Chapter 34
Rebecca had watched the entire process of Margaret's salon, from its inception to its prosperity.
She was a more enthusiastic businesswoman and a more talented pâtissier than anyone else, and at the same time, a wonderful mother.
Even if she hadn't been indebted to her, Margaret was an indispensable talent for the business.
Rebecca, lost in old thoughts, looked at Margaret with heavy eyes.
Margaret seemed to have taken it in a different way, her lips trembling with shame.
"You... pity me."
"That's a misunderstanding..."
"You don't have to lie. I've heard people say how wonderful and Saintess-like you are until my ears are bleeding. But I don't need such paltry pity. I'll take care of my own future. I'm not pathetic enough to need your charity."
Margaret abruptly stood up as if she couldn't stand being in that place any longer. And she stretched her finger towards the door.
"Then, I'll assume we have nothing more to say, so please leave."
Rebecca was momentarily speechless at Margaret's fortress-like attitude, but soon lowered her head.
"I'm a little ashamed that you were thinking that way."
"Yes?"
Rebecca raised her face. Deep sadness was evident in her eyes.
"Margaret, I don't have the energy to pity anyone. My life is too much for me, lonely, and so hard to bear that I can't look back at others."
"......"
"I'm a thoroughly selfish person. The reason I came to you was because I judged you to be someone who would benefit me. There are no other intentions. And my actions to save the Poorhouse family are no different."
The first time Rebecca reached out to help someone, it was a very impulsive act.
As the Devonshire Countess, all Rebecca could do was sit quietly in the Count's Residence.
No one needed her, and no one gave her anything to do.
Rebecca sat in the lavish room and silently watched the many dreams she had dreamed as a child crumble.
Then one day, on her way to have a dress made, she gave alms to a young beggar.
It was a coincidence that she happened to have money in her pocket and that he was begging near the dress shop.
'Thank you! You are my savior!'
Rebecca felt relieved for a moment at that one word. She felt a sense of relief.
And a strange sense of elation filled her.
Someone needs me. They are happy with my help. There is something I can do.
That was the beginning.
After that, whenever she felt depressed, Rebecca began to reach out to someone as if she were addicted.
The pleasure of a single word of thanks was indescribable.
She knew her hypocrisy well. That's why she never thought she was good.
The favors she gave them were, after all, actions to satisfy her desires. It was, after all, a unilateral action for herself only.
So the word pity did not suit her selfish actions.
She was neither a Saintess nor a villain.
She was just a greedy human being.
"So please, take my hand. Margaret, I need you more than anyone else. Together, let's do it together."
Margaret stared blankly at Rebecca's outstretched hand with a rather bewildered expression.
'Rebecca is an angel! She's not an ordinary person!'
She was sick of the almost blind praise of Rebecca from the Poorhouse people.
And every time that happened, Margaret steadily grew her animosity towards Rebecca.
There was a time when she was also a wealthy aristocrat.
She recalled what she had thought whenever she had given alms to the poor.
It was no more and no less than pity, the favor of throwing food to pitiful animals trapped in a cage.
Like any other aristocrat, she thought Rebecca must be no different.
But it was funny that she was being treated like a Saintess.
Margaret was convinced that Rebecca was enjoying that image of herself.
But the Rebecca in front of her now was revealing her bare face, contrary to her expectations.
She was begging Margaret, giving up everything as if she didn't care about her dignity as an aristocrat.
She was confused. The world she knew was gradually collapsing.
Margaret silently lowered Rebecca's outstretched hand to the table.
"Give me some time to think... just a little time to think."
Rebecca's eyes widened and then curved into crescent shapes.
She was glad that Margaret's solid heart had wavered even a little.
In her previous life, Margaret was an idol to Rebecca.
Margaret raised her child and started a business entirely on her own, even though her family had fallen. Later, she even regained her title.
Working under Margaret, Rebecca wanted to be like her.
How could she constantly exude vitality like her?
She pondered and pondered.
In front of her, like a large, unyielding old tree that would not be broken even by a typhoon, Rebecca thought she was worse than a weed that would be swept away.
If Margaret would take her side, Rebecca felt like she would have a more reliable backing than anything else.
Rebecca stared blankly at her hand, which Margaret's hand had brushed past, and then nodded.
"Send me your answer through Canna. I guarantee you won't regret taking my hand."
* * *
"I said I didn't need it..."
Rebecca had a troubled expression as she held a paper bag full of bread.
