Chapter 13
“Ugh!”
As a short and intense moan spread from inside the door, Aria’s footsteps came to a halt.
It was a fleeting sound, but it was clear that Eric was in danger.
Aria stepped inside without a moment’s hesitation.
The moment I stepped into the room, the fierce wind coming through the wide-open window revealed a precariously placed candle first.
The damp chill seeped deeply into Aria’s innermost being.
Aria hurriedly closed the window to prevent the candle from going out and then looked around.
The faint light from the candle cast a dim glow on the silhouette of someone lying on the bed.
The white blanket that had been neatly placed on the wide bed rolled around here and there as if it had never been in that position.
Above him, Eric lay face down, his bare torso exposed, with a face contorted in pain.
When Aria held up the candle and shone it closer, the well-defined muscles were drenched in sweat.
In the middle of his back, the large scar I saw back then was deeply etched. A vivid and unfamiliar tear clearly marked on the inverted triangle of back muscles.
This was definitely not a knife wound from the war. It was the claw marks of an animal, no, a hideous beast.
As the unfamiliar pain once again pierced through his flesh, a groan escaped from Eric’s tightly clenched teeth.
It was a desperate struggle to endure the pain. For some time now, Eric’s lips had been gnawing away, causing red blood to flow and stain the white cloth.
Although Aria had taken care of Edward, who had been bedridden for a year, it was the first time she had seen someone in such agony.
It wasn’t a passing cold or a nightmare.
This was a very old, terrible fever and curse. A mere weak human like that couldn’t even dare to handle it.
Watching Eric, he just seemed pitiful.
Usually, he was a terrifying presence, one that I couldn’t even meet those blue eyes properly, but now was not the time to worry about such things.
The man in front of me right now is not a hostile entity that would harm Edward, but just a pitiful and unfortunate stranger from the past.
Aria hurriedly brought a wet towel and wiped his body, which was as hot as a fireball.
It was quite a close distance for someone with whom I usually maintained a proper distance, but I didn’t mind at all.
Looking at the femur that was barely visible through the cloth covering his lower body, Eric was too fragile a being to harbor sinister thoughts.
Right now, Eric was nothing more than a young beast who couldn’t even control his own body properly, nothing more and nothing less.
As Eric kept swallowing dry saliva due to thirst, Aria quickly picked up a glass of water and brought it to his lips herself.
Thanks to that, the bloody, metallic taste that burst from my lips was washed away by the cold water and swallowed along with it.
At the moment Aria placed the glass of water on the floor, an incomprehensible word escaped from him.
“I’m still… still thirsty…”
At the murmuring voice, Aria’s eyes widened, and she brought her ear closer.
“I’m thirsty…”
Is he still not quenched? Aria picked up the half-full glass of water and brought it to Eric’s lips.
That moment.
A hand with hardened calluses gripped Aria’s nape in an instant.
Even though it wasn’t a strong force, it was the first time experiencing such intense pain.
Due to that force, Aria’s neck was twisted and constricted mercilessly. Ariel tried to push Eric away, but the tightening force only grew stronger, making it impossible to even breathe.
Breath…I can’t breathe…
When I dropped the glass I was holding, the broken glass shards scattered everywhere. The sound echoed loudly throughout the room.
Aria barely managed to reach out towards Eric, but eventually, she couldn’t hold on any longer and lost consciousness.
“Please save me…”
As I reached out towards Eric’s face, which was visible through his half-closed eyes, he brushed himself off at my touch.
Soon, as the blue pupils hidden between her wet hair opened, Aria faced him directly.
That menacing gaze scanned Aria’s entire body as if savoring prey on the brink of death.
The only child who gave me a breath of fresh air in this suffocating place. The child who forcibly breathed life into me when I wanted to give up everything and eventually made me return to this place.
Dull brown hair and a gaunt body that didn’t match the bright brown pupils. Perhaps the only hope to lift this unending curse.
Eric’s intense gaze slowly turned towards her luscious, red lips.
The sharply entangled gaze came to a halt there. As if it were the only key to quenching all thirst.
The object of my abstinence. But the savior who will satisfy all my greed. If only I could touch those lips, no, if only I could crave them to quench this thirst. If I could soak everything completely.
