Becoming the Villain's Family

Chapter 3

"Everything was a dream."

"No, not a dream. The Siren, whom I've been longing for, is standing before me." The count desperately shut his ears and shook his head, as if by doing so, could retain a portion of his memory.

That voice. Nothing could ever compare its worth. With that in his hands, neither honor, power, glory, or wealth could satisfy his greed...

Yet his lifetime longing condemned his effort as she sang the final verse, concluding the ending by herself, without him in it.

"Ah, everything was just a dream."

He was reeling under overwhelming force as the bloody metallic taste passed through his throat.

"Siren!!!" He shouted as he coughed out blood.

His eyes were dull as his determined gaze finally faltered. He screamed his final plea as her voice squeezed away all his remaining strength.

The song was over.

The desolate cry of the count finally stopped, and Aria found no reason to hear his regrets anymore. It made no difference for her as she wasn't even going to give him a chance to ask for forgiveness.

Looking at the senseless count, Aria asked coldly, "Where are the mermaid's tears?"

"Mermaid's tears... it's uh... inside the drawer of my bedside table, in a jewelry box...."

"Where's the key?"

He rummaged through his pockets, his bleary eyes filled with bewilderment. A clinking sound chimed before the key emerged from one of the count's pockets.

Aria ripped the key away from his hand and ran straight into the count's bedroom. She turned the key and found a jewelry box inside the drawer. She carefully opened the small case. Underneath the box was a pearl earring, its rainbow-colored luster glowed underneath Aria's shadow.

'Found it, the mermaid's tears.' She never dared to resist her father because of the pair earrings he had, or better known as, 'The Tears of a Mermaid.'

The mermaid's tears were able to fend off the influence of the Siren's voice. It's like a shield that would protect the wearer, even from the malicious voice of the ill-willed Siren. The bearer of this earring was someone even a Siren could never harm.

'I was able to flee from my father just after my mother died.' Ironically, the count used to carry the mermaid's tears wherever he went, but after Sophia died, he left the earrings untouched inside his drawer.

He began to wear it again ever since Aria's identity as a Siren was revealed.

'Mother...' Aria swept the jewelry box with her fingers and clicked open the case.

'If only I had come back a few days earlier.' Aria shook her head.

She was fortunate enough to return at the right time. Had she returned even a little late, she would not have been able to break out of the count's grasp as smoothly as she did then. As much as she missed her mother and her presence, it was important not to be greedy. Less, she would wind up losing this fortuitous opportunity.

Aria sealed the jewelry case shut and clutched the earrings tight within her hold.

╚═                             *.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*                     ═╝

╔═                              *.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*                           ═╗