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87.
Kanna stared at him with a look of alarm.
"Why must you make such a loud noise? If the guards hear it, who knows what they might do to Rebecca!"
"It's fine. You were going to take care ‌of all the guards anyway, weren't you? Besides, ‌‌there's no other way right now. Come on, Rebecca will jump down soon—stand back."
Though I couldn't shake my unease, Julian's words held truth. ‌‌
Kanna stepped back a few paces at his urging.
"Rebecca!"
Julian, who had been gazing skyward ‌‌‌as if rooted in place, let out an exultant cry.
Rebecca truly had climbed onto the railing. ‌‌‌‌Her silhouette swayed precariously in the wind.
Turning around, Rebecca leaped ‌‌‌toward Julian without hesitation.
"Julian!"
Julian's pupils dilated.
It was ‌‌‌‌absurd to think such thoughts in this urgent moment, but Rebecca descending between the full moon seemed like an angel descending to earth.
She was a demonic angel who would pull me from the depths of despair.
"Ugh..."
Julian caught Rebecca and fell ‌‌backward. Fortunately, soft grass cushioned them both.
Julian's trembling hands cradled Rebecca's head safely.
Julian lifted his ‌head ‌‌to check Rebecca's face.
"Are you all right?"
Rebecca, sprawled across his chest, slowly lifted her head and smiled.
"You're utterly reckless. But I'm alive because of it. Thank you, Julian."
Kanna watched Rebecca's radiant smile in silence.
A maelstrom of countless emotions swirled within her heart.
Yet ‌‌‌Kanna never let her feelings show on her face.
The more she concealed herself, the brighter Rebecca smiled. That was enough for her.
Julian rose to ‌‌his feet and glanced at Kanna.
"Your thanks should go to that child, not me. Kanna, was it? Without her, who knows what would have become of us both. I owe her my gratitude as well. Thank you."
Julian smiled warmly at Kanna.
Kanna lowered her gaze to the ground.
Rebecca sprang up and gently took Kanna's hand, caressing it softly.
"Thank you, Kanna. You always save me."
Kanna carefully tidied Rebecca's disheveled hair.
A tender emotion flickered across Kanna's eyes before fading away.
She spoke with gravity.
"We have no time for this. We must leave at once."
"Right. I can ‌handle a few small fries rushing at us?"
Kanna nodded.
Julian lifted Rebecca into his arms with both hands.
"Forgive me for treating you like an ‌invalid, but at your current running speed, it might be ‌‌a bit risky."
Rather than protest, Rebecca smiled and wrapped her arms around Julian's neck.
"I know that much. Let's hurry back."
At Rebecca's words, Julian lifted his head.
Kanna dashed forward first, and Julian ‌‌‌began to follow in her wake.
* * *
"We failed to apprehend the intruders. They moved with considerable precision."
"Those brutal savages dared breach my Study. I could have lost my life. And what of the Hall of Light? How are you managing things at all!"
Zeppelin trembled violently, wrapped in blankets, and shrieked at Octavio ‌‌as though terror itself consumed ‌‌him.
The pathetic display caused veins to bulge across Octavio's forehead.
He twisted his lips and forced a smile.
"It is my negligence. ‌‌I shall mobilize all the Hounds to capture them. As for the Hall ‌‌‌of Light, rest ‌‌assured."
"The Knights of God will arrive, and you tell me not to worry!"
"I shall send word to the Rose of Light. She will find a solution."
Octavio lit the incense.
As the flames slowly kindled, Zeppelin's anxious, trembling gaze sharpened in an instant.
"You have endured much today. Rest now, and I shall handle everything."
Octavio laid Zeppelin upon the bed, then unwrapped the blankets that had been wound around him.
He smoothed out ‌‌the thin, wrinkled blanket and draped it carefully over Zeppelin's form.
He resembled a tender father preparing his child's bedding.
Zeppelin, who had been throwing a tantrum moments before, obediently followed Octavio's touch.
A smile bloomed ‌‌‌‌across ‌‌‌Octavio's lips.
Everyone believed that Zeppelin, having lost his memories, had become gentle—but the truth was far different.
Zeppelin, freshly conscious, existed in a state of extreme anxiety.
Octavio whispered into his ear.
'Pitiful soul... simply heed my words. That is all you need do. Then you shall obtain everything you desire, just as before.'
Octavio instructed ‌‌Zeppelin methodically in the affairs of the Earl of Devonshire, as one might teach a child.
Into Zeppelin's blank world, ‌Octavio drew a map.
Zeppelin clung to him, utterly dependent.
Though Zeppelin smiled sweetly in public, when alone with Octavio, he reverted to his original vile nature.
Yet even this was a good sign.
It proved how ‌thoroughly he trusted and followed me.
Moreover, even when Zeppelin raged, he ultimately heeded Octavio's words.
Zeppelin signed documents at his instruction and punished those he designated.
Octavio found Zeppelin's ‌‌‌current state deeply satisfying.
After all, it had been I who maintained the Count's House all these years.
Zeppelin need only remain as the nominal Earl of ‌‌‌Devonshire.
And in time, the child Alicia bore would walk the same path as Zeppelin.
As ‌‌‌‌long as I held her weakness, it was inevitable.
Thus, I needed to make Alicia Zeppelin's new Rebecca as soon as possible.
The true Rebecca was difficult to control, but Alicia was simple.
Dangle the right bait, and Alicia moved faithfully ‌‌according to the game I had designed.
Octavio gazed down at Zeppelin, whose eyes blinked vacantly ‌‌toward the ceiling, and spoke gently.
