Chapter 8

A grave silence settled among them.

At that moment, time stopped, and all Aria could see was Lloyd and herself. It was as if they were the only two people left in the world.

"Let's fall down to hell together," he smiled.

That day, the clouds swept the earth. Her vision was veiled by the lightest of mists.

She gazed into his gray eyes, but the haze blurred her field of vision.

He stared back, yet his orbs showed no light. They were hollow and empty.

As the fog dispersed, so did Aria's illusion.

'Ah.'

It was just a memory.

Aria could see her breath forming a small, misty cloud in the cold air.

'That was close.'

She had almost spoken.

Shaaaー

She snapped back to reality.

The time which she thought had stopped began to move again.

"You don't seem to understand the situation, do you?"

Aria was composed, her face stark.

Lloyd's expression darkened, and he pressed the blade deeper into her flesh.

Blood oozed down her nape.

"..."

It was painful, but Aria made no sound.

She was used to enduring pain and suppressing her moans.

"So it's true. You can't speak," he snarled.

'Was he testing me?'

Aria nervously looked at him.

He doubted her since the very beginning.

'He's sharp. Was I found out?'

The cold, icy rain poured over her pale, soft skin.

Her posture weakened under the weight of her soaked dress.

'It hurts…'

Her fingers loosened.

Aria dropped her umbrella.

Tok.

Shaaaー

At last, Aria's face, which was hidden by her umbrella, was finally revealed.

Lloyd's cold expression was now replaced with a puzzled look.

"…Rabbit?"

Her rabbit mask had caught him off guard.

"Rabbit…" Lloyd murmured.

He creased his forehead at the sight of Aria, shivering in the torrent of heavy rain.

"Rabbit."

"..."

"If you're going to answer my question by disclosing your true intentions, just mouth your words, and I'll read your lips."

'True intention? If it was my true intention…'

She had escaped her cage just to meet him.

She was willing to sacrifice herself for his sake.

Aria would voluntarily be a stepping stone if it was meant to help achieve his, her benefactor's, goals. She wouldn't mind completely burning herself out just to let him shine his brightest, like the splendid afternoon sun, but would instead feel honored just to be given a chance.

'I… I can't say it.'

Aria recalled her memory with Diana.

It felt really nice when she was stroked.

So she patted his head.

"..."

Lloyd stared at her as if she was insane.

* * *

"Seems like you've never held weapons before," Lloyd said, touching Aria's hands.

He observed her slender fingers; they were soft and smooth. She had no calluses.

"Don't you have to learn at least one weapon at your age?"

'The age of ten?'

Aria was shocked.

"There are only bones in your body, where are your muscles?"

'Why would ten-year-olds have muscles?'

Aria tilted her head.

Lloyd grabbed her wrist and held it for a while.

After that, he placed his fingers on his own wrists, and then, he frowned.

"It's a miracle for you even to be alive! You're very frail, and your pulse is weak. Your bones are so fragile that they might break if I squeeze too hard!"

"..."

"Are all humans outside our territory this weak?" Lloyd paused.

"You're even worse than Mother…," his words trailed off.

He stared at her as if she was a rare animal. One he had never seen before.

'I was feeble from the start… and my body only grew weaker because I was abused and malnourished.' Aria thought to herself.

She inadvertently put her hand on her neck and trembled in pain.

She sucked in a sharp breath as the pain spiraled across her body.

"..."

Lloyd pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and flung it towards Aria.

Instinctively, Aria grabbed the flying handkerchief.

"Use it and throw it away."

Aria alternatively glanced between the handkerchief and Lloyd's face.

Then, she lightly pressed her nape's open wound.

Lloyd, who couldn't stand watching, scooted closer to her and snatched it back from her hands.

"Let me do it."

He skillfully tended to her wound.

The wound was not actually deep, but it seemed as if the blood kept gushing out due to it being diluted with the rainwater.

He stopped the bleeding in an instant, wrapped the handkerchief over her neck, and tied it.

"Why are you wearing a mask?"

Lloyd lightly tapped her mask with his finger.

Stunned by his sudden action, Aria flinched.

"You, rabbit."

The rabbit mask was soaked with rainwater.

'I was glad that the cotton was soft, but now it feels uncomfortable.' Aria thought.

Her appearance was quite funny and amusing, but Lloyd kept a serious face.

"Were you preyed by a Rat?"

Aria staggered at his words. She hadn't thought that she was under suspicion. His intuitions were relatively sharp.

Gutter meant the criminal world. He used such terms to lessen the fatalness of his words.

"Those that are raised as prey are unable to speak or have their tongues cut off. This is so that they can't expose their masters."

The prey lived and died for their masters, serving them with loyalty all their lives. They were born to be eaten, and are meaningless without them, just like lifeless puppets.