It was because Bern had forced it on her, saying that he couldn't send a guest away empty-handed.
If she took this back to the Count's Residence as it was, something troublesome would surely happen.
The Count's Residence was strict about outside food. But she couldn't throw it away either.
Rebecca stared blankly at the bread in the bag.
She was lost in thought for a moment, and Rebecca was lost in regret for a moment.
Bern was still a warm bakery owner.
In her previous life, he used to give her a few extra pieces of bread whenever Rebecca visited as a customer.
'The sandwich I had after a long time was delicious.'
Suddenly, she felt hungry.
Come to think of it, she hadn't eaten much lunch. She was so nervous that she barely tasted the sandwich.
Rebecca took out a cream bread from the bag.
She hesitated for a moment at the thought of eating something on the street, but she was not the noblewoman Rebecca now.
How sweet the freedom that clothing gave.
She took a bite of the bread without guilt, and the sweet and soft cream permeated her tongue.
It was a taste that made her smile naturally.
It was shameful to eat while walking down the street, but she didn't care.
In her previous life, when time was of the essence, she often ate like this.
"Susan!"
After eating about two bites of the cream bread, someone grabbed Rebecca's wrist.
As a result, the bread fell to the ground.
Rebecca stared blankly at the end of the bread being trampled under the man's feet.
The cream spurted out.
She glared at the man who had dared to grab her arm with fierce eyes.
The man, who had nothing to be proud of, was gasping for breath.
He flinched at Rebecca's cold gaze, then tightened his grip on her hand.
Rebecca frowned as her wrist throbbed.
The man glared at her and grabbed Rebecca's shoulder.
"Why won't you accept my confession! You definitely said you liked me too. Of course, you didn't say it, but you always smiled at me."
Ah, with that one word, Rebecca quickly sorted out the situation.
Susan had warned her that there might be a man who would bother her when she went to the market.
Was he the man who had been following her lately?
But his love must be shallow. He couldn't even recognize her disguised face.
Rebecca coldly pushed his hand away.
"I'll hand you over to the security forces if you keep following me."
"Ha. Do you think I'm afraid of something like that? Have you forgotten that my Hyung is the head of the security forces? Stop playing hard to get and come into my arms now, Susan."
"Get lost. I don't even want to talk to someone like you."
"What?!"
The man pushed Rebecca into the alley. As a result, the bread bag was torn to shreds and lay on the ground.
'My bread...'
Rebecca raised her angry face.
The man flinched for a moment, but soon clenched his fists, panting.
"W, what are you going to do if you glare at me like that! I guess I can't talk to you."
How could people not have changed like this?
Rebecca took out the long pin that was holding her hair in place and held it gently in her hand. And she glared at the man's vitals.
In her previous life, when she was raising a child alone, this happened once or twice a month.
She couldn't possibly be a match for him in terms of brute strength, so Rebecca learned a technique to subdue her opponent without using much strength.
'Margaret taught me this too...'
The man rushed at her.
The moment Rebecca took out the sharp pin, the man screamed and fainted.
Someone had hit him in the face.
"Are you okay?"
It was Julian. He had knocked the man out with a single blow.
The blood from the man's nose dripped onto his left hand.
He hid his bloody hand behind his back so that the blood wouldn't get on Rebecca, and approached her, who was half-standing and frozen.
And he frowned deeply at the sight of Rebecca's appearance.
"Doing such ridiculous things again..."
Rebecca looked up and down at Julian, who was dressed neatly in a way that didn't suit this place at all, as if she couldn't believe it.
"Julian? How did you get here..."
"I saw you on the way."
"You recognized me?"
The outside of the alley was noisy. It seemed someone had reported it.
Without answering, Julian offered Rebecca his arm.
"There are a lot of eyes watching, so let's go to my carriage first."
"It's okay. I have to go back quickly."
"Looking like that?"
Julian took out a hand mirror from his pocket and showed Rebecca's face. Judging from the smudges on the mirror, he seemed to carry it around with him all the time.
Rebecca sullenly looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Ah..."
It certainly wasn't an appearance that she could return to the Count's Residence in.
Her hair was disheveled because her bonnet had come off, and her freckle makeup had been smudged a lot.
Rebecca grabbed Julian's arm without saying a word.
A slight smile spread across Julian's face as he felt the weight on his arm.
Then he said to Croa, who was kicking the fallen man,
"Take care of that."
"Yes, yes. I have to do as you command..."
Croa sighed as if the ground was sinking.
