Chapter 63
Having heard from Julian about the effects of the paralysis poison, Rebecca asked him to create cigarettes laced with it.
Thanks to this, Robert, who was usually a heavy smoker, was able to inhale the poison without arousing Zeppelin’s suspicion.
Of course, it was a dangerous act.
Zeppelin’s subordinates could have cremated or buried the paralyzed Robert alive.
But behind this plan was Julian.
At the right moment, Julian took Robert away and hid him in the duke’s estate.
“I owe him again.”
Rebecca looked at Robert, who offered her a faint, wry smile.
Now, like Kanna, Robert had become an indispensable connection in Rebecca’s life.
Without Julian, neither she nor Robert would have been able to leave the count’s mansion and laugh freely.
All the more reason, she thought, she had to break Julian’s curse properly.
Ultimately, Rebecca decided to bury the events of yesterday deep within her.
“Since we’ve met like this, I think I should leave now,” Robert said with a gentle smile.
Rebecca hesitated for a moment, lips parting as if reluctant, then nodded.
“You’re going to find your family, right?”
“Yes. I’ll find them. I’ll save more people than the blood I’ve spilled with my own hands.”
Years of regret and lament had become excellent kindling, fueling Robert’s determination.
His black clothing seemed to shine as brilliantly as sunlight.
Robert soon bowed politely and set off on his way.
Rebecca silently watched his figure, moving like a pilgrim, for a brief moment.
When Robert finally disappeared from view, she turned to Kanna.
“Kanna, let’s go home together. Our family will be glad to see you too.”
Kanna carefully observed Rebecca’s noticeably healthier complexion and the mud on her bare feet.
Rebecca stretched her finger toward the small house visible in the distance.
“Look there. That’s our home.”
Our home.
The words left Rebecca’s lips with a brightness that lit up her face.
Without realizing it, Kanna followed her and smiled brightly.
Meanwhile, Zeppelin Devonshire was falling into the abyss.
Countless memories flashed before his eyes like a carousel as he plummeted into the void.
As he reached for fragments of memory, they dissipated like smoke.
The memories did not come to him. They could not be grasped.
They simply showed themselves quietly.
A girl smiling brighter than the snow in a white field.
Zeppelin, unable to fix his gaze on her.
Her cheek, flushed red when he boldly asked her to dance among suitors.
Their first dance together, her intoxicating scent.
The proposal on that snowy day when they first met.
The wedding, more splendid than anyone else’s.
His love, his bride, beautiful like an angel descending from heaven, scattered before Zeppelin’s eyes.
His memories were filled with a single woman.
Yet her face appeared hazy, as if shrouded in mist.
Even though he was looking into her eyes and smiling, he could not recall her face.
But seeing his heart ache with such tenderness, Zeppelin knew she was his lover.
He couldn’t clearly remember her features.
But he vividly remembered her deep blue eyes, like the ocean, and her golden hair, like autumn sunlight captured in strands.
Zeppelin reached out his hand.
He wished she would save him from this abyss.
He reached for his lover, whose face he could no longer recall, drifting far away.
But cruelly, when his hand touched hers, she vanished like vapor without a trace.
Leaving behind only a cold, enigmatic smile, she abandoned Zeppelin to this hell.
Darkness arose where she had been, beginning to consume him.
The darkness greedily licked him from head to toe, tightening its grip around his body.
Finally, the darkness coiled around him, constricting him.
He couldn’t breathe. He could not draw a single breath.
“Take me out of here. Save me.”
He begged the woman above him, looking down from the sky, but she did not turn back.
From the void, she whispered to him, showing him her back.
“Do you regret it?”
“Gasp… gasp…”
Zeppelin snapped his eyes open.
The room was filled with darkness.
For a moment, he mistook it for a dream because everything was pitch-black.
But the heavy weight on his chest made him realize this was reality.
He stared blankly at the figure lying atop him.
He couldn’t remember where he was, or even who he was.
The only thing he could recall was the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman he loved from his dream.
“My count…?”
When Zeppelin moved, the one sleeping on his chest rubbed her eyes and sat up.
She spoke to him in a sweet voice.
“Count! My goodness, you’re awake?”
She hurriedly lit a lamp.
Zeppelin squinted against its bright light.
As his eyes adjusted, he saw her, tears like pearls streaming down her cheeks.
“I thought you’d never wake up.”
She held his hand while sobbing uncontrollably.
