The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 67

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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 67
“What… what are you doing?”
Davion gripped Cecilia’s hand firmly and led her out onto the shore. Kneeling before her, he carefully dried her wet feet with his coat and slipped her shoes back on.
When he took her hand again and began walking, Cecilia’s bewilderment swelled beyond her control.
“Wait. Where are we going?”
“To take your picture. For your grandmother. She’s going to love it.”
“What?”
It was well past midnight, and the Manor had long since gone dark.
Everyone should have been deep asleep. Yet with each step, the wet shoes squelched loudly enough to echo through the hallways, and Davion seemed entirely unbothered.
But then, as though struck by lightning, he suddenly froze in the middle of the corridor.
In an instant, he pulled Cecilia close and ducked behind the corner, his hand clamping over her mouth. The unexpected force snapped her head back, and she felt the sharp pain of her skull striking his firm chest.
When she gasped, Davion gently stroked her white hair and whispered softly.
“Sorry. Are you all right?”
Cecilia frowned against the throbbing ache and pulled his hand away from her mouth.
“What’s going on?”
“Shh.”
Davion held his index finger to his lips and pointed past the corner.
They both crouched low and carefully peered around the edge. About thirty meters away, by a window, a man and woman were locked in an impassioned kiss.
Cecilia screwed up her face and leaned further forward to get a better look. When Davion saw her expression, he stifled a laugh.
“There are always people like us around somewhere.”
Cecilia’s eyes adjusted swiftly to the darkness. Soon she made out the man’s face and let out a gasp of disbelief.
“It’s that driver who was so cold to me.”
At her words, Davion’s brow furrowed, and he started to lean back around the corner. Cecilia pushed his chest to pull him away, muttering as she did.
“Good heavens. He looks like a completely different person from this angle.”
“Well, what man isn’t affectionate with his own lover?”
Fortunately, they didn’t linger long. The couple departed, leaving only the sound of their contented laughter behind. With his arm draped protectively around Cecilia’s shoulders, Davion resumed walking, leading her toward the room with the camera.
Before switching on the light, he meticulously drew the curtains to ensure no light escaped. The room was utterly bare—not a stick of furniture, not a single ornament—with only a camera standing solitary in the center.
Davion dragged a chair from the corner to the front of the camera and tapped it gently.
“Sit here.”
Since she’d never been in this room before, Cecilia remained seated but let her curious eyes roam over every corner.
Davion was arranging her hair and adjusting the negligee that revealed her bare shoulders when Cecilia suddenly frowned. She grabbed his wrist, her voice thick with worry.
“Wait. Don’t we need to have the film developed separately? If someone sees it…”
“I’ll do it myself. I practiced it secretly a few times when I was younger, following along with my brother.”
“Then I should pay you for the photographs. How much do you usually charge?”
“What?”
Davion laughed. Cupping her soft cheek in his hand, he kissed her forehead tenderly and whispered affectionately.
“I don’t want money from you. Instead, smile. That’s what makes you look beautiful.”
After that, he positioned himself behind the camera and prepared to press the shutter.
“Cecilia, smile!”
Cecilia clasped her hands awkwardly and stared into empty space, but only when her eyes met Davion’s did she finally smile.
In this moment, Cecilia had no way of knowing what fate awaited her. She didn’t know that she would ultimately marry Davion.
She didn’t know that she would later flee from him, that this very photograph would be used as her wanted poster, or that she would be captured again and waste away with a terminal illness, dying a painful death in his arms.
Cecilia would live only five more years and three months, perishing before her twenty-eighth birthday in Davion’s embrace.
* * *
Davion drew deeply on his cigarette, holding the photograph close to his eyes.
In the black-and-white image, Cecilia sat with her hands neatly folded, gazing awkwardly into the void.
He should have pressed the shutter later. He regretted not capturing her beautiful smile.
As he gazed at Cecilia, a gentle smile began to bloom at the corners of his mouth—when suddenly, a harsh autumn wind swept in, and an ember flew from his cigarette, landing squarely on the photograph.
Davion started in alarm and quickly brushed it away. But Esmeralda had witnessed the whole clumsy display.
She approached with long strides, her boots crunching through fallen leaves. The area behind the Garage was rarely visited, so the autumn leaves were seldom swept away.
“I’m dying to go home. I have a rehearsal tomorrow for the performance.”
As she came to stand beside him, Davion coughed awkwardly and tucked Cecilia’s photograph into his jacket pocket.
“I’ve told you countless times not to schedule appointments the day before a rehearsal.”
Esmeralda retrieved a metal case from her coat pocket and drew out a cigarette with practiced ease. Watching her, Davion’s brow creased in surprise.
“I didn’t know you smoked.”
“Mother taught me not to smoke in front of men. But there’s no need to impress you anymore.”
She snapped the case shut with a distinct click and slipped it back into her pocket, then belatedly sought his permission.
“You don’t mind if I smoke nearby?”
Davion gestured carelessly, giving his consent. Esmeralda thrust her hand into her coat pocket and smiled lightly in return.
“I’ll quit before the year is out. Anyway, what’s happening with the slush fund?”
“Your help made the work so much easier.”
“I’m glad to hear it. You looked so troubled the whole time you were speaking with my mother that I worried I’d given you the wrong bank information.”
“Actually… there’s been another problem besides the slush fund.”
He scratched his eyebrow with his thumb, the cigarette still held in his other hand, and an embarrassed look flickered across his face. Esmeralda lowered her head and giggled softly.
“It seems you didn’t get the Duchess’s permission after all?”
“It’s something more serious than that.”
“Yes?”
Esmeralda’s smile faded at once.
Between strands of black hair stirred by the breeze, Davion’s reddened ears were visible. But the moment he was about to speak, the sound of footsteps reached them, and both turned their heads simultaneously.
Cecilia was passing by, pulling a hand cart piled high with fallen leaves.
The rusted cart wheels creaked and groaned as they turned. Davion’s mind went blank in an instant, his eyes unable to leave Cecilia as she receded into the distance. Esmeralda watched his profile in silence.
It was then that she understood for the first time: love was something that could be seen with the naked eye.
Just then, the burning cigarette crackled and bit into Davion’s finger. He cried out and threw the cigarette away.
“Oh my! Are you all right?”
Esmeralda startled as well and quickly rubbed out her own cigarette against the brick wall.
Hearing the commotion, Cecilia stopped and turned her back toward them, watching quietly. Standing there, she sniffled a few times, then picked up the hand cart again and continued down the path in silence.
Davion sucked on his burned finger with a groan of despair. From that alone, Esmeralda could guess what was happening between them.
“It seems that maid is being more difficult than you expected?”
Davion shot a look at her through his fallen hair.
“Don’t speak of Cecilia that way.”
“I only said so because it seems you’ve been making quite an effort.”
Esmeralda retrieved the metal case again as she explained. She bent down to pick up the cigarette Davion had thrown, then placed it inside the case.
“You shouldn’t just throw these away—passing animals might eat them. But it’s strange, really. From what I can see, you’re a man who lacks for nothing.”
“I’ve asked. I’ve begged. I even wrote out a list of a hundred reasons why we should marry.”
“…Yes?”
Davion rubbed the back of his neck, which had flushed red with embarrassment, and looked away.

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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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