Becoming the Villain’s Family - Chapter 312
Chapter 312
Aria fled from Grand Duke Valentine’s room to her room.
It was her private room before they had merged their rooms.
‘This place is unknown to the Grand Duke.’
It was a room created after her return.
She instructed the servants never to say where she is, so she assumed she would remain undiscovered for a while.
She felt relieved….
Yet the next morning, feeling a persistent gaze, Aria woke up.
She was startled to find Lloyd kneeling beside her bed like a knight awaiting his princess’s command.
“What, what’s going on?”
She stammered as Lloyd smiled serenely. backlit by the morning sun.
“Aria.”
“…Lloyd?”
She recognized him instantly. Of course she had to,.
Grand Duke Valentine never smiled so prettily like that.
“Did you have a nice dream?”
Lloyd gently kissed her hand as she was stunned for a moment. Aria only snapped out of it when he playfully bit the tip of her finger.
“Did I have a nice dream?!”
She exclaimed loudly and lunged to hug the kneeling Lloyd.
Lloyd stiffened, careful not to hurt her, then pulled her close and lay back.
This was a stark contrast when they were rolling in the grass.
“What’s going on? How did you come back? Are you hurt? Did you see anything strange?”
“Um, I think I only saw things that were pretty, lovely, and happy….”
“…In the ruined world?”
Aria looked at Lloyd suspiciously, wondering if he had developed a taste for self-destruction.
“You seem to be reading my thoughts.”
Lloyd said, pouting, then let out a deflated laugh.
“The past me was also me.”
“What?”
“Ella helped me regain my memories. Our Ella, she’s so smart, just like you.”
“…”
Aria was moved but also worried. Her eyes teared up and she narrowed it slightly.
Though Lloyd hadn’t fully explained, Aria felt like she understood what he was saying.
That’s why, right now.
“You were Duke Valentine?”
“That’s right. When I regained my past memories, I momentarily lost all my current ones.”
In fact, even if Ella didn’t come to help, perhaps it might come back sooner or later…
Lloyd continued.
Aria didn’t hear the rest of what he was saying, her mind was too astonished.
For some reason, it was almost as if she could hear Winter asking, ‘So, why am I here again?’.
It wasn’t that dimensions had split. Rather, the time in this world had turned back.
Aria was overwhelmed with emotions. Anger surged up, then pity for Lloyd, annoyance, and regret for not recognizing him sooner…..
All these feelings poured out, confusing her.
Yet, what remained most profound was the fundamental affection Aria had always harbored for Lloyd.
What else is there but love?
“Aria?”
Instead of answering, she buried her face in his chest and asked with a wet voice.
“So, Lloyd, did you save me on the day I was dying?”
“…”
“Did you avenge me who was going to die anyway?”
What pained her most was.
“Then what was all this pointless emotional turmoil about…?”
The fact that she hadn’t hugged her savior, Lloyd, who had lost his memories, who had just crossed from hell the first time she saw him, gnawed at her.
She should have just hugged him without hesitation, told him how grateful she was, how he had saved her, and how, thanks to him, she found the courage to live on after returning.
Immediately upon her return, she had wanted to live entirely for him, and it was that which ultimately brought Valentine’s salvation.
At first, she had been taken aback by Lloyd’s change and had pushed him away.
After realizing the identity, Aria had been afraid that the man from the destroyed world might permanently occupy Lloyd’s body. That she might never see the current Lloyd again and lose the happiness she had just begun to grasp as if it was a mirage.
To accept him fully felt like betraying the Lloyd she knew now.
These selfish thoughts prevented her from properly caring for his wounds. If they were essentially the same person, there was no reason to push him away.
She could have fully comforted Duke Valentine, who was left alone in a crumbling, ruined world before her return.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
Lloyd looked puzzled, as he was waiting for Aria to get angry.
He was not expecting an apology from her.
If anyone should apologize, it was him, for he did not know he had lost his memories.
“I should have just accepted everything about Lloyd. Calling you by your nickname, hugging you, kissing you….why did I make it all so complicated?”
She sniffled.
She regretted the opportunity to meet her first savior fully but missed it.
I should have told you that your feelings weren’t one sided and I loved you too.
“I should have told you that you were also my first love….”
Aria confesses openly. Lloyd, who seemed embarrassed, clamped his mouth shut. His expression hardened slightly.
“….Why, thinking back, you regret not doing more?”.
“Huh?”
“That’s nothing you can say in front of your husband. Are you declaring you will be having a legal affair?”
Lloyd teased. Aria stared at him with wide eyes.
There was a shift in his tone. Not just his words, but his gaze seemed different from before too….
She asked and blinked her eyes.
“Why would you say that?”
Tears started to roll down her cheeks like beads falling.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
