Chapter 87
Kanna looked at him in shock.
“What if the guards come running after hearing you shout like that! Someone might try to harm Lady Rebecca!”
“It’s fine. You’re the one who’ll knock all the guards out anyway, aren’t you? Besides, there’s no other way. Now, she’ll be jumping down any second, so stand back.”
It was impossible for Kanna to feel reassured, but what Julian said wasn’t wrong either.
Following his words, she stepped back a few paces.
“Rebecca!”
Julian, who had been staring fixedly up at the sky, shouted with a voice full of relief and excitement.
Rebecca really had climbed up onto the balcony railing. Her figure swayed dangerously in the wind.
Then, turning her body, Rebecca leapt willingly toward Julian.
“Julian!”
Julian’s eyes widened.
Even in that desperate moment, the thought flickered absurdly through his mind—Rebecca, descending through the moonlight, looked like an angel falling to earth.
An angel—no, a devilish angel—who had come to pull him out of the gutter.
“Urgh…”
Julian fell backward as he caught Rebecca in his arms. Thankfully, the soft grass beneath them cushioned the fall.
His trembling hands cradled the back of her head to protect her.
Julian looked up to check her face.
“Are you okay?”
Rebecca, lying in his arms, slowly lifted her head and gave a small, breathless laugh.
“That was reckless, unbelievably so. But… it’s true that it saved me. Thank you, Julian.”
Kanna silently gazed at Rebecca’s radiant smile.
A storm of emotions whirled within her chest, but she didn’t let any of it show on her face.
The more she hid her feelings, the brighter Rebecca smiled—and that was enough for Kanna.
Julian got to his feet and glanced at Kanna.
“You should thank her, not me. Kanna, was it? If it weren’t for her, who knows what would’ve happened to either of us. I should thank you as well—thank you.”
He smiled gently at her.
Kanna lowered her gaze to the ground.
Rebecca jumped up and took Kanna’s hand, giving it a soft squeeze.
“Thank you, Kanna. You always end up saving me.”
Kanna carefully brushed the messy hair from Rebecca’s face. For a moment, a tender emotion flickered in her eyes—but it vanished just as quickly.
“We don’t have time to stand here. We need to leave, now.”
“Right. You can handle any small fry that come at us, can’t you?”
Kanna nodded.
Julian lifted Rebecca up in both arms.
“Forgive me for treating you like an invalid, but with your current speed, running might be risky.”
Instead of scolding him, Rebecca smiled faintly and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I know. Let’s just get out of here quickly.”
At her words, Julian lifted his head.
Kanna dashed forward first, and Julian followed closely behind her.
“We couldn’t capture the intruders. They moved with meticulous precision.”
“Those merciless bastards invaded my study! I could’ve been killed! And what about the incident at the Hall of Light? How are you managing things?!”
Wrapped tightly in a blanket, Zeppelin trembled uncontrollably, shouting at Octavio in panic and rage.
The sight was so pitiful that veins bulged across Octavio’s forehead.
Suppressing his disgust, he forced a polite smile.
“It’s my failure. I’ll mobilize every hound to find them. And as for the Hall of Light—please, don’t concern yourself.”
“Don’t concern myself? When the Knights of the Light could be on their way here any moment?”
“I’ll send word to Lady Rose of Light. She’ll know what to do.”
Octavio lit an incense stick.
As the flame flickered to life, Zeppelin’s previously panicked eyes sharpened.
“You’ve had a rough day, my lord. Rest for now. I’ll handle everything.”
He guided Zeppelin to bed and gently unwrapped the blanket tangled around him, then straightened a thinner quilt and laid it carefully over the count’s body—as tenderly as a father tucking in his child.
Zeppelin, who had been raging only moments ago, obediently followed his lead.
A smile crept over Octavio’s lips.
Everyone thought the memoryless Zeppelin had simply grown gentler—but the truth was different.
When Zeppelin had first regained consciousness, he was consumed by fear and anxiety.
Octavio had whispered to him:
“Poor soul… just listen to me. That’s all you need to do. Then, as before, you’ll have everything you desire.”
Like teaching a child, Octavio had carefully told Zeppelin everything about the affairs of the Devonshire estate.
On the blank page that was Zeppelin’s mind, Octavio drew the map.
Zeppelin clung to him desperately, relying on him completely.
At times, Zeppelin would flash a sweet smile; other times, when they were alone, his original foul temper would flare up.
But even that, Octavio thought, was a good sign—it meant Zeppelin trusted him.
No matter how angry he got, Zeppelin always ended up obeying him.
