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The surroundings fell silent like a grave.
It felt as if the two of them were left alone in a world where time had stopped.
“Let’s fall into hell together.”
A hazy plume of smoke wavered in her vision, and her gaze tangled with those dull, unfocused gray eyes.
The Grand Duke smiled languidly, his eyes hollow and empty in a way that felt strangely vacant.
The illusion flickered, then scattered like cigarette smoke from a memory.
‘Ah.’
Aria’s lips parted slightly. Only a faint, ragged breath escaped.
‘That was close.’
She had almost spoken.
Sssaaa—
Only then did she come back to her senses.
Time, which had seemed frozen, began to move again.
“Looks like you don’t understand your situation.”
Perhaps because Aria showed no surprise and remained calm, Lloyd’s expression hardened, and he pressed the blade even closer.
A thin line of blood ran down her neck.
“……”
A burning pain followed, but Aria made no sound.
She was used to enduring pain and suppressing her groans.
“So it’s true that you can’t speak.”
Was that a test?
Aria looked up at him, tense.
If he doubted her from that point, it meant he distrusted her very existence.
‘But he’s sharp. Does he have good instincts?’
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead, mixing with the rain as it ran along her jaw.
The dress Dana had carefully chosen was already soaked through with blood and rain.
‘It hurts…’
Her grip slowly weakened.
Aria dropped the umbrella she had been holding.
Thud.
Ssshhh—
At last, her face, hidden beneath the umbrella, was revealed.
The boy, who had remained cold and expressionless, showed a flicker of disbelief.
“…A rabbit?”
Because of the suddenly appearing rabbit mask.
“Rabbit…”
Lloyd muttered again, clearly dumbfounded.
Seeing Aria trembling in the pouring rain, his brows gradually furrowed.
“Rabbit.”
“……”
“If you intend to reveal your true intentions, say it with your lips. I can read them.”
True intentions? If it were her true intentions…
I came flying out of the cage to meet you. To become the night that lets you shine brilliantly.
I’ll gladly become firewood, so burn me as much as you want to shine brighter.
‘I can’t say something like that…’
Aria recalled the thoughts she had secretly held before meeting Lloyd.
Then, without thinking, her lips moved.
—I actually liked it when you patted my head.
“……”
Lloyd looked at her as if she were insane.
“It seems you’ve never handled a weapon.”
Lloyd said as he took Aria’s hand.
He examined it from various angles. No matter how he looked at it, it was just a soft child’s hand, without a single callus.
“At your age, shouldn’t you at least know how to handle one weapon?”
At ten?
Aria tilted her head in confusion.
“You don’t even have muscles, just bones.”
Wouldn’t it be more impressive if a ten-year-old had muscles?
Aria tilted her head again.
Lloyd grabbed her wrist and lifted it. Her arm was pulled up effortlessly.
He let go and glanced at his own hand, then frowned and looked back at her.
“It’s a miracle you’re alive. You’re weak, your pulse is faint. Your bones are so fragile they feel like they’d shatter if I gripped too hard.”
“……”
“Are all humans from outside the boundary this weak?”
He muttered, “Even my mother wasn’t this bad…”
The way he looked at her was like someone observing a rare creature for the first time.
‘I was always weak, and the abuse only made it worse.’
Aria thought to herself and instinctively touched her neck, then flinched as if burned.
It stung, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“……”
Lloyd rummaged through his clothes, pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief, and tossed it at her.
Aria caught it instinctively, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Use it and throw it away.”
It was a plain white handkerchief, without any embroidery.
Aria glanced between the handkerchief and Lloyd, then awkwardly wiped her neck.
Watching her with visible irritation, Lloyd strode over and snatched it back.
“Give it here.”
The boy skillfully treated the wound.
It had been shallow from the start. The blood had only looked worse because it mixed with the rain.
He quickly finished and tied the handkerchief around her neck.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
Lloyd tapped the mask with his finger. Startled by the gesture as if he might remove it, Aria stepped back.
His eyebrow twitched upward in annoyance before settling.
“You, rabbit.”
The soaked rabbit mask dripped water.
‘It was soft and fluffy because it was made of cotton… I guess even Dana didn’t expect this drawback.’
Aria thought blankly.
Though her appearance might have been laughable, Lloyd spoke seriously, without a trace of humor.
“Are you feed for the gutter rat?”
Aria was startled.
She hadn’t expected him to suspect that much.
The “gutter rat” referred to the ruler of the underworld.
And the “gutter” was a derogatory term for the slums.
“Those raised as feed are either born unable to speak or have their tongues cut out.”
“Feed” were servants who devoted their lives to the underworld’s master.
They were called feed because they were raised to be consumed.
They had no will. They simply obeyed orders and willingly gave their lives like puppets.
“You came in under the identity of a Cortes lady, but your name isn’t on the Cortes registry. How do you prove you didn’t crawl out of the gutter?”
As Lloyd said, there was no way to prove it right now.
‘Come to think of it, Valentine was at odds with the gutter too.’
Valentine had many enemies due to its notorious reputation.
So it wasn’t strange that Lloyd was wary of her.
“There’s only one way to tell whether you’re feed or not.”
There is?
Even the Emperor struggled because of the gutter rat’s agents infiltrating everywhere.
“Say ‘damn gutter rat, I’ll kill you.’”
“……”
“You won’t?”
“……”
Aria couldn’t understand how he reached that conclusion.
“Then you must be feed.”