"You came here as Count Cortez's daughter, but your name isn't listed in the family register. How will you verify yourself if we didn't believe you at face value?" Lloyd scrutinized.

As he had said, Aria couldn't prove her identity.

'Moreover, there's a lot of bad blood between the Valentines and the Gutter Rats,' Aria belatedly thought.

As infamous as the Valentines are, they mainly had many enemies.

Therefore, it was understandable as to why he was so wary of Aria's sudden appearance.

"There's only one way to tell if someone was prey or not."

'Was there such a way?'

Rats had infiltrated and spread out all across the empire, and because of that, the Emperor suffered from massive headaches trying to distinguish them from his loyal subjects.

"Say I'll kill you f*cking rats."

"..."

"Well?"

"..."

Aria was unable to comprehend how such a conclusion was made.

"As expected, you're one of them."

As Lloyd was about to unsheathe his sword again, she quickly placed her hand above his.

Her fingers were trembling.

ーFor the first time in her life, she actually tried to curse.

She closed her eyes.

After a brief hesitation, she parted her lips.

ーI'll kill you f*ckin…

That was her first time swearing.

Aria didn't say it out loud, so she wasn't as nervous as she had thought she'd be.

"…Just say it straight."

ーI'll kill you f*cking rats.

"Hmm."

'Did I pass?'

Lloyd's expression was not the best, but he relaxed his grip on the sword handle.

"If you're not working as their prey, then get your hands off," he grumbled.

"..."

"Standing up for yourself is a way to survive. There is no place in the House of Valentine for a child as weak as you," he retorted and shook her hand off.

As he took his leave, Aria was left alone in the hallway, and after he was completely gone from her sight, she walked away as well.

Suddenly, as she was about to turn around the corner, she heard a bunch of whispers.

"The Grand Duke is gone?" the maid rattled on, circulating all the gossip she had heard among the other servants.

They were whispering, but Aria could hear them quite clearly.

Sirens were weak in general, but their five senses were exceptionally sharp.

The five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Like how a particular race was born with artistic talents, Sirens were known for their keen senses.

'I'm glad I wasn't found out by Lloyd.'

In fact, Aria had barely escaped. She'd instinctively reacted to the sound of Lloyd's footprints and turned towards him.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to have noticed her senses because of her feeble appearance.

'The powerless and weak Aria…'

She hoped that he would continue to believe that.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, whenever she gets sick, she drives out all the servants."

"I heard that she wanted to be by herself."

"Yes, even the Grand Duke and His Highness are no exception."

"I also heard that there were a lot of deaths today," the maid said with a sigh.

"I know! His Highness tracked down the spies who infiltrated the Grand Duchy the other day, and he captured them all! Furthermore, he locked them inside the jaguar's cage to set them up as an example," the maid shuddered.

'It seems like the father and son, who were driven out by the Grand Duchess, were taking out their anger on others.'

She immediately understood.

The Grand Duchess had been fighting between life and death. This might even be her last. If he couldn't be with her during her death, he might actually go berserk.

But he was still going around killing people. Apparently, he wasn't the offspring of the devilish ducal couple for nothing.

'Did he let me live because I seem weak?'

Aria felt lucky.

Nonetheless, she still felt a throbbing pain in her neck.

"It wasn't the first time that the madame fell. She has passed countless hurdles. But this time… "

"Be careful with your words."

"But, you know. It's the first time that the madame has actually made a will."

The maids went silent. After a while, one of the maids muttered with a saddened voice.

"…Yes. She wishes to be buried beneath the cherry tree. She was looking forward to springtime, but what greeted us were endless rainy days instead, so she must be disappointed."

"She was really anticipating the cherry blossoms to bloom…"

"This damn rainy season. Why is it raging in spring?"

"Goddammit. Fuck this world. Just perish already!"

In fear of those in the devil's mansion, they naturally exaggerated, cursing God and praying for the destruction of the world.

After a while, their voices faded away.

'Cherry Blossoms.'

The moment Aria heard that, she remembered the cherry trees she'd seen while strolling around the garden.

She immediately ran back there.

* * *

Fortunately, no escort had been assigned to Aria.

Furthermore, no one cared about where and what she was doing now that the Grand Duchess was on the verge of death.

'And also because Diana had said that it was okay to admire the flowers.'

She waited until late at night.

It was almost dawn.

Aria looked up at the sky with her head tilted back and slowly rose from the cherry tree she was leaning against.

She placed her hand on the cherry tree.

Although the petals had fallen off after the rain, it was still a huge tree.

Big enough to be seen from the Grand Duchess' bedroom.

'Song of Life.'

She finally got to sing it again after a long time.

Aria closed her eyes.

Then, a sweet melody emerged from her lips.