Chapter 83
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84. Rebecca stared blankly at the stone staircase ascending above her. Despite spending decades—across both this life and my previous one—within the Count's Mansion, I had never laid eyes on this passage before.
"How many of these places exist?"
Grace extended a bundle of keys toward me.
"As many as there are keys in this collection. Since ancient times, great estates have maintained secret passages as precautions against rebellion and invasion."
Rebecca nodded in acknowledgment. Now I understood why she possessed far more keys than the number of rooms in the estate seemed to warrant. They were all keys to these hidden passages. Grace glanced around before speaking.
"I must emphasize again—you cannot use this passage when departing. Only myself, the Count, and Octavio know of its existence."
"Rest assured. I am not so thoughtless. If you were discovered, I would face equal peril."
"Then my task is complete."
"Wait, just a moment."
Rebecca called out to Grace, who had turned to leave with visible urgency. Grace asked, her expression troubled.
"What is it?"
"What lies beneath the Hall of Light?"
Grace flinched before answering.
"A torture chamber. Surely you are aware of that much, Rebecca."
"No, not that—I know there is another door down there."
Grace hesitated briefly, then shook her head.
"I do not know."
"You expect me to believe you know nothing?"
"Believe as you wish, but I truly do not know. Since the Hall of Light was constructed, only Octavio and the Count have entered that place in secret. That is all I can tell you."
Rebecca met Grace's gaze directly. She did not appear to be lying.
"Then there is nothing to be done. Is there anything at all that strikes you as suspicious?"
Grace's eyes wavered for an instant. She seemed to wrestle with whether she should reveal this to Rebecca. Yet the vision from the barn kept flickering through her mind—the image of herself as the true master of the estate. Her resolve hardened, and Grace finally spoke.
"I have witnessed large quantities of daily necessities being smuggled in and out of that place."
"Daily necessities?"
"Yes. Beyond that, I truly know nothing."
Rebecca's expression grew rigid. What scheme was Zeppelin orchestrating? Terrible possibilities flooded my mind. But I quickly shook my head. For now, I needed to focus on the task before me. As Rebecca stepped into the stairwell, she heard the door lock behind her. Soon came the sound of vines descending. Rebecca rushed up the stairs. When she pushed open the door above, a familiar landscape came into view. Zeppelin's meticulously organized Study welcomed her in hushed silence.
"Let me see."
Rebecca withdrew two mana stones from her bosom and struck them together. Brilliant light began seeping from the mana stones. These were luminous mana stones—so prohibitively expensive that ordinary people would never even hold one in their hands. Julian had tossed them to her as casually as discarding pebbles found along the road, yet even now, thinking of their value made her skin crawl. Rebecca began carefully searching through the Study. She even thoroughly emptied drawers she had examined before. Finding nothing of consequence, she pressed her hand to her forehead. 'Is there truly nothing here?' Rebecca gazed at the bookshelves with a deflated expression, their volumes arranged with meticulous precision by color and size. As she studied the unnervingly orderly shelves, her gaze froze upon a single volume. Unlike the other books, maintained in near-pristine condition, this one bore distinctly worn edges.
"Of course. It wouldn't be strange if there were another secret passage."
Rebecca grasped the book with somewhat hesitant fingers and pulled. Nothing happened. Rebecca replaced the book with a disappointed expression. Then, in that very moment, she felt a subtle shift from the bookcase. When she grasped the bookcase from which the sound had emanated, it swung open smoothly. Behind where the bookcase had stood hung a large painting, and to its left sat a safe. Rebecca hurriedly examined the safe. Fortunately, it opened not with a key but with a specific numerical combination. She had heard that safes existed which would lock permanently if the combination were entered incorrectly too many times. Or they might sound an alarm or alert the Hounds. Rebecca carefully considered what numbers Zeppelin might choose. Though predictable, she first tried his birthday on the safe's dial. She shook the safe vigorously, but it wouldn't budge. 'Then perhaps....' Rebecca entered a combination of her own birthday and their anniversary. Nervous perspiration kept forming on her palms, forcing her to reset the dial several times. When she turned the final number, a heavy click sounded, and the safe door slid open smoothly. 'This madman....' Zeppelin's mind seemed entirely consumed by thoughts of Rebecca. A sudden chill ran through her, and Rebecca rubbed her arms while peering into the safe. The safe contained no rare jewels—only stacks of documents crammed inside. Rebecca withdrew several documents and unfolded them.
"Ledgers...?"
Each document she pulled out was densely filled with records of income and expenditure. Something felt wrong. While ledgers were certainly important documents, they hardly warranted storage in such a secretive safe. As Rebecca scanned the ledgers, her hand froze upon a particular name. She tilted her head in confusion, then urgently retrieved the ledger she had been examining.
