Chapter 84
Rebecca stared blankly at the stone staircase leading upward.
Even counting her past life, she had lived in the count’s mansion for decades—but she had never seen this passage before.
“How many of these places are there?”
Grace held out a bundle of keys.
“As many as there are keys here. In the old days, nobles would build secret passages in their mansions to prepare for rebellions or invasions.”
Rebecca nodded slowly.
No wonder she had always thought the number of keys Grace carried was strangely excessive compared to the number of rooms in the mansion.
So every one of them opened a secret passage.
After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Grace said quietly,
“I’ll repeat myself—when you leave, do not use this passage. The only people who know about this place are the count, Octavio, and myself.”
“You can rest assured. I’m not that careless. If you get caught, it’ll be as troublesome for me as it is for you.”
“Then my work here is done.”
“Wait a moment.”
As Grace turned to leave, clearly eager to get away from this place, Rebecca called her back.
Grace looked nervous. “What is it?”
“What’s under the Hall of Light?”
Grace flinched, then replied,
“There’s an interrogation room. You should already know that, Lady Rebecca.”
“No, not that. There’s another door down there, isn’t there?”
Grace hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Believe what you want, but I really don’t. All I know is that ever since the Hall of Light was built, only Octavio and the count have gone in and out of there.”
Rebecca looked straight into Grace’s eyes. She didn’t seem to be lying.
“Then it can’t be helped. Still, you must have some idea.”
Grace’s eyes flickered.
She looked conflicted, as though debating whether to speak.
But the image that haunted her—the vision of herself as the true mistress of the mansion—flashed again in her mind.
Finally, she made up her mind and spoke.
“I once saw large quantities of supplies being secretly brought in and out of there.”
“Supplies?”
“Yes. That’s all I know.”
Rebecca’s face hardened.
What on earth was Zeppelin plotting? Horrible possibilities crossed her mind.
But she shook her head sharply. For now, she had to focus on the task before her.
As she stepped onto the stairs, she heard the door shut and lock behind her—then the sound of vines descending to cover it.
Rebecca hurried up the steps. When she pushed open the door at the top, a familiar sight greeted her: Zeppelin’s meticulously arranged study.
“Let’s see…”
She pulled two magic stones from her pocket and knocked them together.
They emitted a bright, glowing light.
They were lightstones—so valuable that ordinary people could never even dream of owning one.
Though Julian had tossed them to her as casually as if they were pebbles, the thought of their true worth still made her tremble.
Carefully, she began to search the study.
She rifled through every drawer—even the ones she’d searched before—but found nothing. Frustration welled up, and she pressed her fingers against her forehead.
“Nothing at all…?”
Her gaze drifted to the bookshelf, where books were neatly arranged by color and size.
Then she noticed it: one book’s corners were worn and frayed, unlike the others, which looked nearly new.
“Right… It wouldn’t be strange if there was another secret passage.”
Suspicious, Rebecca reached for the book and pulled it.
Nothing happened.
With a sigh of disappointment, she pushed it back into place—
—and at that exact moment, the bookshelf shifted with a soft sound.
She pulled at it, and it opened smoothly.
Behind it hung a large painting, and beside it stood a safe.
Rebecca quickly examined the safe. Fortunately, it required a numerical code rather than a key.
She knew that some safes permanently locked if the code was entered incorrectly too many times—or even triggered alarms or alerted guard dogs.
Rebecca thought carefully about what numbers Zeppelin might have chosen.
Obvious, perhaps—but she started with his birthday.
The safe didn’t budge.
“Then maybe…”
She tried a combination using her own birthday and their wedding anniversary.
Her palms were slick with sweat from nervousness, and she had to wipe them several times before finishing.
Finally, when she turned the last dial, she heard a heavy click—and the door swung open.
“…That lunatic.”
Clearly, Zeppelin’s mind was full of her.
Feeling a sudden chill, Rebecca rubbed her arms and looked inside.
There were no jewels or treasures—only piles of documents.
