Chapter 146
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147.
Deslatino's silhouette wavered behind the curtain.
Zeppelin, who had been watching him raise his head with dignity, opened his mouth.
"However, we cannot overlook the matter of laying hands upon the Pope's wife."
"That may be true, but... are you certain evidence exists?"
"Even if evidence exists, we cannot easily move against him. Should this matter come to light, the Pope himself could face scrutiny. Surely that is not what you desire."
"Hmm, hmm..."
Though he did not openly affirm it, his troubled groan escaped from behind the curtain.
Zeppelin spoke with a meaningful smile.
"Do not worry. I have a favorable stratagem."
"A favorable stratagem, you say."
"It is a scheme that will not greatly damage the Duke of Johannes's reputation, yet will certainly place him in considerable difficulty."
"Do not delay. Speak quickly. I am not a man of leisure."
At Deslatino's urging, Zeppelin was certain he had won him over halfway.
"We seize the Alchemy Tower from his hands."
"The Alchemy Tower...?"
"Among what he possesses, the only independent powers not subject to the Church's influence are his shadow army and the Alchemy Tower. The Alchemy Tower in particular provides the Duke with tremendous wealth."
"As the Count says, the Alchemy Tower is the Duke of Johannes's personal property. How could we possibly seize it."
"The method is..."
Bates tapped Zeppelin's shoulder as he was about to continue.
Zeppelin turned his head and whispered to him in an irritated tone.
"What is it?"
"Pardon me for a moment..."
Having spoken, Bates reached toward the vase placed in the center of the table.
From among the small white pebbles in the vase, he swiftly plucked one stone that was unusually smooth.
"My apologies. I thought I saw an insect. Please, continue."
Zeppelin regarded him with puzzlement at the sudden interruption, then resumed speaking.
Deslatino nodded with great interest in his proposal.
As the conversation flowed in the direction Zeppelin desired, Bates silently listened while gripping the stone in his hand with force.
* * *
'An object... then... the Duke as well...'
Julian, listening intently to the conversation from the adjacent room, furrowed his brow.
Static mixed with interference, as if something were blocking the sound.
It seemed someone had discovered the stone marker.
'But why didn't they destroy it?'
Regardless of the reason, information was what mattered now.
Julian sprang from his seat and sat up straight. Then, concentrating with all his might, he began to deduce from the few words he could hear.
As he was earnestly turning over the matter in his mind, a document suddenly thrust itself before his eyes.
"You must sign now."
The Guard, his patience apparently exhausted, held out a pen and document to him.
"Just a moment...."
Julian waved his hand dismissively and refocused on the faint murmuring sound that continued to reach his ears.
"You must sign this."
The Guard, whose patience had finally snapped, seized Julian's hand.
Just as he was about to forcibly place a pen in Julian's grip, Julian paused briefly, holding his breath.
"What is this nonsense?"
Julian stared intently at the Guard's muscular forearm wrapped around his own hand.
Then he slowly shifted his gaze toward the Guard's rigid, frozen face.
The moment their eyes met, goosebumps erupted down the Guard's spine.
His pupils dilated like a beast discovering a hyena stepping upon its prey.
The Guard felt as though Julian's pitch-black eyes might swallow him whole.
The Guard instinctively sensed the threat and tried to retreat, but found himself unable to move.
It was as if something beneath the ground had seized his feet—he could not lift them at all.
Never having experienced fear in his life, the Guard was considerably bewildered by the primal response his body was exhibiting.
Julian's pupils began to gradually take on a golden hue.
At the sight of what appeared to be a solar eclipse occurring within his eyes, the Guard blinked rapidly.
"Come now! S-sign this and let's head home already!"
If Julian's eye color changed, all their efforts would be wasted.
Croa clapped her hands and grabbed the Guard's back, turning him toward herself.
Another Guard, who had been blankly observing the situation due to Croa's fuss, also looked toward her.
Thanks to this, no one noticed Julian's eyes, now fully tinted in vivid gold.
'Damn it. I didn't manage to hear it properly after all.'
Julian glared at the back of the Guard's head as Croa signed the document.
While he had been struggling, the conversation between the Pope and Zeppelin had already ended.
"You... need to sign here as well...."
The Guard approached hesitantly.
Julian narrowed his eyes sharply for a moment, then sighed and quietly accepted the document.
"Is that all?"
He scrawled a forged signature and produced a falsified identification card.
The Guard verified the signature and the name on the identification card, then let the two of them pass.
"Phew.... I thought my heart would burst from the tension. Did you learn anything?"
As they exited the Casino, Croa's legs trembled from the release of tension, and she bent forward with her hands on her quivering knees.
"Not entirely nothing, but hardly satisfactory."
"What did those people say?"
"They said they would attack the Alchemy Tower. Moreover, they were overheard having smuggled out Barinika."
