Chapter 19
During the journey here, countless feelings of guilt weighed down on Aria.
If he hadn’t saved Edward, the imperial family wouldn’t have called the bedridden lord to war.
Then Eric could have stayed with the Bailey family instead of being dragged into the brutal war.
Eric’s life, which he had ruined, was a continuous series of suffering, as painful as wounds torn by a beast. A terrible fever. A curse embedded in the body.
“Unfortunately, the world doesn’t just lift the hands of those who sacrifice.”
As Aria recalled Eric’s words, her complexion suddenly darkened.
Jacob, who had been watching this, hurriedly tried to calm her down.
“Miss, I will give you the most suitable medicine, so please give it to him for the time being.”
Jacob went to the dresser in the corner and prepared various medicines.
After a moment, he handed Aria a paper box filled with medicine.
“There are two types of medicine here. First, if you rub this topical ointment on the wound, it will reduce the pain to some extent. However, the ingredients are quite harsh, so he might find it painful. So, let him drink this water mixed with the red herb first.
Aria nodded while listening to the explanation.
Thank you, butler. I keep imposing on you. This isn’t much, but please accept it.
When I handed over the bundle of money containing the salary I had saved up, Jacob’s face turned pale.
He hurriedly returned it to Aria.
“How much kindness I have received from the Reynolds family, yet you keep putting me in difficult situations. I should have taken you in sooner…I made you go through all this trouble, and I have no face left.
Jacob, whom I have observed for a long time, was indeed a very steadfast butler.
When the family fell apart and everyone scattered to survive on their own, he stayed by Aria’s side, risking everything.
For some reason, Jacob was the only one Aria could lean on and rely on.
He tried desperately to get Aria out of the Bailey household, but Aria refused every time, not wanting to become a burden to the struggling butler.
Jacob’s gaze lingered on her back for a while.
Returning to the annex, Aria knew that Eric was in the study and headed there.
As he entered the study, Eric was sitting on the desk, holding a foreign book that the last trader had brought.
As her gaze, which had been directed at the book, was caught by Aria, she deliberately cleared her throat to try to avert her eyes.
Aria approached Eric step by step with a tense gait.
At Eric’s puzzled gaze, Aria hurriedly pulled out a paper box containing the medicine and a pre-prepared note, and handed them over.
[Young master, this is medicine for the wounds on your body.]If you apply it, the pain will be less for a while.
Eric’s brow furrowed as he stared blankly at Aria’s note. He sighed and closed the book.
Eric, lifting his head, crossed his arms and gazed at her with a languid expression.
“Did you go to the market because of this? I told you I didn’t need any pathetic sympathy.
In the cold tone, Aria could only part her lips slightly, unable to utter a single word.
I wonder if I’m still angry. Well, where would you find someone who can easily understand the person who ruined their own life?
What should I do? What should I say to ask for his forgiveness? As countless thoughts consumed him, a low voice suddenly came to him.
“Are you planning to use this to cover up what happened that day? Or do you actually want him to help Tell Edward to stop the marriage.
Aria stood there, unable to say a word, and gently bit the inside of her lip.
Of course, it wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about it. I desperately wanted to cling to Eric. Please keep it a secret from Edward.
But she already knew. The person in front of me is definitely not someone I can speak to carelessly.
Eric, seemingly displeased with the sight, suddenly pulled Aria’s arm towards himself.
As their bodies touched in an instant, Aria’s startled eyes became entangled once again with those blue irises.
If it had been in the past, she would have been paralyzed with fear, but Aria was no longer afraid of Eric.
His life, lived and endured alone in the space of loneliness, was pitiful and sorry.
“The only answer you can give me is this. You want to take revenge on Edward. So all it takes is that one word saying I need you…
At that moment, Eric’s voice trailed off.
Eric’s face twisted once again at the pity mixed in Aria’s eyes.
His thick hand instantly grabbed her slender neck.
“I told you I don’t need that kind of pity. You can’t just drop it right now! I can’t just drop everything right now!”
More than the hand imbued with undeniable strength, it was the voice pressing down on her nape that made it even harder for Aria.
The silence between them was filled only with the sound of Aria’s restless movements and the occasional ragged breaths, gasping for air.
Even so, she did not resist. Like a prisoner who is willing to accept their punishment.
