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Chapter 1
It was love.
No—only what I mistook for love.
That day, just like when we first met, heavy snow was falling on a cold winter’s day.
He whispered through the frosty breath in the snow-white garden.
“Will you become my most beautiful masterpiece?”
In his hand glittered a large diamond ring.
Flushing at his bright smile, I replied:
“Yes. Even if I were to be born again, over and over, I would still be your wife.”
That day, I walked into the cage of my own accord.
The life of a countess he gifted me was splendid.
Luxurious dresses and jewels.
Endless praises wherever I went.
Before I knew it, I had become a canary, singing only for him.
When life began to grow inside me, I finally realized—this was nothing but a cage.
It was the child I had longed for. That was why I could not bear the thought of raising it as his child.
In the end, for the sake of my beloved child’s future, I ran away from the count’s estate.
For the first time in my life, I worked with my own two hands. My delicate fingers grew rough, and the face he once admired began to lose its beauty bit by bit.
And yet, I was happy.
For the first time since our marriage, I could look at myself again. I even prepared a modest home where I could live quietly with my child.
Waiting for the day of birth, I imagined a peaceful future.
But that dream shattered in an instant.
A cold hand brushed Rebecca’s cheek.
Awakening from a restless slumber, Rebecca felt that the touch caressing her face was strangely familiar.
Terrified of the possibility, she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes.
“Rebecca.”
The moment the owner of that hand spoke, Rebecca sank into despair.
She’d been found. Once again, she was back in his grasp.
“I know you’re awake. Why not get up now?”
Rebecca opened her eyes.
Her eyelids quivered, as if unwilling to accept reality.
Blue eyes, clear as a crashing wave.
Blonde hair, perfectly in place without a single stray strand.
Her husband, her master—the devil reborn from hell—stood before her.
“Zeppelin…”
Her body, still weakened from illness, screamed in protest.
Rebecca forced herself to rise.
Glancing around the room, she realized the cradle was empty.
“My baby… Zeppelin, where is my baby?”
“What a warm greeting for your husband after so long. Did you really think I wouldn’t find you?”
“Zeppelin, please… Please give me back my child.”
“Don’t look at me like that. Do you think I’d ever harm my own blood?”
Zeppelin laughed coldly.
He wasn’t the type to hurt the child. On the contrary, he would likely treasure it as though it were the rarest jewel in the world.
But Rebecca found herself wishing he had killed the child instead.
At least then it would rest peacefully at God’s side.
Yes. Better to die than to grow up as Zeppelin Devonshire’s child.
“Haven’t you tormented me enough? Please, Zeppelin, let me go. I’ll live as if dead with my child. I’ll even throw away the Devonshire name.”
Rebecca clutched desperately at his sleeve.
Zeppelin struck her hand away without hesitation.
“That won’t do. You’re my greatest masterpiece. How dare you try to strip away the artist’s name? And besides… the child you bore is a daughter, isn’t she? The golden-haired, blue-eyed girl I so longed for—our image reflected in the most beautiful little girl.”
Greed gleamed in his eyes.
Rebecca knew that look well. It meant danger.
He was a man who would always obtain whatever he desired.
No. She couldn’t allow it. She couldn’t let her child live the same life she had.
“Psyche! Psyche!”
Rebecca shoved Zeppelin aside, threw open the door, and cried out her child’s name as she searched frantically.
The little house had only a few rooms, but to her staggering body it felt like a vast palace.
Nearly crawling, she desperately searched for her child.
Then—she heard footsteps ascending the stairs.
Crisp, deliberate footsteps.
“L-Lady Rebecca?”
“Alicia…?”
Alicia, dressed in finery, stood frozen pale, staring at Rebecca.
She held the sleeping Psyche in her arms, gently rocking her.
Alicia looked back and forth between Rebecca and the child, panic in her eyes.
Rebecca stared blankly at her daughter—wearing not the clothes she had lovingly sewn, but a gaudy dress.
Flames burst in Rebecca’s eyes.
Her gaze sharpened to a murderous glare as she stepped toward Alicia.
Terrified by instinct, Alicia stumbled backward.
“So it was you. You betrayed me, Alicia! I trusted you—I gave you everything! I begged you to protect just one thing, just one, and this is what you do?”
“Lady Rebecca, I had no choice!”
“Silence! Give me my child! How dare you hold her with those filthy hands!”
Rebecca reached for her baby. She could see the little fingers twitching.
But before she could even breathe in her child’s scent, Zeppelin seized her by the nape.
“Going somewhere?”
