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Chapter 22
Vincent was confused because the way Aria spoke—bluntly and without hesitation—was completely unlike the rumors.
That indifferent, expressionless gaze… I’m sure I’ve seen it in my older brother before…
He’d heard she had a cute, lovable personality for her age.
What happened to being “normal”?
She’s really like this?
It wasn’t his imagination—Aria really did seem to treat him alone more harshly than others.
“So then, what do you think your job is, sister-in-law?”
[To protect my person.]
An answer with zero hesitation.
Vincent was momentarily speechless.
It was the kind of thing you’d hear at a knight’s oath ceremony, not from a young girl.
Leaving the silent Vincent behind, Aria threw all the cards she had written a moment ago into the fireplace.
If the time ever came when she had to reveal her powers, it would undoubtedly be for him.
Aria had recently developed a small hobby.
Wandering around the garden waiting for a letter from Sabina.
How long had she been doing it?
Only when she spotted a carrier pigeon flying toward her with its wings spread wide did her face finally brighten.
Wow, a letter…! …Oh. Never mind.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a letter today.
Sometimes Sabina sent letters, but other days she simply sent flowers held in the pigeon’s beak.
That’s when Sabina doesn’t even have the strength to write…
Aria raised her hand with a worried expression and let the pigeon land on her arm. She fed it carefully.
I think another crisis is coming soon.
The intervals between flower deliveries were getting shorter.
Even when she received a new, beautiful flower she’d never seen before, her mood dampened.
While she was gently stroking the pigeon’s head, it suddenly cooed loudly and fluttered away.
Huh? What’s wrong?
Puzzled, Aria turned around—
In the distance, Lloyd and his jaguar were strolling toward her.
The moment the boy saw Aria, his brows knit together openly.
Is he going to chase me away again…?
But they had already made eye contact, so it couldn’t be helped.
Aria quietly waited for the ever-wary Lloyd to approach on his own.
His jaguar, unlike its master, approached her without hesitation.
Hello.
A black jaguar.
A rare beast completely covered in jet-black fur.
Its fur is the same color as Lloyd’s hair…
Aria reached out to pet it.
But the jaguar dodged her hand, circling around her instead.
Unlike the wolves who threw themselves at her, wagging their tails and begging for affection every time she got close… jaguars never rushed in first.
You came close on your own, so why do you avoid my hand?
Yet it kept brushing its body lightly against her.
And when she reached out again, it stepped away again.
What exactly do you want me to do?
Aria decided to simply let the jaguar behave however it wanted.
By the time she did, Lloyd had approached at a slow, unhurried pace.
“I heard you’ve never once used the authority I gave you as the young lord.”
“……”
“That authority is gone now.”
Aria nodded as if she’d never expected anything from it in the first place.
Lloyd’s eyebrow twitched.
“Hah, fine. If you really want to be thrown out with no house to live in and not even a single coin, then—”
At that moment, while he was muttering, the jaguar swatted Aria’s hand away with its front paw.
Ah.
It hit her.
Aria stared blankly at her wrist, which throbbed far more than she expected.
If it had landed properly, her bone might’ve snapped.
Thankfully, it only glanced off, leaving it twisted rather than broken.
She lifted her head—only to flinch.
Without a sound, Lloyd had suddenly come right up to her, towering over her.
“……”
Maybe because his back was to the sun, but his shadowed face looked more menacing than ever.
His eyes glinted sharply in the dark.
“Are you insane? Why would you touch a wild predator—!”
He nearly shouted, then scrubbed his face with a deep, frustrated sigh.
His expression stiffened as he forced himself to speak evenly.
“Give me your wrist.”
Aria offered it obediently, as if saying do whatever you want.
There was no suspicion, no wariness.
Her defenselessness made Lloyd’s insides twist, but he quietly checked her wrist.
“You really do the most.”
It wasn’t broken, but it was already swelling red.
A minor injury like this would heal quickly for someone from Valentine territory—but Aria was different.
Lloyd took out his dagger, trimmed a branch, and made a splint.
Then he tore a strip from the hem of his own shirt and wrapped her wrist carefully.
It’s not even broken… Isn’t this too much first aid?
Aria thought, but didn’t say aloud.
Lloyd wrapped the cloth as if handling fragile glass, then asked gruffly:
“This isn’t one of your tricks, is it?”
Aria tilted her head.
—Trick?
“When I try to chase you out, you get hurt.”
—How is that a trick?
“A trick to make me pay attention to you.”
—Does it work?
“……”
Lloyd clamped his mouth shut.
Like he’d walked right into a trap.
After blinking his pitch-black eyes slowly, he abruptly let go of Aria’s hand.
“No.”
With that, he pointed toward the clinic.
As if saying he didn’t want to talk anymore—go get treated on your own.
Because of the splint, her wrist didn’t hurt when he shoved her hand away.
He hadn’t pushed hard anyway.
“Once you’re healed, leave. For real this time.”
Aria stared at him.
“What are you thinking?”
He seemed to be thinking something unpleasant, so she asked.
She moved her lips honestly.
—That the jaguar looks like its owner.
“What does that mean?”
She meant it literally.
But Lloyd clearly didn’t understand.
His expression said, How could a human resemble an animal?
Aria waved it off with a shake of her head.
Aria began humming lightly.
There were seven main categories of siren songs.
Of course, there were countless finer subdivisions, but broadly:
The Song of Life, the Song of Peace, the Song of Allure, the Song of Deep Sleep, the Song of Forgetting, the Song of Healing, and the Song of Ruin.
“Ugh—!”
She could sing one or two of the simpler songs without issue, even without training.
But the moment she tried the Song of Healing or the Song of Ruin, a burning pain seared through her body.
And she hadn’t even sung them properly.
“Hah… huff…”
Clutching her chest, Aria collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily.
No progress at all.
Her body still couldn’t withstand it.
She was eating well every meal now, and exercising by taking walks.
She had improved somewhat, but her actual skill grew so slowly it was embarrassing to call it progress.
Well, it’s obvious why.
She continued practicing the same way she had in her previous life:
Locking herself in a room and singing until her throat went hoarse and cracked.
Since I once reached mastery, I thought I’d eventually reach it again with enough repetition…
Was this method just brute force?
But Aria knew no other way.
Count Cortez had never properly taught her.
If she kept practicing like this, she would reach those songs eventually…
But the problem is—when?
In her previous life, she reached mastery at age fourteen.
Even with effort, she might shorten that by two years.
But that was still far too late.
Is there a more efficient method…?
Something that could pull out her dormant potential quickly.
“Ah!”
Aria, lying on the floor deep in thought, suddenly shot up.
A dream barrier!
There definitely was one—in the Valentine estate.
She recalled the barrier at the entrance of the Ingo Mountains.
Whoever cast that barrier had reached a high level in handling energy.
Energy differs by type from person to person, but the fundamentals are the same.
The method should be similar.
Maybe she could get crucial hints.
That person must be more skilled than I am.
Aria immediately left the library.
She was going to find out who placed that barrier at the mountain entrance.
But… what kind of energy was that? It felt unfamiliar.
Lost in thought, Aria lingered near the library entrance—
Just then, a man exiting the library bumped straight into her.
“Ahh!”
He screamed in panic.
The collision was minor, but he dropped the documents he had been holding.
Aria rubbed her sore arm and glanced at the scattered papers.
A siren’s enhanced senses weren’t limited to hearing.
Her eyes quickly absorbed the tiny handwriting at a glance.
Her eyes widened sharply.
This is…
