Chapter 43
“You’re acting just like her companion.”
Meow.
“By the way, why did Julian lie to me?”
Judging by the time, he couldn't have been here for more than an hour.
Julian clearly said he could only teleport after three hours.
“Ugh, I don’t know!”
Rebecca hugged Leo and flopped onto the bed.
Leo was briefly startled but chose to stay in Rebecca’s arms.
“I think I’m getting a bit of a fever…”
She felt heat on her forehead. It seemed the Devil's Claw's effect was starting.
In her fading consciousness, Rebecca thought of Julian, who had disappeared like a mirage.
‘Stroke it.’
His hair was as fluffy as Leo’s fur. A pleasant scent wafted up whenever she ruffled his hair.
‘Ah…’
Rebecca had a dream.
In her dream, she was alone in a dark tunnel. The endless darkness tormented her no matter how far she walked.
But for some reason, Rebecca wasn’t afraid.
She kept moving forward.
The all-encompassing darkness closed in from all sides, but she had a feeling that this tunnel would eventually end.
Finally, when she reached the end of the tunnel, a firmly closed iron gate awaited her.
Looking down with a troubled expression, she found a key in her hand.
The Duke Johannes family crest was engraved on the end of the key.
Rebecca put the key in the keyhole and turned it.
Pushing hard on the door, the sturdy iron gate opened with a bizarre sound.
Blinding light suddenly poured in, and Rebecca raised her hand to shield her eyes. Someone called her.
‘Rebecca.’
It was a familiar voice. A terribly affectionate voice.
He held out his hand.
As she took his large hand, Rebecca thought.
Can I be happy?
Rebecca stepped out of the door.
She saw him smiling brightly, as bright as the dazzling light.
Rebecca softly called his name.
‘Julian.’
* * *
As the balcony door opened, a cool breeze ruffled her blonde hair.
Even as the moonlight poured down jealously, the angel-like sleeper didn't wake up.
Julian stood tall, looking down at the deeply sleeping Zeppelin.
He was currently punishing Zeppelin, mentally going through every cruel torture method he knew.
‘Sorry! I was wrong! Please stop… Ugh!’
Imagining his screams for a moment made him feel a little better.
Julian’s eyes were already burning like Hellfire.
‘How dare he…’
When Rebecca appeared in handcuffs, Julian didn’t know how many times he cursed Zeppelin in his mind.
He deliberately didn’t even mention it, afraid she might be ashamed of being bound.
But seeing her swallow the potent Devil's Claw without hesitation because she was sleeping with Zeppelin, he snapped.
Julian drew his sword.
A chilling night air permeated the blade.
He raised the sword with both hands and aimed it straight at Zeppelin’s neck.
Just as the sword in his hand almost touched Zeppelin’s delicate skin, Julian stopped.
If he killed him now, everything would be easier.
Rebecca could escape that horrible mansion, and if she became a widow, he could marry her sooner than planned.
But Julian didn’t. He couldn’t.
Zeppelin had too many sins to atone for to die so easily.
Even if he died by a single blow, it was Rebecca’s right.
Julian didn’t have the right to punish him.
He thought that all he was entitled to do was to help Rebecca crush that face as soon as possible.
Swish-
The sword went back into its scabbard with a regretful sound.
Julian stared at Zeppelin, who was sound asleep, for a moment before turning away.
Waiting wasn’t his thing, but he had no choice.
“Rebecca…”
Zeppelin murmured Rebecca’s name in his sleep.
Julian, who was about to leave, stopped abruptly at Zeppelin’s dreamy voice.
A deep murderous intent surged in Julian’s eyes as he turned around.
He must have done disgusting things while calling Rebecca with that voice. Uncontrollable anger exploded from deep within.
‘Rebecca would understand this much.’
Julian glared.
The Hellfire was already spewing lava like a volcano.
He clenched his fist tightly and swung it at Zeppelin’s face.
Thwack!
There was a sound like bones breaking.
“Kkeuaaak!”
Zeppelin woke up screaming in pain. He clutched at one eye, throbbing with pain, and looked for the nighttime intruder.
But there was no one in the room.
Only the pure white curtains were fluttering in the night breeze on the balcony with the door wide open.
* * *
Inside the swaying carriage, Zeppelin held up a mirror. He carefully examined the spot where the bruise had disappeared.
He should have returned home a week ago, but he postponed his return because the bruise on his face hadn’t completely faded.
He didn’t want Rebecca to see him with a messed-up face.
Fortunately, the ointment that the Hounds had secretly brought him worked, and the bruise faded faster than he had expected.
‘Who on earth…’
Zeppelin recalled the events of that night.
