Chapter 0
“Aria!”
The mountain was shrouded in complete darkness. Aria was running frantically with one shoe off. The cold wind that penetrates to the depths of my lungs. My breath was getting increasingly labored, and my disheveled hair was being whipped by the wind, but I didn’t even have the time to care. Sharp branches and grass were scratching my bare legs, but I had to escape from here at all costs. At that moment, she tripped over a large rock and fell. Aria rolled forward without being able to regain her balance. The dense sharpness tore through my entire body.
Ariel, whose body had barely come to a stop in the small puddle, looked back with eyes stinging from the sweat that was dripping down her face. At that moment, Aria faced an inescapable fate.
Because the chillingly cracked voice started to be heard nearby.
“Where do you think you’re running to?
“There is nowhere you can escape to.
As the man in the black suit took off his hat to cool off, a few strands of his sparse hair began to flutter in the wind. He was the lord of this region and the owner of the mansion where Aria had just started working. Scum who only covet the bodies of the weak maids. This time, the sacrificial offering was Aria.
He swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the trembling Aria. It was as if he was drooling over the prey right in front of him.
He, feeling stifled, loosened his tightly fastened suit and pants belt, and soon covered her.
“Ugh!”
Aria struggled fiercely, but he just grinned menacingly, showing his yellowed teeth.
I want to run away, I have to run away.
My mind was completely consumed with the thought of escaping, so I grabbed anything I could and threw it at him, but he just kept slapping Aria’s cheek repeatedly.
In the harsh grip, her focus gradually became blurry, and she lost consciousness.
This is my destiny. It was tragic. I hated myself for not even being able to scream.
The only thing I could say was this.
Aria clasped her hands together and begged, but the rough hands had already torn her old skirt apart without hesitation. Tears welled up, and I tightly closed my eyes. An unbearable rage enveloped Aria. At that moment, a person came to mind. Why did I have to think of him at such a desperate moment?
An unfamiliar sense of alienation wandered beneath me, and it was the moment I closed my eyes, having lost all will to live.
Someone’s sharp voice pierced my ears intensely.
“Son of a bitch!”
Suddenly, a fist struck the lord’s face. He collapsed right there on the spot.
As the pressure on my upper body disappeared, the breath I had been holding burst out. After barely catching my breath, I turned my head.
Then, the figure that had been hidden in the darkness became visible in the moonlight, gradually revealing a familiar face.
Through the pitch-black hair, a chilling blue pupil, no, a madness mixed with obsession, stared at him intently.
The person I barely left behind. The person who made me run away and come to this distant place as if disappearing was Eric Bailey.
Eric looked at her miserable appearance with a complicated expression. Soon, a faint sound of wind could be heard between his parted lips.
“Who do you think you are!
“How dare you think you know who I am…
The lord, barely regaining his composure, touched his numb face and tried to stand up. Then Eric’s blue pupils gleamed.
A madness imbued with murderous intent. The gaze that Aria had seen countless times.
Before she could even stop him, Eric drew the knife from his waist and severed the man’s right arm.
Soon, with a bizarre wildness, red blood spurted like a fountain, soaking the floor.
“Ahhh!!”
Seeing the lord scream in agony, Eric tightened his grip on the sword once again.
Aria hurriedly ran to Eric and clung to him.
Please don’t do that. Stop it.
His eyes, which were darkening, slowly shattered in front of her tears.
Eric wiped the blood droplets off his face with his sleeve, as if trying hard to suppress the anger that had built up in his lower abdomen. He barely managed to withdraw his menacing gaze and immediately grabbed her wrist. Once again drawn by an irresistible force, I had to walk for a long time at a brisk pace.
Every time Aria walked, her leg limped, and Eric’s gaze turned to her leg with an uncomfortable sense of alienation.
He sighed, then suddenly lifted her up and moved to the place where the horse was tied.
