Chapter 52
From outside came the sound of hurried footsteps.
It seemed Alicia had done her part well.
Rebecca thought back to Zeppelin’s wailing that had shaken the mansion. She wasn’t even dead, yet he cried as though it were. It was almost laughable.
So was the present situation. Even after the shocking news that she was infertile, not a single person had properly explained anything to Rebecca.
When she grabbed a passing maid to ask, the woman only made a troubled face and replied vaguely that she would “find out in due time.”
This feels a little lonely.
Today, she found herself missing Canna more than usual.
From what she had heard, Canna had somehow won Grace’s trust.
Thanks to that, she no longer scrubbed laundry until her hands cracked; instead, she was put in charge of supervising the laundresses.
A blessing in misfortune, at least.
As Rebecca was busy imagining what was happening outside the mansion, a knock came at the door.
From the careful rhythm, she instantly recognized who it was and jumped to her feet.
“Canna!”
“Lady Rebecca!”
Canna ran toward her, not even noticing the pile of laundry she carried spilling onto the floor.
As though afraid to ever let go, Canna embraced Rebecca tightly.
Rebecca squealed with laughter.
“Heavens, you’re squeezing the breath out of me, Canna.”
“Oh! Forgive me.”
Startled, Canna pulled away. Her face was flushed with delight.
Rebecca gently held her hand and asked softly,
“How did you manage to get here?”
“There’s chaos all over the estate right now, so no one was paying me any attention. And… Alicia allowed me inside.”
“Alicia?”
Rebecca widened her eyes in surprise.
So this is her way of repaying me? That’s rather sweet.
“You—how dare you!”
At that moment, a loud voice bellowed from outside the door.
Rebecca turned toward it, then looked away.
It seemed Fabiola had arrived at the mansion.
Zeppelin’s screams, like those of a wounded animal, mingled with Fabiola’s sobs, and the whole picture became clear.
Rebecca gave Canna a faint smile.
“That worked out well, didn’t it?”
Canna nodded. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Though no words were exchanged, Rebecca sensed that Canna was thinking the same as she was:
The hope that they would soon escape, and the disgust at their present circumstances.
Instead of showing her anger, Rebecca chose to cover it with a calm smile.
Canna stared at her fragile expression, then clutched her hand even tighter, as if afraid it would vanish.
Feeling the strength of her grip, Rebecca spoke.
“Canna, that’s enough. You’ll wear my hand out. And the laundry you worked so hard on will get dirty.”
“If it does, I’ll simply wash it again. My lady.”
Rebecca chuckled faintly. She had heard that very phrase before.
Reaching out, she stroked Canna’s hair.
“Thank you for holding on. It won’t be much longer now.”
“I’ll follow you to the very end.”
“Ah, right. Has Margaret contacted you?”
At that, Canna’s face brightened.
A small mole on her nose wrinkled upward as she grinned. She looked truly happy to be able to bring a little good news in this situation.
“Margaret has agreed to join us. She’s also in charge of training the people from Liberta, and it’s going smoothly.”
“That’s wonderful news.”
For her salon business, Rebecca needed trustworthy staff.
In that sense, the people from the relief home were perfect.
She had even asked Julian to construct not only the salon but also dormitories for the employees.
Once finished, they would all move there together.
The only concern was that those people needed to learn the manners of noble society, since the business would cater to aristocrats.
Rebecca had planned to secretly hire a tutor, but hearing that Margaret had volunteered for the role reassured her.
Now that Margaret had drawn her sword, Rebecca was certain things would proceed smoothly.
“Madam, may I change the bedsheets?”
They had barely spoken when another maid knocked at the door.
Canna glared resentfully toward it.
Rebecca patted her hand.
“Canna, you’d best go. If anyone troubles you, tell me.”
“The work isn’t hard. Just watching over the laundry girls.”
“You really excel wherever you’re placed. I’m proud of you.”
Blushing at the praise, Canna lowered her head shyly.
Satisfied, she gathered the spilled laundry and carried it away.
“Then I’ll be going. Stay well until we meet again.”
“Yes. When we see each other again, there’ll be no more partings.”
Though pain from her blisters made Rebecca knit her brows, her lips still curved with a genuine smile.
Just imagining an eternal day with Rebecca seemed to overwhelm Canna; she was left speechless for a moment, before finally leaving with a flushed face.
“I’d like to take a short walk.”
Rebecca suddenly spoke to the maid tidying the room.
“But, my lady, you’re not yet fully recovered…”
“I already know, more or less, what’s happened to me today. That’s why I need at least a walk to ease my heart. You understand, don’t you?”
Seeing her calm expression, the maid hesitated.
