# 71
71. The Count I Met Again (1)
It was early dawn. The mansion was in an uproar. The servants, without exception, all quickly dressed and left their rooms. Those who hadn't yet come to their senses were roused by Audrey herself. I immediately washed up and shook the sleeping Alicia awake.
Then I hastily dressed and followed behind the others. Upon exiting the mansion, everyone was gathered outside the gate. At the front of the two lines of servants stood Audrey. And ahead of her was Joeli as well.
Everyone was looking off into the distance. I also quietly joined the ranks and observed where all the attention was focused. Soon, a car approached from afar. The car that glided smoothly came to a stop only after reaching the front of the mansion.
A man stepped out of the driver's seat and opened the back door. From within, a leg emerged and stepped onto the ground.
"You've arrived."
Audrey immediately bowed at the waist. Following her lead, all the servants bowed as well. I also bowed along, caught up in the moment.
"Hurry and come!"
Joeli's voice was brimming with delight. Footsteps approaching someone who had stepped out of the car could also be heard. Thwack―the sound of a door closing followed.
"You worked hard. You came well. Nothing unusual happened here."
"……."
With our heads bowed, it sounded as if Joeli was talking to herself. Throughout her speaking, no response came back. Nevertheless, she chattered away excitedly. Alicia, standing beside me, kept glancing upward. It wasn't just Alicia; the person on my other side also rolled their eyes up and down.
That one-sided conversation suddenly stopped at some point. Everyone present held their breath and pricked up their ears.
"I saw you yesterday."
A heavy voice heard after a brief silence.
Upon hearing that, Alicia's eyes went round. Then she narrowed them slightly. She seemed to be trying to figure out who the owner of that voice was. The servants, experiencing this kind of situation for the first time, also all wore expressions of bewilderment. Among them, I, the only one who knew the owner of the voice, stiffened completely.
How could I forget?
That voice I had heard to the point of exhaustion once.
Thud, thud. The footsteps drew closer.
"There's no need to go through all this trouble to welcome me."
"Oh my. Still, you need to see it too. How is it?"
"What."
"I'm asking how it is."
Then the footsteps stopped nearby. I gripped my clasped hands even tighter. My heart pounded as if it would burst through my skin. There were two or three people in front of me. Even though I knew it would be fine, I lowered my face even deeper.
The top of my head stung.
"You've grown."
"It just happened."
"Play in moderation. It'll become troublesome later."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure I don't cause you any harm."
"I hope you keep that word."
Behind the words, which were clearly laden with sarcasm, the footsteps receded. Only after some distance had opened up could the servants raise their heads. Though gazes should be kept forward, a few servants who couldn't contain their curiosity quickly turned to look. Alicia was no exception.
I carefully turned my gaze to the side. That moment felt endlessly long. What came into view next was the man standing opposite Joeli.
A large hand tousled the neatly combed golden hair. It seemed like a gesture tinged with irritation. As he, who had been conversing with Joeli for a moment, suddenly turned this way.
At that moment, our eyes met.
I saw him, and he saw me. No, he was looking at the many servants here, not at me. But I was looking at him. From the moment my gaze reached him, it never fell away once.
With the emerald eyes that clearly reached this side, with the face looking precisely this way, I realized once more.
That his eyes could truly see.
And so I knew. The death that made my heart ache just by remembering it, the death I didn't want to remember, yet the death of the person I had wished would be happier than anyone else out of concern that lingered in a corner of my heart.
'Lucas…….'
I knew of your death.
The corners of my eyes grew cold. Afraid that the welling moisture would form drops and fall, I couldn't even blink. My vision of Vincent wavered hazily. The gaze fixed here was quickly withdrawn.
Vincent turned away. The thudding footsteps receded. The servants were all looking at him. They would all know who he was now. At the sight of the outstanding and handsome master, many women flushed and grew shy.
"Unnie."
It was a dazed voice. When I turned my head, Alicia was also staring at Vincent. Her unblinking side profile was ominous.
"I guess that man is the master of this place. Right?"
"……Yes."
"Oh my goodness."
After the master of the mansion departed, the servants also returned to their places. I left behind Alicia, who seemed somehow dazed, and quickly escaped from there. My steps gradually quickened, and eventually I broke into a run. I even forgot the warning that I shouldn't go into the forest.
I ran into the forest for a long time. Then I changed direction and went down the slope. My skirt fluttered, my clothes became disheveled, and fallen leaves on the ground bounced up and stuck all over my body, but I didn't care. I instinctively knew where I had to go. So I descended endlessly downward, and after pushing through the underbrush, I completely emerged from the forest.
And I came to a halt before the scene spread out before my eyes.
My suffocating breath released, and I slowly exhaled. Behind my panting, my eyes swept across the front. In the expansive scenery, too vast to take in at a glance, there were mansions of various sizes and gardens connecting them. A fountain with water jetting upward caught my eye. And beyond that, the forest surrounding the perimeter.
Why did I only realize this now?
Why did I only now realize the identity of this strange Count's household?
I hadn't harbored the slightest suspicion. Such a thought hadn't even occurred to me. This was deep in a forest quite far from where I used to stay, and there was no one I was even slightly acquainted with. Even the noble house was different.
