Chapter 125
Every morning, the convent sent in the morning newspaper and Bible verses for the countess to copy.
No one came to visit the Countess at the convent. The only way she could connect with the outside world was through the newspaper.
It was through this that the Countess naturally learned about the Count’s affair. The moment she read the news, anger surged through her, and she wanted nothing more than to escape the convent immediately—but there was absolutely no way out.
“I wish someone, anyone, would get me out of here.”
Just as she was clinging to that impossible hope, Malea appeared.
“Yes… how did you—”
“I bribed a novice priest to get in. I’ll unlock the door for you, so come out quickly. If you don’t leave now, milady, you’ll be trapped here forever. Hurry!”
Throughout her time in the convent, the Countess had gnawed at her teeth in anger toward Malea.
The betrayal had stung too deeply. She had taken a low-ranking maid under her wing, given her gifts of jewelry, and shown her favor.
“How dare she testify on that wretched maid’s side, ignoring her mistress? What ingratitude!”
By her pride alone, she had no intention of following Malea’s suggestion.
“Milady! You must come out and take revenge on Lady Becker! Are you going to just let that maid get away?”
Yet, she yielded to those words. At least in that moment, her resentment toward those scoundrels outweighed her anger at Malea.
In the end, she climbed into the back compartment of the carriage Malea had prepared.
Still seething, the Countess struck Malea’s cheek as soon as she entered the carriage.
“How dare you betray me? After all I’ve done for you!”
“I made a mistake, milady. I only saw the earrings right before the ball and thought I should tell the truth. I never imagined things would escalate like this. I didn’t expect Lady Becker to be so cunning,” Malea said, kneeling and apologizing even after being slapped.
“I hope you don’t lose to that Lady Becker. As an apology, I return this to you. You deserve it more than I do.”
The Countess was not one to forgive easily once she bore a grudge.
But seeing Malea, tearful and returning even the Chapelle pearl hairpiece, her heart softened slightly.
No, what truly softened the Countess was the crushing loneliness she had felt in the convent.
Since being trapped there, no subordinate had come to visit. It had been weeks since she had spoken to anyone.
In a moment of despair, thinking she might live isolated like this forever, Malea’s extended hand was honestly a welcome relief.
“Very well, Malea. I forgive you. But first, we must deal with Lady Becker.”
Thus, they rode the carriage to the Odenwald Harbor. And now, they were waiting for the Count’s return.
Before long, a familiar ship docked at the harbor, and a man disembarked first.
“Ulrichhh!”
The Countess’s scream echoed through the harbor. The Count, who had tried to disembark quietly, froze in shock at her appearance.
“S-Sasha? W-why…? What are you doing here? How did you escape the convent?”
Taken aback by the Countess seemingly ready to attack, he unleashed a barrage of words.
“How dare you defy my orders and leave the convent? Didn’t I warn you I’d be watching for a month to see how repentant you are? Because you ignored my warning, you should remain trapped in the convent forever! And don’t think that’s all! That maid you cherished—”
But he could say no more.
‘Now you realize? I didn’t come alone.’
Behind the Countess, reporters swarmed.
“…How did the journalists get here?”
All his earlier bravado vanished, replaced with a stunned murmur.
The Countess scoffed. Surely, his words implied: “I secretly came to avoid the reporters.”
“I invited them. Why? You bastard, Ulrich,” she said.
Malea had advised her to gather the reporters to properly make an example of them.
The Countess had visited each newspaper in the capital, informing them that the Count would arrive at Odenwald Harbor that afternoon.
Of course, that information had come from Malea.
“Count! What do you think of your nickname, ‘The Invisible Count’?”
“You just said you’d lock her in the convent… Are you admitting it wasn’t because she’d gone mad?”
“The Countess visited newspapers to explain her feelings! How about your thoughts? And your lover’s too!”
The Count kept his mouth firmly shut.
It had only been a few days since photos of his secret rendezvous in a foreign garden had surfaced. The trauma still lingered, and now he had to face reporters again.
As the Count stiffened, the journalists saw an opening and surrounded this year’s most talked-about figure.
Meanwhile, the Countess focused on her true target.
“You filthy thief! How dare you touch what’s mine?!”
She grabbed Lady Becker’s hair as she descended discreetly.
“Aaah! Why are you doing this, milady! Stop it!”
“I knew it! Not only stealing jewels little by little, but now you’d steal other things too!”
The Countess’s fury was overwhelming.
“Stop! Stop! Let go! Calm down!”
The Count didn’t even glance at his lover; swallowing his humiliation in front of reporters was hard enough.
Fernand, preparing to disembark, clicked his tongue, deciding to stay on the ship for a moment.
“Hah… What a mess. Truly embarrassing…”
Being a D-class transcendent, rescuing his father among the reporters would have been easy, but he saw no value in intervening.
He had only now realized why the Count had rushed off Athena Island in such a panic.
‘He caused this embarrassment himself, then got mad at me?’
The Count had even woken Fernand in the middle of the night, shouting and hitting his own head with a bottle just because Fernand said he wanted to stay longer on Athena Island.
‘And now he’s cozying up to his mother’s maid? Pathetic… Even if you have a mistress, there’s a certain decency…’
Fernand had thought only the Countess, of commoner birth, was crude. He shook his head.
Having experienced the media calling him a “useless soldier,” he knew the reporters’ persistence well enough not to want to join in the humiliation.
“Let’s disembark a little later, Odette.”
“Yes, brother.”
So Fernand ignored his father, attending only to Odette.
Meanwhile, the Countess had successfully seized her maid’s hair.
“No sense of decency at all? And you, a Countess, without manners!”
As Lady Becker flailed to defend herself, the Countess’s voice sharpened further.
“What’s that on your finger? Why are you wearing my wedding ring? I lost it over five years ago—why do you have it?”
Seeing that ring, the Countess completely lost her composure. Her grip was now unbeatable.
Lady Becker staggered helplessly.
“My jewels, my dresses! Even my husband! And you had the nerve to treat me like a madwoman?”
Holding her by the hair, the Countess pushed her toward the pier.
Lady Becker was quickly cornered at the very edge of the dock. One misstep would have sent her into the sea.
“No! The water’s cold! Don’t throw me in!”
“After stealing everything else, and now you value your own body? Die! Just sink into the sea!”
Just as the Countess was about to push her into the water, Lady Becker screamed loudly.
“Aaah! Someone save me! I’m pregnant!”
The words made the Countess pause.
“What… what did you say?”
She wasn’t the only one who stopped. Surrounded by reporters, the Count, all the journalists at the harbor, and even Fernand and Odette on the ship—all turned their heads to Lady Becker.
