The surroundings fell silent, like a grave.
It felt as though the two of them had been left alone in a frozen moment of time.
“Let’s fall into hell together.”
A faint haze of smoke flickered before her eyes, and her gaze tangled with dull, unfocused gray eyes clouded without clarity.
The Grand Duke smiled languidly, his eyes hollow and empty.
The illusion lingered for a moment, then scattered along with the cigarette smoke from her memories.
‘Ah.’
Aria parted her lips. Only a faint, ragged breath escaped.
‘That was close.’
She had almost spoken.
Saaa—
Only then did she come back to reality.
Time, which had seemed to stand still, began to flow again.
“Looks like you don’t understand the situation.”
Perhaps because Aria remained calm instead of panicking, Lloyd’s expression hardened as he pressed the blade even closer.
A thin line of blood trickled down her neck.
“……”
A burning pain followed, but Aria made no sound.
She was used to enduring pain and suppressing any groans.
“So it’s true. You really can’t speak.”
Was he testing her?
Aria looked up at him, tense.
If he doubted her from that point, it meant he distrusted her very existence.
‘But he’s sharp. Is it instinct?’
Cold sweat ran down her forehead, mixing with the rain as it dripped from her chin.
The dress Dana had carefully chosen was already ruined, soaked in blood and rain.
‘It hurts….’
The strength gradually left her hand.
Aria dropped the umbrella she had been holding.
Thud.
Shaa—
At last, her face, hidden beneath the umbrella, was revealed.
The boy, who had been cold and expressionless, showed a brief flicker of disbelief.
“…A rabbit?”
Because of the sudden appearance of the rabbit mask.
“A rabbit…”
Lloyd muttered again, clearly dumbfounded.
Seeing Aria trembling in the pouring rain, his brows slowly furrowed.
“Rabbit.”
“……”
“If you’re going to reveal your true intentions, say it with your lips. I can read them.”
Her true intentions?
If that were the case…
I left my cage to meet you. To become the night that lets you shine brilliantly. I’ll gladly be the fuel, so burn me as much as you want if it lets you shine.
‘…I can’t say that.’
Aria recalled the thoughts she had held deep inside before meeting Lloyd.
Then, without thinking, her lips moved.
—I actually liked it when you patted me.
“……”
Lloyd stared at her as if she were insane.
“Looks like you’ve never handled a weapon.”
Lloyd said as he took Aria’s hand.
He examined it closely. No matter how he looked, it was just the soft hand of a child, without a single callus.
“At your age, shouldn’t you at least know how to use one weapon?”
At ten?
Aria tilted her head in confusion.
“There’s no muscle, just bones.”
Wouldn’t it be more impressive if a ten-year-old had muscles?
She tilted her head again.
Lloyd grabbed her wrist and lifted it, her arm following limply.
He let go, glanced at his own hand, then frowned and looked back at her.
“It’s a miracle you’re alive. No strength, weak pulse. Your bones are so fragile they’d probably shatter if I gripped too hard.”
“……”
“Are all humans outside the boundary this weak?”
He muttered, “Even my mother wasn’t this bad…”
The way he looked at her was as if she were some rare creature he had never seen before.
‘My body was weak to begin with… and the abuse made it worse.’
Aria thought to herself, then instinctively touched her neck—
—and flinched as if burned.
It stung, and tears welled in her eyes.
“……”
Lloyd rummaged through his coat, pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief, and tossed it to her.
Aria caught it instinctively, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Use it and throw it away.”
It was a plain white handkerchief with no embroidery.
Aria looked between the handkerchief and Lloyd before awkwardly wiping her neck.
Watching her with visible irritation, Lloyd strode over, snatched the handkerchief back, and said,
“Give it here.”
The boy skillfully treated her wound.
It had only been a shallow cut. The blood, mixed with rain, had made it look worse.
In an instant, he stopped the bleeding and tied the handkerchief around her neck.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
Lloyd tapped the mask with his finger, as if about to remove it.
Startled, Aria stepped back.
His brow twitched in displeasure before settling.
“You, rabbit.”
The rain-soaked rabbit mask was dripping heavily.
‘It was soft and fluffy because it was stuffed with cotton… I guess even Dana didn’t expect this drawback.’
Aria thought blankly.
He could have laughed at how ridiculous she looked, but Lloyd spoke seriously, without a trace of humor.
“Are you feed for the sewer rats?”
At that, Aria was startled.
She hadn’t expected him to suspect that far.
“Sewer rats” referred to the rulers of the underworld.
The “sewers” were a derogatory term for the black market.
“Those raised as feed are either born mute or have their tongues cut out.”