Eric’s hand suddenly lost strength in a state of panic.
Aria collapsed onto the floor. She clutched her throat and gasped for breath.
Eric looked at Aria with a complicated expression.
Even if I want to hate, even if I want to resent, it’s someone I can’t do that to. The only person who has bound themselves to this hellish place.
If the person she so longed for, the one she desired so desperately, was himself. So that he could soothe her in his arms and melt into her.
Eric just bit his innocent lips.
“Think carefully. Nothing will change just because you do this.
Words that don’t match my feelings. Eric had to turn away from Aria with a cold expression.
The place where he had just left. For a while, Aria’s gaze lingered there, and soon her eyes were filled with a complicated mix of emotions.
The dawn, shrouded in deep darkness. While everyone was asleep, a shadow lingered for a long time in front of Eric’s bedroom.
The woman who was moving around nervously and sweating coldly at his occasional groans was none other than Aria.
Aria, gripping the medicine packet tightly in her hand, fixed her gaze on the doorknob.
The moment I open this door and step inside, there’s no guarantee it won’t be like last time.
However, she was deeply involved in his life to turn her back on Eric like this.
Even the one who couldn’t even help Eric, no, rather the one who drove him to the brink. It was me.
Aria’s gaze soon turned to my right hand. A still-healing wound.
Eric took back this pathetic self of mine. Could it really be just out of a simple desire for revenge?
Aria shook her head as she recalled Eric’s face that day.
“Ugh…!”
Without even having time to think, Eric’s moans continued to echo in the room. There was no time.
Aria took a deep breath as if making a vow to herself. And then she grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
The road leading to the anticipated hardships, it must have been the same for Eric.
As she stepped into the room, the cold night breeze coming through the wide-open window greeted her.
I hurriedly closed the window to save the flickering candle.
Holding the candle up to Eric’s face, he was writhing in pain on the bed once again today.
You must never be surprised. It’s different from last time. I will definitely save you.
The brown pupils of Aria’s eyes, reflected in the candlelight, sparkled unusually brightly. Like the eyes that used to be full of life.
Before treating the wound on his back, Aria lifted the glass of water mixed with medicine and slowly poured it into his mouth.
Due to Eric’s thrashing, the glass of water was quickly knocked over, but whether it was effective or not, Eric’s groans soon diminished.
Aria, recalling Jacob’s words, began applying medicine to the clearly etched scar on her back.
It was the very moment the sticky, opaque liquid was poured.
Perhaps due to the unfamiliar pain touching his skin, the blue pupils hidden beneath his black hair appeared eerily.
Soon, his gaze persistently turned towards Aria. As if he had found prey once again.
Eric did not hesitate. The relentless force once again overwhelmed and lifted Aria.
For a brief moment, their gazes were sharply intertwined, and Eric’s dazed eyes turned towards the luscious lips in front of him.
“I’m thirsty…”
There was no time to stop him. Without a chance to escape, Eric’s lips devoured and lifted Aria’s lips.
Somehow, she tried to resist, but Eric’s skilled hands pulled Aria along.
His breath, which had been pressed against her lips, slightly pulled away and touched Aria’s nape.
Then all the unfamiliar sensations turned towards him.
Startled, she recoiled, but Eric pulled her even closer to him.
His ragged breathing sounded foreign to my ears. Aria covered herself with both hands and struggled as much as she could.
However, Eric’s hand, which held Aria, was filled with an unmistakable strength.
In the pupils staring at him, it was written like that.
It’s still not enough. Don’t refuse. I will keep drinking you in, and I will quench this thirst.
As my instincts loosened their grip and whispered, Eric’s son-in-law drank her in as if he had been waiting for this moment.
As Eric’s movements became more intense, his broad chest and firm thighs, hidden under the robe, began to peek out.
His lips traveled down Aria’s nape, slowly descending her emaciated body.
Eric drew red heat flowers wherever his breath touched, marking his territory.
As the black hair tangled around her, Aria felt her mind go blank once again.
At the moan that escaped her lips, Aria bit down hard on her own lips. I couldn’t wake him up like this.
The bee that opened the Pandora’s box that should never have been opened. Having already entered this place, she could offer no resistance before the instinctual beast.
May the power of the medicine spread. So that his actions will stop.
Aria held her breath and mustered all her strength to push Eric away. It was right then.
