Chapter 3

"The song that I heard in my sleep."

The dreamlike melody, which seemed to be repressed in water, soon echoed throughout the room.

"I opened my eyes, awake from the scattered dreams."

Aria's singing guided the count to the River of Oblivion.

Her voice sounded like an ingenious fairy, a playful yet tangy tone.

Pizzicato.

He could hear the slender strings of a violin being plucked from somewhere far away.

"Gone, the mysterious night."

At that moment, the song succeeded in capturing the count's deranged heart.

This was the song of the Siren.

"Thi-this is ridiculous." He said, astonished.

"No, it can't be! How in the world are you able to…. Don't tell me that Sophia…" the count proclaimed in disbelief.

It was beautiful and angelic, something he never thought he'd yearn in his entire lifetime.

'That's not all.'

The lyrics swam through his head like a wakeful dream, the notes soothing him, siphoning his entire being from within.

But at the same time, there was anger laced in her words, and a bloody smell filled the entire room.

This intensity was something he could not overcome; it seized and locked him in, just like an incurable poison disguised as an angel's touch, ready to lead him to his morbid death.

He could feel it subconsciously.

'They are both Sirens, yet the discrepancy…'

That song would make sane people deranged—a small voice, yet something that could bring the whole aristocrat under her feet.

Perhaps taking control of the empire was not an exaggeration.

"Let me hear once more! More, more….!" The count begged before stepping on a bottle of liquor and fell to the floor.

His bloodshot eyes set rigid on the siren as he outstretched his hand, trying to grip his figment of desire.

It was hideous.

Aria shifted her gaze upon his body and stared at him, her eyes filled with disgust.

'To think that I was sacrificed for someone as pathetic as him. To satisfy the greed of those who know nothing but wealth and power. How stupid I was.'

Count Cortez.

He controlled his daughter, who knew nothing, with violence—compelling her into his bidding, things beyond imagination.

The violence he brought to her, still fresh in her memory. New bruises appeared on her body every night as they caused agony that could only be seen on the inside. She was terrified of him, but not anymore…

"My voice shall be the last thing you hear tonight."

Aria's cold words cleared part of the irrational haze in his mind.

"Wait! Th-this song is…"

'Yes, you know this song well.'

It was the first song that he told her.

A song to deal with nobles who know things they shouldn't know.

"You'll forget everything."

"No! What are you doing!"

The Siren didn't address his superficial outcry. Her symphonious voice sprang to life once more, not carrying even a hint of sympathy.

"The song was like a mirage. The night disappeared as if it was nothing but an illusion."

A part of him faded like a trace of snow in the first of summer. Every single part of the memory residing in him was torn down.

A haze gradually veiled his whole body and his memory vanished without a trace.

"Everything was a dream."

"No, not a dream. The Siren, whom I've been longing for, is standing before me."

The count desperately shut his ears and shook his head, as if by doing so, could retain a portion of his memory.

That voice.

Nothing could ever compare its worth. With that in his hands, neither honor, power, glory, or wealth could satisfy his greed…

Yet his lifetime longing condemned his effort as she sang the final verse, concluding the ending by herself, without him in it.

"Ah, everything was just a dream."

He was reeling under overwhelming force as the bloody metallic taste passed through his throat.

"Siren!!!" He shouted as he coughed out blood.

His eyes were dull as his determined gaze finally faltered. He screamed his final plea as her voice squeezed away all his remaining strength.

The song was over.

The desolate cry of the count finally stopped, and Aria found no reason to hear his regrets anymore. It made no difference for her as she wasn't even going to give him a chance to ask for forgiveness.

Looking at the senseless count, Aria asked coldly, "Where are the mermaid's tears?"

"Mermaid's tears… it's uh… inside the drawer of my bedside table, in a jewelry box…."

"Where's the key?"

He rummaged through his pockets, his bleary eyes filled with bewilderment. A clinking sound chimed before the key emerged from one of the count's pockets.

Aria ripped the key away from his hand and ran straight into the count's bedroom.

She turned the key and found a jewelry box inside the drawer. She carefully opened the small case. Underneath the box was a pearl earring, its rainbow-colored luster glowed underneath Aria's shadow.

'Found it, the mermaid's tears.'

She never dared to resist her father because of the pair earrings he had, or better known as, 'The Tears of a Mermaid.'

The mermaid's tears were able to fend off the influence of the Siren's voice. It's like a shield that would protect the wearer, even from the malicious voice of the ill-willed Siren.

The bearer of this earring was someone even a Siren could never harm.

'I was able to flee from my father just after my mother died.'

Ironically, the count used to carry the mermaid's tears wherever he went, but after Sophia died, he left the earrings untouched inside his drawer.

He began to wear it again ever since Aria's identity as a Siren was revealed.

'Mother…'

Aria swept the jewelry box with her fingers and clicked open the case.

'If only I had come back a few days earlier.'

Aria shook her head.

She was fortunate enough to return at the right time. Had she returned even a little late, she would not have been able to break out of the count's grasp as smoothly as she did then.

As much as she missed her mother and her presence, it was important not to be greedy. Less, she would wind up losing this fortuitous opportunity.

Aria sealed the jewelry case shut and clutched the earrings tight within her hold.

* * *

She really came back.

Back to when she was a measly 10-year-old.

Aria put her hand on her pounding heart.

'I thought I'd be in hell.'

She denied God, yet instead of being punished, she was given another chance. A new life to rebrand those years of foul memories.

It was ridiculous.

