The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 21

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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 21
Oh my goodness. Cecilia’s heart began pounding in an entirely different way. Esmeralda, having arrived at her conclusion, closed the distance rapidly and pressed the matter.
“You are Cecilia, Countess of Winterhall? The wife of Davion Cissledown of Winterhall?”
She leaned over the railing and bent down to examine Cecilia’s face. Cecilia, flustered, began to stammer.
“N-no, that’s not—”
“Come on, it is. I can tell just by looking. Besides, when someone’s mistaken you for someone else, they usually say they’ve got the wrong person—they don’t say no outright.”
How on earth had she figured it out?
A thousand thoughts flashed through Cecilia’s mind in an instant. She dropped her mop where she stood and made a desperate dash for the exit, only to have Esmeralda seize her by the arm.
“Are you trying to run away right now?”
Cecilia cried out in despair.
“Of course I am! I’m supposed to be dead! If my husband finds out I’m alive, then I—!”
“I won’t tell the Count. So stop running. And stop shaking like that—people will think an actress is bullying the janitor.”
Cecilia tried with all her might to wrench her hand free, but Esmeralda’s grip was iron. With no one around to call for help, she was trapped.
Cecilia’s ears flushed crimson as she glared up at Esmeralda—who stood a full head and more taller than herself—and demanded sharply.
“How am I supposed to trust you? You were even engaged to Davion before—!”
“Can you talk to animals?”
Esmeralda released Cecilia’s hand and added.
“I can too.”
At that, something stirred in Esmeralda’s trouser pocket, and a golden hamster poked its tiny head out.
The hamster waved its grain-sized front paws in greeting to Cecilia.
「Hello. I’m Jeremy.」
……
As Cecilia stood speechless, breathing heavily, Esmeralda shrugged and offered a radiant, victorious smile.
“You’re not the only Witch in this world, Cecilia.”
Deep down, she’d known it. Yet who could have possibly anticipated that Esmeralda herself was a Witch?
Of all things.
Sometimes there are things you cannot believe even after seeing them with your own eyes.
.
.
.
On days when there were no major performances scheduled, most of the cleaning staff clocked out at three in the afternoon.
Fortunately, Arcan hadn’t come to fetch her today. Cecilia arrived at a coffee shop following the directions Esmeralda had sketched for her.
As she stepped inside, she caught sight of Esmeralda’s silhouette at a corner table. She wore only a coat over a plain gray practice outfit.
The coffee shop was small and intimate, with perhaps a dozen tables. Movie posters in frames hung on wooden walls left intentionally unpainted, and soft music drifted from a state-of-the-art turntable.
Having never been in such a place before, Cecilia felt awkward as she looked about, then made her way to Esmeralda. Hearing footsteps, Esmeralda set down her women’s magazine and rose to pull out the chair opposite.
“Come, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable.”
The gracious treatment made Cecilia’s cheeks flush.
“Is it even all right for an actress to be in a place like this? Won’t people recognize you?”
“Don’t worry. I rented out the whole place.”
Esmeralda’s answer carried a light, amused tone.
Now that she looked around, there wasn’t a single customer inside, despite the hour being broad daylight. Cecilia settled into her chair and spoke as if issuing a warning beforehand.
“I’m waiting for someone, so I can’t stay long. And if you try to kidnap me, that person will come looking.”
“Understood—relax. What would you like to drink? Coffee? Or tea?”
Whatever this place served, Cecilia doubted it would suit her taste. As she hesitated, unable to decide, Esmeralda seemed to read her mind and ordered for her.
“An espresso and a glass of milk, please.”
With only the two of them as customers, the order was completed in moments. Holding the warm glass of milk in both hands, Cecilia sat in silence for a long while.
Sitting at the same table as Esmeralda felt like sitting on pins and needles. Come to think of it, since marrying Davion, they had never crossed paths by chance. After her husband’s accidental death left her a widow, it seemed far too late to ask how she had been managing.
“I had no idea you carried Witch’s blood.”
At last choosing her opening words, Cecilia spoke quietly. Esmeralda sipped her coffee and smiled with the grace of a painting.
“I hide it in my daily life. You know what it’s like—those looks, as if you’re some kind of monster. And I’ve heard that Witch Hunters still exist these days. It’s better to keep it hidden to avoid them.”
Esmeralda’s hamster sat atop a magazine tucked into a corner of the table, cracking seeds. As Cecilia’s gaze drifted toward it, Esmeralda stroked its head and explained.
“Jeremy was a friend from the Reptile Shop. He was destined to be food for a boa constrictor, but he looked so pathetic shaking in the feeder tank that I paid three times the boa’s price to take him. Don’t you have family like that too?”
At the question, Ruby—someone she’d momentarily forgotten—came to mind.
Where was she, and what was she doing? If she were waiting at the Hotel, that would be perfect, but an anxious premonition suggested otherwise.
“I live with a crow and a serpent. Though neither of them eats rats. Especially Nagi—the serpent—I deliberately raised her on fish alone so she wouldn’t, even by accident, attack the house rats.”
Witches were unique in the animal kingdom in that they could not commune with aquatic creatures. Her fingers trembling slightly, Cecilia finally gathered her courage and spoke.
“I’m sorry to be shameless, but could I ask you for one favor?”
“Fair warning—I can’t lend more than a hundred thousand Bennets. Tax complications could arise.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
Esmeralda clapped her hands and broke into delighted laughter, and only then did Cecilia realize it had been a joke. Yet rather than easing her tension, it made her feel even more uncomfortable, as though her stomach were about to turn inside out.
“The thing is, my raven hasn’t come back.”
And then she hesitated before laying bare the circumstances.
It was little different from confessing she’d done something foolish of her own accord. Her face burned with shame, but when she needed someone’s help so desperately, she had no choice but to grasp even the unwelcome lifeline that was Esmeralda.
Yet contrary to her expectation, there was no trace of jest in Esmeralda’s expression as she listened intently. The moment she responded with genuine concern, Cecilia found herself forgetting her earlier discomfort and feeling a profound gratitude wash over her.
After several minutes had passed, as the account drew to a close, Cecilia was nearly in tears.
She missed Ruby more than ever before. If the bird had truly run away, she wouldn’t even mind if it left again—she just wanted to see it once more, to say a proper goodbye.
“There’s a pigeon I’m close with in Urbanbrick. I can try asking it to search for Ruby, but it’s particularly afraid of ravens, so I wouldn’t hold out much hope.”
Upon hearing Esmeralda’s reply, Cecilia buried her flushed face in her hands.
“Thank you so much, Esmeralda. I won’t forget this.”
“Don’t mention it. We witches must uphold the bonds between us. But when did you remarry?”
It was a casually thrown question, prompted by the ring she noticed on Cecilia’s ring finger.
“Oh my, the Count of Winterhall will be quite upset.”
At that, Cecilia slowly lifted her head from behind the white hair that fell like a curtain. The moment Davion was mentioned, the tears vanished as if they’d never been there at all.

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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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