The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 19

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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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Chapter 19
First, the cat’s white fur was long enough to drag across the floor, and her face was round and flat. With her wrinkled nose pressed nearly into her face, she was by no means beautiful by Davion’s standards.
Strange as it was for an animal to resemble a person, the cat in the box somehow reminded him of a spiteful old woman from a storybook. A check of her rear confirmed she was female.
Compared to Ruby, who could never sit still for a moment in her birdcage, this cat’s temperament was angelic. She sat in the box, blinking eyes like blue sapphires, watching Davion intently.
Even when he stroked her head, she neither scratched nor bit. Had he thrust his hand into Ruby’s cage, his fingers would have been severed and scattered across the floor.
The box contained nothing but the cat. Davion tilted the box and set her gently on the parlor floor, then asked,
“But why are you suddenly giving me a cat?”
“Everyone loves cats, don’t they? At first we were planning to keep her ourselves, but it turned out my wife has a fur allergy.”
Julian checked his wristwatch and replied flatly. The truth was he’d brought her out of concern for his now-solitary friend, but that was hardly something he could simply blurt out.
Davion was now turning the empty box over and examining it from all angles. Still, Julian was grateful to see him showing at least some interest.
“Is there no leash? Do I need to raise her outdoors?”
“You want to raise a descendant of the Royal Family outdoors? You might lose her.”
“But Father’s dog was raised in the yard.”
“Wow, you really have no interest in animals at all, do you?”
He couldn’t deny it—Cecilia hadn’t approved of that either. Suddenly feeling like an ignorant fool, Davion held his tongue.
By now the cat was exploring the parlor, sniffing as she went. Julian clicked his tongue and offered a patient explanation.
“This one’s an indoor cat, so she won’t live long if you raise her outside. She could get hurt fighting with other cats. How could a cat who’s spent her whole life being handled by humans ever stand up to the rough-and-tumble strays out there, hmm?”
He raised his voice as he spoke. The cat meowed from behind the sofa in answer, then returned and curled herself into a circle beside the box.
But when Davion merely toyed with his hands while watching her, Julian eventually grew hurt, rose from the sofa, and complained,
“Your reaction is rather lukewarm. Never mind—if you don’t like her, I’ll take her back.”
“No. Thank you.”
Davion hurried to move the box away so Julian couldn’t take her, laughing.
“My wife will love her.”
Afterward, he took the cat awkwardly into his arms and headed to Cecilia’s bedroom, leaving the parlor. Left alone in a moment, Julian narrowed his brow and stared gravely at the door through which Davion had disappeared.
‘My wife?’
Seconds passed before the familiar sound of footsteps came, and Liam appeared where Davion had vanished.
“Lord Redwick, shall I bring you some coffee?”
Liam, a former lawyer, neither saluted Julian nor addressed him as Major.
“Ah, I’ll pass this time. These days my heart races whenever I drink caffeinated beverages, so I’m trying to cut back.”
“Then I’ll bring you ice water.”
“Thanks. But is he actually unwell? Something seems off, like a screw’s come loose.”
Liam chose to answer with a smile. He couldn’t explain the truth about Cecilia being alive, so it was an unavoidable choice—but Julian took the silence as affirmation, and grew even more grave.
He’d seemed fine the last time. Though come to think of it, if the wife he’d apparently despised had actually ended her own life, maintaining sanity would be difficult indeed…….
The day Julian last saw Cecilia remained unusually vivid in his memory.
Was it a charity gala last April? She’d been sitting in a corner of the banquet hall with a furious expression, and Davion had stood beside her with his massive frame hunched, stammering awkwardly.
From the moment they’d called it a marriage that overcame class differences, he’d suspected as much—but seeing them in person was far more shocking than he’d imagined. Who would have thought Davion could be such a doting husband?
‘Should I even take him to a psychiatric hospital?’
Blake wouldn’t like it, saying it would tarnish his son’s reputation, but by Julian’s judgment, Davion was clearly not in his right mind.
