Chapter 12
“I will.”
But Kanna replied without even a flicker of hesitation.
Among Liberta’s people, Kanna truly did anything. If it suited her purpose, she would even carry out an assassination without batting an eye.
The maids of the count’s residence—especially the personal maids of Rebecca—were not chosen lightly. Birth was irrelevant; only talent mattered.
Because of this, Kanna had spent many years doing all sorts of tasks, waiting for the day when her name would finally reach Zeppelin’s ears.
Compared to those days, this request was child’s play.
Rebecca flinched at Kanna’s unhesitating reply.
Kanna’s eyes sparkled just as they had in her childhood.
After a moment’s hesitation, Rebecca opened her mouth.
“If you really are on my side, Kanna…”
“I am on your side, Lady Rebecca.”
The words were warm.
Rebecca smiled faintly.
“I don’t have much to give, but I’ll be on your side as well. So, Kanna, don’t betray me.”
Kanna’s heart sank.
Rebecca looked desperate. Every word she spoke struck painfully deep.
At the same time, anger welled up.
The person who deserved to be happiest in Kanna’s world was Rebecca.
Tok-tok—
Something tapped against the window. Kanna glanced over and saw a black cat perched on the sill.
Rebecca, spotting the cat, hurriedly sent Kanna away.
Kanna obeyed without asking questions.
“Phew.”
Rebecca pressed her ear to the door and waited until all signs of movement faded.
Once silence returned, she took a deep breath and went to the window.
The cat was patiently waiting for it to open.
“You waited a long time, didn’t you? You must be Leo.”
When she opened it, Leo stretched in a long, lazy yawn before slipping inside.
As he curiously explored the room, Rebecca noticed a small pendant hanging from a necklace around his neck.
She poured water for him, then took out the folded note inside the pendant.
On it, in concise, powerful handwriting, was a single line:
<Let’s meet and talk first.>
It was an answer that felt very much like Julian.
Not a firm promise, but at least she had succeeded in capturing his interest.
Rebecca wanted to cry out with joy.
But it was too soon to celebrate.
After some thought, she began writing carefully on a piece of paper. She folded it small and slipped it back into the pendant.
Leo, apparently fond of her, rubbed against her legs.
Rebecca stroked him with a gentle smile. His purring vibrated pleasantly.
“This is an important note, so please deliver it exactly.”
Leo gave her a small nod.
Then, with a graceful leap, he vanished through the window.
They said all cats were children of the gods. As their leader, Leo was certainly an intelligent one.
<Please come to the Liberta relief house this Wednesday at three o’clock. Wear the plainest clothes possible, and be discreet.>
“She dares summon me? What an amusing woman.”
Julian chuckled as he read Rebecca’s note.
“Good work, Leo. You must be tired.”
He patted his knee and called the cat over.
Leo, however, pretended not to hear.
“You’re sulking just because I sent you on one errand?”
The cat lay down with his back to him in silence.
Julian gave him an exasperated look. With a bound soul, he could share thoughts with the cat. But if the other resisted, he couldn’t force his way in.
He tried focusing, but Leo blocked him.
“Leo, I had no choice. You know how important this is. I couldn’t entrust it to any other cat.”
Julian pressed a hand to his forehead with a groan. Normally cheerful, Leo was difficult to soothe once upset.
‘That woman… she resembles that child from back then.’
Suddenly, Leo’s voice pierced his mind.
Julian froze and stared at him. This was the first time he had ever mentioned it.
“Impossible. That was in a remote forest. You saw her—she looked like she had never left the capital in her life.”
‘I only said what I felt. Anyway, she doesn’t seem like a bad person.’
“That’s a relief, but… Leo, are you really okay with this? If her words are true, she can break the curse. But then you’ll…”
‘It’s fine. My life was abandoned once already.’
“You always put it like that…”
‘If you’re done talking, I’ll be going.’
Leo rose and sauntered away with dignity. Three other black cats followed in his wake.
Even while sharing thoughts, it was impossible to know what truly went on inside that small head.
Rebecca was the same.
Wanting a divorce—and beyond that, proposing marriage to him?
It was absurd. Yet, strangely tempting.
Soon, the temple would begin pressing harder.
For now, their letters only asked after his well-being. But soon they would demand that he father an heir to serve as guardian of the divine messenger.
For the temple, a divorcée was no issue. The Deprian faith allowed relative freedom in matters of marriage.
