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63.
Upon learning of the paralytic toxin's ‌‌‌properties ‌‌‌from Julian, Rebecca requested that he create tobacco infused with the poison.
Thanks to this arrangement, Robert, a habitual smoker, was able to consume the paralytic toxin without arousing Zeppelin's suspicion.
Of course, it was a dangerous gambit.
Zeppelin's subordinates could have cremated or buried Robert's paralyzed body.
But behind ‌this plan stood Julian.
At the opportune moment, Julian extracted Robert and concealed him within the Duke's Castle.
'I have incurred another debt.'
Rebecca gazed at Robert, who offered her a sparse smile.
Robert had now become, like Kanna, an irreplaceable bond in Rebecca's life.
Without Julian's intervention, neither she nor Robert could have escaped the Count's Mansion to laugh freely.
All the more reason, then, to lift Julian's curse with absolute certainty.
Rebecca ultimately decided to bury what had transpired between them yesterday in the depths of her heart.
"Now that I have seen your face, I shall depart at once."
Robert spoke with a gentle smile.
Rebecca's lips parted as if reluctant, but she soon nodded in assent.
"You're going to search for your family, aren't you?"
"Yes. I will find them without fail. I will save more lives than the blood that stains my hands."
Years of remorse and lamentation had become ‌‌excellent kindling, igniting Robert's resolve.
His black garments seemed to shimmer with a brilliance rivaling ‌‌‌the sunlight itself.
Robert soon offered a respectful farewell and departed.
Rebecca silently watched his receding figure, committing it to memory like a pilgrim's final glimpse.
As ‌‌Robert vanished from ‌‌her sight, she turned her gaze toward Kanna.
"Kanna, let's go home together. ‌‌‌‌My family will be delighted ‌‌to see you."
Kanna observed Rebecca's noticeably improved ‌‌complexion and the mud clinging to her bare feet with keen attention.
Rebecca ‌‌extended her finger toward the small estate visible in the distance.
"Look there. That's our home."
Our home.
Rebecca's face shone brilliantly as she spoke those words.
Kanna found herself smiling brightly in response, unable to help it.
* * *
Meanwhile, Zeppelin Devonshire was plummeting into the abyss.
Countless memories flashed before his eyes like a lantern show as he fell ‌‌‌into the depths.
When he reached toward the fragments of memory, they dissolved like smoke.
The memories did not approach him. They could not be grasped.
They merely showed themselves to him in silent witness.

A girl in a field of pristine snow, her smile even brighter than the white ‌‌‌expanse around her.
Zeppelin, unable to tear his gaze away from her, as though rooted in place.
The flush that bloomed across her cheeks when he boldly asked her to dance, surrounded as she was by suitors.
Their ‌first dance that followed, the intoxicating fragrance of her ‌‌skin.
A proposal on a day when white snow fell, just as it had on the day they first met.
A wedding more magnificent than any other.
His love, his bride—beautiful as an ‌‌‌angel descended from heaven—scattered before Zeppelin's eyes.
His memories were consumed entirely by one woman.
Yet her face appeared hazy, as though obscured by mist.
Even as he gazed into her eyes and smiled, he could not recall the contours of her face.
But the ‌‌ache in his heart, so tender and piercing, told Zeppelin that ‌‌she was his beloved.
He could not remember her features precisely.
Yet he remembered vividly—eyes ‌‌‌as deep and blue as the ocean, and golden hair that seemed to capture the very sunlight of autumn itself.
Zeppelin reached out his hand.
Hoping she would ‌‌‌‌save him from this abyss.
He extended his hand toward his beloved, growing ever distant, her face slipping from memory.
But cruelly, the moment his hand touched hers, she vanished without trace, like vapor.
She left behind only an enigmatic, cold smile like an ‌‌‌‌afterimage, abandoning Zeppelin in this ‌‌hell as she departed.
Darkness bloomed where she had stood, and ‌‌‌‌it began to consume him.
The darkness greedily licked him from his toes to the crown of his head, coiling ever tighter around his body.
Soon the darkness coiled into a massive loop, crushing Zeppelin.
He could not breathe. He could not draw air.
'Get me out of here. Save me.'
He pleaded with the woman ‌‌looking down at him from the sky, but she did not turn back.
With her back to him, she whispered to him from the void.
'Do you regret it?'
"Gasp... gasp..."
Zeppelin's eyes snapped open.
The room was filled entirely with darkness.
For a moment, it was so dark that I could have mistaken myself for still being in the dream.
But soon ‌‌the heavy weight pressing down on my stomach made me realize this was reality.
I stared blankly at the figure lying sprawled across my stomach.
I could not remember where this place was, nor who I was before that.
The only thing I remembered was the golden-haired, blue-eyed woman I loved from ‌the dream.
"My lord...?"
As Zeppelin stirred, the person sleeping soundly on his stomach rubbed her eyes and sat up.
She spoke to him in a sweet voice.
"My lord! Goodness, you've awakened?"
The woman quickly lit the lamp.
Zeppelin squinted at the bright light of ‌‌‌‌‌the lamp.
As my vision gradually adjusted to the light, a woman entered my ‌‌field of view, pearl-like tears streaming down her face.
"I thought you would never wake up."
She grasped my hand as I lay there and ‌‌wept openly.
I examined her carefully.
Golden hair that seemed to flow like honey, and sapphire-blue eyes as if precious gems had been set into them.
