Chapter 101
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102.
After one final inspection of the dress, Sandra gazed at Rebecca with an expression of profound emotion.
"It's so perfect I'm at a loss for words. How did you turn out exactly as I imagined...."
Sandra brought both hands to her mouth, her eyes glistening with tears.
Rebecca, adorned in the wedding dress I had created, was a living masterpiece.
In this moment, I felt less like an ordinary merchant and more like an artist.
"Not at all. It's all thanks to your exceptional talent, Sandra."
Rebecca modestly deflected the praise directed toward her.
Yet it was no mere courtesy. Sandra's wedding dresses possessed such enchanting beauty that anyone who wore them would appear divine.
"Then it's time for this mother to place the tiara upon your head."
Rebecca gazed quietly at the tiara held in Danae's hands—a family heirloom passed down through generations.
On the wedding day, it was an ancient tradition of the Empire for a mother to crown her daughter's head with a tiara bearing the family's history.
It was a meaningful act of passing a mother's blessings and fortune to her daughter. Danae fingered the tiara she had borrowed from her family home.
The tiara from the Essil Viscounty, Danae's family home, was densely studded with diamonds the size of rice grains.
Though not ostentatiously ornate, the tiara overflowed with grace, seeming to reflect Danae's very essence.
"To think the day has come when I place this upon your head once more...."
Danae's complexion darkened with emotion.
She had placed this same tiara upon Rebecca's head on the day of her wedding to Zeppelin.
Then, instead of blessings, she had offered words tinged with concern.
As Rebecca bent her knees slightly, Danae smiled gently and placed the tiara upon her head.
Sandra quickly rushed over and secured the tiara with pins.
While she touched Rebecca's hair one final time, Danae gently grasped Rebecca's shoulders.
"Forget the past, and think only of your own happiness from now on."
Danae hesitated for a moment, unable to continue.
But soon, as if resolved, she opened her mouth.
"Don't concern yourself with the duties of a wife, the duties of a mother, or the duties of a Duchess. Make your own happiness your highest priority. You are worthy of that, my child. That is my only wish in this lifetime."
These were words she should have spoken.
Even on that first wedding day, no matter how worthless Zeppelin proved to be, she should have offered her daughter tender words as she embarked on a new beginning.
That deep regret had lingered, pricking Danae painfully whenever she thought of it.
Rebecca stared blankly at Danae's reddened nose.
She understood why Danae was speaking this way.
She must be regretting that day when she had hurled curses, telling Rebecca not to bear children.
Yet even regret-tinged blessings brought Rebecca nothing but joy.
Throughout the wedding preparations, memories of her wedding with Zeppelin kept surfacing.
That day when she had publicly declared herself the Countess of Devonshire kept persistently pulling at her heels.
Back then, she had been immersed in joy, never doubting that she would be happy.
Though the circumstances were entirely different now, a vague fear crept over Rebecca—what if this marriage ended the same way?
Yet Danae's warm blessing was tender enough to chase away all those fears.
Though it was a contractual marriage, a mother's blessing filled with sincerity became Rebecca's hope.
I had buried my sordid past within beautiful memories.
Rebecca quietly embraced Danae.
And with a voice thick with emotion, she spoke in halting tones.
"I... I will try my best to be happy."
Danae could not hold Rebecca tightly for fear of smudging the makeup she had carefully applied since dawn.
Instead, she gently patted Rebecca's back.
Sandra entered the view of Danae, whose chest was swelling with overwhelming emotion.
Sandra was barely holding back her tears, her fist pressed against her mouth.
If I were to cry here, Rebecca would cry too, Danae would cry, and the dress and makeup would be ruined—it was as clear as day that everything would become a complete mess.
So she had tried her best to suppress her emotions while preparing the bride.
Most of the time she succeeded, but today it was particularly difficult to hold back.
Sandra knew Rebecca's tragic life well.
Because she understood the meaning behind Danae's words precisely, she could not help but shed tears at a mother's blessing for her daughter's difficult future.
Sandra's face, desperately holding back tears, looked ridiculous. At that sight, Danae burst into laughter.
"Pfft! Ah... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh..."
Danae pressed her lips together and held back her laughter, opposite to Sandra. Thanks to that, Sandra's tears dried up instantly.
"Ah, no. Well then, shall we prepare to go out? You'll need to make your entrance soon."
Sandra lifted her head with a sniffle. The tears she had been forcibly holding back streamed down her cheeks.
At Sandra's appearance, a faint smile curved Rebecca's lips.
"Becky, it's time for you to go. Are you ready?"
Along with a brief knock, Theo's voice was heard.
"Come in."
At Danae's permission, Kanna opened the door wide.
Theo's eyes widened when he spotted Rebecca.
