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

51.
"Your way?"
"I'm not your puppet. There's a better method—why spill blood unnecessarily? You'll handle the rest, won't ‌‌‌you?"
The moment Alicia finished speaking, her coldly composed face transformed into that of the most pitiful, frightened girl in the world. ‌‌‌
Alicia cried out with an expression of utter terror.
"Good heavens! This was something Rebecca gave me just recently, saying it had a ‌‌‌‌‌lovely fragrance."
Tears seemed ready to spill from Alicia's wide eyes at any moment. ‌‌‌
Her trembling shoulders were so pitiable that anyone would have wanted to embrace ‌‌‌her.
'Ha!'
Octavio let out a hollow laugh.
If there were an award for ‌‌‌acting, Alicia's performance was natural enough to deserve it.
"Surely the Countess didn't drink any of it herself?"
Grace wrapped ‌‌‌her arms around Alicia's small shoulders with a look of alarm. ‌‌
Alicia shook her head with a worried expression.
"Fortunately, she didn't. I was wise to ask the physician just in case. I've been sensitive about what I eat lately, you see."
"Thank heavens. I'm grateful to God."
It truly was a relief. ‌‌‌
Now that Rebecca's infertility had been revealed, if something went wrong with Alicia's child as well, Zeppelin would surely go mad.
"This is serious indeed. But why would the Countess drink such tea? One blended with ingredients that are difficult to obtain."
Octavio spoke while regarding Alicia with an expression that asked what scheme she was hatching.
Alicia hesitated before ‌‌‌opening her mouth.
"Actually, I understand it was tea given to her by Fabiola...."
"What? Say that again."
Hearing the commotion, Zeppelin pushed through the gathered servants.
Alicia started in surprise, her expression turning characteristically innocent.
"My lord...."
"Alicia, say it again. What did Rebecca consume?"
Alicia glanced sideways at Octavio before answering reluctantly.
"She's been drinking tea that induces infertility. And I understand this was a gift your mother gave to Rebecca."
Alicia produced a note bearing Fabiola's handwriting as evidence.
Zeppelin stared ‌‌blankly at ‌‌the note before murmuring.
"Infertility...?" ‌‌‌
Zeppelin's mind reeled.
It was a lie. It had to be a lie.
Rebecca couldn't bear my child?
He barely grasped his fading consciousness and cried out.
"Bring ‌‌my mother—that woman—before me at once!"
A smile flickered across Alicia's lips before vanishing.
Octavio caught on to Alicia's plan and narrowed his eyes.
Alicia intended to drive Rebecca from the Estate while simultaneously ensnaring and eliminating Fabiola in one stroke.
He gazed at the country girl I had picked up and placed here. The frightened light that had filled her eyes yesterday had long since vanished.
It wasn't entirely satisfying, but it was ‌‌a decent strategy nonetheless.
He finished his calculations swiftly.
Zeppelin, seized by panic, began to shout.
"Rebecca! Rebecca! No! This ‌‌‌can't be happening!" ‌
"Please... Earl, there are many watching eyes."
Octavio skillfully soothed the wailing Zeppelin.
"Octavio... bring that woman here. I need to know the truth. She ‌‌‌must have misunderstood something. ‌‌‌‌It's always like that with that ‌‌foolish woman and whatever she does."
"Yes. I shall bring your mother. So please, do calm yourself."
Zeppelin crumpled into Octavio's arms.
Alicia watched intently as Octavio's hand patted his back.
Their gazes met in the empty air. Octavio ‌‌‌was the first to smile.
* ‌‌* *
"Water... bring me water." ‌‌
Fabiola cried out, clutching her head throbbing with a hangover.
Last night's party had been no different from usual, yet today the hangover was particularly severe.
Perhaps it was simply the toll of age—her body was no longer what it once was.
Fabiola rose unsteadily from her bed and sat before her vanity.
Wrinkled skin and dark shadows beneath hollow eyes ‌‌‌‌greeted her.
Watching the relentless passage of time, Fabiola felt her spirits sink.
Once, she had been celebrated as a beautiful Countess.
But now she could only hear herself called beautiful when she scattered money about.
And even those words lacked sincerity.
The glory she had once possessed had now passed to Rebecca, that girl.
At every party she attended, she heard Rebecca's name.
That girl rarely showed her face in society, yet she commanded attention wherever she went.
She had to acknowledge that the name of the beautiful Countess of Devonshire was no longer Fabiola Devonshire, but Rebecca Devonshire.
That fact drove her to madness every single night.
Fabiola lifted her weary, pale blue eyes.
All that remained to her now was Zeppelin and ‌the Devonshire fortune.
She had no intention of losing that.
There were noblewomen who lived out their twilight years ‌‌finding joy ‌‌‌in their grandchildren, but she was not of that sort.
To her, a grandchild was merely another rival who would claim Zeppelin's affection and wealth.
She desperately hoped that Rebecca had shared the tea she had gifted with Alicia.
Sounds of commotion drifted up from downstairs, as if someone were erasing traces of last night's party.
Fabiola sighed and shouted once more, loudly.
