Dark Dad's Rebirth - Chapter 10. The Real Aria (10)

Chapter 10. The Real Aria (10)

A flat voice whispered in her ear. But it didn’t sound angry. There was an odd sense of relief in the voice, which was more cracked than usual.

“I’m going to get in trouble when I get back.”

The low, bassy voice was soft, though the words were not. Aria narrowed her eyes like an idiot.

There was a look on Caelius’s face that she had never seen before, a look that made her think he cared about her, a look so sweet that for a moment she thought she was having a sweet dream. So she pursed her lips like an idiot.

Caelius held Aria close as if she were the most precious thing in the world, and they walked slowly through the cave, which was filled with the screams of the slaves.

But the owners of the cave didn’t want to let them go easily. Before they knew it, the slavers not only blocked the entrance but also surrounded them from behind.

However, dealing with Caelius was too much for the slavers. He had been fighting on battlefields since he was a kid, taking out hundreds or thousands with one swing of his sword. The foolish slavers couldn’t compete with him. Caelius smirked as if he remembered the same people who had stopped him.

“Daughter.”

“…….”

“Stay close to your daddy.”

He gently ran his hand through Aria’s hair and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. It was an unusually tender moment. Aria hesitated for a moment, then nodded and wrapped her arms around Caelius’ neck.

He held her in one arm while, with the other, he unsheathed his sword again. He had no concern for anyone else’s well-being, as long as Aria remained safe. He didn’t care who got hurt, as long as it wasn’t her.

They were nothing more than bothersome pests standing in the way of him and Aria. Seeing her made him want to abandon all reason and harm everything in sight.

“Daughter,” Caelius said sternly as the slavers approached him.

“Daughter.”

With an indifferent tone, he raised the hand holding his sword. He swung it effortlessly at the men charging towards him. In an instant, a powerful wind erupted, and those who had rushed at Caelius were turned into shredded corpses.

“Tell me.”

The voice was calm and gentle, but it sent chills down her spine for some unknown reason.

“Who harmed my daughter’s face?”

His footsteps created an eerie echo in the cave as Caelius approached the half-dead men.

“This one or this one?”

He thrust his frosted blade into those who were still holding onto life. Aria briefly turned her eyes away, tightly squeezing them shut.

Caelius said, “Wait, daughter.”

Aira responds, “……Daddy.”

Caelius said, “Because Daddy will kill them all.”

This was unexpected for Aria. In her expectations, there had never been a moment where Caelius was this furious with her. It was a peculiar sensation, leaving her both frightened and relieved that he was angry.

Her heart started pounding. She cautiously held onto the hem of his shirt. Unlike Aria, who seemed excited by his presence, he was engulfed by an unfamiliar emotion that threatened to overpower him, and he didn’t know how to handle it.

“I feel like I’m drowning. The sensation of being breathless and unable to breathe overwhelmed me.”

Upon realizing that someone had marred her once peachy and delightful cheeks, and her consistently lovely eyes were now swollen, Caelius found it unforgivable. With each swing of his sword, an unfamiliar emotion infused the blade.

He was certain. Aria was a vulnerability that could render him weak. He feared it, yet he was unbearably furious, desperately needing an outlet for that anger. Caelius swung and swung, and swung.

When everything concluded, the Alz Mountains had been obliterated from the map.

* * *

The first thing Aria glimpsed upon opening her eyes was Caelius, albeit a slightly more worn version than usual.

“……Dad?”

She uttered, her voice wavering. For a moment, Aria felt her voice sounded raspy and coughed, but then Caelius handed her a cup of lukewarm water.

“How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m fine…….”

“……That’s good.”

She felt oddly well. No significant pains, no fatigue, no lingering muscle soreness. Aria pursed her lips for a moment, then closed them.

“Hah…….”

It was Caelius who let out a sigh. His expression twisted as if he were offended. Aria could only gaze at him in disbelief as he brushed his hand across her face, chewing on his lip in irritation—a behavior so unfamiliar to her that she felt the need to apologize for her actions.

“Hey…….”

“…….”

“Daddy.”

At her call, Caelius glanced up at Aria.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” he said, the words not flowing from his mouth as usual.

She hesitated for a moment, finding it difficult to articulate the words. She could only keep her head lowered, observing his eyes.