Now there would be no burn marks deforming her skin nor two slender yet broken legs.

'I can change the future.'

Aria felt unshackled, for she had been given the freedom she craved for a lifetime.

Nothing will chain her ever again, not the count, the repugnant aristocrats, and certainly not the emperor. The seed of her childhood nightmares, which reigned her entire life, was finally gone.

'What do I do now?'

Her mind agonized upon her worrisome future.

Unfortunately, the potion she had taken had consequences of its own. Apart from losing her vocal cords, the potion also shortened her lifespan.

The potion gave Aria's freedom a time limit.

It was something she couldn't change even if she had traveled back in time.

'I'll die when I reach twenty…'

'With this limited time, how can I spend the rest of my life meaningfully?'

Only one thing is for sure, she should never let anyone know that she's the only remaining Siren.

'My songs will drive people insane.'

The Siren's enchanting music fascinates yet poisons people's minds at the same time. Their voice could lure them to insanity and corrupt their thoughts.

Aria was fed up with such situations.

Suddenly, she recalled a peculiar individual who held her on the brink of her death.

"Siren, I've heard that listening to your songs drives people crazy."

It was then.

"Then I guess I won't mind. Because I've always been crazy."

She recalled the voice in her last moments.

His grey eyes blurred as if they had lost their original color, and would only brighten when he slaughtered the nobles.

His eyes were soulless and lifeless, gaze wandering everywhere as if searching for clarity.

Perhaps he desired sanity, although he could not stand it. Perhaps being sane tormented his mind. Perhaps that was why he could not take himself off the high, wishful dream that gradually faded as he came into contact with brutal reality.

'Lloyd Cardence Valentine.'

He was only at the age of eighteen when he inherited the title of the Grand Duke.

However, four years later, a dreadful accident occurred. The Valentines were brutally annihilated. The entire bloodline and even their subordinates, they were all killed. Hence it was named 'The Valentine Incident.'

Lloyd Valentine was the only survivor of the tragedy…

Naturally, he was referred to as the criminal.

'Although no punishment was executed.'

The incident was said to be the culmination of the devil's madness, which was passed on to the Valentines, generations after generations.

Even the Emperor overlooked the incident.

Simply put, the affairs of the Valentines were inviolable.

'That might be true.'

Indeed he could have been involved with the devil and killed all his parents, relatives, and subordinates.

After seeing him slaughter the aristocrats without batting an eye, even a dim-witted person would doubt him.

'But he didn't want anything.'

Every single person who signed a contract with a devil had their own desires. It might be gold, glory, or honor, but it was surely something they desired so greatly. Something that they would offer anything to obtain. Even by trading with the devil.

But not him.

His eyes weren't even burning with anger and vengeance like what was present in Aria. There was no passion nor zealousness.

'His eyes were just… empty.'

His vacant eyes did not desire anything, yet he didn't hesitate to help her get her revenge.

He offered her a choice.

Just like a devil.

It didn't occur to her that he could be the one that caused the Valentines' massacre.

'A man who doesn't want anything.'

Aria gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Because he had given her hope.

'I will give you happiness.'

If he accepts her.

'Can I spend the rest of my short life next to you?' Aria thought.

She wanted to be the firefly that illuminated his darkest night. Give her entire life for him, a desire to protect him, and a willingness to take on suffering if it was for his happiness.

* * *

'The maids are insane.'

The wooden flooring in the attic creaked under the maids' heavy footsteps.

Aria sat on the bed, her eyes set to the window before retracting her gaze back to the maids.

The maids put her breakfast on the discolored yellow quilt.

On the tray was a watery yellow congee with an odd stench that wafted throughout the room.

'This is… porridge?'

"The count told us to wash and dress her."

"Why does the count suddenly care about her?"

"I don't know."

They could not help but sneer at the sight of the young girl. Their eyes were filled with contempt and disdain.

Aria was the outcast of the mansion. Every person knew she was the victim of the count's abuse, yet none held her in favor. Hence they regarded her as a ghost.

They stood there, doing nothing but staring at her with their arrogant eyes.

"Perhaps the count is planning to acknowledge her as his child?"

"Eh, no way."

"Right. He even declared that he wouldn't register her as a family even after he died."

"Is it because he's drunk? Ever since her mother passed away, he would only drink throughout the day."

"Isn't he trying to replace her? Perhaps he's trying to substitute her mother like an ornamental doll."

Aria had all of the distinctive traits of the Siren's bloodline.

Her hair that flowed softly down to her waist, resembling cherry blossoms in mid-spring.

Her pupils twinkled as though it was a polished pink sapphire, and a rosy color stained her cheek with a reddish hue….

Her appearance contained a lovely aspect that no one can deny. The child's charming features shone even brighter than a gleeful spring, with such ethereal impression, someone might mistake her as a spring fairy.

'Siren.'

People would speak of their diverse beliefs about the legendary creature, but they would always agree about one thing.

Their stunning appearances.

The Siren sings so sweetly that she lulls everyone into her song—with her voice she enchants, with her beauty she deprives of reason—voice and sight alike deal destruction and death.

'It used to be an unfounded legend.'

But when Sophia, Aria's mother, first appeared, the world had no choice but to accept their existence.

The existence of a beautiful monster, Siren.

'Look at her eyes. They're like jewels, trapping people with its enchanting gaze.'

One of the maids sat on the bed and stared at the child. Her mind was muddled before she soon came to her senses and said, "What am I saying, she can't even speak."