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10.
From the night ‍‌Zeppelin rushed urgently into the Study, Rebecca could not ‌‌‌‌shake ‌‌her suspicion of Alice.
Zeppelin had entered the Mansion faster than Alicia and the baggage cart.
And without a moment's hesitation, he had bolted into the Study.
Zeppelin was not a man who hurried desperately over trifles.
Yet when he embraced me, his shirt was damp with perspiration.
What could ‌‌‌have driven him to rush into the Study with such urgency?
The only variable that had emerged in the Mansion was ‌‌‌‌myself.
And only Alice knew this fact.
"M-madam... I... I can't breathe..."
Rebecca's grip tightened.
Alice thrashed desperately, trying to knock away her hands.
Now that I thought about it, it was strange that ‌‌‌‌I had never suspected Alice until now.
Rebecca's maids had been replaced on a cycle of roughly every half-year.
Whenever she seemed to grow attached to one, Zeppelin would dismiss them or send them elsewhere.
As if he would not permit ‌‌‌a single soul to stand by Rebecca's ‌‌‌side.
But Alice was different.
Alice had been my maid from the very ‌‌‌first day I arrived at the Count's House.
It would have been impossible unless she were Zeppelin's person.
My judgment had clouded for a moment because of the fact that she had sacrificed her life for me. ‌‌
Now I could not even discern what purpose that sacrifice had served.
Only when Alice's eyes began to roll back did Rebecca release her grip.
Rebecca gazed coldly down at Alice, who gasped and wheezed for breath.
* * *
"Flee."
Alice, trembling as she clutched her throat, stared at Rebecca with wide eyes.
A wave of betrayal crashed over me—I wanted to tear her ‌apart on ‌‌the spot.
Yet Rebecca could not bring herself to do it.
The days spent with Alice came rushing back, relentless and vivid.
Every happy memory I had at ‌‌‌the Count's House, Alice had been there beside me.
"Madam, ‌‌‌what... what do you mean...?" ‌‌‌
"You have already lost my trust, so you know well enough what Zeppelin will ‌‌‌do with you. I will give you one last chance. Tomorrow morning, I will tell Zeppelin to dismiss you. So flee before dawn breaks."
Alice stared ‌‌‌at Rebecca's face, colder than frost itself.
Though she had been at her side for so long, this was an expression Alice had never seen before.
'I've been found out.'
Alice clenched her fists.
She tallied the payment she had not yet ‌‌‌received from Zeppelin.
After a beating like this, he would usually give her a larger sum the next day.
But Rebecca's words held merit. She had seen many times what became of hunting dogs who ‌‌‌had outlived their ‌‌‌usefulness.
There was no need to be reckless for a few extra coins.
A stifled laugh escaped me.
Naive and foolish woman. Did she lack even the courage to seek vengeance ‌‌‌against a traitor?
She had never pleased me, not ‌‌‌once, not ever.
"You won't even ask my reasons?"
"Knowing your reasons changes nothing. Just run away ‌quickly."
"Rebecca, you've always been this way, haven't you?"
I gazed silently at Alice's lips.
Each word from her mouth pierced me like a dagger, ‌‌sharp and merciless.
Alice's eyes blazed with madness as she spoke toward me.
"You have everything yet don't know how to enjoy it. Do you think I'm happy to have poor parents? Your family was nothing, wasn't it? You should be grateful that the Count took you in and be content with that."
"Alice, are you saying this even after seeing what I've endured?"
I wanted to cover my ears.
I was terrified to face ‌the words pouring from Alice's mouth—the last person I thought was on my side.
Alice ‌‌‌‌wiped away ‌‌the blood and rose to her feet, then screamed as if in desperation.
"Endured? What ‌‌exactly are you so dissatisfied about? He adores you. He gives you so many jewels and dresses you beautifully. Do you know how many times a day I wish I were you? That's why you even lose to a concubine."
"Alice. Choose your words carefully. I could kill you right now."
"Try it! You can't. You're always the naive and virtuous Countess. Drop that hypocrisy already——"
Clang!
The door burst open and a maid brought a ‌‌washbasin down directly onto Alice's head.
It was the same maid who had been with Zeppelin just moments before.
With a sharp metallic ring, Alice collapsed on ‌‌‌the spot.
The maid ‌‌bowed respectfully ‌‌to me without any change in expression.
"Rebecca, your bath is prepared."
I stared at the maid who had appeared so suddenly, my eyes wide.
The maid grabbed Alice by the hair.
"I shall dispose of this vermin."
With her other hand holding the dented washbasin, she dragged Alice out of the room.
The door closed quietly.
I collapsed to the floor as if my legs had given way.
* * *
"I gave her a chance...."
That maid was certainly one of Zeppelin's people.
Given the commotion, it would have been strange if he hadn't noticed.
What would become of Alice now?
Terrible imaginings flooded my mind, and at the same time, a hollow laugh escaped me.
I found myself ridiculous for worrying about Alice even in this situation.
I turned over Alice's words in my mind, and tears I had been holding ‌‌back streamed down my face.
'Now I'm completely alone.'
I wept like a beast.
I ‌‌‌‌hadn't failed to anticipate this. Yet knowing pain was coming did not make it hurt any less.
The weight of knowing she had no allies left in this place pressed down upon me relentlessly.
Rebecca drew my knees to my chest.
The loneliness was suffocating. The tears would not cease.
I felt as though I had returned to those days trapped in a cage, dependent and powerless, subsisting on the scraps Zeppelin deigned to provide.
How long had I remained in that state?
