The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 74

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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 74
Cecilia lay in deep sleep, still wearing her makeup and shoes—Davion perched carefully on the edge of the bed so as not to wake her, then lifted her slender legs onto his thigh.
“…….”
The heel of her black stockings was torn.
He slipped off the shoes that encased her small feet and set them neatly on the floor. When he massaged her calves with hands warmed by his breath, Cecilia’s brow furrowed and her heavy eyelids slowly lifted open.
“Honey……?”
Davion caught his mistake and sighed softly.
“Sorry. I woke you.”
Cecilia smiled and sat up, swaying slightly.
“No, when did you get home?”
“Just now. But why are you sleeping so uncomfortably? You didn’t even change your clothes.”
“I fell asleep without meaning to. I guess I was a bit tired.”
Cecilia was smiling, but Davion caught the subtle current she was trying to hide.
“Did your mother say something to you?”
His brow darkened at once. Cecilia quickly shook her head.
“She didn’t say anything special. And I don’t like it when you and your mother fight.”
Davion’s eyebrow twitched slightly at the word “your mother.”
Cecilia looked at him properly for the first time. She reached out and gently smoothed the stiff collar of his Military Uniform.
“I’ve never seen you in uniform before.”
Her lips, painted with lipstick, parted slightly, revealing white teeth.
“You look handsome.”
As Davion drew a deep breath, his chest swelled firm and full. He pulled her wrist toward him and wrapped her arm around his neck, then whispered in a low voice.
“Should we keep the uniform on……?”
His dark eyes glinted with transparent desire. That made Cecilia burst out laughing.
“This is new, honey. It’s expensive—I can’t just wash it carelessly.”
“Of course. There’s a way for just one of us to undress.”
Instead of answering, she pulled him close and captured his lips, cold from the winter air, with fierce abandon. His hands were already hastily unbuttoning her blouse.
“Still, let’s try to get to bed before midnight today, both of us.”
Davion said this as he lifted Cecilia into his arms and headed toward the bathroom.
“Huh!”
The next morning, Cecilia woke with something between a cry and a shout.
Davion, who had been holding her from behind, startled awake as well. Still half-asleep, Cecilia tried to get out of bed but her toes caught in the blanket and she tumbled forward with a crash. She scrambled to her feet and rushed into the bathroom.
“Honey?”
Davion picked up the Desk Clock on the nightstand to check the time. The short hand was approaching the number six.
He propped himself up on his elbow and called out loudly enough for Cecilia to hear him through the bathroom door.
“Cecilia, it’s not even six o’clock yet!”
“I know! I had to get ready, so I got up early! You can sleep more!”
Davion frowned.
“……Ready?”
But that was the exact moment his phone began ringing loudly.
Davion checked the clock again, hardly believing it.
Still six in the morning. The phone that he’d expected to stop kept ringing, slowly pushing away his drowsiness.
Thinking it was a strange sort of day, he glanced around the bed frantically. But since his pants were nowhere to be found, he finally wrapped the blanket around his lower half and stood up.
Hearing the phone from the bathroom, Cecilia opened the door and poked her head out slightly. When she mouthed “What?” at him, Davion shrugged and answered the call.
But as the conversation continued, his brow grew increasingly furrowed.
Worried enough to stop washing, Cecilia stood at the bathroom doorway waiting for the call to end.
“Yes. I understand.”
After a conversation of roughly ten minutes, Davion hung up. As he approached her, Cecilia rushed forward with a question.
“Who would call at this hour?”
“Orders from headquarters. Let’s shower together. It looks like I need to go out today too.”
“What?”
Davion tossed the blanket onto the bed.
“Sometimes when there’s an urgent matter, they call at this hour. But it’s probably nothing serious.”
He had already submitted his Leave Extension and Duty Transfer requests—there shouldn’t be any problems. As he entered the bathroom with her, he kissed her forehead to reassure her.
But Davion’s expectations were utterly wrong.
“……What?”
Cecilia blinked repeatedly, unable to believe what she’d just heard. The ground seemed to tilt slowly backward beneath her.
Davion stood before her in the same Military Uniform as yesterday, holding a Hat in his hands. His hair and clothes were in disarray from his hurried departure, and the tip of his nose was bright red.
He was tense. He was afraid. But to hide his trembling hands, he gripped the hat with forced strength.
“So, you……where are you saying you’re going?”
“Kalita. We leave in four days.”
Davion forced the words out with difficulty, then wet his parched lips with the tip of his tongue.
“An officer who was assigned to this deployment was found dead in his car last night—a suicide. So I’m going in his place. The matter’s already settled.”
He’d been staring at Cecilia’s feet the whole time, but now he gathered his courage and lifted his gaze—only to regret it immediately.
Cecilia’s face had already gone blank.
“Why you, of all people……?”
“Young officers with combat experience aren’t common. Considering all the other factors, the brass judged me the best fit. It’s a Military Command decision.”
“Can’t you just tell them you won’t go? Can’t you try anything, do anything at all……!”
“I already have. But even a king couldn’t overturn a Military Command decision.”
In other words, he had no choice but to go.
“This doesn’t make any sense…….”
The shock frozen in Cecilia’s eyes began to blur, spreading like hot tears. She’d been whispering for some time now.
“When will you come back?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You will come back alive, won’t you……?”
Davion closed his mouth to that question. Its meaning was perfectly clear.
Cecilia clutched at her burning chest and gasped for breath. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“We’ve only been married two weeks…….”
Her knees buckled with a sharp crack, and she lurched forward, slamming her ribs against the display cabinet. When Davion reached out to catch her, she began to scream—a cry twisted by fear.
“Why did I marry you! I married you because I only saw you! I married you because I believed in your promise to stay by my side!”
She shoved hard against his chest as he tried to help her up. Her face was flushed crimson, already soaked with tears.
The thought of spending the days ahead alone with Blake made the room spin before Cecilia’s eyes.
She understood Davion’s position, and yet she couldn’t forgive him. But what was hardest of all to bear was herself—powerless in this place, able only to scream and nothing more.
“You bastard, how could you! What gives you the right to leave me like this! You said you’d stay with me! You said you wouldn’t abandon me!”
Davion took the brunt of her flailing fists and kicks, holding her firmly against him. She thrashed and cried out in his arms until at last she crumpled, burying her face in his chest and sobbing.
“Please don’t go…….”
Davion had no words left to defend himself—not even if he had a hundred mouths.
“I’m sorry. I have no choice.”
At those words, Cecilia released her grip on his Military Uniform as though letting go of her last lifeline. She shook her head, her lips twisting.
“I asked you for one thing, and one thing only. How could it be so hard to keep that promise?”
Cecilia shoved him away, breathing hard. She rose unsteadily and stumbled toward the Bathroom, blood beading at her heels.
“Fine. Go. I won’t wait for you.”
Just as Cecilia’s heart had hardened, the Bathroom door closed silently behind her.
.
.
.
That door did not open for hours.
From inside came intermittent sobs mixed with cries. Each time, Davion’s heart sank to his feet, and he apologized repeatedly, begging just to see her face—all of it useless.
As the night wore on, he told her he would sleep in another room, then left the Bedroom and sat down in the Corridor outside the door, trying to rest. This way, at least Cecilia could come out, tend to the animals, and sleep in some semblance of comfort.

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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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