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

27.
Rebecca exhaled ‌a long sigh and spoke.
"Well, I suppose there's no helping it. But I want you to promise—once three hours have passed, I return immediately."
"Agreed."
"Actually, this works out ‌‌‌perfectly. I've been curious about the Trading Company for a while now."
"Ah, the Trading Company. I've already established it. I even found the Trading Company manager you ‌‌‌‌mentioned. And just to be safe, I didn't reveal your identity to him."
"Thank you. You've prepared everything more meticulously than I expected."
At Rebecca's praise, Julian asked with a slightly elated smile.
"Where would you like me to place the Trading Company building?"
"The Market near the Liberta Orphanage. That would be ideal."
"The Market? There are mostly dilapidated buildings there, aren't there?"
"That's fine. I have several matters to attend to in that area anyway."
"Understood. I'll have it ready by tomorrow."
Julian spoke as though it were the simplest thing in the world.
Rebecca recalled how grueling her labor had been in her previous life just to secure a ‌‌‌small house.
Even that had only been possible because Margaret had sold it to her at an absurdly low price.
A bitter taste filled her mouth.
And she felt anew just how formidable the figure she had chosen as her backer truly was.
Rebecca sighed softly and spoke.
"The difficulty is that communication is so limited. I can ‌‌‌exchange letters easily enough, but if something requires my direct involvement, it becomes troublesome."
"So you can't leave the house at all...?"
"Mostly not. Especially when I'm supposed to be bedridden like this."
Only then did Julian truly look at ‌‌Rebecca's condition.
When he saw her legs wrapped tightly in bandages, he stiffened and ‌‌‌asked urgently.
"You're injured? How badly? You should have told me sooner! What happened, and who was responsible...?"
"Hush. Don't get worked up. I told you earlier—it's just an act. Though I'm not entirely uninjured. I fell down the stairs. On purpose, of ‌‌‌course."
"Why would you do something like that? What were you thinking!"
"If I tell you it's the only way to gain freedom, would you understand?"
Rebecca tilted her head with a mysterious smile, resting her chin on her hand.
"A broken doll must be left alone until it recovers. Only then can the owner enjoy playing with it again. And while the master leaves me untouched, I can move as I please."
Her softly whispered words stirred ‌‌‌something fierce within Julian's chest.
He asked with eyes that concealed a burning anger.
"What do you need from me?"
"Hmm?"
"To make your divorce ‌‌happen within a month."
"A month? That's rather difficult. I need to accumulate some funds through the Trading Company first. And more importantly, the Devil's Claws will take time to grow."
"Then two months."
"I can't make any guarantees."
"It doesn't matter. I want to see you divorced. Have you forgotten? Fortune favors me."
At Julian's confident declaration, Rebecca burst into laughter.
And she spoke playfully.
"Is that so? Then perhaps I should keep Zeppelin ‌‌‌so busy he can't set foot in the Mansion. That way, I could ‌‌‌roam freely as I please."
When Rebecca laughed and spoke in jest, Julian fell silent for a moment.
She stared at him with puzzled eyes as he murmured something ‌‌incomprehensible. His demeanor seemed strange.
This was, after all, merely a contract.
I had no doubt he would fulfill it faithfully. Yet there was no need for him to exert himself to this degree.
Once the contract ‌‌‌ended, we would never see each other again. And yet he was genuinely trying to help me.
'He really is kind.'
He must surely pity me.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to gaze at me with such sorrowful eyes.
Rebecca felt grateful for Julian's compassion. ‌‌‌
I looked ‌‌‌into his golden eyes, bathed ‌‌in the brilliant ‌moonlight. It was as though the moon and sun hung together in the sky.
So without thinking, I reached out and gently ‌‌‌stroked his dark hair.
Julian flinched momentarily, but then quietly accepted her touch.
"In any case, thank you for caring, Julian."
At her soft and tender voice, Julian's eyes widened.
In that instant, a sharp ache pierced his chest.
Because of it, Julian quickly grasped the hand stroking his head.
Rebecca's pupils trembled.
She felt his gaze intensify by degrees. His lips parted as he exhaled a heavy breath.
Night and moonlight. And two people alone in a bedroom.
'Ah, this atmosphere is dangerous.'
Rebecca was flustered.
She had momentarily forgotten that Julian was a passionate ‌‌‌young man, and now she had committed this ‌indiscretion.
In doing so, she had all but openly seduced him.
Rebecca hastily pulled her hand away from his.
"I'm sorry. This ‌‌‌is entirely my fault."
Julian stared blankly at his rejected hand.
Rebecca continued quickly.
"This won't happen again. It would violate the contract."
She had promised not to touch him even with a fingertip, and yet before even ‌‌‌signing the divorce papers, she had acted this way. It was shameful.
'So why do you have to have such beautiful eyes?'
Rebecca laughed bitterly at herself for being so susceptible to appearance.
Julian regained his composure at the mention of the ‌‌contract.
His golden eyes gradually darkened to black.
Julian returned to his rigid tone and spoke.
"Right. We're in a contractual relationship. So I'd appreciate ‌‌‌‌it if we could hurry ‌and conclude this matter."