Eric swiftly lifted her onto the saddle and then climbed on behind her.
He tightly embraced Aria, who was trying to go down again, and then firmly pulled the reins of the horse.
After running for a while, the Bailey where Aria had left began to appear in the distance.
If things go on like this, I’ll end up going back to the Bailey house, which I want to erase from my memory forever, and I’ll live a painful life with a confused heart, unable to do anything about it. In front of this man who shows an inexplicable possessiveness, Edward, whom I loved enough to dedicate my voice to.
As soon as she saw the city, the air filled her lungs deeply. I felt a lump in my throat. I don’t want to go in. I want to live my life now. In the loosened gap, she suddenly shook off Eric’s embrace and fell off the horse. It could have been dangerous. I could have died.
However, the fleeting death was not more frightening than infinite suffering.
Fortunately, the body that rolled without mercy came to a stop on some cold floor.
Aria hurriedly got up and ran with her limping leg.
Eric’s face crumpled instantly. He hurriedly got off his horse and chased after her. No matter how fast she runs, how could she possibly shake off the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard?
Aria was caught before long.
I wanted to tell Eric, who was looking at me with a twisted expression, to let me go now.
Aria stared at him intently with wide-open eyes.
Let me go now.
For a moment, Eric’s pupils faintly trembled. It was an expression of confusion that was unlike him, who was always so composed.
But Eric, as if changing his mind, tightly grabbed her forearm. A distance of less than a hand’s breadth, where only the sound of rough breathing could be heard.
He murmured softly.
“Why on earth are you trying to run away from me?
“I told you last time too. I won’t just stand by either.
Aria wanted to say. That we cannot be together. The closer I get, the more I become an obstacle to your future. In her eyes, soaked with resentment, the name Bailey Gaga, which she had barely managed to forget, resurfaced once again.
The count and countess who had driven you to the brink, and even your brother Edward. Everything was just exhausting now.
Aria slowly backed away from that man.
I wanted to keep my distance. I wanted to show that the distance between us is this much.
But the more she tried to distance herself, the tighter Eric held on. In a situation where she couldn’t do anything, she eventually lowered her head helplessly.
Soon, Eric’s gaze turned to the torn skirt. As the bony legs appeared between the skirt, Eric, looking weary, immediately shut his mouth tightly. Only a small breath escaped his lips briefly.
Eric took off his outerwear and wrapped it around her waist.
Aria bit her lower lip hard enough to taste blood.
It was confusing. Sometimes, he treated himself roughly, as if he were about to break or tear apart, and then gently tended to the wounds.
Aria raised the corners of her mouth in a sorrowful smile at that sight. The man who had been a rough comfort in the depths of loneliness. I will never forget you.
As Eric’s touch was coming to an end, Aria drew the knife from his waist and brought it to his neck.
Eric’s indifferent face crumpled in an instant.
“Put it down, Aria!”
“Put it down, Aria!”
It was the last struggle. I will escape from him just like this.
No, I will escape from this cruel fate. Aria visualized the route in her mind and slowly turned her steps backward. I will run out like this. So I will no longer live in pain.
At that moment, Eric tightly gripped the blade with his hand. The sharp blade caused red blood to endlessly flow from his hand. The more Aria’s face turned pensive, the calmer his face became.
“You can never escape from me.
“I will find you no matter what. So give up.
Aria was so startled that she dropped the knife on the floor. Eric immediately pulled Aria into his arms. Before she could even brace herself, a mushy sensation overwhelmed her frozen lips. I struggled against the discomfort of being controlled once again, but Eric held my rejecting tongue.
The lips were forcibly parted. Between the saliva exchanged, the metallic smell of blood from Aria’s split lip was added.
Your breath doesn’t let me flow away again. I must remain stagnant in that embrace.
The torn heart hasn’t even begun to heal, and only the thoroughly trained body is drawn to you.
In the end, Aria had to accept all the emotions he poured out.