"What is this?"
Rose of Light Every month, income arrived under a name whose identity remained unknown. Moreover, it was an astronomical sum exceeding twenty percent of the entire revenue of House of Devon. While the House of Devon earned tremendous wealth through business ventures, Zeppelin spent equally lavishly on luxury goods and art collections. When the costs of maintaining the Hounds were factored in, the estate operated with barely enough to break even. Without the income from the Rose of Light, bankruptcy would have been inevitable. Rebecca delved deeper into the ledgers and uncovered another suspicious entry. It was a cryptic record labeled "Prison Island" and "Kingdom."
Prison Island was undoubtedly where the Hounds held their hostages. This confirmed that the location where they were imprisoned was indeed an island. But what "Kingdom" could possibly mean remained a complete mystery. Considerable sums were being funneled there, yet the details were impossible to discern.
"But why is it so cold here?" The surrounding air hung heavy and frigid. The chill I had felt earlier seemed to stem from more than mere discomfort. Rebecca's gaze shifted toward the painting as she searched for the source of the cold draft. When she pressed her ear against the canvas, she heard the faint sound of wind flowing from within. Rebecca pulled away from the painting and rose slowly from her seat. She stepped back and examined the painting more carefully. Now she could see it was perfectly sized to conceal a passage large enough for a single person to pass through. The painting within its gilded frame depicted a ballroom in some grand palace. A plush red carpet stretched down the center, and at its head stood a dais. Upon the dais sat a king and queen in enormous golden chairs, their faces radiating benevolent smiles, while a young princess rested in the queen's embrace. All three possessed the fair hair and blue eyes of a strikingly beautiful family. The faces of those lined along either side of the red carpet were equally lovely. They all gazed upon the royal family with expressions of admiration. It was merely an ordinary decorative painting, wishing for the family's well-being—nothing remarkable. Could the painting truly hold no significance? Lost in thought, Rebecca approached the painting slowly.
"...So it is a door leading somewhere after all."
A small keyhole became visible on the wall beside the painting. Rebecca peered into the keyhole, then on impulse, pushed against the painting. The painting remained immobile, as if permanently fixed to the wall. Rebecca's brow furrowed.
"What exactly are you hiding, Zeppelin Devonshire?" * * * When Zeppelin turned around, he could not believe his own eyes. There should have been four portraits bearing the dignified visage of the Emperor. Yet before him hung a painting that desecrated the Temple itself. Within the canvas, a completely naked High Priest embraced a beautiful Priest, engaging in shameless indulgence. The Priest extorted money from impoverished tenant farmers, while the gambler cradling the statue of Defria was selling his own children to the Temple. Most damningly, the fanatic rolling dice with eyes bloodshot was unmistakably a portrait of someone specific. 'Me!' Zeppelin screamed silently within. A memory suddenly flooded into his mind. 'Would you not wish to become the protagonist of a masterpiece for the ages?' "Barinika...! This bastard deceived me."
He had promised to paint it so it bore no resemblance to himself. Yet the man in the painting was virtually indistinguishable from Zeppelin's own portrait. Seeing his own expression twisted by madness, Zeppelin clenched his fists so hard the blood drained from his knuckles. What infuriated him more was that the work on display was not even genuine. The painting's content matched what he had witnessed, but Zeppelin recognized at once that it was a counterfeit. Barinika would never employ such crude brushwork. 'Zahidra. You dare mock me with this cheap forgery?'
Blood vessels burst across his eyes. Zeppelin trembled with his fists clenched, then drew a deep breath. He needed to protest his innocence first. He had to issue orders to arrest the suspicious individuals behind this scheme before anyone else could. Only then would he have an excuse to escape later. Zeppelin spun around urgently and opened his mouth wide.
"This is a frame-up...!"
But the Emperor's roar came faster.
"Arrest the Count at once! How dare he present such a filthy, blasphemous painting!"
Zahidra brought his ruby-encrusted golden staff down violently against the floor as he spoke.
"However, Your Majesty, we currently lack sufficient personnel to arrest the Count immediately. Would it not be prudent to issue a confinement order instead? By tomorrow morning, the Knights of God will render judgment regardless."
A Brown-haired Youth Zeppelin had never seen before interjected to Zahidra. 'It would be troublesome if the Knights arrive before we escape safely.' The Countess who had fled returned. E-book publication.
January 12, 2022 Author.
Long night sky Publisher.
Desert fox Published by.
Woongjin Thinkbig Co., Ltd. Submission Received.
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