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25.
'I must guard the small secret ‌in your ‌‌‌belly well. It's your only asset.'
Alicia gnawed ‌‌‌at her fingernails, recalling the words Rebecca had spoken.
'What does she know? Could it be...?'
Anxiety crept up insidiously, but Alicia forced herself to shake it off.
'Impossible. That woman couldn't possibly know.'
Alicia drew a deep breath.
Then she sat before ‌‌the Vanity and examined her face from every angle.
'My skin has become dull.'
It was because she had been plagued by nightmares every night since ‌‌‌‌visiting the Hall of Light. Alicia had no desire to return to that place ever again.
She had believed that once she had the child, everything would fall into place.
She had thought Rebecca's ‌‌‌position and Zeppelin's affection would all become hers.
But ‌nothing was unfolding as she had hoped.
Rebecca still held her position, and somehow Zeppelin seemed to grow ‌increasingly obsessed ‌with Rebecca.
Alicia grew anxious. She feared that after giving birth, she would be stripped of the child and cast out.
Then she would have to return to that muddy existence.
She would rather die than face that.
She pressed her lips together firmly. ‌‌‌‌
"Shall I help you with your appearance?"
The Maids rushed forward and began adorning Alicia.
"Wait."
When one Maid picked up a cosmetic lotion with a rose design, Alicia stopped her. Then she pointed to a lotion with a swan engraved on it.
"Use this one. This is what Rebecca uses, isn't it?"
At Alicia's words, the Maid hesitated briefly.
A complex expression crossed the Maid's face, but it lasted only a fleeting ‌‌‌moment.
The Maid returned to her usual expressionless face and began applying the lotion Alicia had indicated to her face.
Alicia stared intently at her reflection in the mirror, growing increasingly radiant.
Never in her life had she felt so estranged from her own appearance.
Yet she did not dislike it.
Alicia was increasingly tormented by ‌‌‌the ‌desire ‌‌‌‌to abandon her original self entirely.
She gazed coldly at her pinned-up periwinkle hair.
'Would blonde hair suit me as well...?'
* * *
Kanna pushed Rebecca's wheelchair toward the Lavender Garden.
Alicia and Fabiola ‌‌‌‌had already arrived ‌‌‌in the Garden.
"The tea isn't warm. Would you pour it again?"
Fabiola ‌‌‌spilled all the tea from the cup she had just poured onto the ground and held it out toward Alicia.
Alicia glared sharply and poured fresh tea into Fabiola's cup.
"Oh! Now it's far too hot!"
"Is ‌‌that so?"
Crack—
Alicia let out a scoff before striking the Maid's cheek, the one who had brought the tea water. The Maid's face flushed crimson.
Fabiola cried out in shock, her voice sharp toward Alicia.
"What on earth are you doing!"
"You've been constantly complaining—the water is too hot, ‌then too cold, the tea flavor displeases you. Surely that's not this girl's fault for bringing the tea and water? She served her mistress poorly, so she deserves ‍‌‌punishment."
"How dare you commit such wickedness while carrying noble blood in your womb! Your base lineage shows in your base conduct."
Fabiola shot to her feet.
Alicia lifted her chin defiantly in response.
"Yes. Then how noble must ‌‌your bloodline be, Mother, if you can't even receive a single greeting from your precious son? Nothing has changed about you, has it."
Since the days when I had been Rebecca's Maid, I had watched Fabiola's misdeeds unfold continuously.
So I knew that whatever I did to Fabiola, Zeppelin would not take her side.
Rebecca observed the scene with passing interest. It was the first time she had witnessed Fabiola being ‌‌treated this way by anyone other than Zeppelin.
But as the argument threatened to lengthen, she decided to intervene.
"Mother, it's good to see you."
At the elegant voice, both Fabiola and Alicia turned their heads.
Fabiola ‌scrutinized ‌Rebecca's face with meticulous intensity, examining every detail.
Her gaze searched for any sign of wrinkles that might have formed on Rebecca's fair complexion.
And Alicia silently ‌‌glared at the luxurious wheelchair in which Rebecca sat.
Once her inspection concluded, Fabiola's face broke into a smile as she spread both arms wide.
"My, ‌Rebecca, so you really were injured."
"Yes. But I'm fine. It's not a serious wound. Anyway, what's the matter? Your voices ‌‌‌‌were raised earlier."
"Oh, it's nothing at ‌‌‌all. I'm simply teaching proper manners."
"Is that so? Alicia, I think it would be better if you didn't speak disrespectfully to Mother. After all, she is my husband's mother."
Rebecca deliberately took Fabiola's side.
Alicia ‌‌‌glanced at Rebecca for a moment before dropping heavily into her seat.
Fabiola eyed Rebecca's wheelchair with curious interest.
"That's a wheelchair design I've never seen before. It's quite beautiful. Where ‌‌‌‌did it come from?"
"He gave it to me. Zeppelin is the type who must have everything beautiful."
At those words, Fabiola flinched slightly.
Her dead husband flashed through her mind. Her ‌lips stiffened rigidly.
Zeppelin had despised his father intensely, yet he bore so many of his traits.
Fabiola ‌‌composed her expression and smiled. Then she turned to Alicia with a question.
"Well then, Alicia, are you studying etiquette? If you're to enter ‌‌society, there's quite a lot you'll need to learn. We can't have you bringing shame to our son's name anywhere."
Rebecca paused and looked at Fabiola.
Normally, it would have been Fabiola's turn to seize upon Rebecca's every small word and question her about ‌‌‌it.