‘Why did you have to throw yourself at me and do this…….?

She put on a facade, acting like she was okay and didn’t care, but deep down, she couldn’t bear the thought of being discarded by him. Her heart, which had expanded to its dimensions, screamed that it couldn’t endure a life without his love any longer.

Aria clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palms, causing a dull ache. However, she couldn’t muster the heart for such things.

“Do you think I’ll spend the rest of my life chasing after him? Will he never offer me a single loving word, a single affectionate gaze, or a bit of tenderness? Can I truly be content with the way things are now?”

She’s already overwhelmed by unreciprocated feelings, and she can’t bear the idea of being alone with a heart that seems ready to burst out of her mouth at any moment. She wonders if she can endure these one-sided emotions and maintain her sanity until the day she can close her eyes.

‘If you want to open, open; if you want to laugh, laugh…’ Surely, it wasn’t so long ago that she believed simply staying by his side would be enough.

‘It’s not okay at all…….It can’t be okay…….I want to be loved like the princesses in fairy tales.’

Her heart continued to expand, along with her hopes.

She desired not a cold, indifferent gaze, but a tender look brimming with so much affection that she couldn’t help but reciprocate it. She longed to experience that intense feeling of loving someone to the extent that the desire to make love to them was driven by a profound connection, rather than just seeking momentary pleasure.

‘I wish you could gaze at me the way I gaze at you. I wish you could look at me with a burning thirst, unable to live without me right now….’

She truly hopes for that…

Caelius is consistently stern.

Initially, she blamed herself.

She questioned why she was so greedy, so susceptible to breaking down when she supposedly didn’t need to be loved. However, no matter how much she feigned wanting to be close to him, just when it seemed like she was making progress, he’d casually distance himself.

It was always her who suffered, not Caelius, and those small wounds accumulated until they became substantial, ultimately breaking Aria.

There wasn’t any particular conflict between him and her. It’s just the way things unfolded. Sometimes, it’s a single significant event that triggers an explosion, but more often, it’s the accumulation of small things.

Before she realizes it, she reaches a breaking point, crying and unraveling at the slightest provocation. A normally tolerable cold glance, an unaffectionate voice, an inconsiderate behavior—all of a sudden, they become unbearable.

These were things she once deemed acceptable, but they accumulated and covertly pushed her to the brink. The absence of affection, unrequited and unreciprocated, brought her to the edge of sorrow and abandonment.

If she were fated to yearn for love for the rest of her life if she were destined to live with it never being returned.

‘I’d rather die now…….’

“Lily.”

The thought that was extending itself, defeated, was halted by a lone, familiar bass note. Her nickname uttered with the warmth of a vivid voice, cracked as always.

And in the moment Caelius called out to her.

‘I wasn’t abandoned…….’

‘My father came to my rescue, rode his horse to save me, and he was furious. I was on the verge of being abandoned, on the brink of death….…’

Caelius’s usually saccharine eyes held a subtle difference as he gazed at her. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but it wasn’t as cold as usual.

Aria was too frightened to meet his eyes, and she began to sob like a child. She cried and cried and cried as loudly as she could as if attempting to release all the suppressed emotions.

Feeling foolish and silly for thinking, “My dad doesn’t like crying children…….” while crying herself, it felt like a dream to realize she hadn’t been abandoned by Caelius.

For the first time, Aria vented her emotions without meeting Caelius’s gaze. Anticipating him to furrow his brow and instruct her to stop, he remained silent, merely dryly washing his face.

He released a low, ragged breath and observed Aria, who sobbed heavily. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and the corners of her eyes were red and swollen. Despite sobbing like a child with a runny nose, she still appeared beautiful, Caelius thought. “I must be crazy at this point.”

Even in her tears, Aria clung to his hand, refusing to let go, as if she were determined not to drift away. She cried for a prolonged period.

She recalled the words she had once conveyed to Caelius, assuring him that it was okay not to be loved.

“Oh, Daddy….. actually…..actually…….”

Of course, it wasn’t okay. In reality, she wanted to be loved. Even stating that she was okay with not being loved was a lie, a lie she had convinced herself of to avoid being abandoned by Caelius.

Aria’s cries resonated throughout the room. Caelius didn’t try to calm her or scold her to stop crying. He remained silent, merely tightening his grip on her hand and gently patting her back.