So if I could escape from this unfamiliar pain that gnaws at my flesh, even for a moment.
“I want you.”
His unconscious, with a faint smile, loosened the grip on her slender neck and pulled Aria into his embrace.
Eric did not hesitate. He swallowed her lips, which were weakly clinging to him.
Eric’s mouth, wide open between their touching lips, greedily ravaged everything about Aria.
The bloody, metallic taste that seeped through his torn lips intertwined between them, continuously swallowed down their throats.
At that moment, Eric felt a sense of relief that enveloped his entire body, quenching the thirst he had endured until now.
The dying body was coming back to life, and the pain of flesh being torn was completely disappearing.
The more he desired her, the more vividly she came to him. The hardened lower part of her body secretly mocked her.
Desire her even more. Touch and break her.
Even though he knew it wouldn’t work, Eric’s instincts overtook his reason and wouldn’t let go of her body.
Barely regaining consciousness, Aria bit her lip and pushed his upper body away with all her might to escape the situation.
But the more she resisted, the more Eric pulled her back and brought her in front of him again.
Eric forcibly opened Aria’s mouth, which was refusing him. He tightly restrained her, who was trembling faintly, preventing her from escaping, and he stirred as if marking his territory.
Her vision became blurred and hazy with tears over something she didn’t want.
I bit Eric’s lips and tried to hit his solid body pressing down on me, but it only seemed to excite him more.
Eric’s breath, soft and cautious, touched the slender, trembling nape of her neck.
Surprised by the unfamiliar sensation for a moment, Eric’s saliva, as he explored it, gradually thickened.
Through the gap in her clothes, which had come apart from her struggling, the protruding bones and lifeless, withered skin of Aria began to be seen.
As the hot foreign object touched the cold flesh, every nerve in the body stood on end in that direction.
Aria couldn’t put up any resistance. I hated myself for not being able to make a sound.
I once heard a chilling story among the maids who used to take care of the menial tasks, about how the bodies of useless maids were occasionally offered to the master.
But foolishly, he believed that he was not the unfortunate party.
No, at least I believed that nothing would happen in this Bailey house.
Edward, who was a kind and caring master, cherished and respected his humble self.
But now, I can’t go back to that past. The purity I wanted to protect. The heart I wanted to protect. Now it felt like everything was over.
Tears continuously streamed down Aria’s cheeks. The once-clear consciousness began to lose its reason and gradually became increasingly blurred, driven solely by instinct.
Eric’s touch reached Aria’s slender waist. He was rough, sometimes handling himself with care.
Aria cupped Eric’s face with all her remaining strength. And then she made him face her.
It was the last plea and signal to be seen.
Please let me go.
Tears welled up in Aria’s eyes and streamed down her temples. The moist brown pupils earnestly begged and pleaded with Eric.
Was it because of that? The blue pupils, which had been persistently exploring and caressing every inch of Aria’s body, came to a halt in front of the trembling brown pupils.
With all the pieces frozen, their gazes locked sharply.
The unfocused blue pupils gleamed eerily, as if trying to clearly identify who was in front of them. At that moment, Eric’s face, which had been deeply entangled with Aria, was suddenly twisted.
Soon, the gaze turned to the emaciated body of the woman whose top was completely undone.
The endlessly fragile woman in my grasp. She was none other than Aria.
To regain his composure, Eric hurriedly shook his head.
No way. It must be a dream. But even when I looked back again, she was there.
“Why are you here…?”
As he was so surprised that he loosened his grip, Aria collapsed weakly onto the spot.
Without even having the time to control her trembling body, Aria just wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible.
She hurriedly grabbed the clothes in front of her and fled from hell.
Without knowing where her consciousness was headed, Aria ran endlessly down the dark corridor and dashed into her room.
Just as a maid who had forgotten to lock the annex door was heading to the first floor, she was startled by someone’s hurried footsteps and stopped.
“Lady…?”
Not noticing the maid’s presence, Aria rushed into her room and quickly locked the door.
With trembling cold hands, I sat down for a while, just holding onto the doorknob.
How long had I been holding on? She lost consciousness without even realizing her grip had loosened.