"Shall I tell Lady Alicia to come in?"
Zeppelin stared at Octavio's unsettling smile for a moment, then quietly shook his head.
"No. I wish to be alone."
"As you wish."
"Octavio."
"Yes. What is it?"
"Is Alicia truly the lover from my memories?"
At Zeppelin's words, the smile vanished from Octavio's lips in an instant.
His gaze then turned toward the incense burning with a soft glow. The room was already thick with fragrance. ‌‌
Octavio looked at Zeppelin's innocent face and smiled again with a gentle curve ‌‌of his lips.
"Who can say? How would I know who resides in your memories, my lord? I've never ‌‌‌ventured into your mind, after all. But this much is certain—the golden-haired woman with blue eyes who stands beside you now and tends to you ‌with ‌utmost devotion is none other than Lady Alicia. And she is the only one carrying your child."
It was ‌‌an ambiguous answer.
Octavio had never once declared that Alicia was the woman Zeppelin sought.
Though it seemed unlikely, he was deliberately leaving a loophole in case Zeppelin's memories returned.
It mattered not if Zeppelin grew angry, ‌‌‌‌believing himself deceived.
He need only say it was all for Zeppelin's sake.
It would be all the better if Alicia added tears to the mix.
Octavio was confident that Zeppelin could never abandon him.
Zeppelin's ‌‌eyes closed slowly. Then he waved his hand dismissively.
"Very well. You may go now."
"Rest well, then."
A click sounded as ‌‌the lock fastened on the door handle.
He would remain confined to this room until the Knights of God arrived.
The moment the door closed, Zeppelin sprang from his seat.
He hastily extinguished the incense and opened the window to air out the room.
"They were deceiving me all along."
The instant he saw Rebecca's face, all his memories returned.
And the fact that Octavio and Alicia had been toying with him became abundantly clear.
"But why, exactly?"
Zeppelin collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
Alicia's desire for the position of countess was hardly surprising.
But Octavio was different.
Zeppelin had given Octavio everything.
He had been a landmark in Zeppelin's life.
There had been times when I held deep ‌‌‌respect for his cunning strategies.
I had always believed Octavio cherished me as I cherished him.
Zeppelin scraped away a thin layer from the ‌‌‌top of the incense, placed it in an envelope, and set the lit candle on the balcony.
He needed to ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ensure Octavio would see that the incense had burned through ‌‌‌the night.
Until he discovered why Octavio had deceived him, he would continue as if nothing had changed.
Was his deception born of good intentions, or was it malice?
Zeppelin buried his face in his hands, desperately hoping it was the former.
Solitude hung thick and suffocating in the silent room.
I had never felt so utterly alone.
Before recovering my memories, I was lonely because I couldn't know the truth about the lover in my dreams.
But now that I had reclaimed those memories, the fact that she wasn't by my side was driving me to madness.
Suddenly, I remembered the brown-haired man who had rushed away carrying Rebecca.
And the tender gaze in Rebecca's eyes as she ‌‌looked up at him.
I couldn't believe she could direct such a look at someone other than me.
Rage surged through me like wildfire.
Zeppelin collapsed onto ‌the bed, his eyes rolling wildly.
'Julian... could it be?'
Hair color was trivial—easily disguised.
Hadn't Alicia even changed the color of her eyes?
Besides, a man of such considerable build was rare to find in the Empire.
Zeppelin closed his eyes ‌‌‌firmly and began to methodically piece together his ‌‌memories.
The memories that had arrived suddenly like sparks of flame now revealed themselves in ‌‌‌‌complete form, telling him much.
Before losing his memory, the last place he had confirmed Rebecca's whereabouts was the Duchy of Johannes.
The black cat that had lingered near Rebecca was identical to ‌‌‌the ‌one belonging to the Duke of Johannes.
So he had believed Julian had abducted Rebecca.
He had thought that if he could only rescue her from the cunning Julian's grasp, everything would return to how it was.
But the Rebecca he saw today...
'That's right. I'll trample and shatter everything you cherish, then ‌‌burn it all. ‌‌‌And I'll throw your pathetic body into that inferno too.'
'I'll give you hell.' ‌‌‌‌‌
She wore a face he didn't recognize.
His beloved Rebecca had glared at him with fury blazing ‌‌‌in her eyes.
For a moment, he had almost believed she truly would destroy ‌‌him.
But Zeppelin soon let out a scoff.
'That can't be.'
She must have been brainwashed by Julian without question.
He was surely keeping Rebecca locked away somewhere, torturing her until ‌‌‌she obeyed his commands.
A man of Julian's power could accomplish such brainwashing with ease.
'Oh, my poor Rebecca.'
Fragile in body and spirit as she was, there was no way she could endure such treatment.
In the end, she had fallen prey to Julian's schemes and come to regard him as her greatest enemy.
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book publication.

January 12, 2022 ‌‌
Author.

Long night sky
Publisher.

Desert fox
Published by.

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd. ‌‌‌‌
Submissions.

naver.me/54VzzLSn
Blog.

blog.naver.com/wj_fennecfox
Twitter.

@wjt_fennecfox

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