He signed documents, punished people—all exactly as Octavio instructed.
Octavio was pleased.
He had been the true power behind the Devonshire family all along.
Zeppelin’s title as Count was little more than a formality.
Eventually, he intended for Alicia’s child to follow the same path as Zeppelin.
After all, as long as he held Alicia’s weakness in his grasp, she would obey.
He had to make Alicia into a new “Rebecca” for Zeppelin as soon as possible.
The real Rebecca had been too difficult to control—but Alicia was simple.
Throw her the right bait, and she would move exactly as he wished.
Octavio looked down at Zeppelin, whose eyes blinked blankly at the ceiling, and spoke gently.
“Shall I tell Lady Alicia to come in?”
Zeppelin stared at Octavio’s chilling smile, then shook his head faintly.
“No. I want to be alone.”
“As you wish.”
“Octavio.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Is Alicia truly the lover from my memories?”
At that question, the smile briefly vanished from Octavio’s lips.
His gaze shifted to the softly burning incense, filling the room with its thick fragrance.
Then, looking back at Zeppelin’s pale face, he smiled again.
“Who can say? How could I know what your lover looked like in your mind? But, my lord, the golden-haired, blue-eyed woman caring for you now—that’s Lady Alicia. The woman carrying your child. There’s no one else it could be.”
It was an evasive answer.
Octavio had never once asserted that Alicia was the woman Zeppelin had been searching for.
He was careful to leave himself an escape route in case Zeppelin ever recovered his memory.
Even if Zeppelin accused him of deceit, he could simply say it had all been for his sake—especially if Alicia cried a little beside him.
Octavio was certain: Zeppelin would never abandon him.
Zeppelin closed his eyes and waved his hand weakly.
“Fine. You may go.”
“Then rest well, my lord.”
The sound of the latch clicking into place echoed through the room.
Until the Knights of the Light arrived, Zeppelin was to remain locked inside.
As soon as the door shut, Zeppelin shot up from bed.
He quickly extinguished the incense and opened the window to air out the room.
“You’ve… been deceiving me.”
The moment he saw Rebecca’s face, all his memories had come flooding back.
And with them came the realization that Octavio and Alicia had been manipulating him.
“But why?”
Zeppelin sat heavily on the edge of the bed.
Alicia’s ambition for the title of Countess was no surprise.
But Octavio… was different.
Zeppelin had given him everything—status, power, trust.
He had admired the man’s cunning as something to be respected.
He had believed Octavio truly cared for him.
Now, disgust filled him.
He scraped a bit of the incense’s surface into an envelope and relit another stick, setting it out on the balcony.
Octavio would see it burning all night and believe nothing had changed.
Until he learned why Octavio had betrayed him, Zeppelin intended to act as though everything was normal.
Was it done out of kindness… or malice?
He prayed it was the former as he buried his face in his hands.
Silence and loneliness thickened in the room.
He had never felt so utterly alone.
Before regaining his memory, he had been lonely because he couldn’t uncover the truth about his dream lover.
Now that he remembered—he was going mad from knowing that she was no longer by his side.
Suddenly, the image of a brown-haired man carrying Rebecca flashed before his eyes.
And Rebecca’s tender gaze as she looked up at him.
The idea that she could look at another man like that—it was unbearable.
Rage boiled up inside him.
Zeppelin fell back onto the bed, eyes burning.
Julian… was it?
Hair color could easily be changed.
Even Alicia had altered her eye color.
And there weren’t many men of such build within the empire.
Closing his eyes, Zeppelin carefully retraced his memories.
Then, like sparks igniting, the missing fragments connected, and everything became clear.
The last place he had tracked Rebecca before losing his memory had been the Duchy of Johannes.
Even the black cat that followed her looked exactly like the duke’s.
That was why he had believed Julian had kidnapped her.
If he could only rescue her from that villain’s hands, everything would return to how it once was.
But the Rebecca he saw today…
Yes. I’ll destroy everything you hold dear, crush it to ashes, and throw your wretched body into the flames.
I’ll make you live in hell.
She had looked at him with a face full of hatred.
For a moment, Zeppelin almost believed she truly meant to ruin him.
But then he sneered.
Impossible.
She must have been brainwashed by Julian.
He must have locked her up somewhere, torturing her until she submitted to his will.
A man like Julian—so powerful—could have done that effortlessly.
Ah, my poor Rebecca…
His fragile Rebecca could never have endured such torment.
Surely, she had fallen victim to Julian’s deceit—and that was why she had looked upon him, the man she once loved, as if he were her worst enemy.
