Zeppelin’s sword trembled in his grip.
So, Robert hadn’t spread lies.
How did that bastard know more about Rebecca than I do?
His anger misfired. He regretted killing Robert so easily.
“Lady Rebecca is too good for you.”
Damn it.
Unable to quell his rage, Octavio quickly asked the priest.
“Then are her blisters and fever also due to divine energy?”
The priest paused, then answered.
“In my limited understanding… yes. It’s a divine illness. Records show that those with great divine power, if they resist becoming vessels, sometimes suffer such ailments—rashes and raging fevers. The countess is afflicted with this.”
At the diagnosis, Zeppelin grabbed the priest’s shoulders, shaking him.
“Then the cure! Is there a way to restore her?”
“There is one…”
“Speak!”
Under Zeppelin’s glare, the priest hesitated.
“She must accept the divine. That’s the only way.”
Zeppelin felt the blood drain from him.
Octavio swiftly brought a chair, steadying him before he collapsed.
Slumped, Zeppelin sighed.
“Oh…”
Becoming a saint meant serving only the divine, requiring divorce if married and abandoning children—a path of sacrifice. The choice was hers.
Zeppelin felt like dying.
To restore Rebecca, he’d lose her. Keeping her meant enduring her ghastly state, not the Rebecca he loved.
Rebecca, unconcerned by the gravity, studied the priest with interest.
Impressive acting. I should get his name later.
Catching her gaze, the priest met her eyes. Misreading her smile as a plea, he grew solemn.
“You must decide now.”
Zeppelin answered weakly.
“Decide what?”
“Whether Lady Rebecca will become a saint.”
“Of course, Rebecca—”
He stopped, unsure.
Should she reclaim her beauty and leave him, or stay, marred, for past glory?
Then a thought struck.
Divine illness isn’t hereditary. She can still bear children…
His anger subsided, and he spoke calmly.
“Rebecca will—”
“No. The spouse’s opinion doesn’t count.”
The priest cut him off.
“What?”
“The most important thing is her will. The Goddess Defria, who loves freedom, doesn’t want her servant unhappy.”
Facing Rebecca, he asked.
“Lady Rebecca Devonshire, will you serve as a faithful servant of the Goddess Defria?”
Rebecca scanned the gathered crowd—likely Octavio’s doing.
He nodded at her.
She met his gaze, then smiled triumphantly.
“I…”
* * *
“Damn it!”
Octavio savagely hacked a human dummy with a fencing sword, his strikes chillingly brutal.
Breathing heavily, he swept back his navy hair.
His ageless face shifted from old to youthful, his true age a mystery.
“Daring to outwit me?”
He recalled the day’s events.
“I won’t become a saint. I can’t imagine life without Zeppelin.”
He swung harder, slicing the dummy into pieces that thudded to the floor.
He was certain Rebecca wanted to leave Zeppelin. Her dancing with Duke Johannes and secret outings confirmed it.
Those cold glances at Zeppelin sealed his conviction.
She wasn’t one to make such faces.
Why, then, refuse the path he opened?
Did I overestimate her?
Perhaps she was a fool, unable to judge her own good, like those he despised.
Maybe charming Robert wasn’t strategy but chance—or seduction.
The thought infuriated him.
He scorned those born with unearned gifts.
Today, he classed Rebecca among them.
With her looks, he could’ve ruled a nation.
Yet she’d stay with Zeppelin, even losing her beauty.
Foolish. So foolish.
He recalled Zeppelin grabbing his collar.
Controlling him was getting harder. He needed a solution before Zeppelin slipped his grasp.
“If I can’t move her…”
Deep in thought, a hound knocked.
Their reports came to him before Zeppelin.
“What?”
“Lady Alicia left her room.”
Octavio’s eyes gleamed.
“Right, the count has another doll. A discarded one.”
* * *
Alicia slipped out silently.
The unlit corridor, dark as death, didn’t faze her.
Her steps were light but resolute.
When Rebecca fell ill, Alicia rejoiced—she’d have Zeppelin’s love.
When no doctor could name the disease, she wept with joy.
Today, learning it was an incurable divine illness, she thanked the gods.
In that state, Rebecca couldn’t fulfill a countess’s duties.
Zeppelin grimaced at her stench.
Alicia thought it inevitable she’d replace Rebecca as countess.
But overhearing Zeppelin whisper to Octavio crushed her.
“How can I have a child without touching her too much?”
That afternoon, Grace began buying herbs to aid conception.
Zeppelin wouldn’t let Rebecca go.
Even if he did, he’d never abandon her child.
Rage surged. If Rebecca bore a child, Alicia’s and her child’s place would be clear.
A child of low birth would never be welcomed in noble circles.
Rubbing her swollen belly, she vowed, I’ll protect you.
With resolve, she touched Rebecca’s door handle.
“What do you plan with that little knife?”
Alicia nearly dropped her dagger, startled.
Octavio clicked his tongue, unimpressed.
“Your feeble strength can’t inflict a fatal wound. I told you to think before acting.”
“Octavio…”
“Well, since it’s come to this, I’ll help once more.”
He produced a small vial, its purple liquid glinting like Alicia’s eyes.
“Dakota viper venom.”
“…”
“Scared to kill? Don’t be. It’s known for a peaceful death—no great pain.”
Alicia stared silently.
Octavio leaned in menacingly; she stepped back.
“I promised to make you countess. Follow my lead, or back to the gutter? Say the word, and I’ll send you there.”
“When did I say no?”
Glaring, she snatched the vial.
Octavio smirked, nodding toward the door.
Clutching the vial, Alicia slowly opened it.
* * *
The stench hit her as she entered, and she covered her nose with her sleeve.
The room, once floral, reeked of rot.
Rebecca slept deeply, breathing steadily, occasionally wincing as if battling illness.
Rebecca…
Alicia studied her.
The admired beauty was gone, replaced by a monstrous form.
She recalled her first day here.
With Zeppelin gone, Octavio approached, tempting her with the promise of becoming countess, painting a vivid picture of estate life.
Alicia, desperate to escape her village, had no reason to refuse.
Her beauty was a curse in that small pond, lusted after by men, some vile.
Anywhere was better.
Unlike her mother, she wouldn’t stay trapped.
She followed Octavio to Irencia.
His plan worked.
Starved for days, she fainted and was placed on Rebecca’s walking path.
Rebecca saved her, and Alicia easily won her favor.
She remembered seeing Rebecca that first day—an unforgettable moment.
