When the Villains Unite - Chapter 4; Part 2

For a moment, I was ashamed at the words I blurted out. I was more afraid of being hated by them than I was of my own survival. What the hell?

I squeezed my eyes shut, confused by my own feelings, letting the tears continuously fall.

Hearing my words, Bellamy pushed my body out of his arms. At first glance, his expression morphed into anger. I cowered in reaction. Then Damian, who had just approached, heard and started to shout.

“You’re an idiot! Why would we hate you? Did you try to drown yourself in the bathtub over that? Are you crazy?”

I stared at him in disbelief as he scolded me. He was so uncharacteristically loud and angry.

Bellamy gestured for Damian to quiet, and then he soothed me with comforting words.

“Rose, as Damian says, no matter what you do, we will never hate you. The Count… What did he do to you?”

My heart warmed and I relaxed as they assured me they won’t hate me. But I was terrified to tell them what happened.

The Count.

Hearing that phrase sent a shiver down my spine again. I want to take a knife and cut him in the early morning to make it all go away.

“Oh, no, nothing happened… Ugh.”

No one in this room believed it, yet no one questioned what happened with him. Being the closed-off person that I am, they probably expected this.

My body temperature dropped and I shivered. They realized this wasn’t what they should be doing, so Bellamy lifted me into his arms. Damian took off his thick robe and draped it over me. As he did so, I heard him say in his husky voice that he was going to murder the Count.

Unlike when I was in the Count’s arms, Bellamy’s embrace was warm and comforting. Before I knew it, he had cast a drying spell and dried my soaked body.

As we made our way to my bedroom, I burrowed into his arms, refusing to lose his warmth. Naturally, I didn’t notice the exchange of glances between the two boys.

It was only a matter of moments before we were in my room. They laid me down on my bed and pulled the covers up to my neck. I was upset at the warmth that disappeared from Bellamy’s body.

“Sis.”

Suddenly, I heard Damian’s concerned voice and his unfamiliar sobbing tone startled me. He knelt at the foot of the bed and leaned onto my hand.

“Do whatever you want, but don’t die… okay?”

I rolled my eyes and answered him.

“… Okay.”

“Promise. Or I’m going to kick your ass.”

As Damian’s eyes turned fierce, Bellamy restrained him and spoke.

“You do realize you did something wrong today, right?”

“…”

“Ha… Please, don’t act impulsively on your thoughts. You need to trust us more.”

His words made my face heat up and I pulled the covers up to my eyes. Seeing me like that, Bellamy stroked my hair, a bit relieved.

“You’re probably tired today, so go to sleep. I’ll cast a warming spell.”

He withdrew his hand and turned away. Damian watched me for a few seconds as I lay there, a wistful look on his face, before walking to the door.

But I wanted to feel more of their warmth against me. I wanted to hold onto them as they turned to leave, to be comforted from the scary things that happened today.

They said I could trust them… so why don’t I just say it once?

“Hey…”

My voice was small, but they immediately turned around and focused on me. I was a little hesitant when I saw their gold and navy eyes shining in the moonlight, but I decided to be courageous.

“Can we sleep together… just for tonight?”

Their faces turned to stone at my words. I felt like I was asking for too much, not only for Damian, who was stiff for no reason but for Bellamy as well.

“Sorry… I’m just scared to sleep alone…”

Being alone somehow made me think of the dangerous things that happened, like when I dipped my face in the bathtub earlier. If I couldn’t sleep with them, I at least wanted them to hold my hand. But, normally nobles don’t share a bedroom with someone until they are of age. I guess we can’t after all…

“I see.”

“… Huh?”

The words that came from Bellamy’s mouth were affirmative. I didn’t think he would actually say yes.

“I don’t think we can leave you alone like this either… Come here.”

He held out his hand to me. Before he could change his mind, I quickly kicked down the covers and slid out of bed, almost running to Bellamy to grab his hand. It was a bonus to hold Damian’s stiff hand, but both of their hands were warm against mine.

Walking hand in hand with them brought back memories. Damian, who had forcefully crushed my hand when the Duke and Duchess of Orca weren’t looking, now gently squeezed mine as if he were holding fragile glass.

I never thought I would have contact with them while locked in the annex, but now I was anxious without them. I had plans to travel far away, alone, if the Orca brothers didn’t kill me when we got out. However, the longer I was with them, the more that idea seemed to fade away. Maybe what happened with the Count earlier had messed with my mind, too.

Our destination was Bellamy’s room. As soon as the door opened and we entered, Bellamy’s scent penetrated my nose.

I had once coveted this bedroom while we were imprisoned, but I was unable to say anything to him when we found it at the same time. I still held a grudge over that.

It wasn’t until today that I was able to use this bedroom. I wanted to see more of his room, but I was too tired after everything I had been through.

Damian and Bellamy laid me down in the center of the bed, noticing my eyes fluttering open and shut. Seeing me in bed, they quickly laid down on both sides of me, not forgetting to pull the blankets over us.

I took Damian’s right hand with both of mine and leaned against Bellamy’s shoulder, wanting to be closer to them. I didn’t know who Aria would marry in the future, but I knew I couldn’t stop them from doing so if they wanted to.

My body was warm and drowsiness overtook me. As I drifted off to sleep, I thought I heard them say goodnight. In my half-conscious state, I mumbled something back to them and fell asleep.

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