When he woke up from the terrible pain, the bedroom door was still locked as he had left it.
The only changes were that the balcony window was open and there was a large bruise on his left eye.
The room he was staying in was on a high floor.
Since most people couldn’t climb to that height, Zeppelin guessed that the intruder was quite skilled.
‘But why did he spare me?’
With that skill, he could have easily killed him.
He would have preferred a fatal wound to this unsettling feeling.
He only inflicted enough injury to avoid breaking bones.
Zeppelin couldn’t read the intruder’s intentions, so he felt uneasy.
Was this also the Emperor’s doing?
Zeppelin thought he needed to re-evaluate Zahida.
The Emperor was likely a more cunning old man than he had thought.
Suddenly, the carriage jolted violently.
Zeppelin shouted at the coachman irritably.
“Can’t you drive the carriage properly?!”
“I-I’m sorry. The road is rough…”
It was the most rural backwater imaginable.
Zeppelin couldn’t believe that he had been in such a remote place for over a month.
Fortunately, nothing much had happened at the Count's Residence while he was away.
He had repeatedly told the Hounds to contact him if even a small variable occurred.
For a month, the news the Hounds sent was the same as ever: peaceful.
Zeppelin longed for his Devonshire County Manor and wanted to return to his well-organized world as soon as possible.
He anxiously looked out the window.
Everything would be resolved when he returned there.
Zeppelin reassured himself that the unfounded anxiety he felt was only because he had been away from home for so long.
* * *
“Devonshire Earl!”
As soon as Zeppelin got out of the carriage, Grace and the butler Octavio rushed out.
Alicia slowly followed behind them.
Zeppelin nodded lightly to Grace and Octavio and then kissed Alicia lightly on the cheek.
“You’ve become a little gaunt, Alicia.”
“I guess it was because I missed you.”
“By the way, where is Rebecca?”
Zeppelin swept back his hair with a tired expression.
The one he had hoped would rush out to greet him first was nowhere to be seen.
Octavio asked in confusion.
“Didn’t we send you the news?”
“What news?”
“Lady Rebecca…”
“What about Rebecca?”
Zeppelin’s eyes widened.
Octavio calmly continued.
“She is ill. She has been suffering from an unknown high fever since last week, and Pustules have appeared on her body since three days ago…”
“What? Why are you only telling me now! You clearly contacted me to say that everything was fine!”
Octavio replied with an awkward expression.
“No, we continued to send letters about Lady Rebecca’s condition. Colin is in charge of delivering the letters, so he knows.”
“Colin!”
Called by his name, Colin, who was with the servants, was startled and went to Zeppelin.
Zeppelin, exuding an indescribably heavy murderous aura, said.
“Explain what happened.”
“I-I definitely put the letters between the bricks of the back wall of the garden, as you instructed, Devonshire Earl.”
“But how could the contents be changed?”
Zeppelin grabbed Colin by the collar and lifted him up. His light body was instantly lifted into the air.
Colin was a newly recruited Hound.
He was a fast and clever boy, so he mainly delivered secret letters.
Colin said, shedding tears like chicken droppings.
“T-That’s true! Ah! Now that I think about it, last week when I took the letter, I saw a burly man loitering around there.”
“A burly man?”
“Yes, yes! He had red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek.”
Zeppelin threw Colin down to the floor.
“Ha… Did he censor even the secret letters?”
It seemed he had incurred the Emperor’s displeasure in a big way.
Zahida. How dare she do this?
Zeppelin vowed revenge on the Emperor and hurried to Rebecca’s room.
“Ugh.”
As he got closer to Rebecca’s room, an unknown stench wafted out. Zeppelin quickly covered his nose with his sleeve.
It was ominous.
His heart pounded with a bad premonition.
After what felt like an eternity, when he finally opened the door, Zeppelin staggered at the sight of Rebecca.
He was speechless at Rebecca’s shocking appearance and could only manage a sigh.
“Ah…”
“Zeppelin…”
Supported by Canna, Rebecca barely managed to get out of bed.
Her beautiful eyes were the same, but the rest of her was covered in terrible Pustules.
Her smooth skin was gone, and her hands and feet were swollen.
Above all, the unbearable stench that filled the room made Zeppelin hesitate.
The beautiful Rebecca he had loved so much was nowhere to be found.
Zeppelin collapsed.
“Why… Why!”
His desperate cry echoed through the mansion.
The people in the mansion couldn’t even breathe at his desperate lament.
“There must be a way. Doctor, bring a doctor!”
Zeppelin staggered to his feet.
Grace, sensing the situation, had brought the family doctors in advance.
Zeppelin slapped the oldest doctor hard on the cheek.
“What did you do while my wife was in this state!”