She pulled out a few and flipped through them.
“Accounting ledgers…?”
Each page was packed with records of income and expenses.
Something was off.
Ledgers were important, yes—but why hide them so secretly?
Then Rebecca’s eyes froze on a name.
She went back and checked several more ledgers.
“What is this…?”
“Light’s Rose.”
Under that mysterious name, enormous sums of money were being deposited each month—amounts that exceeded even one-fifth of the Devonshire family’s total income.
The Devonshire estate earned a fortune from trade, but Zeppelin’s extravagant spending on luxuries and art collections nearly drained it all.
Factoring in the cost of maintaining his private “hounds,” the family should have been barely breaking even.
Without the funds from Light’s Rose, they would’ve gone bankrupt long ago.
Rebecca flipped through more ledgers and found other suspicious entries.
Items marked “Prison Island” and “Kingdom.”
“Prison Island” was clearly where the hounds’ hostages were being kept. That much was certain.
So the captives were indeed on an island.
But Kingdom… What could that mean?
Large amounts of money were also flowing there, but there were no details.
“…Why is it so cold in here?”
The air around her had grown noticeably chill.
That earlier shiver hadn’t just been unease—it was real cold air.
Her eyes fell on the painting.
Pressing her ear against it, she could hear faint currents of wind from behind.
Rebecca stepped back, examining the painting more closely.
It was large enough to conceal a human-sized passage.
Inside a gilded frame was a painting of a royal banquet hall.
A soft red carpet stretched down the center, leading to a dais where the king and queen sat on golden thrones, smiling benevolently. A young princess nestled in the queen’s arms.
All three had golden hair and blue eyes—an idyllic royal family portrait.
The guests lined along the carpet were equally beautiful, gazing at the royals with admiration.
It was an ordinary decorative painting, nothing more—an image of domestic peace.
Was it really meaningless?
Rebecca moved closer, deep in thought.
“…I knew it. It’s a door.”
Next to the painting, she spotted a small keyhole.
She peered through it, then tried pushing on the frame.
It didn’t budge; it was firmly fixed to the wall.
Rebecca frowned.
“What are you hiding, Zeppelin Devonshire?”
When Zeppelin turned around, he could hardly believe his eyes.
Where four majestic portraits of the emperor had once hung—
Now there was a blasphemous painting that mocked the entire faith.
In it, the current pope stood stark naked, embracing and fondling a beautiful priest.
The priest extorted money from poor peasants; a gambler clutching a statue of the goddess Depria was shown selling his own child to the church; and a bloodshot-eyed fanatic rolled dice in a frenzy.
That’s me!
Zeppelin screamed internally.
Then a memory surfaced.
“Would you like to be the subject of a masterpiece that will go down in history?”
“Barinica… That bastard tricked me!”
He had sworn it wouldn’t resemble him. But the man in the painting looked unmistakably like Zeppelin—down to the deranged gleam in his eyes.
Seeing that manic expression, his face drained of color and his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.
What made it worse—this wasn’t even the original.
The composition was identical, but he could tell at a glance it was a forgery.
Barinica would never have used such crude brushwork.
Zahidra… You dare insult me with a cheap copy?
Veins bulged in his eyes.
Shaking with fury, he forced himself to breathe deeply.
He needed to act fast—claim innocence, call it a setup, and demand that the culprits be punished.
That way, he could still make an excuse later.
He turned sharply and opened his mouth to shout—
“This is a setup—!”
But the emperor’s voice thundered first.
“Arrest the count immediately! How dare he display such vile heresy before us!”
Zahidra slammed his ruby-tipped golden staff against the floor.
“Your Majesty, we currently lack sufficient men to detain him. I recommend issuing a confinement order instead. The Holy Knights will deliver judgment come morning.”
A brown-haired young man—someone Zeppelin didn’t recognize—added quietly beside Zahidra,
“We must leave before the Knights arrive. If they storm in too soon, we’ll be in trouble.”
