Chapter 54
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55. It seemed a shame to let him leave just like this. 'A parting gift, you bastard.' Rebecca raised the hand holding the die and hurled it at Zeppelin with all her strength. The die struck him squarely on the back of his head. Crack! A dull thud echoed through the air—loud enough that a bump would surely form.
"Ow! Who the hell—" Zeppelin clutched the back of his head and glared suspiciously in all directions. He turned to look at Rebecca, wondering if she'd thrown it, but she had already drifted beyond his line of sight with a graceful gait. * * * 'It's not enough to satisfy me, but it was quite cathartic.' I was indulging in a pleased smile when someone called out to me.
"Rebecca."
Pope Deslatino approached with a melancholy smile. Upon seeing him, Rebecca quickly lowered her head in greeting.
"Your Holiness."
"I hear you've been divorced. My congratulations."
"Is that something to congratulate?"
Rebecca raised her head and replied in a cold voice. Deslatino hesitated at her response.
"Isn't that why you divorced—to become a saint?"
He was flustered. When he first heard that Rebecca suffered from infertility, he had cheered aloud. Rebecca was a woman any man would naturally covet. Had the Earl of Devonshire not claimed her so quickly, he would have made her his wife—a regret he harbored still. If such a woman were to become a saint, she would fall into his grasp as surely as if she were already his. Deslatino's eyes gleamed with avarice as he raked over her form. Even fully clothed, her graceful bearing could not be concealed. 'This filthy creature...' Barely free from marriage and already the flies were swarming. Rebecca found the absurdity of it laughable.
"I made it clear through the Priest that I have no intention of becoming a saint."
"But surely that was only said to remain the Countess of Devonshire?"
"No. Unfortunately, I have no desire to become a saint."
"Think about it! As a divorced woman, your choices are limited. Even if you remarry, you'll only find mediocre matches. And I hear your family circumstances are rather... dire."
"You seem to have much leisure time, Pope Deslatino."
"I beg your pardon?"
"To spare such precious moments for a mere divorcée."
"Ah, but if I could bring a saint with such exceptional holy power to the Temple, I would gladly give my time whenever you ask."
Rebecca frowned as she watched Deslatino grinning in that infuriating way. Now I understood why Julian always spoke of him with such disgust. He clearly intended to persist until she capitulated.
Rebecca approached Deslatino and leaned close to his ear, whispering softly. A sudden wave of foul stench caught him off guard, making him recoil visibly.
"I can see precisely what filthy imaginings occupy your mind as you gaze upon my body. I suggest you abandon such sordid thoughts and strive instead to become a faithful servant of the divine."
Rebecca deliberately pressed her heel down hard upon his foot, then covered her mouth with her hand.
"Oh dear. How clumsy of me."
"Y-you...!"
Deslatino's face flushed crimson as he opened his mouth to shout, but the approaching worshippers who recognized him forced him to swallow his rage. Rebecca clicked her tongue once and walked past him with unhurried grace. 'So this is the goddess of fortune? All I see is misery.' Rebecca observed the endless stream of people pouring into the Temple. Every one of them muttered to themselves with bloodshot eyes.
"Just once more... if fortune favors me this one last time, I can turn it all around."
Rebecca raised her hands to cover her ears. The endless clatter of dice threatened to consume her own mind with madness. Finally escaping the Temple, Rebecca drew in ragged breaths. Before her stretched a long flight of stairs. Rebecca stared blankly at the pristine stone steps. Only then did I realize I hadn't considered how to return home. I had no money whatsoever to summon a Carriage. Beyond that, my legs simply wouldn't move. 'Freedom...' Now I could go anywhere. I could venture wherever my feet carried me without orchestrating some desperate, heart-pounding escape. Yet Rebecca remained standing before the Temple, blinking endlessly into the void. Had he truly abandoned me? Did I really never have to return to that prison-like place again? It felt hollow. If liberation had been this simple, I should have attempted it in my previous life. Rebecca let out a laugh tinged with emptiness. They say a dog chained its entire life cannot escape even when the leash is severed. My shackles had been loosened, yet I remained rooted to this spot, unable to take a single step forward. Without realizing it, I hesitated. Could I truly move ahead without anyone's permission? Was I allowed to abandon this sordid journey? Though this was only the beginning, Rebecca already felt exhausted.
"Becky!"
Suddenly, someone called to her with affection.
"Sister!"
"Rebecca! My daughter!"