The maidservant who had spoken of the bathwater being ready never returned.
And Rebecca wept no longer.
Even the moonlight was obscured by clouds. In the darkness that filled the chamber, Rebecca's eyes—deep as the abyss—blinked quietly.
I soothed my own shoulders as one might comfort a newborn child.
"Hush now... cease your tears and grow strong..."
Rebecca lifted my head. Rising from where I sat, I took up the vase holding the ‌rapeseed flowers.
The golden blossoms gleamed with the same luminous brilliance as the light that had burned in Julian's eyes when he ‌‌gazed upon me.
Rebecca placed the vase upon the windowsill.
In that moment, the clouds parted. The full ‌‌moon shone brilliantly through.
Moonlight descended upon every corner of Rebecca's being.
Then something that had been dormant within me began to awaken.
Rebecca spoke in a voice that did not waver.
"I will grow strong. Rebecca, you will grow strong. You will become unbreakable, and you will shatter stone itself."
The cold moonlight stung my eyes. Yet the fact that I held nothing ‌‌‌in my hands brought me strange comfort.
I had nothing left to lose.
And that meant I was free to do anything.
* * *
Kanna, who had been dragging Alice by the hair, stopped before the stairs.
With a sharp click of her tongue, she hoisted Alice onto her shoulder and descended the steps.
'So this is how you have been treated all this time.'
Each step felt heavy. My vision blurred before me.
'Are you nothing but a errand girl who will do anything ‌‌‌for money?'
When Zeppelin's messenger had arrived, Kanna had wanted to leap with joy.
All her efforts had not been in vain.
The sum Zeppelin had promised Kanna ‌was the largest ‌‌‌amount she had ever handled.
Yet even if he had offered far less, Kanna would have accepted the task gladly.
Entering this place was the wish she had carried in her heart all her life.
"You! What are you doing! Let go! Release me! Rebecca! Please save ‌‌‌‌me!"
Alice, having just regained consciousness, screamed and thrashed about.
Kanna paid her no mind, only tightening her grip further.
Alice shrieked under the crushing force of Kanna's grip.
"Do not speak that name with your filthy mouth."
"What?"
Alice stared down at Kanna in bewilderment.
Kanna passed through the Garden ‌‌and stood before the Hall of Light. The knights guarding the entrance opened the doors for her.
"The Count awaits your presence."
In the center of the Hall of ‌‌‌‌‌Light stood a statue of the goddess Defria, her eyes bound with ‌‌silk cloth, radiating an imposing presence.
The goddess statue held a massive sixteen-sided die in both hands.
The statue's gaze was directed toward empty space, as if indifferent to whatever transpired beneath her feet.
Upon seeing the colossal statue, Alice's face drained ‌‌of all color. She knew all too well what awaited her in this ‌‌place.
Kanna hurled Alice onto the cold marble floor.
Alice grasped at Kanna's feet, pleading desperately.
"I'm sorry! Please, don't take me underground. What do you want? I'll give you anything. ‌‌Just please...."
"Enough of your noise. Be silent."
Zeppelin's ‌‌low voice emerged from the darkness.
Kanna glanced at him, then struck the back of Alice's neck ‌‌‌‌with brutal force.
Terror flashed in Alice's eyes as consciousness began to slip away.
Watching Alice collapse, Zeppelin smiled with satisfaction.
"That's why you don't do things you weren't told to do. Your name is Kanna, correct?" ‌‌
"Yes."
"You're more useful than I expected. If you do your work well from now on, I'll give you everything you desire. However, you understand what happens if you overstep your bounds, don't you?"
"Yes."
"I appreciate your lack of unnecessary chatter as well. It seems Octavio found ‌‌‌‌me a decent dog this time. Good. From tomorrow onward, you'll become Rebecca's maid in Alice's place. You'll need to report everything to me—her feelings, her gestures, her words, her every glance."
Kanna bowed her head.
Zeppelin clapped his hands twice, and a burly man lifted Alice into his arms.
Kanna watched Zeppelin's retreating figure descend into the underground with ‌‌‌sharp, piercing eyes.
* * *
Because the day was overcast, I woke somewhat later than usual. The morning was as gloomy as my mood.
"You're awake. I am Kanna, and I shall be serving you from today onward."
I examined Kanna carefully. She was the maid who ‌‌‌had been striking Alice's ‌‌head last night.
How swift. A replacement for Alice had been found this quickly.
Black hair and brown eyes.
Kanna was an unremarkable woman, distinguished only by a small mole on ‌‌‌‌the bridge of her nose.
I searched my memory.
But among the maids who had passed through my service, there was no name called Kanna.
'The future has changed again.'
I accepted Kanna's service in silence. Her technique was flawless.
'Alice had so many shortcomings.'
As I recalled the past, my vision grew hazy.
'What became of Alice? Is she dead? She must be dead. Did this girl Kanna tell him that I had seen through Alice's identity? That would be troublesome....'
Worries piled upon worries.
I had yet to receive any response from the Duke of Johannes. I had told him I would wait a few days, but the anxiety was ‌unavoidable.
I clenched ‌my fists habitually.
Kanna, who had been watching me quietly, opened her mouth.
"Alice is dead."
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book Publication

January 12, 2022
Author

Gin Bam Ha Neul
Publisher

Desert Fox
Published by

Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
Submission Inquiry

naver.me/54VzzLSn
Blog

blog.naver.com/wj_fennecfox
Twitter

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