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45.
Her dead daughter was Grace's only reverse scale.
Grace forcibly dragged down the corners of her mouth that threatened to twitch upward before responding.
"My daughter is... dead. So Robert is as good as a stranger to me ‌‌now. Besides, I opposed their union from the very beginning, as you well know. If anything, I should despise him for driving a wedge between my daughter and me." ‌‌‌
"Ah yes, of course. Forgive me—a moment of senility. Then I shall take my leave. The Earl requires much of my ‌‌‌‌attention."
Octavio ‌‌‌‌departed, leaving behind a smile laden with meaning.
Grace felt a ‌‌chill run through her at that smile and watched his retreating figure for a long moment.
* * *
"Robert has been summoned?"
"Yes. The Earl searched for him urgently from this morning."
"It was discovered later than I expected."
I spoke with perfect composure.
Kanna asked with a puzzled expression.
"Did you anticipate it would be discovered?"
"Of course. It's likely Octavio's doing. He means to redirect Zeppelin's obsessive attention toward me into a purge of traitors instead. A clever maneuver."
"Then Robert will...?"
"Die."
"Pardon?"
Kanna's eyes widened at the casual way I spoke those words.
I pretended not to notice her reaction and read the letter Leo had brought.
"So Eustaf is researching the rose grape. It seems Julian anticipated my plans. Isn't that fascinating, Kanna?"
"Indeed. It's fortunate that he proves useful ‌‌‌‌despite everything."
Even as she said this, Kanna's expression remained uncertain.
She clearly found it difficult to believe my words about letting ‌‌‌Robert die.
Yet Kanna asked nothing more. Her resolve to follow my every decision remained unshakeable.
Observing her quietly, I smiled softly.
"It's time Robert left the Estate as well. Sometimes one must die to find freedom."
"Robert would consider ‌‌‌‌it an honor to lay down his life for you."
"Don't worry. I'll bring him back ‌‌‌to life."
"I... beg your pardon?"
"Surely you didn't think I'd let Robert die—at Zeppelin's hands, no less? How disappointing."
I let out a mischievous laugh.
I finished my reply and placed it inside Leo's locket.
Once Leo climbed out the window and departed, ‌I wrote two more letters.
Then I handed them to Kanna. ‌‌
"Give one to Catherine in plain sight, and slip the other to Mother in secret. And stop by the Liberta Orphanage for a moment. It's time Margaret made her choice."
"How can I leave when ‌‌‌you're suffering like ‌‌‌‌this?"
Kanna gazed at me with concern, watching as I occasionally winced from the pain.
I took both of Kanna's hands in mine.
"My fever has broken considerably. I'm fine now. There's no one else I can trust ‌with this. Besides, I have many allies now—far more ‌‌than before." ‍‌‌‌
Rebecca clapped her hands twice.
The door opened, and Susan and another maid, Emily, entered.
"You called for us?"
They were ‌‌‌‌the two who had pocketed substantial sums from the information Rebecca had provided.
Susan and Emily, who firmly believed her to be a saint, would now feign death itself at Rebecca's command.
Rebecca glanced at Kanna with a look that seemed to say, "See?"
Kanna smiled helplessly for ‌‌‌‌a moment before promptly beginning to issue instructions to Susan and Emily with stern precision.
Rebecca watched the maids with an expression of satisfaction.
* ‌‌‌* *
"Are you truly certain you can manage this? Please, refuse if you must. I will find another way."
Eyes the ‌‌‌‌color of the deep ocean posed the question.
His tense lips softened at the genuine concern in her words.
"I never imagined escaping this place without some sacrifice."
"Then I have no choice. I will stake my very life to save you—please, hold on."
She, who offered her sole existence to someone as insignificant as himself, reminded him of his lost love from years past.
"Robert!" ‌‌
Ah, Laila.
Laila, whom he had only traced in dreams as his hand fell endlessly into the abyss, grasped it firmly.
It was cold.
As he gazed blankly at her temperature, Laila pulled him upward.
"Robert, come to your senses!"
"Lai... I miss you. Can't I just go with you ‌‌‌‌like this?"
"No. You promised to be happy for both of us. Go back."
"Laila!"
The black eyes that held the night sky he had loved so dearly scattered starlight through her tears.
Following her tears, Robert surfaced from the depths of sleep.
* * *
"Wake up!"
Cold water splashed across his face.
Robert gasped and awoke, his vision blurred by blood trickling from his forehead.
Dazed, Robert soon remembered where he was.
He was in a torture chamber beneath ‌‌the Hall of Light.
Zeppelin sat before him, his expression showing the limits of his patience.
"I will ask you once more. Why did you spread such baseless rumors?"
"They are not rumors. She is a true saint."
"What a pity, Robert. I truly cared for you."
Zeppelin sighed and gestured.
The knight Bates, who had been waiting, then lifted a heated poker.
Soon Robert cried out in agony.
Behind Zeppelin, ‌Octavio watched the scene with evident delight.
Octavio...
So it was his ‌‌doing.
Octavio had been watching Robert closely all along—Robert, who enjoyed Zeppelin's unwavering ‌‌‌trust.
