Becoming the Villain’s Family - Chapter 327
Chapter 327
Brian, experiencing such overpowering helplessness for the first time, sobbed in fear.
‘I did it.’
Though it was hard to move even a finger, she had won.
She had triumphed over the scary people who only spoke harsh words.
Hehe.
Serves them right, you bad guys.
Just as Elaina was mustering the strength to keep her drooping eyes open, a cry for help echoed from afar.
“Please, save me! Save me!”
It seemed the cry came from the shaman who had fled earlier, now desperately pleading for his life far down the corridor.
“Carlin, please!”
“Do we know each other?”
“What?”
“Are we acquainted?”
“No, no, I just know of your reputation…”
“And you think it’s okay to tarnish my hard-earned reputation by associating it with garbage like yourself?”
As her eyes were closing, perhaps falling asleep or slipping into unconsciousness, she heard Carlin’s voice.
Just then…
“Ella.”
A familiar scent washed over her.
Before she could react, she was lifted and tightly embraced by strong arms.
“Luca.”
He had come to save her.
Overwhelmed by relief and joy at seeing him again, tears welled up in her eyes.
She was alive, her memory was intact, and Luca was here.
And beyond his shoulder, she could see Aria and Lloyd. The worried faces of her parents trying to mask their distress not to surprise the child.
“Mom, Dad…”
Elaina reached out, sobbing.
Then, suddenly…
‘Huh?’
The intense emotions and memories of the boy holding her flowed into her, unguarded.
Elaina blinked in surprise.
“…the son of a slave trader.”
The vivid memory and intense emotions of Luca’s anger and murderous intent flowed upon her. It was the time when he learned that Brian was the favored son of a slave trader.
“Ha, idiot. Just because he promised to make friends with Elaina, I kept letting her meet him…”
He feared being hated so it was his reason for not investigating earlier. He was overwhelmed with guilt and the harrowing worry she felt.
The emotions Luca experienced while searching for her were vividly clear to her, as if she had been there herself. Reading fleeting emotions from others had been something Elaina did naturally since she was a baby.
But this was the first time like this.
“They never stay in one place for long, always on the move. They inform their members about their location through letters and have even attacked civilians during crackdowns to maintain their operations.”
“Then we’ll have to go after those members.”
A breeze brushed her cheek, and as she covered her eyes with her palms, tears of intense regret fell to the ground.
He had faced setbacks before. As the search dragged on and his impatience peaked, dark emotions began to bubble up inside her.
“That criminal cares terribly for his own children.”
“What?”
“It was written in the documents. Which academy did his eldest son attend? It wasn’t the Imperial Academy, if I recall correctly.”
“Luca, calm down. We need to find Elaina first.”
Just as Aria was trying to calm Luca down when his emotions reached the extreme, Elaina released a burst of energy.
It happened when she screamed, “NOO!” and unwittingly awakened a power she didn’t even know she possessed. This energy, slightly different yet akin to a Siren’s magic, instantly pinpointed Elaina’s location. The Valentines rushed to her.
“Luca…”
Are you okay?
Elaina couldn’t help but ask. For the first time, every memory, emotion, sensation, and breath flowed into her as if she had experienced them herself. The tears that were about to spill retracted because Luca’s heart seemed too agonizingly torn at the moment.
“….Your walk was way too long.”
“I’m, I’m sowwy.”
Elaina started with an apology. She then diligently wiped the tear streaks on Luca’s cheeks. His face was drenched, showing just how much he had cried.
Elaina had only wanted to give Luca a birthday gift, a unique gift that would bring him joy.
“Umm. Not Luca fault.”
“…”
“Luca no wrong,”
Elaina felt guilty that she had not considered what everyone in the Valentine family would think or feel if she disappeared.
It was like this.
It hurts so much.
She had read just Luca’s but all the Valentines must have felt the same way.
Holding Luca tightly, she buried her head in his shoulder and murmured.
“Sowwy for hurt you.”
As surprising as it may be, after the Emperor came to the throne, slave trading was illegal.
Despite the decree outlawing slavery, the practice stubbornly persisted across the empire.
While a few nobles with a sense of human rights refrained from engaging in it, the majority still indulged in the illegal trade.
In this context, the primary virtue a slave trader like Chrono, the owner of the Tartan Merchants, should possess was discernment. Knowing precisely when to strike and when to withdraw was critical to avoid the full force of the law.
‘I’m doomed.’
Chrono lamented, stuck to the wall like an insect.
The individuals who had breached the formidable defenses of his establishment effortlessly must be nobles, at the very least.
‘They have to be nobles.’
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