Was she my lover?
Was she the woman whose hand I had desperately reached for in my dreams?
I withdrew ‌‌‌‌my hand from her grasp ‌‌‌and cupped her cheek instead. Then I ‌‌‌asked.
"Where am I? Who am I?"
At my question, she stared at me blankly, clearly struggling to comprehend the situation.
She stammered as she spoke.
"My Lord, I... I'm Alicia. You don't remember me?"
"Ah. Alicia."
I repeated Alicia's name over and over. Yet ‌‌nothing connected to her stirred in my memory.
The woman in my dreams felt ‌‌different from the one before me...
I hesitated before asking.
"Then Alicia, are you my lover?"
Alicia paused for a moment.
But soon, as if seizing an ‌‌‌opportunity, she gently took my confused hand.
"Yes. I am your wife. The Countess of Devonshire, Alicia."
* * *
On the day I rushed through the downpour to Rebecca,
the fragile hope that Alicia had desperately tried to preserve shattered beneath thundering hooves.
Alicia gathered the shattered fragments of her hope through tears.
If ‌‌things continued as they were, Octavio would find a new Rebecca, and she would once again become a candle before a storm.
Now it was a matter of survival.
By any means necessary, she had to remain rooted in this place.
Even ‌‌‌‌if treated worse than a maid, Alicia did not want to leave this mansion.
No—she could not leave. She resolved that even if she became a ‌‌ghost in death, she would remain the Countess of Devonshire.
Whether Octavio knew of her firm resolve or not, he readily granted her request.
It mattered little to him who became a doll like Rebecca, as long as they obeyed his commands.
If someone displeased him, he could simply destroy ‌‌‌them and buy Zeppelin a new one.
Besides, reusing what was already there proved more efficient.
Octavio knew well that Alicia could never release ‌‌‌‌his hand.
So he decided to make Alicia his temporary Rebecca.
That night.
While I was battering my head against the castle gate of the Duchy, Alicia made her way to the Black Market.
A small carriage came to escort her.
"Please wear this."
A masked man handed her ‌a blindfold. Everyone except those with permission had to wear blindfolds while traveling.
Alicia accepted the blindfold without a word.
The carriage jolted mercilessly, as though traversing a treacherous mountain path.
"Step down."
Alicia removed her blindfold and descended from the carriage at the man's command.
The moment she left the carriage, Alicia nearly cried out.
The entrance to the vast cave loomed before ‌‌her like a monstrous maw gaping wide open.
Though not her first visit, ‌she was seized by overwhelming shock.
After confirming once more that this was indeed a cave, Alicia clutched her heaving chest and pressed forward.
The damp interior of the cave was far colder than the world outside.
As a chill swept through her, sharp enough to raise goosebumps, Alicia drew her robe tighter around herself.
How long had she been walking?
A plaza emerged, lined with enormous tents stretching in rows.
The Black Market.
The Black Market opened as twilight descended, and thus the shadowed marketplace grew ‌‌‌‌‌more vibrant with each passing hour of night.
Navigating through the surging tide of humanity, Alicia retraced her memories toward her destination.
The Black ‌‌‌Market primarily dealt in illegal alchemical products that lacked imperial sanction.
Beyond that, humans, rare creatures, and even corpses of magical beasts were traded here. ‌‌
With enough coin, one could acquire anything.
"It has been quite some time."
Igor recognized Alicia first and approached her.
Alicia opened her eyes slightly, gazing at the white rose pattern drawn upon Igor's blindfold.
Having recognized the rose emblem, Alicia spoke.
"The merchandise is ready, I presume?"
"Of course. Please, this way."
Alicia passed through the tent flap and entered the interior. A pungent chemical stench struck her nostrils sharply, mingling with oppressive heat.
Before a large basin filled with bathwater stood two girls emanating an air of ‌mystery.
Igor smiled thinly and spoke.
"These girls will assist you."
"The effects are guaranteed?"
"The quality of the merchandise is ‌‌‌assured. However, regarding the eye drops, you must apply them once each month."
"Side effects?"
Most goods circulating through the Black Market came with severe side effects.
Yet wherever one went, there were always those willing to sell their very souls for ‌miraculous efficacy.
Alicia was one such person.
"Blindness is a possibility."
At his somewhat ominous words, Alicia flinched.
Igor's gaze fell upon Alicia's swollen belly.
"And it may affect the child you carry so dearly."
Alicia instinctively wrapped her arms around her abdomen.
Igor smiled thinly and spoke.
"It seems ‌‌‌the previous product did its job well."
At those words, Alicia's round eyes narrowed ‌‌sharply. ‌‌‌‌‌She hurled a pouch of gold coins at Igor's chest.
"Stop ‌‌wasting time ‌‌‌‌‌with idle talk and do your work properly."
"It matters little to me, but are you truly certain about this?"
Igor asked, weighing the gold coins by the jingling of the pouch.
Alicia answered without hesitation.
"It doesn't matter."
Alicia removed her robe and tossed it to a waiting girl. The girl accepted it without complaint.
"If I don't do this, I'm as good as dead anyway."
Igor shrugged and stepped outside the tent.
Alicia slowly undressed and entered the bathwater. The temperature was so scorching that she had to stifle a cry.
Soon two girls rushed forward and began pouring a potent chemical onto Alicia's hair.
Her beautifully lustrous periwinkle locks gradually withered away.
A searing pain consumed her scalp.
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

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