But today, Fabiola seemed to show little interest in her.
'Ah, her purpose ‌‌has shifted.'
Rebecca quietly observed Fabiola's gaze, which was fixed intently on Alicia's abdomen.
She had come today to confirm something.
Whose child did Zeppelin's love lean toward—Rebecca's or Alicia's.
If Zeppelin were to lavish ‌more attention on Alicia, I would ‌‌crush her spirit entirely.
That way, my son would never dare suggest I abandon him, no matter what she whispered in his ear.
'No matter how much my ‌‌son adores you, would he truly forsake his own mother? Rebecca, I have countless friends. All I need do is spread the faintest whisper of scandal about you, and ‌‌‌you'll be buried in society within hours. My son, who ‌‌‌‌cares so deeply about appearances—do you truly believe he'd stand idle while you crumble? So don't play foolish games. Don't underestimate me.'
Rebecca recalled those very words Fabiola had once hurled at ‌‌her, and ‌‌‌she glared at ‌the woman's razor-sharp tongue as it lashed endlessly at Alicia.
"Oh my, the cake has fallen to the floor. I baked it myself, and here you've dropped it so carelessly. Is this how you show filial respect? Rebecca, your manners are truly abysmal. Well? Why aren't you licking it up?"
And she gazed at the ‌‌‌‌elegant golden hair Fabiola had passed down to Zeppelin.
Her water-blue eyes churned ceaselessly, scheming new ways to torment Alicia.
But Alicia proved far less docile than expected.
"I manage my own decorum, so please refrain ‌‌‌from meddling. Perhaps you should concern yourself with yours? I've heard rumors that your nightly soirées ‌‌are quite scandalous—scandalous enough that even a commoner like myself has heard the whispers." ‌‌
"Scan... scandalous?"
"Indeed. Only young men are invited, I'm told? Specifically, poor and beautiful young noblemen. I do wonder what transpires behind those elegant doors. Waving bundles of money about—one can only imagine. Do invite me sometime. It sounds like precisely the sort of gathering suited to a commoner's sensibilities like mine."
"You... you!"
Fabiola's hands trembled.
Rebecca took a sip of tea to stifle the laughter threatening to burst forth.
'This taste...'
A peculiar fragrance lingered at the edge of the tea—bitter yet exotic.
Rebecca noticed Fabiola watching her drink from the corner of her eye and her expression hardened.
Fabiola composed herself and smiled once ‌‌‌‌more.
"Let's overlook this transgression just this once. There's no point in us both losing our composure on such a lovely day. Alicia, do have a sip yourself."
At Fabiola's words, the Maid poured tea into Alicia's cup.
It seemed Alicia hadn't even wet her lips yet, having ‌been tormented by Fabiola all this while.
Seeing Alicia reach for her cup, Rebecca urgently pulled the tablecloth.
"Ahhh!"
Scalding tea spilled directly onto Alicia's dress. Her hand burned, and she clutched her reddened, swollen hand.
"Good heavens! Alicia, I'm so sorry!"
"Rebecca! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
"Why would I do such a thing? Besides, burns leave terrible scars, I've heard. You should hurry and ‌‌have ‌‌‌‌it treated."
At the mention of scars, Alicia's face drained of color. She hastily departed with the Maid in tow.
After Alicia disappeared into the Mansion, Fabiola regarded Rebecca with suspicion.
Then Rebecca smiled sheepishly and spoke.
"Just as you suspected."
"What exactly did I suspect?"
"I spilled the tea because I was jealous of Alicia."
Fabiola's eyes widened.
"Are you saying you were consumed by jealousy just now?"
Rebecca sighed deeply and her eyes trembled pitifully.
"Yes. Alicia is prettier than me, and she even has a child. ‌‌‌What if Zeppelin loves her more than me?"
Fabiola was utterly flabbergasted.
No matter what schemes I devised to torment her, Rebecca remained unmoved, enduring everything without displaying emotion.
She was always like a ‌‌‌delicate rose, merely drooping her head. The more she did so, the more my fury ignited.
I found Rebecca's behavior, which made me appear like a cruel mother-in-law, utterly repugnant.
Fabiola believed that Zeppelin had been swayed by Rebecca's affected gaze and cast her aside.
Otherwise, why would a beloved son treat her ‌‌‌this way?
Unlike her ‌‌‌‌‌violent husband, she took pride in having raised Zeppelin with nothing but love.
But now Rebecca had discarded that false mask and was radiating jealousy.
Pouring scalding tea on a rival—even witnessing it with her own eyes, Fabiola could scarcely believe it.
'What scheme is she plotting?'
Fabiola briefly entertained a suspicion of Rebecca's true intentions.
Yet the moment she saw Rebecca's glistening eyes, even that small doubt melted away.
'That's right—she's a woman too, after all. Of course she'd be furious that her husband took another woman into his home.'
For the first time, Fabiola felt a pang of pity for Rebecca.
Zacim had kept ‌‌‌numerous mistresses, but he had never formally taken a second wife.
'When I think about it, her ‌‌life ‌‌‌‌is far more wretched than ‌mine.'
And sympathy bloomed in her heart for Rebecca.
Fabiola, pleased with this sentiment, gently took Rebecca's hand.
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book Publication

January 12, 2022
Author

Ginnamilbamhaneul
Publisher

Desert Fox
Published by

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
Submission Contact

naver.me/54VzzLSn
Blog

blog.naver.com/wj_fennecfox
Twitter
‌‌‌‌
@wjt_fennecfox

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