Polygamy, polyandry—it didn’t matter. Divorce was lenient compared to other nations.
Still, openly taking a second wife was rare.
The faith emphasized freedom of pleasure, but Rotandus culture was conservative.
So people enjoyed indulgences, but discreetly.
Social appearances and religious freedom formed a strange balance.
Thus, unless heirs were at stake like in the Duke of Johannes’ house, most affairs remained at the level of lovers.
Zeppelin was unusual. Rebecca was still young, despite ten childless years.
To take another wife while the first was still youthful was blatant humiliation.
‘That bastard deserves to be divorced.’
Old memories furrowed Julian’s brow.
From the first time he met Zeppelin, he had disliked him.
Because of his frail mother, Julian was raised mostly by his nurse.
She was a rough immigrant woman. Yet, in his few happy childhood memories, she was always there.
But Zeppelin had insulted her, calling her filthy to her face.
‘A human degenerate.’
Julian recalled what Leo had told him about last night at the count’s manor.
The very concept of “punishing one’s wife” was outrageous. And to make her whip a loved one in front of her—how vile could one be?
Who knew what other cruelties she had endured?
“Hah. No wonder she walked around like a corpse.”
Julian remembered Rebecca at the banquet.
Her face in the forest last night had not been an illusion.
She was no longer the same woman he’d once seen. Her eyes shone with conviction, her voice carried strength.
It was as if she had become someone else entirely.
He thought of her delicate neckline, her golden hair cascading like a waterfall, her soft yet firm voice, and her astonishingly thin waist.
‘She was so light when I lifted her.’
Even for a woman, her body was unnaturally weightless.
‘She’s clearly being starved.’
Julian clicked his tongue and resolved that if she became Duchess, the first thing he would do was feed her properly.
He was a natural-born gourmet. The Johannes household boasted some of the empire’s finest chefs.
The morning of Count Zeppelin Devonshire always began the same.
At six a.m., a maid would enter, draw back the curtains, set down a basin of wash water, and quietly leave.
He would bask in the morning sun, wash up lightly, spritz on perfume, then rise from bed.
Next, he would enter the mirror chamber adjoining his bedroom and conduct his mirror ritual for exactly one hour.
In that chamber of mirrors, Zeppelin inspected every inch of his unclothed body.
He adored all products of beauty, but held human beauty—especially that of women—above all.
Yet, there was one exception: himself. Zeppelin Devonshire.
For generations, only beauties had been allowed to bear the title of Countess Devonshire. Zeppelin was the obsessive culmination of that lineage.
His golden hair gleamed. His pale blue eyes shimmered like waves in the sun.
Though he looked somewhat like a delicate youth, his sharp nose and firm lips gave him a manly strength.
His finely sculpted body only enhanced his beauty.
Humming happily, Zeppelin stepped into the mirror chamber as always. Unlike yesterday’s gloom, today’s weather was fine.
He thought it might be pleasant to go on a picnic with his two beautiful wives. Of course, he would need his special parasol to shield his face from the sun.
As he brushed back his hair, his reflection made him freeze.
Perhaps he was still half asleep, so he stepped out and back in.
“AAAAARGH!”
His horrific scream bounced off the mirrors, filling the chamber. His knights burst in, alarmed.
“My lord! What’s wrong?”
“My hair… my hair!”
The golden locks that should have shimmered at his jawline were hacked into a ragged mess.
One knight’s eyes widened at the sight of the butchered hair.
He bit the inside of his cheek desperately to keep from laughing.
“Who did this? Which bastard did this? Was it you?!”
Zeppelin seized the knight by the collar. Though the knight was burly, he was helpless before Zeppelin’s grip.
“N-no, my lord! I wouldn’t dare…”
The murderous gleam in Zeppelin’s eyes wiped the smile from his lips forever. Sweat trickled down his temple.
“What were you doing?! Bring me every guard who stood watch last night!”
Rebecca cracked her door open at the commotion upstairs.
Zeppelin’s furious voice carried down clearly.
Alicia, too, peeked out from her room, staring upward.
She grabbed a passing servant to ask what had happened, but when her eyes met Rebecca’s, she panicked and ducked back inside.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes at the sight.
Since Zeppelin had taken only Rebecca to the banquet hall, Alicia had been relatively quiet.
Clearly, she was plotting something.
Rebecca had a faint idea what that plot might be.
Smiling faintly at Zeppelin’s screams, she closed her door again.
On her nightstand sat a small wooden box.