But the familiar scene before me shattered such reassurance.
Vincent hadn't come here as a guest. Seeing the numerous servants of the mansion gathered today to welcome him, I realized.
This is the Belunita household's mansion,
And the Count has returned to the Count's household.
He.
Vincent.
The body that had been leaning against a tree slowly crumbled. I sat down on the ground and blankly surveyed the vast scenery. And then…… and then I spilled forth the sorrow I hadn't been able to release since leaving this place.
"Hic."
Tear drops flowed from my lowered eyes and fell. They left pitter-patter marks on the ground. I covered my face with both hands. I curled up my body like that, and endlessly wept from the sorrow crushing my chest.
More than the unexpected reunion, without even time to feel those emotions, Lucas came to mind first.
Perhaps I had been deluding myself. That Lucas was alive, that he was living well. Even though his last appearance was nightmarish enough, I had believed so. Perhaps I had been under the illusion that he had forgotten his fleeting infatuation for a mere maid and was happy having found his own beautiful mate.
But the moment I saw Vincent, when his eyes clearly reached this side, I recalled once more the meaning of the words Lucas had once said.
'I'll give it to my brother. My world.'
What the true feelings hidden behind that bright smile were.
What must have been in his heart in his final moment. What was he thinking as he watched me fade away? I had been so afraid that I turned away from his death. Nevertheless, knowing his kindness that cared for me, all I could do was pour out my sorrow. I earnestly hoped that at least his final moments were a little less difficult.
"Waaaah!"
Because that was the only thing I could do for him.
I was merely a being who appeared on a single page of their story. I had no power, and I didn't even think that I could change anything. But for the first time, I hated myself for that. Even acknowledging that feeling was agonizing.
Because I was truly useless, because I was someone who couldn't even repay the person who helped me, the existence called me felt so wretched, as if no matter how hard I tried, there was nothing I could do.
But on the other hand, I felt relieved. Because there was nothing I could do, it was okay to run away like this. What could someone like me accomplish even if I stayed? I'd only be a nuisance to those around me. That was how I comforted myself.
I must be being punished right now.
No, did I come here to be punished?
"Ugly, ugly."
Robert poked my side with fragments of words. I sat blankly and didn't react. Only my thoughts were spinning in complicated circles.
Should I run away? Should I run away? I probably should run away. It was like walking into the very place I had fled to out of fear of death with my own two feet. If I had known, I wouldn't have come. I was crazy. Wouldn't it be fine to run away even now?
I recalled what I had figured out about this mansion so far. All the servants here were people I was seeing for the first time. Of course, in the past, I had only stayed in the detached building, so I hadn't seen many of the servants employed by the Count's household. Only a few, but even those few servants were nowhere to be seen.
And the most important thing was that Isabella was absent.
As far as I knew, she was the general manager in charge of all the servants of the Count's household. I remembered her being the person in the next highest position after the butler. But she was nowhere to be seen. Currently, Audrey was filling her position.
Moreover, what was even stranger was that the butler was also nowhere to be seen. Was he so busy that he couldn't pay attention to a mansion in a forest like this? If so, that would be fortunate, but strange thoughts kept occurring to me. As if all the servants of this mansion had been replaced…… such……. No way, how could that be?
Fortunately, with neither the butler nor anyone else present, the fact that I wouldn't be in immediate danger was somewhat reassuring.
But the most important problem remained unresolved.
What if the butler eventually visits this place and sees me? Since Vincent was here, that possibility wasn't zero.
Wait, then who is Joeli? What's her relationship with Vincent?
"That's strange."
"What is?"
……Did he get married in the meantime? Come to think of it, there was news of his engagement in the newspaper article.
"Maybe so."
"Maybe what?"
"I mean."
At that moment, I snapped back to my senses. At some point, the nanny and Robert, sitting on either side of me, were looking at me with puzzled expressions. Seeing their round-eyed faces, my thoughts that had drifted elsewhere returned.
"What's strange?"
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
"Ugly is weird."
"Haha."
I forced a laugh and controlled my expression. As I needlessly organized the toys scattered messily on the floor, suspicious gazes pierced my back. Nanny, shall we work?
"Where did you roll around?"
"Pardon?"
At the sudden question, I turned around, and the nanny was staring intently at my back.
"Your clothes are wrinkled. And this too."
The nanny plucked something off my back. It was a fallen leaf. I thought I had brushed it off on my way up, but it must have still been stuck. I forced a laugh, snatched the leaf, and stuffed it into my pocket.
"You played alone!"
"No, no."
"Cheapskate! Me too! You should take me too!"
"That's not it."
"Where are you taking him?"
At the nanny's question, my body stiffened. She didn't know that I had taken Robert into the forest. I had also made up an excuse about the scrape on Robert's knee, saying he fell while running. Since she had changed his clothes as soon as we returned to the mansion, the excuse worked.
But there was an unexpected variable named Robert.
"The forest!"
"Agh, young master!"
That mouth of his doesn't listen. My hand that tried to stop him stopped in midair. A chilling voice came from behind.
"The forest……?"
Unable to bring myself to look back, I swallowed dryly. Why does it feel cold all of a sudden?