“Let me go, you bastard! Let go!”
He dragged her and threw her back into the room.
“It seems my wife has gone mad.”
As if brushing filth from his hands, he shook them off with a disgusted look.
Rebecca tried to rise and lunge at him, but the pain was unbearable.
Her ankle—likely broken from the fall.
Zeppelin’s gaze swept her pitiful form from head to toe.
“Ah, such a pity. You once shone so brightly. But humans are powerless against time. Fortunately, Octavio has found your replacement. And now, with my daughter, my kingdom will soon be complete.”
Zeppelin smirked, glancing at his pocket watch.
“Well then, I must be going. I can’t be late to the duke’s funeral.”
“Where are you going! Burn in hell, Zeppelin Devonshire!”
Rebecca clung to his leg and bit down hard.
He loathed being marred, loathed even a scratch on his body.
Kicks rained down on her.
Rebecca held on until she saw red blood gush from his ankle at last.
His blood stained his trousers.
She had always imagined cold blue blood flowed through his veins.
How laughable—he was human after all, with warm red blood like hers.
Rebecca spat out the flesh in her mouth onto the floor.
He roared.
“I was going to spare your life for the sake of our years together. But you’ve brought this on yourself, Rebecca! This is all your fault!”
He kicked her again and strode to the door.
Rebecca crawled after him, relentless.
But the door slammed shut before her.
She beat on it with all her might.
“Open it! Open this door! Zeppelin! Zeppelin!”
For a moment, silence. Then his low voice came.
“Rebecca, you were the finest doll I ever made. But it seems it’s time to discard you. I’ve taken everything I wanted from you.”
Her consciousness began to fade. A baby’s cries reached her ears.
Smoke seeped in through the cracks of the door. Someone screamed, “Fire!”
The blazing flames crept over her body.
Compared to the agony in her heart, the pain of burning flesh was nothing.
She felt death approaching.
Summoning her last strength, she begged the reaper drawing near:
“If only… If only I could go back just once…”
Rebecca lost consciousness, her eyes closing.
And then—brilliant white light burst forth from her heart, wrapping around her.
“Milady! Wake up!”
At the cheerful voice, Rebecca’s eyelids twitched.
It felt as if she had been dreaming for an eternity.
A vivid, dreadful nightmare.
Someone opened the window. A cool sea breeze flowed in.
The salty air tickled her nose.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared blankly at the blue ceiling. Her body felt strangely light.
“The weather is annoyingly clear. Rain would’ve been better.”
Alice set a washbasin down on the table as she spoke.
Rebecca stared at the freckles scattered across Alice’s nose. Suddenly, she sat upright in bed.
“Alice?”
“Oh my, you startled me! What’s wrong, milady? A bad dream?”
“Why are you here? How are you even…?”
“What do you mean? Of course I’m here to serve you. Now hurry and get up—we’ve got a lot to do.”
Alice soaked a clean towel and gently wiped Rebecca’s face.
Rebecca stared in shock, as though seeing a ghost.
You’re dead!
Alice had been the maid Rebecca trusted most.
Unlike the others, Alice had stayed by her side for years—until Zeppelin killed her long ago.
Am I dead? Then is this heaven? Or… hell?
Rebecca sat dazed when Alice sighed and pulled her up.
“I know you’re troubled, milady, but what can we do? Just endure today, and it’ll be fine.”
“…”
“Well, who would want to attend her own husband’s wedding? The count really is too much.”
“Wedding? Zeppelin is marrying again?”
“You’re acting strange today. Yes, today’s the wedding! The count is marrying that wretched Alicia!”
Rebecca’s eyes widened.
In that instant, countless memories flashed before her eyes.
She stumbled to the open window.
Far below the steep cliff stretched the rolling blue sea.
In the picture-perfect garden overlooking the vast ocean, a wedding was being prepared.
Rebecca listened blankly to the cries of seagulls and stared at the servants bustling below.
“Put those decorations over there. Ah, not that color—the count dislikes it. Throw it away.”
“Yes, Sir Robert.”
As Robert gave orders, he suddenly looked up—feeling her gaze.
When their eyes met, he quickly turned away.
Robert?
Rebecca mouthed the name again, startled.
Robert!
He too had been one of the many servants killed by Zeppelin.
Though disguised as an accident, Rebecca knew for certain that Zeppelin had murdered him.
Robert had died under the false accusation of harboring feelings for her.
“My God…”
Her legs gave way.
Sliding down from the window, Rebecca collapsed to the floor.
She had returned.
Returned—on the very day of her husband’s wedding.