Julian abruptly rose from his seat. Perhaps ‌‌‌‌because he stood so suddenly, he swayed slightly.
"Well, it seems the conversation is concluded, so I'll take my leave."
"Wait, there's still time...."
Before Rebecca could even cry out, Julian vanished without a trace.
And in his place....
Meow?
Leo sat frozen mid-groom, his hind leg still raised in the air.
After a moment of assessing the situation, Leo's eyes narrowed in clear displeasure. ‌‌
"Has it really been three hours already...?"
Rebecca lifted Leo with a bewildered expression.
Leo's tail puffed up in irritation, but he made no attempt to escape her embrace.
"Your master—or rather, your companion—is truly peculiar."
As Rebecca set Leo down by the window, she recalled Julian's appearance before he vanished.
'His ears were bright red.'
She understood why he'd fled this place so desperately.
At the same time, guilt stirred within her.
'He has an innocent side beneath that exterior. Then again, he's still just a boy.'
If ‌‌‌she counted her age before the regression, she was twice ‌‌his age.
Her conscience pricked at her, yet a smile refused to leave her lips.
Rebecca leaned against the window, watching Leo's graceful silhouette slip ‌‌‌out of the Mansion with a lingering ‌‌‌gaze.
* * *
"Haa. Haa."
Julian stumbled into his room, breathing heavily. The consecutive spatial transfers had left him dizzy.
He collapsed onto the bed, covering his face with his forearm. Cold sweat drenched his entire body.
Julian ripped off his shirt with violent force.
No matter how hard he tried not to think, the events that had just transpired replayed automatically in his mind.
'Thank you for thinking of me that way, Julian.'
He recalled his own vacant expression reflected in her blue eyes.
Did he always make that expression whenever he ‌‌saw her?
Yet ‌he couldn't tear his gaze away from Rebecca. Moreover, not understanding why was driving him ‌‌‌to madness.
"Ugh." ‌
The same chest pain returned once more.
A tingling ache that stabbed and throbbed—a sensation he'd never experienced before.
Julian felt a surge of fear.
Most of the Duke of Johannes's predecessors had died of heart ‌‌‌failure.
When the sacred power one ‌‌‌‌was born ‌‌‌with was exhausted, the heart would stop, or ‌so he'd been told.
And chest pain was said to be a warning sign.
'Surely not. No, it can't be.'
Julian bolted upright from the bed. On the table beside it lay medicine that Croa placed there every day.
He'd always scoffed and refused to take it, but today was different.
Julian dumped the medicine into his mouth in one motion and gulped down cold water. Then, gripping the table with both hands, he opened his eyes wide.
"I cannot die. Not yet."
* * *
"A puppet master? Are you telling me the Duke is asking me to be a puppet master right now?"
Tanisha Chenister slammed her hand against the desk.
Croa quickly grabbed her coffee cup.
"Why are you getting so worked up? To be precise, it's not a puppet master—it's a Trading Company ‌‌‌proprietor. Has ‌‌‌‌the Duke made unreasonable demands before?"
"And why did I put up with those unreasonable demands?! Because he promised me a Trading Company under my own name!"
"He did put it under your ‌‌name. The business registration is in your name too."
"Then what's the difference?! I'm just ‌‌‌a puppet dancing for some unknown bastard."
"Hey, watch your tongue. If the ‌‌‌‌Duke hears you ‌‌‌talk like that, you'll be in trouble."
"Why do you always take the Duke's side?! Who's your family—me or the Duke?"
"Of course..."
"Of course?"
"You. The Duke would never consider someone as lowly as me family."
"Just drop dead!"
Tanisha began hurling whatever she could grab at Croa.
Croa deftly dodged the flying objects as if this were nothing new.
"Think of him as a business advisor, not your master. Besides, this is quite an important matter. That's why the Duke entrusted it to you."
"After all the grueling work I've done?! I'm already fed up that you became a butler just because you were ‌‌born a few years earlier, and now this?!"
"That mouth of yours! I feel sorry for whoever ends up with ‌‌‌‌you."
"Why feel sorry? I hit the jackpot. Stunning looks, excellent abilities, plenty of money. You're the one who's never even been on a date in your life."
"...Let's not talk about that. I was wrong."
Croa, struck where it hurt, lost her ‌‌‌fighting spirit and drooped her head dejectedly.
"Enough! Who is this person?"
"Who?"
"The owner of my Trading Company. I need to meet him directly."
"Just wait a moment. Why do you keep acting out? Just do as you're told."
"What, is he a wanted criminal? Why all the secrecy? I need ‌‌‌‌to meet him ‌‌‌‌directly to decide whether to serve him as my master or just quit altogether."
"Q-quit? Tanisha, do you really think a Chenister can defy the Duke of Johannes's orders?!"
"Who said I wanted to be a Chenister? If it comes to it, I can throw all this shabby stuff away. I'll just renounce my family ‌‌‌‌name and become a commoner. I'll live like an empress even as a commoner."
"Can you say that in front of our parents?"
"Either way, spill it—now. Or I'll tell them about how you botched trimming Leo's fur last time."
Croa gasped ‌and covered her mouth.
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book Publication

January 12, 2022
Author

Gin Bamhaneul
Publisher

Desert Fox
Publisher.

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
Submissions.

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
---------------