Below, her family stood waiting. Theo and Danae, along with her twin sisters, were all waiting for Rebecca. The sanctuary she could only glimpse from afar in her previous life—the place she could never touch—now opened its arms wide to her. Danae rushed forward and embraced her. Soon Theo, Livia, and Helena wrapped their arms around Rebecca. A suffocating embrace filled with love followed. Within the warmth of her family's arms, all the emotions I had suppressed and buried, sealed away so carefully, now swirled wildly within me.
"Sob..."
Theo was the first to break down in tears. Then Danae followed, and soon Livia and Helena began to cry as well. 'This is serious.' Now I could no longer hold back my emotions. I had neither the strength nor the need to anymore. Rebecca surrendered herself entirely to the tempest erupting from deep within. She let everything go, honestly and completely. Tears flowed from her eyes like an endless spring. Passersby cast curious glances at House of Obelia, but such stares meant nothing to this family. Danae wiped away her tears and spoke.
"Becky, let's go home now. Our home."
Even inside the carriage, the family kept grasping at some part of Rebecca's body or clothing, terrified she might suddenly disappear. Rebecca offered them a faint smile.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"But sister..."
Rebecca gently stroked Helena's head, which she held tightly to her arm. And with eyes still swollen and wet with tears, she savored the words "our home" in her mouth for a long time, like candy. It was sweet. * * * 【BREAKING NEWS: Earl of Devonshire and Countess Decide on Divorce】 Inside the smoothly moving carriage, Julian had been staring motionlessly at the newspaper for several minutes. It was a third-rate gossip rag he would normally ignore, but he couldn't overlook it when he spotted Rebecca's image plastered across the front page. Though her face was obscured by a black veil, making her unrecognizable, the article's author had identified the figure in the photograph as Rebecca. The wretched gossip journalist must have been tailing Rebecca from the Count's Mansion. The article's content was hardly worth reading—it was nothing but baseless speculation. The divorce hadn't even been finalized yet, but the article was already reporting it as if it were a done deal. Julian skimmed through the content and then gazed at Rebecca in the photograph. At her, frozen in place with both fists clenched tightly.
"Sigh..."
Julian folded the newspaper and exhaled a long breath. His lips curved upward slightly. He had never empathized with anyone's feelings before, yet from this single small photograph, he could feel Rebecca's emotions entirely. It felt filthy. Things had gone exactly as I wanted, yet I knew all too well that sickening, filthy sensation that accompanied it. I had wished for my father's death my entire life, but when he actually died, the feeling was... indescribable. When I learned he had died caressing the belly of his third wife—the one who bore Lily—the sensation was unbearable. Seeing him lying in his coffin with that satisfied expression, as though he had fulfilled his role in perpetuating the bloodline, left me with an unspeakable filth that clung to my very soul. And when I realized I was now bound inescapably to follow in my father's footsteps, Rebecca stood before me wearing that same expression I had worn then. 'Why must you always...' Make me turn back to face it? Why must you dig through the past, force me to retrace it, and ultimately make me suffer like this? Yet Julian could not understand why he could not tear his gaze away from her. It hadn't been long since they'd properly spoken to each other. Moreover, the number of times they'd met face to face could be counted on one hand. Rebecca and Julian had communicated mostly through letters—they were like those pen friends that had become fashionable of late. And yet, whenever he saw her, his heart felt strangely at ease. It was joyful and thrilling, like meeting an old friend. Today was no different. Even though it was obvious that Rebecca wouldn't speak to him, just as she hadn't for the past few days, Julian boarded the carriage as though bewitched. Before long, a vast meadow came into view. Julian opened the window. A cool breeze, heavy with the scent of grass from the meadow, tickled his hair. The rustling of grass in the wind sounded like a sweet melody, and he closed his eyes gently. Now he understood why Helena and Livia called the new House of Obelia estate the "Song of the Meadow."
The day before Rebecca had headed toward the Temple with Zeppelin, House of Obelia had relocated to the Duchy of Johannes. Though situated in a somewhat remote location, it was a modest estate with a view of verdant meadows stretching below. The enterprises Rebecca had instructed Tanisha to undertake had flourished splendidly. Thanks to this, Danae had earned enough profit not only to repay her debt to Zeppelin but to have a surplus besides. However, property in the Duchy of Johannes cost several times more than in Irencia. They could only afford a house significantly smaller in scale than their former estate in Irencia. Julian had proposed acquiring a finer mansion for them, but Danae had firmly refused. 'I do not wish to repeat the same mistake twice.' A flicker of regret had crossed Danae's face as she spoke those words. Julian had respected her wishes and refrained from pressing the matter further. It was humble, yet warm—the feeling that came to mind first whenever he thought of Rebecca's family. The Runaway Countess Returns E-book Publication
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