TCBD 24

Chapter – 24

Esmerilda came to visit with a bright bouquet of roses and freesias.

Her blonde hair was twisted and pinned into the shape of a seashell, and she wore a long gray coat reminiscent of a cape. From the moment she stepped out of the car, she radiated the unmistakable aura of an extraordinary actress.

It was a day when even her makeup was flawless. Handing the bouquet to Davion, who had come out to greet her at the entrance, Esmerilda skillfully made a lighthearted remark.

“You look perfectly fine, contrary to what the article said.”

“It was just a false rumor made up by the investors.”

“Now that I see you, I suppose there was no need for me to come all this way to visit a patient. Ah, and of course, the flowers are a get-well gift. I figured a material gift wouldn’t mean much to you.”

After examining the bouquet, Davion casually gestured toward the inside of the mansion.

“If you’re not busy, would you care to stay for a while?”

“Oh my, would that really be all right?”

He flung the front door wide open, silently giving her his approval. Just as they had done at the party not long ago, they walked side by side toward the drawing room.

Thanks to Esmerilda’s height, there was no need for him to slow his pace as he had when walking with Cecilia.

No matter how high her heels were, the top of Cecilia’s head had always hovered around his chest. And whenever she looked up at him, even just for a moment, she had been so adorable. Sometimes he had teased her just to see that expression.

Davion was smiling without even realizing it, and it was only when he heard Esmerilda’s voice that he returned to the cold reality.

“Please be sure to tell the Duchess of Sisledown that I came to visit. She’ll be very pleased.”

By then, they had already arrived at the drawing room.

He didn’t know what to make of the fact that she was even considering his mother’s feelings on his behalf. When Davion nodded, Esmerilda let out a silent sigh and placed her handbag on the sofa.

Without even asking for a cup of tea, she slowly looked around the drawing room. Memories of the past few years flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern.

“This place has changed a lot, too.”

“It has already been well over four years since you and I were matched for marriage. After Mother moved to the penthouse by the river, my wife decorated this place according to her taste.”

Blake, who had pursued understated beauty, had decorated the space using only the bare minimum of colors. So whenever one entered the drawing room, it had felt almost as though one were looking at a black-and-white photograph. But now, there was color.

The landscape paintings hanging on the walls and the ornaments placed on the wooden cabinet by the window harmonized with one another, creating a warm atmosphere. However, perhaps because the room had not been cleaned thoroughly, a layer of pale dust had accumulated on the ornaments.

Esmerilda frowned and turned toward Davion, who was standing by the door.

“Come to think of it, was this the place where I first met your wife?”

Instead of answering, Davion closed the door to the drawing room. It was a gesture that made it clear that their conversation must never leave the room.

“I can still vividly remember your wife serving me tea, looking as though she were about to cry at any moment. You ran into her here, then stood across from me with that utterly bewildered expression on your face. In fact, I knew from that moment that the two of you weren’t in an ordinary relationship.”

“I remember those days as though they were only yesterday. Sometimes, I even wish I could go back.”

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Davion’s lips as he looked back on the same four years ago. Cecilia had been especially innocent back then, and merely thinking of her made his heart beat like that of an inexperienced young boy.

“I’ve been redecorating my wife’s bedroom lately. So that she can use it whenever she comes back. I also started raising a cat. She’ll really like it.”

“Count…”

A look of pity spread across Esmerilda’s beautiful, picture-perfect face.

Folding her hands together, she carefully brought the man who seemed lost in a futile dream back to reality.

“Your wife is dead.”

Davion’s lips slowly hardened at those words.

Standing by the window where the late-winter sunlight poured down brilliantly, Esmerilda stared at him with a deeply troubled expression.

Davion did not miss the moment her gaze lingered on his left hand, the one wearing a ring. Faced with a look as though she were staring at someone with a severe mental illness, Davion became somewhat detached.

“Lady Esmerilda, back when we were engaged, we shared a secret once before. Can you keep another secret for me this time?”

“Of course. Who else would I tell your secret to?”

“Cecilia is alive.”

At that moment, Esmerilda couldn’t even breathe.

“My wife is walking around this city perfectly well on her own two feet right now. The bag she lost happened to come into my possession recently. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to have been injured.”

Although it was not for the reason Davion thought, Esmerilda was so shocked that her mind reeled.

How? Since when had he known?

Countless questions that could not be put into words flashed through her mind all at once. But naturally, she couldn’t ask him outright, so she had to think quickly.

“N-No, don’t be ridiculous. We were all at your wife’s funeral. I saw with my own two eyes as her body was buried in the ground…!”

“Fifteen days after the funeral, we dug up the grave to relocate the body, but it was empty. Apparently, a young gravedigger saw Cecilia emerging from the grave. I don’t know exactly what method she used, but one thing is certain: she is alive.”

This can’t be happening.

Esmerilda clenched her trembling hands and swallowed hard.

The image of Cecilia vomiting blood and desperately holding back her tears at the coffee shop floated before her eyes. There was no doubt that the poor woman had no idea that her plan had been discovered by her husband.

“I-I find it difficult to believe what you’re saying, Count… But if your wife really is alive, why don’t you just let her go?”

Davion answered a beat too late.

“…What?”

As his eyes narrowed, even Esmerilda, who had been through every hardship imaginable, instinctively flinched and took a step back. Whether he was aware of it or not, Davion had naturally intimidating features, and when he expressed anger, he was extremely threatening.

“Perhaps she ran away for a good reason? You love your wife, don’t you, Count? Then please respect her choice as well.”

Davion stared at her with an utterly incredulous expression.

“Lady Esmerilda, I loved Cecilia enough to give her even my life. That’s why, when my wife committed suicide, I couldn’t feel anything at all. It was as though everything were just a dream.”

Even when he discovered Cecilia’s cold body and carried out her funeral, it hadn’t felt real, as though he were watching someone else’s affair. It was only after realizing that she was alive that he finally understood reality.

The nightmare came one night without warning.

Davion suddenly opened his eyes, drenched in an unpleasant cold sweat.

As the remnants of the dream faded, the ticking of the clock on the bedside table gradually became clearer in the darkness. Rain was falling beneath the night sky. It was a quiet winter shower.

Even though it was the dead of night, the reason Davion had gotten out of bed was simply because he wanted to see Cecilia. He wanted to hug her and indulge himself a little under the excuse that he had had a nightmare.

But as he walked down the silent corridor, a fact he had completely forgotten struck him like a bolt of lightning.

Ah. Come to think of it, Cecilia had left.

She had even pretended to be dead just to…

That was the exact moment when everything began to collapse like a sandcastle on the beach.

Before long, the rain clouds cleared, and a bluish dawn settled over the rain-soaked ground. Davion stood like a ghost along the path leading to Cecilia’s bedroom until morning came, finally confronting the reality he had been avoiding.

Cecilia would not be there when morning came today. Surely, she wouldn’t be there tomorrow either. And the day after that, and the day after that.

Then, from now on, how am I supposed to…

How am I supposed to live?

“She went so far as to fake her suicide and make me taste hell, yet Cecilia is perfectly fine, walking around outside on her own two feet right now! And in a situation like this, you’re telling me to accept our separation just because I love her?”

Davion’s brow twisted painfully once again.

But this time, it wasn’t with anger.

It was with sorrow.

“Are you kidding me right now?”