Becoming the Villain’s Family - Chapter 303

Chapter 303

Now that they had offspring and passed down the generations, they were still thriving.

“It seems like they’re happier to see the Siren than me.”

“That’s because the Siren is friends with the animals.”

“Since when were you friends?”

The Grand Duke asked as if he was hearing something incredible.

Aria, slightly stumbling due to a jaguar bumping into her, replied.

“It’s always been like that. I sort of understand what they’re saying too, like, ‘why did you come now?'”

“I can understand that too.”

“No, really…”

Just as she was about to feel absurdly misunderstood, he let out a small laugh. Despite his black eyes identical to Lloyd’s, his gaze seemed ash-gray, exhausted of all emotion.

The Grand Duke looked at the beasts he once cared for with a gaze similar to the one he gave VIncent. As if seeing something that should not exist, had come alive and moving.

His gaze then drifted across the sprawling garden, landing on a flame tree.

That was the tree Aria and Lloyd used to play around when she was a child.

They had picked flowers there to celebrate Sabina’s recovery, holding hands as they visited her during her illness.

“Grand Duke.”

Even though Aria called him, the Grand Duke seemed lost in thought and didn’t respond. His gaze lingered on a cherry tree that Sabina loved.

Now, the cherry blossoms had fallen, and fresh green shoots sprouting signaled the season for roses to bloom.

The Grand Duke watched the path under the cherry tree for a long while.

‘Why… Ah.’

Following his gaze, Aria absent-mindedly stared at the cherry tree, then recalled a conversation of the maids buried deep in her memory.

“The Madam has collapsed not for the first time, and she has survived countless crises, but this time it’s really…”

“Be careful with your words.”

“But you know too. It was the first time the Madam said something like that.”

“She said she wanted to be buried under the cherry tree. She was sad because it kept raining when she was waiting for spring.”

“Every spring, she looked forward to the cherry blossoms.”

Could it be that in the Grand Duke’s world, Sabina was indeed buried under that cherry tree as per her last wish?

When she couldn’t overcome the hurdle… Aria found herself unable to ask about it.

She knew such things hadn’t happened in this world, but just imagining it was heart-wrenching.

“When I regained consciousness, there was nothing left. No people, no animals, no trees, no flowers, everything had turned to ash…”

Aria remembered a day in the past when Lloyd had woken from a terrible nightmare, tears streaming down his face as he spoke in a monotone voice. His shoulders shook not with sobs but with a silent despair that made him appear even more pitiful.

As if there was no hope for him.

‘Just like now.’

Back then, Lloyd had merely dreamed of the Valentine’s incident, but for the Grand Duke standing before her now, that incident was reality.

And here he was, dreaming of a life where everyone was safe, the curse was broken, and he was married to the person he loved and had a child.

Aria found it increasingly difficult even to breathe.

“…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

‘To me, who remembers the past, all this might as well be fake to him.’

Who could look at a fake with such an expression? His reaction was so distinctly different from when he dismissed this world as an illusion.

How futile her momentary reassurance had been that he wouldn’t care about this world.

‘If only our hearts could move as easily as our thoughts do.’

Aria had thought that too.

‘I thought he was entirely different from Lloyd…’

They had different memories, lived different lives. She had thought that the man she loved, Lloyd, and the Grand Duke were entirely different people.

Yet, it was difficult because the Grand Duke kept overlapping with the Lloyd she had loved so desperately.

“You’re early.”

Just then, Aria heard Sabina’s voice from under the distant flame tree. Looking at the sound, she saw Sabina and Tristan right next to her, shading her from the sun as if they were enjoying a date.

“Did something happen?”

They had spotted Aria and Lloyd and were slowly approaching from a distance.

Having returned from Garcia within just a day, they were worried about whether something had happened.

“It’s now…”

The Grand Duke, no, Lloyd.

He let his inner thoughts slip for the first time as the gentle spring breeze caressed his cheek.

“…I can’t stand it anymore.”

He slowly closed his eyes, then lifted his eyelids with a heavy breath.

It must be an illusion.

Yet, Sabina and Tristan that were approaching him were different from the nightmares that haunted him every night before he broke down. They were not mirages that vanished in an instant.

No matter how long he waited, they didn’t turn to a handful of ash and scatter. Every time he blinked, they only came closer and became clearer.

At that moment, Aria, without realizing it, stepped forward and covered his eyes with her palm.

“…”

The Grand Duke blinked slowly under her palm. Then raised his hand to cover hers, gently removing it from his eyes while asking.

“What are you doing?”

“…”

Aria lost her words as his deep black gaze met hers.

She had expected the Grand Duke, who had just said that he couldn’t stand it, to possibly break down crying. But he appeared surprisingly composed, as if he had never had a crumbling expression.

“Aren’t you going to cry?”

The Grand Duke gave a small laugh and, touching her fingernail and kissing them, he asked.

“If I cry, would you comfort me?”

Well, it seemed he had no intention of crying.

Aria awkwardly removed her hand and stepped back.

Want to read more? Up to [24] advanced chapters are available on Patreon: