌gentle ‌‌until now, sharpened instantly at the mention of business. ‌‌
Julian, noticing her serious demeanor, unconsciously straightened his posture.
"A ‌‌rental salon, you say...?"
"As you know, all the noblewomen in the Empire now open salons in their own homes."
"Indeed. They're faction leaders as well."
"But the burden that comes with it is equally great. They must decorate their homes according to seasonal trends. Moreover, servants might spread their conversations to their husbands, so they can't speak freely about personal matters, can they?"
"That's certainly true."
"So we rent out ‌‌the salon space. We lease entire rooms or gardens. Of course, we'll ‌‌decorate them to suit the client's taste. The clients can open their salons at a lower cost than decorating themselves. And since only our salon staff can come and go, no private conversations will reach their husbands."
"But wouldn't that prove their incompetence in decoration? Nobles despise ready-made things. They commission everything down to a ‌single pen. Would they truly accept such ‌an arrangement?"
"They will."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because ‌‌‌‌I wish such a thing had existed for me."
Danae cleared her throat and continued.
"Not all nobles have unlimited money and time. And trends can be created, can't they? These people hate falling behind, so if ‌we establish the trend, the business will flourish. We're also planning to create private salons for special guests. Wouldn't that be sufficient?"
It was ‌‌‌Rebecca who had introduced the rental salon business to Danae.
When Rebecca had ‌‌‌just escaped from the Count's Mansion, the rental salon business was exploding in popularity.
The Labonne Salon where she had worked under Margaret was also a rental salon.
What I needed most urgently now was information. Robert alone was sufficient for people within the estate.
But collecting all information about the servants and knights was beyond Robert's capacity alone.
I recalled my work at the ‌‌‌Labonne Salon before my regression.
She had worked primarily as a kitchen assistant, so she knew little of ‌‌‌the outside world. Yet all manner of rumors had reached her ears.
Since Margaret's salon was established ‌by ‌‌a commoner, it was frequented mainly by wealthy commoners, and thus ‍‌‌contained little information of real value.
But if it were a salon directly operated by the Duke of Johannes, the situation would be entirely different.
His name alone would spark tremendous interest in high society.
The problem was that Rebecca had rarely ventured into high society even in her previous life, leaving her unfamiliar with that ecosystem. ‌‌‌‌
That was why I summoned Danae. In her youth, Danae had been one of the noble ladies who dominated high society.
Moreover, she possessed an entrepreneurial spirit.
Thus, she was the perfect person for this task.
The moment I broached the subject of the Rental Salon Business, Danae immediately began formulating a business proposal.
Seeing her passionate demeanor, I sent her to Julian.
I believed she would be far more persuasive with him than I ‌‌‌could be.
And my prediction proved correct.
As Julian listened silently to Danae's business proposal, he found himself nodding ‌‌‌‌‌unconsciously, hanging on her every word.
Danae was more meticulous and enterprising than any businessman he had ever encountered.
Julian was marveling at my discernment.
Danae was certainly capable enough to become the head ‌‌‌of a household—no, the patriarch of an entire ‌‌‌‌family.
Julian gazed into Danae's sparkling eyes.
Suddenly, it struck him how much Rebecca resembled her.
At the same time, his mother came to mind.
He ‌‌‌‌‌wondered what it would have been like if his mother, rather than his father, had been the head of House of Johannes.
Perhaps the curse would have been lifted long ago.
His brilliant mother had discovered the curse upon House of Johannes shortly after his birth.
And she had spared no effort to break her son's curse.
But his father, desperate only to conceal the truth, had confined her. ‌‌
He had ensured she could do nothing, see no one.
That was why he had always been concerned about Rebecca. Seeing her in Zeppelin's hands like some ornament reminded him of his mother.
But Julian was becoming increasingly ‌certain of one thing: Rebecca was different from his mother.
Rebecca was someone who shattered her own doors and walked free.
"Then let's proceed with the business as discussed, and I should take my leave."
Danae checked her timepiece and rose hurriedly. The conversation had stretched longer than expected, consuming far more time than anticipated.
Julian stood and saw Danae out.
Before leaving the estate, Danae asked Julian a question.
"By the way, what exactly do you find appealing about our Rebecca?"
So it had come to this.
Julian tensed his eyes to avoid appearing flustered. Danae was not someone easily deceived.
He turned over all manner of romantic-sounding phrases in his mind before ultimately deciding to be honest.
It seemed less suspicious to speak truthfully than to utter words ‌‌‌that ‌‌fit him like an ill-tailored garment.
Julian carefully composed his voice and spoke.
"Because she's magnificent."
"Magnificent?"
"Yes. Rebecca possessed the most magnificent gaze I have ever seen in a woman since my birth."
Danae, who had expected Julian to praise ‌‌‌Rebecca's appearance as other suitors had done, widened her eyes in surprise.
Yet finding truth in Julian's eyes, Danae broke into a radiant smile.
"Then, I shall see you again next time. Mother."
Julian escorted Danae with utmost courtesy until her carriage departed.
A maidservant accompanied her in the small carriage, just as when she had arrived at the Duke's Mansion.
"This is a gift."
The maidservant extended a basket. Inside lay an abundance of desserts—the very ones Danae had frequently touched in the Reception Room.
The maidservant quickly added her words.
"The House of Johannes has never sent guests away empty-handed since ancient times."
It seemed Julian had anticipated that Danae would feel burdened if he presented the gift himself, and so he had arranged for the maidservant to deliver it instead.
Danae smiled ‌quietly.
For some reason, ‌‌‌she had a premonition that Rebecca could find happiness with him.
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book Publication

January 12, 2022
Author

Long night sky
Publisher

Desert fox
Published by

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
Submission Reception

naver.me/54VzzLSn
Blog

blog.naver.com/wj_fennecfox
Twitter

@wjt_fennecfox

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To ‌‌support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly ‌‌on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------