She had been acting mechanically, but she was still human, with feelings.
She thought for a moment.
The orders were to keep Rebecca from acting freely. But in that condition, there was no way she could escape.
Besides, wasn’t it pitiful?
The countess once praised by all had lost everything overnight.
If it had been her, she would have taken her own life long ago—the maids often whispered that among themselves.
Her own feelings were no different.
Watching Rebecca stretch her hand toward the window breeze, as if it were her only solace, made the maid’s chest ache.
She fetched a shawl from the wardrobe and draped it over Rebecca’s frail shoulders.
Already thin, her frame had grown even more gaunt from being unable to eat properly.
Rebecca smiled at the warmth of the soft fabric.
“You’re a kind child.”
The maid’s eyes wavered briefly, then grew calm again.
She guided Rebecca into the garden.
“Where would you like to go?”
“To the lilac garden.”
Summer heat had already withered the lilacs, leaving only thick green leaves.
Zeppelin paid no attention to the garden, so no other flowers had been planted there.
Its only maintenance was trimming, enough so that it wouldn’t look unsightly.
The maid followed some distance behind, as if not to intrude on Rebecca’s thoughts.
Moved by her consideration, Rebecca felt a bit ashamed that she had always thought of the servants as nothing more than parts of the estate.
Luckily, tonight the air was cool. The breeze washed away a little of her shame.
She removed the shawl, exposing her collarbones, and let the wind cool the burning blisters on her skin.
She had walked for some time when an unexpected visitor appeared. He, too, seemed to be out for a night stroll.
A quiet smile spread across Rebecca’s lips.
“Leo.”
The black cat strolled toward her.
Zeppelin despised all animals; the only one he tolerated was horses.
So the only creature bold enough to slip past the mansion’s guards freely could be none other than Leo.
As Rebecca sat on a marble bench, Leo promptly leapt onto her lap.
She stroked him and retrieved a small note from the capsule around his neck.
“Stay strong.”
Rebecca had been nervous about what the letter might say, and she let out a laugh.
She pictured Julian agonizing over how to condense his thoughts into so few words, and this time she laughed aloud.
Come to think of it, he always managed to make her smile.
“How many sheets of paper do you think your master wasted just to write this?”
Leo rose briefly and kneaded her thigh about ten times.
“Ten times…?”
Meow.
He cried loudly, as if to confirm. Then he rubbed his head against her hand again.
“So, you don’t even mind the smell coming from me.”
Rebecca’s hand, which had been stroking him, paused.
“Julian… if Julian saw my face now, what kind of expression would he make?”
Leo purred deeply.
“He’s kind, so he wouldn’t say outright that he disliked it. But he’s still a man… surely he’d be repulsed by a woman so disfigured. Yes, I’m sure he would.”
She recalled Zeppelin’s look of disgust.
Imagining Julian making a similar face saddened her.
“Perhaps he might sometimes think of it and begin to keep his distance. Is it selfish of me to hope he wouldn’t?”
As she reached out to stroke Leo again, he avoided her hand.
“Leo?”
His golden eyes simply stared at her.
Somehow, it felt like reproach, though she couldn’t quite read the meaning, and she froze.
“Rebecca?”
The sudden voice made Leo’s eyes narrow to slits.
He bared his teeth with a hiss at Zeppelin, who was approaching.
The cat glared into him with eyes that seemed to strip bare the last fragments of his soul.
Meeting the animal’s fierce gaze, Zeppelin felt an unpleasant memory stir and grew irritated.
“To think a cat would dare wander in here. I’ll have the guards—”
“It must’ve gotten lost. I’ll send it outside the walls, so don’t worry.”
Afraid he might harm Leo, Rebecca quickly shooed him away.
Leo frowned deeply before vanishing into the bushes.
Only after the cat was gone from sight did Zeppelin relax his scowl.
“Rebecca. Why are you out here at night, when you’re unwell?”
“I’m not so sick that I can’t walk.”
“Achoo!”
Zeppelin caught his nose with a handkerchief, irritated by yet another sneeze. Lately, they had been coming more often.
Rebecca glanced at the fine cloth and asked,
“You despise this place so much. What brings you here tonight?”
Her eyes curved gently.
For a fleeting moment, Zeppelin thought her face had regained its old beauty. He even rubbed his eyes.
But it was only a trick of the moment.
Before him once more was the disfigured Rebecca, her skin blistered and oozing.
With a cold face, he sighed deeply and sat down beside her.
“I only came because I heard the lilacs had all fallen. I wanted to see it for myself.”
“Ahh…”
Silence fell between them.
The fresh midsummer night air covered, if only briefly, the stench that lingered between them.