It was while Julian was smoking a cigarette that tasted peculiarly bitter in the flower garden that Davion, unaware of the thoughts turning in his friend’s head, came to stand beside him, rifling through his inside pocket.
“Hey, I’m curious about something…….”
As Julian broached the subject cautiously, Davion looked at him, pausing in the act of lighting the cigarette.
Davion’s eyes bore deep shadows beneath them. Now that he’d stepped into the light, his pallid complexion was stark—he looked like a living corpse.
Perhaps questions related to his wife’s death were premature. Worried he might be touching a wound too raw, Julian ultimately changed the direction of his question at the last moment.
“Do you stay in regular contact with your brother, by any chance?”
“What?”
Davion gave a hollow laugh. He tucked the oil lighter back into his inside pocket and answered,
“How would I stay in regular contact with someone in prison, realistically?”
“Wait—what was your brother charged with again?”
“Aggravated assault with a firearm. He shot the victim in the genitals.”
“Wow. Truly a prodigal son of Systledale.”
Julian shook his head in amazement, and Davion’s eyes hardened fiercely. Whenever the conversation turned to Theodore, it seemed every nerve in him would spring taut, regardless of the subject.
“Do you need connections inside the prison? If so, I can introduce you to someone else.”
“No, that’s not it. I heard a strange rumor recently, and I wanted to check if you had any contacts inside. News from the underworld reaches criminals fastest, after all.”
“A rumor?”
Julian looked around the deserted flower garden broadly, then leaned his torso close to Davion and whispered,
“Apparently, some woman has been single-handedly rescuing abducted girls from the Border region. The strange thing is, no one knows her age, name, or even what she looks like. All the rescued children refuse to reveal any information, as if they’d been brainwashed. It’s quite magical, really.”
Upon hearing this, Davion’s brow furrowed even deeper.
Woman, abduction, and magic—a talent for selecting only the uncomfortable words to emphasize.
Davion exhaled slowly. Come to think of it, the day to interrogate the man he’d locked in the basement wasn’t far off.
“Heroic tales are never a bad thing.”
“I understand. That’s why I said it—I just wanted to check if you knew anyone who could help. I wasn’t trying to burden you, so forget about it.”
Julian added this while patting his shoulder reassuringly.
“And I get that your temperament doesn’t match his, but still—stay in touch with him. Now that both our parents are gone, if anything happens, there’s no one to lean on except your wife and your brother.”
“Our mother will live a long time. She was cursed quite a bit by the servants who used to work here at the Manor, including my wife.”
“What? You’re joking.”
But unlike Julian, who laughed good-naturedly, Davion’s face remained rigid as a plaster cast, exhaling only wisps of gray smoke.
“And if there’s one thing you’ve misunderstood, it’s this: my brother and I are more alike in temperament and nature than you think.”
When Davion lifted his head, his gaze caught a flock of birds wheeling through the sky, following the drift of the clouds. But his dark eyes had already left this place, fixing themselves relentlessly on his brother locked away in the Prison.
“We’re so alike it became a problem.”
* * *
Cecilia came to work without having slept at all.
Ruby had insisted not to worry, yet she never returned by morning. Of course, this meant Cecilia had no way of knowing Davion’s condition either.
Just in case, she’d bought the same Newspaper early that morning, but there was no follow-up article.
Ruby had tormented others plenty, but she was far too large a bird to ever be tormented herself. Had she perhaps lost her way on the journey back? Cecilia knew that was impossible, but if Ruby hadn’t simply gotten lost, there was no way to explain why she’d vanished so suddenly.
‘Unless she ran away of her own accord?’
Having lived in a sprawling Manor and then suddenly found herself on the street, frustration might well have accumulated. Unlike Nagi, Ruby was a romantic bird, a creature of freedom…
‘If she doesn’t come back like this, how am I supposed to explain it to Nagi?’

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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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