Embracing the Villainess

Chapter Twelve

"Is there a method to how you're so good with him?"

I walk over and climb onto the bed. The child makes a whining noise before continuing his suckles on the pacifier - which I was pleasantly surprised had already been invented here. Despite how small the bed is, the three of us seem to fit comfortably on it.

"He's still small," Lussios says. His eyes move down to the sleeping infant. "I also come from a large family. Where I was born, familial love is a big part of the culture. Sometimes, your siblings are like your second parents. And since I'm the eldest in my family, I've always had a hand in my younger siblings' growth."

My mouth drops for a second, not expecting this revelation. I haven't learned much about Lussios and it's not because I haven't been trying to pry. Instead, he's been very hush hush about himself, his past, his life, everything. At one point, I tried to grow suspicious of him.

Had I jumped the gun following this man?

What if he plans to dispose of me and the child when we reach the next destination?

Why did I trust him so easily?

My suspicions fell away quickly as I realized the look on his face each time I asked a question. His eyes would grow dark and sad, as if he's recalling a bad memory. It brought about an awareness that I needed to quickly instill. It was very rude of me to try to continuously pry into his life when he wasn't ready to share.

"I had no idea." It's true I had no idea, but I'm saying this phrase more because I have no idea what else to say. "But every time I come back to a calm baby, I know that you were probably an amazing older brother. Where are they now?"

The look returns to his eyes and I curse myself for asking that. When he finally opened up about himself, I just had to ask a land mine question. I open my mouth to take back my words, but Lussios shakes his head.

"Unfortunately most of my siblings have perished. It's still a hard topic for me, despite their deaths being a decade ago."

Nodding, I reach over the sleeping baby to grab his hand. "Of course," I mumble. "I don't think anyone would expect you to recover from that so easily."

The mood is ruined, but at least he squeezes my hand back.

"My husband is a cheater who doesn't even care for his child," I spew, the words falling out unceremoniously. "Ah, when you rescued me... that was because he was sending me away at the request of his mistress."

This is not me trying to take away from Lussios' pain, but I know the topic about his family has closed once a long silence passed over us. Now, the look on his face makes me want to laugh, though half of his gaze gleams with something as if he knows everything already. And if he does, I'll just proceed to jump to my death from the deck of this boat.

"It's to a point where I don't know why he even hangs onto me. Maybe because of the child?"

Then I proceed to tell him everything this body has experienced, even from adolescence. It feels like an hour passes as I shed so many years and layers of hurt from Chrysanthy's heart. I have to pause in the middle once to feed the child and burp him before lulling him back to sleep after a nappy change. All the while, Lussios is patient.

So many events from the past come to mind now that I've opened this wound. Even as tears roll down my cheeks, I don't stop. New memories come forward, bringing with it unresolved pain and trauma.

There's the time Chrysanthy was playing with her siblings when they somehow manipulated her to climb a tree. When she was ready to come down, they had disappeared and she was all alone and afraid to climb back down. It wasn't until a large bird swooped into the tree and caused her to lose her balance, that she finally left. Her falling also resulted in a broken leg. She was also scolded profusely without her parents or siblings once asking if she was okay. It was a lonely recovery.