"What?! That's a serious problem!"
"Perhaps. We'll have to see whose problem it truly is."
Julian smiled wickedly and climbed into the carriage that had just arrived.
Croa grumbled that he wasn't going to explain anything and followed him inside.
The moment Julian sat down, he roughly peeled off his false mustache and twisted his neck from side to side.
"I'm... rather exhausted."
Listening to the voices of disagreeable people in an unpleasant place had taken considerable mental toll.
I longed to return home as quickly as possible.
It seemed as though all my fatigue would melt away like snow if Rebecca simply spoke a gentle word inviting me to come.
Sharing an evening meal with her, reading fairy tales to Lily together, then retiring to bed...
As I recalled the long night ahead, my loosely curved spine suddenly stiffened.
'What filthy imaginings...'
Guilt washed over me once more.
I closed my eyes tightly and summoned images of the people of House of Obelia.
She was someone who had grown up in a place as beautiful as a flower garden, showered with love.
No matter what tempests she had weathered, her essence would remain unchanged.
Every time Julian touched her, he imagined her becoming tainted.
It was a horrifying fantasy—her noble, pristine self like morning dew becoming soiled by him, murky and unclean like muddy water.
Even expressing the bare minimum of desire felt this way.
But I could not even fathom how much I would regret it once I held her as much as I desired.
I had endured this my entire life. There was no reason I could not endure it now.
Julian shackled his own limbs—the parts of himself that yearned to rush toward Rebecca.
Yet even as he did, he desperately prayed the carriage would arrive at her location soon.
* * *
"Beki, does it hurt a lot?"
Lily asked as she watched the Doctor firmly compress the bandage around Rebecca's arm.
Rebecca gently caressed Lily's downturned face.
"It's just muscle strain. The Doctor says it will heal with a few days of rest, so don't worry too much."
"You will get better, right? You're not going to die, are you?"
As Lily's eyes wavered with anxiety, Rebecca's expression dimmed for a moment.
'Rebecca isn't a dream, is she? She's a real person, right? Not some fairy who suddenly disappears?'
Even while playing happily together, Lily would occasionally pinch Rebecca's cheek to verify her existence, as if confirming she was real.
It seemed Lily believed that Rebecca was the source of the sudden fortune that had come to her.
While not entirely wrong, it was heartbreaking that Lily believed she would return to her original life if Rebecca disappeared.
Lily had not yet fully accepted Julian's sudden change in attitude.
Thanks to her naturally cheerful disposition, Lily usually treated Julian with ease.
But whenever he showed even the slightest sign of displeasure, she would startle and stammer.
At such moments, Rebecca wanted to strike Julian's back a million times over.
'I can't even do that with this arm.'
My body was truly frail and useless. To fall apart like this from just a few swings of a hammer.
Fortunately, it was not a serious injury, but I would be unable to train while my body recovered.
Moreover, since I had injured my right arm, I would not be able to sign documents properly for some time.
The thought that I had become a useless burden made my chest feel heavy.
'Perhaps I should have simply endured it.'
Regret washed over me briefly, but I knew that if I could go back, I would do the same thing.
Zeppelin was like a leech.
No matter how many times I tore him away, the moment he sensed even the slightest opening, he would latch on and drain the life from me.
Had I returned his gift entirely, he might have done something far worse the next time.
In comparison, losing an arm might have been a cheap price to pay.
As I was consoling myself that I had done the right thing, the bedroom door suddenly burst open.
"Rebecca!"
Julian rushed in with fierce momentum, breathing heavily, but the moment he saw my condition, he froze in place.
My arm was wrapped in bandages and I was applying a cold compress, my face appearing gaunt.
"Welcome."
I offered him a bright smile, but Julian's face twisted in anguish.
"Duke! There were circumstances that justified this...."
Belma, who had hurried after him, explained the full story to Julian.
The servants who had rushed over upon hearing that Rebecca was injured also came to her defense.
But to his ears, it was nothing but a dull roar.
'Again....'
Julian staggered as if sinking beneath the earth.
She had harmed herself again.
All the times Rebecca had thrown herself away began to cruelly claw through Julian's mind.
'Why.... Why do you....'
How could she so carelessly discard the very thing he wanted to protect with everything he had?
Julian felt ridiculous for having suffered all this time trying to protect her.
"It's not a serious injury, so don't worry."
Rebecca said, looking up at Julian's ashen face with concern.
"You...!"
Julian was about to shout, but he caught sight of Lily watching anxiously between him and Rebecca, and he closed his mouth.
She was a child who was overly sensitive to his every gesture and movement.
If he were to quarrel with Rebecca here, Lily's heart, which he had only just managed to open, might close shut again.
The Runaway Countess Returns
E-book publication.
January 12, 2022
Author.
Ginbamhaneul
Publisher.
Desertfox
Published by.
Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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