The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 18
Ruby opened her beak wide.
Oh, for heaven’s sake!
Piled high on the coffee table nearby were Peanuts — roasted ones, no less!
“P-p-peanuts!”
Caw! Forgetting entirely that she was supposed to be sneaking, Ruby hopped in place with delight.
“Oh yes! Peanuts! Peanuts! Peanuts!”
She flew straight to the table and began stuffing her beak greedily with them. As the plate grew lighter and lighter, the rope concealed beneath it began to unwind rapidly.
The rope was connected to the Steel Cage hanging from the ceiling.
It wasn’t until the cage came down with a clang that Ruby, so absorbed in savoring the Peanuts, let out a startled shriek. Only then did she realize she’d been trapped.
“…….”
Davion, who had been lying on the bed like a corpse, pushed back the blanket and rose slowly.
Looking down at the raven thrashing about noisily inside the Steel Cage, he finally allowed himself the victor’s smile.
“Caught you.”
1-5. Unspeakable Secrets
Davion hadn’t slept a wink.
The raven had spent the entire night struggling to escape and shrieking, and it was now perched on his office desk, snorting and glaring at him with evident hostility.
True to being a bird raised by Cecilia, it had a rebellious streak that was rather impressive.
When Davion extended a Tweezers with a peanut held between its tips, Ruby shrieked again and batted the peanut away with her beak.
“You can starve for all I care. I’m not letting you out just because you refuse to eat.”
Davion issued the threat and picked up the fallen peanut from the floor, offering it again, but the result was the same.
Proud of having made a human bend over twice, Ruby spread her wings as wide as her cage would allow and cackled with glee.
Liam naturally knew of Cecilia’s true nature and the animals she kept, yet he seemed unconvinced by Davion’s plan.
“Do you truly believe the madam will return this way, sir?”
“She’s raised this bird like a daughter since it was a chick. Even if not now, eventually—when she learns I have it—she’ll come looking for it. There’s no way she’d leave the city without this bird.”
When Ruby batted away the peanut a third time, Davion finally abandoned the effort. He tossed the Tweezers into the drawer where the Revolver lay and spoke with finality.
“Then starve.”
Ruby couldn’t understand the words, but their meaning was clear enough. Her spirit deflated, and she blinked her bead-like eyes meekly.
Just then, the telephone rang.
Liam moved to answer it out of habit when Davion quickly extended his arm to stop him.
“It’ll be Mother.”
His prediction was right. The moment Liam picked up, a firm woman’s voice pierced through the receiver.
—I saw the article. Smallpox, is it? Are you all right?
“It’s a False Rumor, Mother.”
Five seconds of silence stretched across the line.
Before answering, Blake exhaled a long, weary sigh—one tinged more with resignation than relief.
—I thought as much. And to think of all the care I’ve lavished on you—all those vaccinations wasted. I was nearly beside myself with indignation.
“I’ve decided not to publish a correction for now. Instead, I intend to first apprehend whoever spread this False Rumor.”
—Do as you see fit. But make sure it doesn’t interfere with your Parliament duties. Catch them quickly.
“Yes.”
Davion lied without the slightest hesitation, and Liam gave him a thumbs-up from beside him. But then Ruby began shrieking again, so he hurriedly draped a black cloth over the Steel Cage.
—By the way, when do you plan to do the Exhumation? You said you’d do it once the weather warmed, but I’ve heard nothing about it.
“The Exhumation is… I’d like to wait a bit longer.”
—Why?
Unable to think of an excuse, Davion swallowed a groan. Liam, confirming that the Steel Cage had gone quiet, wrote something on a piece of paper and showed him what to say. This time Davion gave him a thumbs-up.
“I haven’t yet caught that criminal I mentioned before. I’ve been occupied with personally inspecting the city lately.”
—City inspection? Personally?
“I’ll need to prepare a report for Parliament by March, and I’m making the rounds myself to gather the information.”
Davion could picture Blake’s expression.
She was probably displeased. Blake had always been inclined to control others, which often made things uncomfortable for her family.
Especially Cecilia—how terrified she’d been of Blake. Every time Blake visited, he’d watched Cecilia shuffle her feet anxiously, tense as a coiled spring.
—Fine then. Take your time.
With that, the line went dead.
Despite having pulled an all-nighter, Davion’s complexion was brighter than usual. Likely because hope—in the form of a small black bird—had finally fallen into his hands.
Until a visitor arrived in an automobile and knocked at the mansion gate, he hummed to himself for the first time in months as he cleaned Cecilia’s bedroom. And he found himself lost in pleasant thoughts about renovating the Cottage where she’d lived with her grandmother.
She would surely like it. The Cottage held so many memories of just the two of them; she might even think it a wonderful surprise.
True, I’m still angry that she deceived me and ran away, but I won’t punish her or cause her pain. If I do, she’ll hide away somewhere again, and then I won’t be able to embrace her, to touch her……
Ah.
I’m going mad wanting to see you.
“Open the door! Get out here now, or I’m breaking it down!”
Through the window, Davion watched the familiar Black Coupe pass through the gates. By the time he’d locked his bedroom door and descended to the first floor, Julian was already pounding on the entrance with his fists, bellowing.
“Welcome.”
For once, Davion didn’t send Liam to greet the guest—he answered the door himself.
“I drove five hours straight after hearing the news.”
Julian stood in the doorway, his chestnut hair thoroughly disheveled, both arms cradling an enormous Paper Box. As he gripped the door handle, he raked his eyes over Davion from head to toe before speaking.
“You look perfectly fine.”
“Of course I do. It’s a False Rumor.”
Davion opened the door wider, then offered an apology of sorts to Julian, whose expression had turned incredulous.
“Seems the investors spread the rumor themselves.”
“Well, it happens. My wife dealt with something similar once—though it was influenza, not Smallpox. Despicable business, really.”
“You’re telling me.”
The Thisledown Ducal House, the ancestral seat of the Winterhold earldom, was a family of military commanders and landed gentry spanning centuries. Davion’s great-grandfather had been a general of historical renown, and in his lifetime had earned six titles while governing territories of staggering extent.
Though the Ducal House had lost portions of its lands when dynasties shifted and new policies took hold, it remained a formidable landholder. Some ten years prior, the Thisledown Duke had abandoned his family for reasons unknown, and Davion inherited the agricultural estates he’d once possessed.
Davion leased those lands to those who needed them, or sold parcels to railway companies, generating revenue through both channels.
With the money earned, he primarily purchased government bonds, occasionally directing funds toward stock purchases in overseas trading companies. Given that pattern, the investors’ False Rumor was entirely plausible.
Of course, it was a lie now.
“This was meant to be a surprise visit—I should have called ahead if I’d known. I brought a get-well gift.”
Julian pressed the box into Davion’s arms.
“This is…”
Davion froze in shock. Something inside the perforated box was wriggling.
‘A living creature?’
Unable to bring himself to open it, he fixed Julian with a questioning stare. His friend merely shrugged, speaking with unmistakable pride.
“Cost me a fortune to acquire. Supposedly a descendant of a cat the royal family used to keep.”
“A cat?”
“Open it yourself if you’re curious enough.”
A cat? Out of nowhere? Davion was frowning at Julian when suddenly a sound erupted from inside the box, and he started visibly.
The Thisledown Duke had once enjoyed hunting and kept dogs, but never a cat. Now Davion recalled the wild cats that used to prowl the estate walls and carefully, deliberately, opened the box.
Yet the cat inside bore little resemblance to what he’d expected.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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