Chapter 50
‘You’re awake?’
She was beautiful.
Alicia, who had always preened in front of mirrors and basked in her own beauty, was nothing more than a pretty girl when standing before Rebecca.
Her skin was like marble, so smooth it seemed even a prick wouldn’t leave a mark. Her golden hair gleamed as though spun from sunlight itself.
But it was her eyes.
Those deep blue eyes looked as if she had plunged into the ocean and carried its color back within her irises. When those eyes curved gently with a smile, Alicia felt the urge to flee and hide.
As she stared blankly at Rebecca’s rose-red lips—lips like a freshly bitten flower—Alicia burst into tears.
Was it because she realized that no matter how much she longed, she could never possess what Rebecca had?
Or was it from the shame of trying to harm the owner of such a gentle voice?
Rebecca embraced the weeping Alicia.
‘It’s all right. You must’ve been through so much, but I’ll save you. Don’t worry about a thing.’
Even her embrace was warm.
‘Alicia! The dessert that came in today was so delicious. I saved some just for you, so you could have a taste.’
Those warm memories stabbed her chest like shards of glass.
From the beginning, she hadn’t disliked Rebecca’s kindness.
No—if anything, she had wanted to remain by her side forever.
‘You can become like her too.’
But Octavio had been relentless. He whispered to her again and again.
Eventually, Alicia’s affection for Rebecca turned into admiration, admiration into envy.
And as Zeppelin’s gaze began lingering more and more on her, Alicia’s desires slowly stirred.
I can become Rebecca.
That thought had fueled Alicia ever since.
Tears streaming, she raised the dagger smeared with poison.
“So please, die now, Lady Rebecca.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and thrust the blade downward.
At that very instant, Rebecca’s eyes snapped open.
She blinked slowly, gazing at Alicia.
“Can you bear the weight of this?”
Startled, Alicia trembled and dropped the dagger.
Rebecca swiftly caught the falling blade.
“My, you should be careful. This is laced with deadly poison.”
“H-how do you know that…?”
“Isn’t it obvious? More importantly… did you truly mean to kill me, Alicia?”
Rebecca set the dagger carefully on the bedside table, then fixed her eyes firmly on Alicia.
Though blisters covered her face in angry red patches, her gaze shone more beautifully than ever.
Alicia blanched, wondering if even the word beautiful could fully contain Rebecca.
“Alicia, why are you silent? Were you really trying to kill me?”
Alicia bit her lips hard before confessing.
“Yes. I wanted to kill you.”
“Why? What wrong has fragile, pitiful little me done to you?”
Rebecca covered her mouth with her hand, feigning innocence as though she couldn’t fathom the reason.
Alicia realized she was imitating her.
“Rebecca…”
Her fists shook as she clenched them.
Then, bitterly, she spat out:
“Yes! You committed the greatest crime—possessing everything I ever wanted. I’ll take it all from you, every last thing. No matter the cost, I won’t stop.”
Alicia lifted her chin proudly, glaring at Rebecca.
Rebecca chuckled softly.
“Finally, you’re honest.”
“What?”
“I’ve been waiting—for the day you bared those little fangs of yours.”
Rebecca stroked the dagger’s hilt.
“So then, who whispered in your ear to make you choose such a dreadful path?”
“Aren’t you angry at me? I betrayed you, repaid your kindness with enmity!”
Rebecca’s eyes turned cold.
“I didn’t realize you understood your guilt so clearly.”
“Just slap me already! Or better—stab me with that knife!”
Alicia lunged for the dagger.
Rebecca snatched up her cane from the bedpost and struck across Alicia’s hand.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Agh! What are you doing to me!”
“I don’t want blood spilled. And besides, it would be troublesome if you died already.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Rebecca’s gaze flicked briefly to Alicia’s belly.
She remembered the child—an imaginary child she thought of dozens of times a day.
Sensing her gaze, Alicia instinctively cradled her stomach with both hands.
“I don’t need your shallow pity, Rebecca.”
“My, I never intended to show mercy. Do I look that virtuous to you?”
Rebecca’s face hardened like ice flowers as she pressed on.
“So tell me—why did you want me dead? What drove you to such desperation?”
“I realized the Count never meant to make me his wife.”
“And why’s that?”
“I overheard him. He said he’d have an heir through you. Illness or not, you could still bear a child, he said. Grace is already preparing everything. Well? Satisfied now? Are you thrilled?”
“Ha!”
Rebecca let out a short laugh.