“Feed” were subordinates raised to serve the underworld masters for life.
They were called that because they were bred to be consumed.
They had no will. They were puppets who followed orders and willingly gave their lives.
“You came in under the identity of a Cortez noble lady, but your name isn’t on their records. So how do you prove you didn’t crawl out of the sewers?”
As Lloyd said, there was no way to prove it right now.
Aria thought belatedly, ‘Come to think of it, Valentine is hostile to the underworld too.’
Valentine had many enemies, as notorious as it was.
So it wasn’t unreasonable for Lloyd to be wary of her sudden appearance.
“There’s only one way to tell if you’re feed or not.”
There’s such a method?
Even the Emperor struggled because of the infiltrators spread across the Empire.
“Say ‘those sewer rats should be killed.’”
“……”
“Not going to?”
“……”
Aria couldn’t understand how he reached that conclusion.
“Then I guess you are feed.”
Lloyd’s killing intent flared as he reached for his sword again.
Aria quickly placed her hand over his.
He flinched slightly at the unexpected touch.
—I’ve never cursed before.
She hesitated, then squeezed her eyes shut and mouthed the words.
—You bastard should be killed.
Her first curse.
Even without speaking aloud, she felt strangely relieved.
“…Say it properly.”
—Those sewer rats should be killed.
“Hm.”
Did she pass?
Lloyd didn’t look pleased, but he loosened his grip on the sword.
“If you’re not feed, then leave.”
“……”
“The only way you survive is by walking out on your own. There’s no place here for a weak, powerless child like you.”
With that, he shook off her hand and walked away.
She was left alone in the corridor.
Only after he completely disappeared did Aria begin to move.
“The young lord has disappeared?”
Just as she turned the corner toward her room—
she heard the maids whispering.
A secret conversation meant to be hidden.
But Aria could hear it clearly.
Though her body was weak, a siren’s senses were exceptionally sharp.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch—everything.
As if her entire being existed for art, those senses were unnaturally developed.
‘Good thing Lloyd didn’t notice.’
She had almost been caught. She had instinctively turned when she heard footsteps on the grass.
Fortunately, he had been too focused on interrogating her to notice.
‘A weak, powerless child…’
She hoped he would keep believing that.
“Again?”
“Yes. Every time Madam’s condition worsens, she says she wants to be alone and drives everyone away. Even His Grace and the young lord aren’t exceptions.”
“A lot of people are going to die again today.”
One maid sighed.
“Exactly. His Grace went out personally with the knights to suppress bandits, and the young lord is nowhere to be found.”
“The young lord tracked down all the spies who infiltrated the estate last time… and threw them into the jaguar enclosure as an example…”
The maid shuddered and stopped speaking.
‘Sounds like both father and son are venting because they’ve been driven away from her bedside.’
Aria understood.
If your wife or mother is on the brink of death, and you’re not allowed to stay by her side… it would drive anyone mad.
But still, killing people over it—
‘No wonder they’re called the Demon Grand Duke and his heir.’
‘Did I survive because I look weak?’
She had been lucky.
Her neck throbbed faintly where the handkerchief was tied.
“This isn’t the first time Madam collapsed… she’s survived countless crises. But this time…”
“Watch your words.”
“But you know too. It’s the first time she’s said something like that… like a final wish.”
The two maids fell silent, sniffling.
After a while, one spoke in a trembling voice.
“…She said she wanted to be buried under the cherry tree. She waited for spring, but it keeps raining.”
“She always waited for the cherry blossoms every spring.”
“Damn rain. Why now of all times?”
“Damn god. Damn world. Let it all end.”
As if befitting a demon’s castle, they naturally cursed god and wished for the world’s destruction as they walked away.
‘Cherry blossoms.’
The moment she heard that, Aria recalled the cherry trees she had seen in the garden.
She ran there immediately.
Fortunately, Aria had not yet been assigned a guard.
And with the Grand Duchess hovering between life and death, no one paid attention to where she was.
‘And Dana said I could look around the garden.’
She had simply stayed out later than intended.
It was dawn.
Aria tilted her head back and looked up at the sky, then slowly stood from where she had been leaning against the cherry tree.
She placed her hand on it.
Though the petals had all fallen in the storm, it was a massive tree—
large enough to be seen from the Grand Duchess’s chamber in the main palace.
‘The song of life.’
It had been a long time since she last sang.
Aria closed her eyes.
And softly, gently, she began to sing.
![Your God Sent You [Completed]](https://i1.wp.com/novelvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/resource-5.jpg?resize=151,215 "Your God Sent You [Completed]")
