The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 44

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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 44
Soldier? Marriage? The two words drifted through the air like a rumor from some distant country. Cecilia giggled and burrowed into Betty’s embrace.
“As if. I’m not getting married. I’m just going to live with Grandmother like this forever.”
“Is that so, my darling?”
Betty pressed a gentle kiss to Cecilia’s forehead. Cecilia closed her eyes and savored the affection. She already knew that years from now, when she reached Betty’s age, she would ache with longing for moments like these.
After humming a lullaby until Betty sank into deep sleep, Cecilia made her way to the Bathroom and undressed.
But when she turned the faucet, no water came out. She groaned in frustration, running both hands through her hair.
I really need to tear open that plumbing and get it fixed one of these days!
“This cursed wreck!”
Bang.
She kicked the bathtub, and outside the door, Ruby—who’d been playing with a Baseball—yelped in alarm. Cecilia called out an apology to her, then turned the useless faucet shut.
The Wall Clock hanging in the Living Room ticked steadily onward toward midnight.
It was far too late to borrow the Main House’s Bathroom. But she couldn’t go to bed drenched in sweat, either.
Which meant there was only one option again……?
It would be a lie to say the last time didn’t weigh on her mind. But the moment she felt sweat trickling down her flat belly, her worries receded into the background.
Gathering her toiletries and clothes, Cecilia strode quickly out of the Bathroom.
A torrential downpour was falling beneath the moonlit sky. Each time lightning struck, the pitch-black world beyond the windows blazed bright as day. It was a fierce summer storm.
In weather like this, that boy wouldn’t dare come anywhere near here.
Cecilia slipped her shoes off and set them quietly by the door. She locked the windows carefully—just in case the wind woke Betty—then left the cozy Cottage behind and dashed toward the Stream.
Meanwhile, while Betty and Cecilia were absorbed in their Novel, Davion lay on his bed with his back against the wall, reading a book of his own.
Through the enormous floor-to-ceiling window opposite the wall, the downpour crashed violently. Soon a thin line creased Davion’s even brows.
He checked the thickness of the remaining pages and muttered in displeasure.
“Why am I even reading this……?”
A preposterous story with not even one percent of realism to it. Was this what romance novels were supposed to be like?
Though he hadn’t made it past the halfway point, Davion gave up and closed the book.
The Captain’s Secret Hobby Vol. 1. The title embossed on the book’s cover reflected the light in a golden shimmer, then faded back to its original color.
After hiding the book deep in a desk drawer where Aileen wouldn’t find it, he pulled a Cigarette from the Leather Case in his pocket and slipped it between his lips. As he reached for a Match, he suddenly noticed the vicious weather and fell into serious contemplation about whether he really needed to step outside the mansion to smoke.
But the moment he happened to encounter Blake in the hallway, that deliberation evaporated.
“Mother?”
Blake, dressed in a black Nightgown, was carrying a Wine Bottle toward the Drawing Room.
Davion hastily concealed the Cigarette between his teeth. It was a stroke of luck that he hadn’t lit it yet.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“The rain won’t let me fall asleep.”
She watched the tall shadow approaching through the dark hallway, her eyes narrowed slightly. Then she squeezed her eyelids shut and released a weary sigh.
“Stop wandering about and get yourself to bed. You’ll stunt your growth if you stay up late.”
“I’ll be twenty-five soon, Mother…….”
“Men keep growing until they’re thirty. At least you should be taller than your father was.”
Hearing her addition, Davion was startled by how well he maintained his composure.
She treated her runaway husband—the one who’d eloped with a maid—as a family curse, yet Blake herself spoke of him casually enough. She did so most often at late hours like this, or on nights when the weather turned harsh.
Davion filtered through the many words spinning in his head and decided to smooth over this awkward moment with a simple goodnight.
“Then I’ll head to bed. Rest well.”
Blake nodded, then entered the Drawing Room and closed the door.
Davion stood in place, waiting for the sounds beyond the door to fade, before slipping the Cigarette back between his lips and moving stealthily out of the mansion.
Before heading to the Cottage, he unfolded the black Umbrella he always kept by the entrance. The moment he stepped off the porch, fat raindrops drummed against the canopy like gunfire.
Truth be told, he could have smoked a single Cigarette just fine in the flower bed. But his legs carried him habitually along the Stream—churning with rainwater—all the way to the distant Cottage.
And there, he saw her.
Cecilia stood in the Stream with her calves submerged, her palms open to the sky, eyes closed.
Moonlight settled upon her soaked silver-white hair. Raindrops struck her skin and streamed down her shoulders and collarbone in rivulets. As silent lightning forked between the hills, her soft silhouette flared brilliant white against the luminous blast.
Cecilia hadn’t noticed Davion yet. As she smiled contentedly and brushed away the rain running down her breastbone, Davion shut his eyes hastily before his mind clouded over.
His mouth had gone dry.
Damn it. What was I even coming here for?
He tried to turn back. But that would look like peeping and fleeing! If Cecilia happened to spot his retreating form, it would be irredeemable.
In the end, after his deliberation, Davion parted his parched lips.
“Is the plumbing broken again, or is outdoor showering a hobby of yours?”
Cecilia startled violently and spun toward the voice. Sure enough, Davion stood like a phantom over the ravine, the black Umbrella shielding him.
Again?
“Would it kill you to at least try not to look?!”
Cecilia crossed her arms over her chest and sat down hard in the Stream, shouting at him.
“Not looking? I’ve got my eyes shut, haven’t I?”
Though he’d meant to tease her back playfully, a subdued sigh slipped into his tone instead, catching Davion off guard. But he soon found himself laughing softly at the delightful little splashes Cecilia made as she floundered about in embarrassment.
“Do you even know where your clothes are, or are you just wandering?”
“I do!”
She snapped the words out sharply, and Davion’s shoulders shook with stifled laughter.
Cecilia wiped the rainwater trembling on her eyelashes and made her way upstream along the Stream, soon reaching the spot near the Cottage where the Clothing Basket had been left. But as she scrambled up the steep embankment, the earth beneath her feet suddenly gave way, and she cried out in alarm.
“Cecilia!”
Davion flung the Black Umbrella aside and plunged into the Stream without hesitation.
Cecilia sat in the middle of the roiling water, her white hair streaming down, and Davion splashed through the violent current toward her, grasped her slender arm, and pulled her upright.
“Are you hurt?”
“Ugh…”
Her face twisted in pain—whether from injury or shock, he couldn’t tell.
When she began to lose her footing and reach for his embrace, Davion started and let go of her in panic. In that instant, Cecilia gasped and clung to him desperately, pleading not to be swept away by the savage current.
“Wait—don’t let go yet. I think I’ve cut the soles of my feet.”
Damn.
The sensation of her body pressed against his took his breath away. His rough palms, which had been wandering without purpose, wrapped around Cecilia’s waist. She looked up at him in shock.
But there was no trace of laughter left on Davion’s face now. His jaw was clenched tight.
Tepid rain streamed down their bodies where they fit together without gap. Cecilia blinked several times, confused. His dark eyes gazing down at her so intently felt suddenly, disturbingly unfamiliar.
Then, belatedly realizing how she was cradled in his arms, she felt heat flood her face.
She had just opened her mouth to speak when—
Davion cupped the back of her head and brought their lips together.

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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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