"Good heavens! She's my daughter, but she's truly beautiful. Becky, when did you grow up like this...?"
"Enough with the sentiments. Now go and escort your daughter."
Theo was the same man who had made a spectacle of himself at the last wedding, unable to stop crying.
Danae quickly threw a handkerchief at Theo's tearful face.
And with a stern expression, she warned him.
"If you feel like crying, you'd better cover your eyes with that handkerchief instead. If you make a fool of yourself like last time, I won't let it slide! Are you going to ruin Rebecca's day as her parent?"
"Y-yes. Rebecca, try not to look at me. If I see your eyes, I think my tears will burst forth."
Watching Theo deliberately turn his head away, Rebecca held back a smile.
"I understand, Father."
"Ah, Father? It feels like just yesterday you were calling me Papa..."
"Theo Obelia!"
Danae scolded Theo, whose eyes were beginning to sting again.
And she pushed his back, gesturing for Rebecca to come quickly.
Rebecca took a step forward, holding the heavy train of her dress in one hand and linking her other arm through Theo's.
Much had happened, but compared to what was to come, it was merely a prologue.
Rebecca's revenge was only just beginning.
Like a harbinger of the storm she would bring, Rebecca's footsteps echoed desolately through the corridors of the Labonne Salon.
* * *
"The invitation got wrinkled...."
"Ah. One of my household staff made a mistake. My apologies."
Zeppelin patted the shoulder of the staff member who stared in disbelief at the invitation, tattered like a rag.
Rather than heading straight to the Garden where the ceremony was to be held, he wandered about the Salon.
As he surveyed the Salon, his eyes grew progressively wider.
'It's more impressive than I expected. Who on earth is the designer?'
Though he hated to admit it, the Labonne Salon was an exquisite place. Zeppelin's aesthetic desires stirred restlessly within him.
'That's... isn't that Carinu's sculpture? When I said I'd buy it, she stubbornly refused, and then sold it to the Duke of Johannes?'
Upon discovering a marble sculpture of a youthful boy with a valiant expression aiming an arrow, Zeppelin ground his teeth.
But soon Zeppelin tore his gaze from the sculpture.
That wasn't the issue. I needed to find Rebecca quickly and rescue her from this hellish place.
Once I brought Rebecca to the Count's Mansion, I could cleanse her mind of the corruption inflicted by Julian and Octavio and restore it to its original purity.
I was confident of it.
Zeppelin drew a deep breath.
With a resolute expression, he stopped one of the staff members carrying a vase toward the reception hall.
"Excuse me, where is the bride's waiting room?"
"Pardon? Why do you ask?"
Zeppelin discreetly pulled out a gold coin and slipped it into the staff member's pocket.
With both hands bound by the large vase, the staff member couldn't resist and inadvertently accepted Zeppelin's bribe.
The staff member's brow immediately furrowed.
Zeppelin interpreted the staff member's displeasure as being about the amount, and produced a bundle of money from his pocket.
"If you guide me properly to my destination, I'll give you all of this."
Had this been an ordinary salon staff member, Zeppelin's method would likely have succeeded.
But this was the Labonne Salon, staffed entirely by people from Liberta.
Zeppelin, who had never set foot in the Orphanage that I sponsored, could not have recognized them.
But the staff members recognized Zeppelin perfectly.
They had all etched the face of the man who had tormented Rebecca for so long firmly into their memories.
The staff member let out a scoff and set the vase down on the floor. The brilliant roses contained within the antique vase trembled.
He called over another passing staff member and spoke.
"Roy. Tell that person that there's a lost Count here."
Roy, who looked Zeppelin up and down, departed with a grim expression as if he understood.
'Did I ever mention my title?'
Zeppelin tilted his head at the older staff member with a thick beard.
He crossed his thin arms and stood before the man.
"Please wait here a moment, Count. Someone will be here shortly to guide you."
Not long after, the guide he had mentioned arrived.
"Earl of Devonshire. I shall show you to your seat."
"It's been quite a while. Zeppelin Devonshire."
Two familiar voices reached him simultaneously.
Margaret, glaring at him with intensity, and Karim, grinning widely as though he'd discovered fascinating prey, walked toward him.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
* * *
"The ceremony will begin shortly. Please take your seats."
As the guests grew weary of waiting, the staff moved through the crowd, addressing each standing attendee individually.
"It's finally starting. I simply cannot bear the suspense—who could this bride possibly be?"
"They say it's the princess of the Canaria Kingdom."
"Then why keep it a secret at all! In any case, we need only sit and watch, which makes this all the more delightful."
Everyone gazed toward the aisle with faces alight with anticipation.
The Duchess Who Fled Has Returned
E-book Publication
January 12, 2022
Author
Ginnamilbamgil
Publisher
Desert Fox
Published by
Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
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