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88.
Zeppelin's eyes opened.
It was certain. Rebecca's ‌‌‌love for him was absolute.
She was a ‌‌‌woman who ‌‌‌had even begged him to abandon her, fearing her husband's suffering.
So even if Julian held Rebecca in his grasp, he ‌‌‌could never possess her love.
That must be why I, Zeppelin of Devonshire, had been branded as Rebecca's sworn enemy.
Her love for me ran that deep.
Zeppelin's eyes hardened with intensity.
How lonely and anguished she must have been in that dreadful prison.
I could picture Rebecca, locked away in the highest tower of the ‌‌Duke's Castle, that fortress of stone.
Zeppelin's heart surged with ‌‌emotion. ‌‌
"I must... reclaim her."
Zeppelin imagined himself defeating Julian and ‌‌‌rescuing Rebecca.
He envisioned her eyes glistening with grateful tears as she embraced him warmly.
"Ah... Rebecca."
Zeppelin cradled his cheek in his palm.
The sting of her sharp ‌‌‌slap still lingered vividly on his skin.
Even though his cheek was swollen, he found he didn't hate it.
Seeing her move with such vitality, no longer like a lifeless doll, stirred an inexplicable ‌‌excitement within him.
In those blazing eyes that had fixed ‌‌upon him lay the Rebecca he had fallen for at first sight—the one who had built snowmen with such unbridled joy.
Now that he thought of it, his fiancée bore ‌‌‌a striking resemblance to Rebecca.
Her figure, her eye color—it was strange he hadn't recognized her sooner.
Zeppelin clenched his fist so tightly it trembled.
"Making her play the role of a fiancée... that filthy wretch."
But he soon released his grip.
She had returned. In her original, perfect form—the one he adored.
Yes, that was enough.
It didn't matter that Rebecca wasn't by his side now.
She was destined to be Zeppelin of Devonshire's.
He ‌‌‌had known it from the moment they first met.
All he needed to do was bring her back to where she belonged.
Even if she hated him now, trapped under Julian's manipulation, one day Rebecca would understand.
That the happiest moment of her life had been when she was Rebecca of Devonshire.
Zeppelin rose from his seat.
A new light kindled in his eyes. There was no reason to remain helpless any longer.
Rebecca had reentered Zeppelin's life.
The kingdom he had dreamed ‌‌of, which had paused in its march, began to move once more.
* * *
Julian brought the carriage to a halt at the foot of the hill leading up to Ophelia's Estate.
"We shall walk from here."
"All of a sudden?"
Rebecca looked at Julian with a bewildered expression, ‌‌clearly at a loss.
Julian answered nothing, simply tugging her hand forward.
Catching ‌‌the meaning behind his gesture, Rebecca asked in astonishment.
"You want me to walk with you?"
Julian nodded and cleared his throat awkwardly.
At the sound of his cough, Croa quickly nudged Rebecca from behind.
"I think that would be lovely. Now that I think about it, the night sky is particularly beautiful this evening. After such tumultuous events, wouldn't a brief stroll help settle your mind?"
"I ‌‌suppose so..."
Rebecca's bewilderment melted into a ‌‌‌smile.
Upon reflection, a nighttime walk didn't sound ‌so bad after all.
And just as Croa had said, the moon was exceptionally lovely tonight.
"Then, shouldn't Kanna and ‌‌‌Croa come along as well..."
"No. Just the two of ‌‌us. Alone."
"Alone?"
Rebecca's eyes widened in surprise as she glanced between Croa and Kanna.
Croa nodded vigorously, while Kanna, for some reason, neither affirmed nor denied, keeping her ‌‌‌lips sealed.
"Let's go. Rebecca."
Julian opened the carriage door. A crisp night breeze swept in.
"It's cold out. Wear this. I'll head inside first."
Kanna draped a thick shawl across Rebecca's shoulders.
Rebecca adjusted the shawl while studying Kanna's expression. Something about ‌‌her seemed different from usual.
In the meantime, Julian descended from the carriage first and extended his hand to Rebecca.
Rebecca stared blankly at Kanna for a moment before taking Julian's hand and stepping outside.
"Understood. Kanna, I'll see you back at the estate in a bit. Croa, thank you so much for everything today."
"Not at all. Go now. The Duke has ‌‌something he wishes to tell you."
"Croa!"
Julian called out her name in exasperation.
Croa pretended to seal her lips and quickly ushered the two of them away.
"I misspoke. Since I'm eager to ‌‌‌rest, please disappear for the sake of these ‌‌‌‌servants."
She shut the carriage door swiftly, as if issuing an order of dismissal.
Beyond the carriage door, Julian's grumbling could be heard, but Croa wore a satisfied smile, seemingly delighted.
Soon, the footsteps of Rebecca and Julian gradually faded into the distance.
Croa's gaze remained fixed on Kanna, who stood silently with her head bowed.
"Why did you consent so readily ‌today?"
Kanna replied in a curt tone.
"Consent? Miss Rebecca can go wherever she ‌‌‌wishes without anyone's permission. How could I stand ‌‌in the way of her path?"
"That's not what I mean. You're different from ‌‌usual—I've noticed. Even that rude attitude of yours, the way you'd growl whenever you saw the Duke, seems to have softened. What happened?"
"Nothing in particular. I simply came to understand something."
Kanna ‌‌‌‌lifted her head and gazed wistfully through the window at the retreating figures of Rebecca and Julian.
A verdant hill beneath a night sky that seemed to shower down stars. And standing beneath it, a radiant pair—a man and a woman.
Faced with a scene as though painted by a master's hand, Kanna's heart was utterly captivated. ‌‌
"What did you come to understand?"
"Your Grace... I realized that you can give Rebecca something I could never offer her, even if I were to die and be reborn."
"Something you cannot give her?"
"A smile...."
Croa stared blankly at Kanna's face.
I could not fathom ‌‌‌what this child was saying at all.
"And complete happiness...."
Silence fell between them.
The mournful cry of insects drifted through the air, filling the chasm of understanding that had opened between Croa and Kanna.
"Do you know? Rebecca always smiles when she is with Your Grace. I can keep Rebecca safe, but I cannot make her smile so brightly. Ah, perhaps Your Grace will even protect her better than I ever ‌could...."
"But Rebecca cherishes you. She seemed happy when she was with you too."
Kanna shook her head quietly.
"No. It is insufficient. She is someone who must not settle for merely that degree of happiness."
"What do you mean...." ‌‌‌
"Rebecca deserves to possess all the happiness that exists in this world. And only her master can grant her that."