"What on earth are you doing! I told you to bring water!"
"I had no idea you would still be in your bedroom at this hour. Or perhaps this is your daily ‌‌routine?"
What entered through the ‌‌gap in the pink door was not a maid, but a sharp-featured man.
Recognizing him, Fabiola sprang from her seat.
"Octavio!"
The door closed behind him.
Octavio turned to face Fabiola with a spinning grin.
His gaze carried an unmistakable leer, and Fabiola's expression darkened.
Screaming here would accomplish nothing.
Nothing in this place truly belonged to her alone.
Fabiola hastily threw on her robe and ‌fastened her garments.
Octavio, who had been watching her with evident pleasure, spoke.
"There's no need for such formality between us, is there?"
"We are nothing to each other."
"How disappointing."
At his insolent smile, Fabiola glared at him fiercely before sitting at the vanity and turning her back to him.
She couldn't bear to look at his face for even a moment.
Tap, tap, tap—Octavio's measured footsteps drew steadily closer.
"You've been discovered, haven't you?"
At her words, his footsteps paused briefly.
Fabiola combed through her tangled hair as though nothing had happened at all.
Octavio stared ‌‌‌at her for a moment before resuming his approach.
"Our young lady has grown quite perceptive. But knowing that, why would you do something ‌‌so ‌‌‌reckless?"
"I told you not to call me that!"
Fabiola raised her hairbrush ‌menacingly as Octavio drew near, ready to strike.
Octavio caught her wrist.
"Strike me with that, would you? Like your father? Why don't you shout that a poor tenant farmer's child deserves to be beaten with such things to come to their senses?"
"You..."
The brush fell limply from Fabiola's hand.
Octavio gently grasped her trembling hand.
"Still so soft. Just as it was when ‌‌‌I first held it."
"Let go."
"If you had only run away with me from the beginning, you wouldn't have had to endure such humiliation."
"I didn't marry of my own will, and you know it. Aren't you tired of this story by now?"
"No. It's the most entertaining thing in the world. Every time I bring up ‌‌‌the past, watching your face contort is truly a sight to ‌‌‌‌‌behold."
"Shut up. What more do you want from me? Just kill me instead! Yes, you said the poison's effects were discovered, didn't you? Then hand me over to my son. Zeppelin will kill me in your stead, just as he killed his ‌‌own father with his own hands!"
Her voice, twisted with anguish, ‌‌struck Octavio's ears.
Her eyes seemed both sorrowful and furious.
Octavio's brow furrowed briefly, but soon he smiled as gently as always.
He caressed her face with one hand and ‌spoke. ‌‌
"That's impossible. I still ‌‌‌‌love you."
"Ha! Love? Don't make me laugh. That's the word that least suits you. Love? You've never loved me."
"Fabiola. Ah, my beloved Fabi. Love takes many forms. Everything I did to you was love. Did you know that even revenge is ‌‌‌a form of love?"
Octavio lifted Fabiola's ‌‌hand and pressed it to his lips.
She stared at his gestures with eyes brimming with disgust, as though watching an insect crawl across the back of her hand.
"Nonsense."
"Your language has become quite coarse, Countess. I believe separating you from Zeppelin was the right decision. We couldn't have his manners corrupted."
"Ha. I've told you countless times—that boy is not your son. Why don't you ‌‌‌stop acting like ‌‌his father?"
"Perhaps. Only God knows for certain. And you're not entirely sure yourself, are you?"
"Shut up! Shut your mouth! No ‌‌‌‌matter ‌‌‌what anyone says, my son carries the blood of Devonshire! He is the descendant of the great Earl of Devonshire!"
Fabiola sprang from her seat and lunged at Octavio. Her delicately manicured nails raked sharply across his cheek.
Even as blood seeped from his wound, Octavio's expression grew more delighted.
"Yes! You only ‌‌‌‌show me this face when we're alone. I ‌‌do love you in your raw, unguarded state."
At the sight of Octavio's ecstatic expression, Fabiola's resolve crumbled and her arm fell away.
She lifted her eyes, now glistening ‌‌‌‌with tears, and glared at him.
"You're insane."
"You made me this way. My Fabiola."
Octavio raised his hand and wiped away her tears. Then he pressed a light kiss to her cheek.
Fabiola's hands trembled faintly. ‌‌
"In any case, we don't have time for this. Your son is not in his right mind at the moment."
"...."
"Did you devise a plan and set things in motion?"
"No. You know well ‌‌‌that I ‍‌‌‌don't live looking ahead to the future."
Octavio's lips curved upward slightly.
He seated Fabiola before the vanity and picked up a brush. Then he began combing through the rest of her ‌‌‌‌hair.
Her hair, which had been thoroughly tangled, became silken and smooth beneath Octavio's hands.
"Then just listen to me. I'll handle everything. All will be well. It will be, Fabiola."
The Countess Who Fled Has Returned
E-book Publication

January 12, 2022
Author

Long ‌night sky
Publisher

Desert fox
Published by

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., ‌Ltd.
Submission Received

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