Becoming the Villain’s Family - Chapter 304

Chapter 304

Grand Duke Valentine didn’t hold her back. As they were talking, Sabina and Tristan had gotten closer.

And now….they were close enough to touch.

“…”

The Grand Duke simply breathed in thought.

He wanted to touch them.

He wanted to feel their warmth, to hear their pulse, the proof they were alive.

Yet, he sensed that once he confirmed their reality, he might never be able to return to his days of living alone in his devastated world.

Clearing his throat, he spoke in a voice as low as if scraping the ground.

“Mother, Father.”

“…Father?”

Tristan reacted as if he had heard something unbelievable.

Aside from when Lloyd was very young, he had always been addressed as ‘the Grand Duke,’ and now that he was no longer the Grand Duke, his cocky son called him ‘Tristan’.

Tristan had never thought he’d hear the word ‘father’ in his lifetime.

“My son feels strangely unfamiliar.”

“It’s regrettable that Father is alive and well like this.”

“Hmm, the same as ever?”

It was just the title that had become fatherly; the son remained as insolent as ever. Tristan narrowed his eyes at Grand Duke Valentine, tilting his head and stroking his chin.

His eyes, usually quite composed, seemed as if they could belong to any mad Valentine from history, yet his speech remained unchanged.

“Has your madness returned?”

Tristan asked seriously. He must have sensed the gravity of the situation because it was unlike his usual flippant self.

“After embracing God’s feelings, I didn’t expect to end up like this. Are you still under the influence of malice?”

The Grand Duke responded calmly.

“I am indeed mad.”

“Well, to call me father, you must be quite mad.”

Was that really enough to confirm such madness?

The realization that Lloyd had changed was so absurd that Aria missed her moment to intervene.

She spoke a bit late

“Not like that…”

She quickly explained that the Grand Duke’s soul had come from another world. And that this world was the one where Aria had traveled back in time, right before its destruction.

Sabina and Tristan, accustomed to matters close to God due to their environment, did not show much surprise at such startling declarations.

After all, Aria had no reason to lie about such things.

Tristan muttered, “So no one survived, after all.”

“It closely resembles the future of the world I had predicted since my youth.”

The world was increasingly corrupted as God’s feelings were separated into goodwill and malice, the essence of God faded, and the direct descendants of Valentine became stronger and madder with each generation.

The world was nearing its end, and the fully corrupted malice hoped only for the annihilation of humanity. In such conditions, reuniting God’s feeling to purify the dying world seemed an impossible miracle.

Yet against those slim odds, the world had been saved.

“Right.”

Sabina pondered for a moment before silently gazing up at her grown son.

Then, she opened her arms and pulled him into a tight embrace, with a strength that was so hard to believe belonging to someone who was once near-death.

She pulled Grand Duke Valentine’s head down, as he was much taller than her, to rest firmly against her shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“….”

“You’ve brought us the spring fairy.”

The spring fairy.

It had been a long time since Aria had heard that nickname.

It had been given by Sabina when, as a child, Aria had managed to revive the cherry blossoms during the rainy season.

You are the spring fairy who came to save our Valentine, Sabina had said.

‘Ah.’

Aria’s eyes widened.

If Grand Duke Valentine hadn’t saved her in those final moments, she might not have thought to return to Valentine even if returned through time. Or if she had, it would have been much later. Thus, Grand Duke Valentine was…

‘Even if he is the devil who destroyed his world, he is the savior who rescued mine.’

She realized this only now. She had been so preoccupied with the idea of sending him back that she had deliberately ignored this fact.

“You saved us.”

“….”

“You saved our world.”

“I…”

The Grand Duke must not have considered things this way before. He showed a shocked expression, his eyes wide open.

Oh, that’s a big problem.

‘Maybe I should never have brought him to Valentine’s in the first place.’

Perhaps she should have resolved everything back in Garcia….

At least then, he wouldn’t have to face the realization that he might soon vanish like a fleeting dream.

Aria looked up into the Grand Duke’s eyes, which seemed as if they could scatter with the slightest breeze.

She had naively thought that, because he deemed everything in this world as almost fake, it wouldn’t affect him deeply.

‘If I truly care about the Grand Duke, I should keep him away from the Grand Duke’s Castle.’

While he was just surprised and shaken, it was crucial to leave this place. If he began to see this world not as an alienation but as his reality, and started to form attachments…

‘He’ll never want to go back.’

And neither would she.

A worry for Lloyd struck her.

If she was indeed looking out for both him and Lloyd, she needed to apologize to Sabina and Tristan and leave this spot immediately with the Grand Duke.

But seeing the Grand Duke with that face made it hard for her to just drag him away without consideration.

While hesitating, the Grand Duke muttered.

“So it is. I am…”

His eyes, wavering at first, settled into a calm before darkening, shimmering black like snake scales.

“Yes, you are our hero.”

Hero.

The Grand Duke twisted his mouth in what seemed like a scoff. Yet, Aria saw a flicker of exhilaration and desire pass over his eyes.

Sabina’s words seemed to have lit a fuse within him and unsettled Aria deeply.

It appeared increasingly likely that the Grand Duke had no intention of returning to his original world at all.

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