The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 29

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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 29
Sunfield Square Garden had five entrances in total. The main gate was used by patrons, and the rear gate was checked by security at regular intervals, making it quite secure. The problem lay with the remaining three side exits.
The side exit on the western end, in particular, which connected to the back alley, was deemed so dangerous that staff were instructed to avoid using it. The primary reason for the danger was, naturally, the vagrants who lived in the back alley.
If the door was locked, they forced it open. If furniture was placed in front of it, they smashed through the windows.
Because they had nothing to lose, not even the city’s security officers could stop their rampages. There were even rumors that some deliberately broke in in hopes of being jailed.
“There’s no need to be so anxious. The security guards patrol frequently, so nothing should happen. Still, if someone does slip in from outside, avoid making eye contact at all costs. If your eyes do meet, simply get away from them. If you provoke them, you could get hurt.”
“I understand. Thank you for telling me.”
Cecilia’s smile held gratitude for the kindness of switching shifts with her.
Her coworker, eyeing Cecilia’s thin frame with disapproval, patted her shoulder in encouragement before leaving.
A cutting wind carved through the narrow alley, rattling the windows loudly. Beyond the grimy glass, smeared with dust and fingerprints, vagrants drifted like ghosts.
At the end of the hallway stood a heavy iron door leading to the actor’s waiting room. The closer one approached the door, the more scattered the floor became with empty beer bottles and torn fabric. On one wall, even a dark stain remained where blood seemed to have splattered and dried.
‘Ugh, it’s so cold…….’
Cecilia hugged her upper body with one arm to ward off the creeping chill, broom in hand. Just then, a dull thump echoed from somewhere, startling her. She spun around to look.
A security guard was inspecting the inside of a trash bin around the corner of the hallway.
The noise had apparently come from him dropping the lid. Upon spotting Cecilia cowering like a frightened rabbit, the guard waved his hand apologetically into the empty air.
She swallowed hard.
‘I’ve escaped from places where I nearly got kidnapped and sold. This is nothing.’
Cecilia calmed her racing heart and checked the pocket knife hidden in her sleeve.
Following her coworker’s advice, she quickened her pace toward places where the vagrants’ gazes couldn’t reach her.
* * *
Davion stood at the entrance to the theater, holding a beautifully wrapped bouquet of flowers.
It went without saying that Esmeralda’s drawing power was considerable.
Beginning two hours before the performance, expensive automobiles had been gathering on the nearby avenue. The valet attendants had even told him there was no space left in the parking lot. That was why Liam was now parking the car on the shoulder across the street.
Most of the spectators were women. They attended with partners or friends, but as they entered the theater, each and every one of them glanced sideways at Davion.
Davion felt his collar grow uncomfortable, and he tugged at his necktie.
The patrons he observed were dressed mostly in lighter, more casual attire. As if advertising that this was their first time attending a performance, Davion alone stood out in a crisp, sharply tailored three-piece suit. With the bouquet in his hands besides, he was impossible to ignore.
“Count.”
About a minute later, Liam came racing toward him, his golden hair streaming behind him.
While not quite a three-piece suit, Liam had also dressed with considerable formality. Only then did Davion feel his embarrassment ease somewhat, and he released his grip on the necktie.
“You didn’t scratch it again, did you?”
“Of course not. This time I parked it properly. I got out and checked myself.”
As Liam dropped the keys into Davion’s gloved palm, his face radiated pride at his own accomplishment.
Before heading into the theater together, he gestured with his thumb toward the alley and asked, “Ah, would you like to have a quick smoke before we go in? Once the performance starts, it won’t be easy to slip out midway.”
“Never mind. I’m quitting.”
“Pardon?”
Liam’s eyes widened in shock.
A chain-smoker who went through two packs a day quitting smoking? If this too was part of his preparations to meet Cecilia, then Davion was indeed undertaking an extraordinary ordeal.
“Since when, exactly?”
“A few days now.”
“A few days?! Wow, I suppose the sun will rise from the north tomorrow!”
Liam grew increasingly animated, nearly shouting. Davion lightly ignored his theatrics and entered the crowded lobby first.
An usher was waiting for them at the entrance. After comparing their faces to the photograph Esmeralda had provided, the usher’s expression brightened as he approached them.
“Pardon me, but you are acquaintances of the actress Esmeralda, are you not?”
“Ah, yes. Just a moment, please.”
Liam, arriving a moment late, hurriedly pulled two tickets from his pocket and showed them. The ticket Davion received bore Esmeralda’s signature specially inscribed upon it.
The usher adeptly navigated through the crowd, leading the two men toward Esmeralda’s waiting room.
The backstage area of the main theater revealed itself only after passing through a staff-only entrance and proceeding much further in.
With less than an hour remaining before the performance began, the backstage area appeared extremely busy. Sure enough, the moment they stepped into the waiting room hallway, cleaning staff streamed out from the space adjoining the stage, chattering amongst themselves.
“Have all the lights been wiped down?”
“I double-checked just a moment ago.”
“In that case…… wait, where’s Cecilia? Isn’t she responsible for the main theater too?”
“Today she switched shifts with Hilda. Apparently she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Is that so? She seemed fine when I saw her this morning…… But she switched with Hilda?”
Because performance props were strewn about, the hallway was cramped with barely room to step. In that congestion, one of the cleaning staff, busy counting heads, failed to notice Davion and backed right into his chest.
“Oh my, I’m truly sorry!”
The woman, who turned and spotted him only then, was startled and appeared to be about Cecilia’s age.
“No harm done. Please go ahead.”
Davion stepped aside and smiled to put her at ease. The moment the cleaning staff hurried past, his ears caught an excited whisper.
“Did you see? He’s almost as handsome as Cecilia’s husband!”

“Shh! Everyone’s going to hear us!”
“I have to tell Cecilia about this when we get back!”
“I said, keep your voice down!”
Meanwhile, the usher had knocked on the door marked “Esmeralda” and, after a brief wait, gestured permission before opening it.
Esmeralda was seated before a mirror ringed with bulbs, touching up her makeup.
The usher closed the door behind them. Only when she heard the soft click did Esmeralda, absorbed in her reflection, turn to look.
But before they could exchange pleasantries, Davion’s face twisted into something harsh the moment he laid eyes on her.
“The roads were terrible, I’m sure—I hope the drive wasn’t too difficult?”
Esmeralda straightened her wrinkled maid’s uniform and rose from her seat.
In that instant, Cecilia seemed to overlay her features. Davion went rigid as stone, his mouth hanging slack, but Liam swiftly plucked the bouquet of flowers from his grip and thrust it toward Esmeralda instead, his tongue quick with easy charm. “Never mind the roads—the real nightmare was the parking garage. No spaces, so we had to leave the car out on the street. I’m half-expecting a fine.”
“That’s the lot here—it’s always cramped. If you do get a ticket, I’ll pay it for you.”
“Really? Truly?”
“Of course. Though only up to a thousand, I’m afraid.”
Esmeralda gave a playful wink to the bewildered Liam.
While they laughed and chattered in that warm, easy mood, Davion had finished his assessment. From where he stood, he splashed cold water on his own face with a rough, deliberate motion.
‘Damn it all.’
A wave of despair crashed over him. He should have looked up the plot beforehand if he’d known it would be like this.
Most of the performances at Sunfield Square Garden were designed with a female audience in mind. That was the only way word of mouth would spread, enough tickets would sell to cover the rental fees and pay the actors their worth.
“Strangers Beneath the Sun” was no exception.
A woman born into a fallen noble house enters service as a maid in a great family’s manor, where she struggles against the odds. As the protagonist seeks out her true identity, she becomes entangled with two men who are enemies to each other—and romance inevitably follows.
Now that he thought about it, Cecilia had always enjoyed those adult romance novels about an earl and a maid committing indiscretions in secret. The memory of her recommending them to him several times flickered through his mind.
So a marriage between nobility and commoner—taboo in real life—became an alluring, captivating subject within the realm of fiction, one that stirred women’s hearts……
Something beyond mere displeasure coated his tongue with bitterness. He’d never cared for this sort of thing, but now he felt utterly adrift, certain he couldn’t enjoy this performance no matter how hard he tried.

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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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