It soon turned into a long, unrestrained one—mad laughter, head thrown back.
It was so unnerving that Alicia shrank away, terrified.
‘Zeppelin, you actually…’
The worst future Rebecca had envisioned had now come true.
As if treating her like a doll weren’t enough, Zeppelin had decided she would serve as nothing but a child-bearing machine.
For him to resolve even his delicate stomach and lie with her—what courage that must have taken.
Love? No, he had never once loved her.
A tear slipped down Rebecca’s left eye.
Her gaze half-unfocused, she looked at Alicia.
“Alicia. Do you want it? If you really love this sewer so much.”
Alicia flinched, then bit down on her lip.
“You don’t know what a sewer is.”
She thought of the life she had endured since birth, pain Rebecca could never fathom.
Her beautiful mother dragged off by a depraved noble, her weak, powerless father, her mother’s corpse returned cold and lifeless…
The vows she made to never live that way.
And yet, reality forced her onto the same path as her mother.
Alicia wept. With every tear Rebecca shed, her own sobs grew louder.
She seized Rebecca’s collar, shaking her violently.
“What do you know about sewers! Have you ever endured the hands of men you never wanted? Have you ever dreamed of a happy home, knowing it could never be yours? Rebecca, how dare you call it a sewer!”
Rebecca quietly gazed at Alicia, who clutched her and screamed.
The deep violet eyes she once loved were now filled with sorrow.
Suppressing her own surging emotions, Rebecca rose from bed.
“Even so, you shouldn’t have done this to me.”
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Rebecca slowly approached and cupped Alicia’s cheek.
Her hand, still hot from fever, reeked of burst blisters.
Meeting Rebecca’s empty eyes, Alicia finally felt the crushing weight of what she carried.
“I liked you, Alicia. That’s why it hurt.”
“…”
“It hurt so much. Too much. So I can’t forgive you. But still…”
“Hic.”
Alicia hiccupped, unable to endure Rebecca’s burning presence.
Rebecca let go of her, opened a drawer, and pulled out a jar filled with tea leaves.
“We can still walk the same path for a while.”
She pressed the jar firmly into Alicia’s hand.
Then, with the smile Alicia had always longed for, Rebecca said:
“I’ll give you what you want. Will you give me what I want too?”
Alicia later collapsed onto her bed, burying her face in the pillow as she wept.
“You bitch… Rebecca, you damn bitch…”
She was furious—at spilling everything inside her, at failing once again to kill Rebecca, at being toyed with yet again.
‘I liked you, Alicia.’
Rebecca had said it at last.
She had ripped open the locked door where Alicia had sealed away those memories.
Weeping again, Alicia eventually fell silent.
She slowly looked around at the things filling her room.
A soft bed big enough for several people.
A canopy embroidered with her beloved pink roses.
An antique wardrobe stuffed with splendid dresses, shoes, and jewels made to match them.
All luxuries she could enjoy if she became Zeppelin’s.
Alicia stared at the jar of tea leaves Rebecca had given her.
Her belly stirred. The child inside her continued to grow, weathering every storm.
Gently rubbing her stomach, Alicia whispered:
“My baby, it can’t be helped. Your mother… won’t give up.”
The next day, the Devonshire household was thrown into chaos.
“Infertility?!”
Grace shrieked at the physician.
The doctor, looking deeply troubled, shook the jar of tea leaves.
“This tea contains compounds that induce sterility. Just ten servings are enough for the effects to appear. But I’m told milady has been drinking this for over a month. In that case…”
“Ah…”
Grace staggered, clutching the wall.
When she had learned of Rebecca’s illness, she had wished she might become a saint instead.
If so, she could always visit her as a devout follower.
So when Zeppelin ordered her to help Rebecca conceive, Grace had been glad.
As long as Rebecca stayed here, there was always a chance to regain her place.
She had desperately wanted to heal Rebecca.
Given time, there was no illness in the world that couldn’t be cured. She could not let Rebecca slip away as her daughter Layla had.
But now even that last hope had crumbled.
Rebecca had renounced sainthood—and now could never bear Zeppelin’s child.
The doll she adored would be tossed aside like garbage.
As Grace wallowed in grief, Octavio observed quietly, hands clasped behind his back, his expression one of keen interest.
He had expected tears, but not for this reason—not because of Rebecca’s death, but her infertility. That was unexpected.
Octavio glanced at Alicia.
Sensing his gaze, Alicia smirked faintly and whispered:
“This is my way, Octavio.”