Zeppelin examined her carefully.
Golden hair like dripping honey, sapphire-blue eyes.
Could she be my lover?
Was she the woman I desperately reached for in my dream?
He took her hand, cupped her cheek, and asked,
“Where is this? Who… am I?”
She stared blankly, trying to comprehend the situation.
“I… I’m Alicia, Count. Don’t you remember me?”
“Oh. Alicia.”
Zeppelin repeated her name several times, yet he could recall nothing connecting them.
The woman from his dream felt different from the one before him…
Hesitant, he asked,
“Then, Alicia… are you my lover?”
Alicia hesitated briefly.
Then, as if seizing the moment, she gently took his confused hand.
“Yes. I am your wife. Alicia Devonshire, Countess.”
The day Zeppelin braved the storm to reach Rebecca,
Alicia’s fragile hope, which she had tried desperately to protect, was shattered by the pounding hooves.
She wept, gathering the fragments of her broken hope.
If she stayed here, Octavio would search for a new Rebecca, and she would once again be like a candle before the storm.
Now, survival was the priority.
She had to find a way to stay here, no matter what.
Even if treated worse than a servant, Alicia did not wish to leave the mansion.
No, she could not leave. Even if she became a ghost, she vowed to remain as Countess Devonshire.
Perhaps understanding her resolute determination, Octavio obediently granted her request.
It didn’t matter who became the new Rebecca, as long as they obeyed his words.
If they displeased him, he could break them and buy a new one for Zeppelin.
Moreover, reusing what was already there was more efficient.
Octavio knew well that Alicia could not let go of his hand.
Thus, he decided to make Alicia the temporary Rebecca.
That night,
While Zeppelin was banging his head against the gates of the duchy, Alicia headed for the black market.
A small carriage came to escort her.
“Use this.”
A masked man handed her a blindfold. Only authorized individuals could travel without one.
Alicia took it without a word.
The carriage jolted relentlessly over rough mountain paths.
“Get down.”
Following the man’s instructions, Alicia stepped out, removing her blindfold.
The moment she stepped out, she nearly screamed.
The massive cave entrance looked like a beast with its mouth wide open.
Though she had been there before, she was still terrified.
Confirming that it was indeed a cave, Alicia clutched her racing chest and moved forward.
The damp interior was far cooler than outside.
Shivering from the cold, she tightened her robe.
After some time, she arrived at a square lined with large tents.
The black market.
It opened at dusk and grew livelier as night deepened.
Amid the throngs, Alicia retraced her memory to reach her destination.
The market primarily dealt in illegal alchemy goods not approved by the royal family.
Additionally, people, rare creatures, and even monster corpses were traded.
Anything could be acquired here, if one had the money.
“It’s been a while.”
Igor recognized Alicia first and approached her.
Squinting, Alicia examined the white rose emblem on Igor’s blindfold.
Recognizing it, she spoke,
“The items are ready, I assume?”
“Of course. This way, please.”
She entered the tent, and the heat and acrid chemical smell hit her.
Two girls stood before a large tub of water prepared for bathing, radiating a mysterious aura.
“These girls will assist you,” Igor said with a sly grin.
“The effects are guaranteed?”
“Absolutely. The quality is guaranteed. But for the eye drops, they must be applied once per month.”
“Side effects?”
Most goods sold in the black market came with serious side effects.
But there were always those willing to sell their soul for miraculous efficacy.
Alicia was one of them.
“You could go blind,” he said chillingly, and Alicia flinched.
Igor looked at her swollen belly.
“And it could affect the precious child you carry.”
Alicia instinctively hugged her stomach.
Igor smiled darkly.
“The last batch seems to have done its job well.”
Alicia’s round eyes narrowed. She threw a pouch of gold coins at Igor’s chest.
“Stop with the useless chatter. Just do your job properly.”
“I don’t mind, but are you sure about this?”
Igor weighed the coins in his hand.
Alicia answered without hesitation.
“It doesn’t matter.”
She tossed her robe to one of the waiting girls, who took it without complaint.
“If I don’t do this, I’m as good as dead anyway.”
Igor shrugged and stepped outside the tent.
Alicia slowly undressed and entered the bath. The water was scalding hot, and she had to swallow a scream.
Then the two girls rushed forward, dousing her hair with the potent chemicals.
Her once beautiful pale violet hair gradually lost its luster.
The burning pain in her scalp overwhelmed her.