Lloyd radiated killing intent and placed his hand back on the sword hilt.
Aria quickly placed her hand over his.
His fingers flinched at the unexpected contact.
—I’ve never cursed before.
She hesitated, then squeezed her eyes shut and moved her lips.
—Bastard… I’ll kill you.
Her first curse.
Even though she didn’t say it aloud, she felt strangely relieved.
“…Say the subject properly.”
—Damn gutter rat, I’ll kill you.
“Hmm.”
Did she pass?
Though he still looked displeased, Lloyd relaxed his grip on the sword.
“If you’re not feed, then leave.”
“……”
“Walking out on your own is the only way you’ll survive. There’s no place in Valentine for a weak child like you.”
With that, he shook off her hand and left.
She was left alone in the corridor.
Only after he was completely gone did Aria begin to move.
When she focused all her senses, she could hear life breathing all around her.
Chirp!
Birds reacted to the siren’s power and sang.
Trrr—
Insects announced their presence with steady, high-pitched cries.
Aria raised her hand and gently swept it through the air.
The wind brushed her fingertips. Unknown grasses and branches rustled together softly.
As if they were playing along to her song.
‘How fascinating.’
She had always sung accompanied by an orchestra.
Come to think of it, was this her first time singing outside?
‘Whenever I went outside, I always had a gag on.’
Count Cortes had feared she might escape, so he monitored her strictly.
He even carried a crossbow and killed any animal that approached her.
Under his control, the only places she was allowed to sing were indoors where escape was impossible, underground halls for secret gatherings of the powerful, and the Emperor’s cage.
“O gentle and beautiful leaves of the plane tree I love.”
Aria sang freely.
Listening to the birds and insects.
Following the melody played by the wind through grass and trees.
“Fate shines upon you.”
Dawn was breaking.
Light slowly spread across the once-dark sky.
“Neither thunder, lightning, nor storm shall ever disturb your peace.”
The drizzling rain came to a stop.
“Nor shall the greedy south wind offend you, beloved tree.”
Aria approached and pressed her ear against the trunk.
For a moment, she thought she could hear a steady heartbeat.
A soft smile spread across her lips.
A gentle glow began to surround the tree.
It grew stronger, like sunlight, turning golden as it passed through the leaves.
It was radiant.
“Fate shines upon you.”
At the same time, the sun rose.
Morning arrived in dazzling white brilliance.
The light around the cherry tree slowly faded, and golden particles fell from the buds on each branch.
Before long, they became blossoms.
“Ugh!”
She nearly collapsed.
Dizzy, Aria steadied herself against the tree.
Her body trembled from the cold. Wearing wet clothes for so long had lowered her temperature.
‘That was too much.’
She had deliberately left her wound untreated and stayed in the rain all night.
When her body weakened and her consciousness blurred, her song grew stronger.
Like how humans surpass their limits in moments of crisis.
‘My body can’t handle it.’
She felt like she might collapse at any moment.
Just as she thought she should leave—
Rustle—
Someone stepped on the grass.
She turned precisely toward the sound and met a man’s gaze.
The man looked dazed at first, then flustered.
“Y-you… you can speak. No…”
“….”
“That heavenly song… no, you sang, and the tree…”
A servant.
Aria checked his clothes as he rambled.
He soon regained composure and smirked.
“I really am lucky.”
“….”
“Go on, say something. You think I’ll fall for your silence?”
He must have thought he had leverage.
“100 million char.”
“…What?”
“The price for one of my songs.”
He was stunned.
“What kind of song costs 100 million?!”
If she sang three songs, she could buy a mansion in the capital!
“You don’t understand your situation…”
The servant boasted about framing an innocent maid before.
His name was Toby.
He survived by exploiting others’ weaknesses.
Aria listened carefully.
“You can’t even afford my song. Do you think you can bear its weight?”
Then she replied calmly.
At that moment, lightning split the sky behind her.
Thunder roared.
Boom!
Toby flinched.
‘It’s just thunder…’
But the situation had already reversed.
Aria walked toward him, and he instinctively stepped back, tripping and falling.
“W-wait.”
“Even so, you must pay for your sins.”
She granted him the song he desired.
His thoughts stopped.
He stopped breathing.
‘Ah…’
Like a starving wanderer finding an oasis.
Like a zealot witnessing a god.
As he stood entranced, she whispered into his ear:
“You will not speak of what you saw today. Go confess your sins and accept punishment.”
His mind snapped back.
But he couldn’t move.
His body acted on its own.
Before he knew it, he stood before the 3rd Knight Order office.
He knocked.
“What is it?”
The captain and interrogator were inside.
“I came to confess all my sins.”
“My head feels hot… my ears are ringing…”
Aria blinked weakly.
“Where am I…?”
She didn’t know.
“…It hurts.”
She murmured softly.
“I might pass out…”
“Suddenly disappeared?”
That voice—
Lloyd.
“I told her to leave. I was going to kill her.”
“What?!”
“I’ll find the rabbit.”
‘Idiot. Wrong way.’
Aria listened to his retreating footsteps.
A white pigeon perched nearby.
“Bird.”
“Coo.”
“I have a favor.”
She spoke absentmindedly.
“Top floor… last room.”
“Coo!”
“Deliver a message.”
The pigeon flew away.
‘Did it understand?’
Her vision blurred.
Her knees gave out.
“Aga—Miss!”
“Call a physician!”
Darkness consumed her.