He had clearly marked Robert as a threat to his position.
But Robert paid it ‌no mind. He had never coveted Octavio's place. ‌‌
A dog is a ‌‌‌dog, after all. He had no intention of fighting tooth and nail over the position of pack leader.
Yet Octavio was the type to nip threats in the bud.
He had been watching for any opening to use against Robert.
And today, Octavio had finally found it. ‌‌‌‌
'Is this enough?'
Robert drew ragged breaths, his lips trembling as he spoke.
"P-please, just one last cigarette. Then I'll tell you everything."
Bates ‌‌glanced toward Zeppelin.
No matter what answer came, Robert was doomed anyway. Zeppelin needed an outlet for his rage.
Zeppelin cracked his ‌‌knuckles and flexed ‌‌‌his hands.
A dying man's final wish—I can grant that much.
Zeppelin ‌‌‌‌nodded.
Bates retrieved a cigarette from Robert's chest pocket and placed it between his lips.
"Exhale."
Robert drew the smoke in deeply. The cold vapor filled his lungs completely. A satisfied smile crossed his face.
'Everything unfolds as he wills it...'
The scent of death was sweet.
"Now, speak."
Robert, in a daze, poured out the answer Zeppelin wanted to hear.
"I loved her."
"What?"
"Shall I repeat myself? I loved Rebecca. I adored her beautiful face and ‌‌her ‌noble heart. Rebecca is far too good for you. If you truly love her, let her go! You are nothing but a trial for her."
"You bastard!"
It was the reaction Robert had anticipated.
Zeppelin's eyes bloodshot with fury, he lunged ‌‌at Robert.
Lost to rage, Zeppelin drove his knuckled fists repeatedly into Robert's head.
Blood covered Robert's face now, and not even a whimper escaped his lips.
"How dare ‌you! A dog coveting his master's possession?"
Octavio barely suppressed a smile, stepping in to ‌‌stop Zeppelin.
His words contradicted the triumph gleaming in his eyes.
Octavio seized Zeppelin's blood-stained hand.
"Stop, sir. You'll kill him."
"Both of them—coveting what's mine..."
As Zeppelin's rage subsided, Bates brought a finger to Robert's nose.
"He's dead."
"Handle it yourself."
Zeppelin clicked his tongue and swept his hair back. His expression was one of mild annoyance, as though he'd merely crushed an irritating insect beneath his heel.
"I feel filthy. Octavio, have the bath prepared."
"Very well."
The sound of Zeppelin's footsteps echoed loudly through the cold Underground as he climbed the stairs.
Bates kept his head bowed until Zeppelin ‌‌‌had completely left the Underground, then turned back to Robert.
The cigarette clenched between Robert's lips burned fiercely to the very end.
* * *
Upon receiving Rebecca's letter, Danae hurriedly prepared to go out.
As she put on her hat and moved toward the door, Theo blocked her path.
"My dear. Where exactly are you going all the time?"
"I told you before. I'm visiting Mrs. Jenkins."
"Don't lie to ‌‌me. I know perfectly well that your right ‌‌eyebrow rises every time you lie. Could it be..."
Danae froze for a moment.
Did he know something?
Tears welled up in Theo's blue eyes.
"You haven't taken another ‌‌‌‌lover, have you? Because I'm incompetent..." ‌‌
"Theo Obelia! What are you saying!"
"If that's not it, then why do you keep leaving me and going out!"
Theo wrapped his arms around Danae's waist, preventing her from moving.
"Are you insane? Let me go!"
Theo spoke ‌‌‌through streaming tears.
"I can't live without you. Danae, if you're going to remarry another man, at least take me as your mistress."
"You've been saying strange things since earlier!"
"Father!"
Livia and Helena shouted at Theo, then rushed over and each grabbed one of his arms.
"Don't interfere with Mother's work!"
"That's right! Mother is going to earn money!"
"Earn ‌‌money...?"
Theo's wet eyes widened considerably.
Danae looked at her twin daughters in shock.
"How did you two know?"
Helena and Livia giggled and answered in turns.
"The meals ‌‌‌‌have gotten so much better lately!"
"And ‌‌‌you bought us new dresses!"
"We get dessert every day now!"
"Father hasn't earned a single coin, so who else could ‌‌‌have earned ‌‌‌‌it?"
"Mother, of course!"
Listening to his daughters' sudden barrage of words, Theo was struck ‌‌‌‌with shock.
"Y-you're earning money? You?"
Sending Catherine on the errand had proven to be the right decision.
Danae sighed with resignation and answered.
"That's right. I ‌‌‌can't go into the details. Don't worry. It's nothing illegal or dangerous."
"I'm so incompetent that in the end you have to... I promised not to let a single drop of water stain your hands, and yet..."
As Theo's voice trembled with tears again, Danae hastened to comfort him.
"Everyone has different aptitudes. You simply lack ‌‌a talent for earning money."
Helena and Livia chimed in as well, unwilling to be outdone.
"That's right. Father cooks wonderfully instead."
"He's even better at cleaning and laundry than Mother!"
Theo ‌‌‌blinked his long eyelashes.
"Well, I suppose that's true."
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

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