Various questions arose in Croa's ‌‌‌mind, ‌‌yet I could not voice any of them.
Kanna's face, as she gazed out the ‌‌‌window with her lips pressed firmly shut, appeared both profoundly sorrowful and strangely content.
Croa too watched in silence as Julian's retreating figure grew distant.
The boy who had once barely reached my waist had grown tall and sturdy, ‌‌‌like a gnarled oak tree.
And that child, whom I had thought to be a solitary tree standing desolate in a wasteland, was now blooming flowers at my feet of his own accord.
A distant smile bloomed across Croa's lips.
Somehow, Kanna's cryptic words were beginning to make a little sense.
* * *
A cool breeze swept in, tousling Rebecca's hair. ‌She drew a deep breath and lifted her gaze to the heavens above.
A luminous halo of moonlight poured down upon the open hill. And the Milky Way, rippling like gentle waves, was densely embroidered across ‌‌the dark night sky.
"How beautiful!"
An exclamation escaped between my lips. It seemed I had made the right choice in opting for a brief walk, as Julian had suggested.
The unpleasant feeling that had lingered since meeting Zeppelin had not yet dissipated.
'You... have ‌‌‌‌gained weight.'

He still saw me as nothing more and nothing less than a doll.
Perhaps it was inevitable, given that I had lived that way my entire life.
But what on earth had I been hoping for?
There was nothing to expect from him in the ‌‌‌first place.
My expression darkened.
Julian, who had been observing me, suddenly thrust his face forward into my line ‌‌‌‌‌of sight.
His sharp, well-defined eyes folded toward me with an intensity that was almost disarming.
For a moment, I thought ‌his gleaming irises resembled stars.
"You're conjuring up something dreadful again, aren't you? Looking at my face is good for your mental health whenever that happens."
"I've been complimenting you so much that your arrogance is reaching the ‌‌heavens, isn't it?"
"You ‌‌‌said it first. That I was pleasing to look at. That I was handsome. Beautiful things naturally lift one's spirits. When you think that only ugliness remains in life, lift your head and look at me."
It was a frivolous jest.
Yet I ‌‌‌‌found myself tracing the contours of Julian's face.
His prominent, well-sculpted forehead and sharp nose ridge. And those golden eyes regarding me with mischievous intent.
That brilliant luminescence held my gaze captive for a long moment.
"...."
As I gazed at him steadily as he had requested, it was Julian who retreated first.
A flush bloomed across his cheekbones almost instantly.
The color was so beautiful that I nearly reached out to caress his cheek ‌‌‌‌without thinking.
"S-stop looking now."
Julian covered his mouth with the back of his hand ‌‌‌and straightened from his bow toward me.
He hastily lifted his head.
Given the considerable difference in our heights, with him tilting his head up ‌‌‌like that, I couldn't see his expression clearly.
But from the flush creeping up his ears, I could tell he was flustered.
I burst into laughter.
"You told ‌‌‌me to look."
"I told you to look, but not to stare for so long."
"It's not like I'm wearing you ‌‌‌‌away."
"You are. Every time you look at my face, I wear away a little. So I'd prefer it if you only gazed at me for a few seconds from now on."
A playful smile bloomed at the corners of my mouth.
"Why? Does looking at me feel so good you can't bear it?"
"Wh-what...?"
Julian, who had been walking ahead with his back to me to hide his dazed expression, ‌‌‌faltered at my words.
I felt heat surge and radiate across his broad shoulders.
He turned his face slightly and spoke.
"Why would you think that?"
"Well, it's because you...."
You look at me with such tenderness. As if you could love me just as I am.
But the words circling in my heart never left my lips.
I could see a glimmer of anticipation rising in Julian's face as he gazed intently at me.
Rebecca caught herself before the thoughtless words could escape her lips, pressing them firmly shut.
Whatever she said now would surely wound the man he would become in the future.
Rebecca forced a bright smile and spoke.
"I'm joking. You couldn't possibly have romantic feelings for me. Comradeship, perhaps—but nothing more."
The swelling hope in Julian's chest deflated like a punctured balloon.
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book Publication

January 12, 2022
Author

Long night sky
Publisher

Desert fox
Published by

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
Submission ‌Portal

naver.me/54VzzLSn
Blog

blog.naver.com/wj_fennecfox
Twitter

@wjt_fennecfox

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