-Chapter Twenty-Three-

Betrayal - Part One

-In a past life-

In another life, the roaring sound of thunder and pouring rain illuminated the night as lightning occasionally struck.

The light from it was cast over a barren and empty estate, its walls painted white with golden outlines.

Broken glass scattered over the white tarmac, leading up the stairs into a broken down front door.

The entire land was empty save for one single, light blue-haired young woman.

At only the tender age of twenty-one, she found herself kneeling over her mother’s cold corpse.

The brown-haired man who had sliced her mother’s throat was now long gone, leaving Aria alone with her deceased kin.

For the longest time, she stared at the body with empty eyes.

Where to go now? What to do now?

What meaning was there even, in the life she led?

All this time, she was but a puppet to her mother, and now that puppeteer was dead.

Where does that leave her?

Now there wasn’t anyone giving her orders, she doesn’t even know what to think anymore.

As she remained seated there, in the cold lobby, time seemingly dragged on endlessly.

Until suddenly, she felt her heart seize in her ribcage and her entire body froze.

An overwhelming pressure encroached on her from behind, and with all her willpower, trembling uncontrollably, Aria could only glance over her shoulder.

Stood at the broken door was a hooded, cloaked figure.

Lightning came crashing down behind it, shedding light just for a moment for Aria to spot red scales where its skin should have been.

She was shaking now, as it eerily took a step forward.

The sound of the rain outside faded into tense silence as the humanoid creature approached and as it drew closer, she found herself looking back into blood-red, reptilian eyes.

A-Aelius… please save me, she cried inside as the creature stopped for a moment, looked at her, and then knelt down at her mother’s body.

She had no idea what was going to happen in the coming moments, but if she was going to die, she prayed it’d be painless.

A bone-grinding, spine chilling clicking came from its mouth as it skimmed over the corpse, and then suddenly turned its predatory eyes onto her.

Caught in the red glare, she gasped in fear, and it reached forward.

Amidst it all, she was completely helpless.

She was unable to move, frozen in fear, and could only feel her sanity wane as it approached her.

Save me, Aelius, Aria thought with tears shedding down her cheeks as the red clawed hand gripped her skull.

The reptilian humanoid began to chant in a strange, crude language and Aria felt panic overwhelm her.

As it continued, she saw her vision begin to turn red and her mind begin to fade.

She felt her chest begin to thrash about violently and soul-breaking pain suddenly flooded her senses before she screamed out.

Aelius! Aelius, oh Aelius, please!

She cried in agony and then everything faded away into a pitch black nothingness.

As the Devil pulled its clawed hands back away, Aria’s face was revealed to be nothing but a broken shell left, with empty eyes.

Her tears still stained her cheeks as the Devil rose to its feet and its voice boomed.

“Gu-pah,” its low voice commanded.

Like a lifeless doll, Aria’s body rose itself onto her feet as well, but her face remained soulless.

“Si-fa,” the Devil commanded again and began to lead the way out the front door.

Aria’s limp body dragged itself along behind it, and as they reached the rain, another figure awaited them.

Under the flashing lightning, this one was dressed in Noble’s clothing, his skin smooth and normal like that of a human’s, but both his eyes glowed red and a pair of devilish horns hung on his head.

“Oh, you’ve secured the Dragon’s Successor,” the waiting figure remarked with a smug smile and the first Devil nodded.

It opened its mouth to speak and a weird, raspy, whispery voice in the same ancient language rang out.

“No matter,” the Noble waved his hand. “It’s a better thing if the mother’s dead. She was nothing but a greedy nuisance to begin with anyways. With her out the way… huhuhu,” the Noble took Aria’s lifeless face by the chin and raised her face, looking into her eyes.

“Now, Aria Aerianne belongs to us. With this, we can proceed to the next step of the plan. It’s time to overthrow the Imperial Empire, as per the Elders’ orders.”

The first Devil spoke up again and the Nobleman frowned.

“Ah yes, the Hunter who pursues our kind relentlessly, possessor of a troublesome power. Yes, so we’ll also use Aria’s Dragon Eyes to identify them. Now that we have this power, no humans can resist us. Our infiltration will only be even easier with her Dragon Eyes. We’ll restore our dominion over humans in no-time.”

They trudged off into the night and, in the darkness as she automatically followed, Aria’s once brilliantly glowing golden eyes were now a dull and dim, lifeless yellow.

Aelius never came for me.

—-----------------------

-In the modern life-

Aria watched as Lia left and she was finally left in all her lonesome again, before she looked back up to the starry sky overhead.

She was such a fool.

Yes, her mother didn’t love her.

Yes, her father was a brainless clown.

But so what? So, because of that, she’s going to crave for the love of someone else who’s not a part of her horrendous family?

It would’ve been nice, it truly would’ve been a nice dream, if Aelius had accepted her.

But alas, perhaps the thing her mother had been telling her since she was a child was right.

She was a cursed child no one could love, undeserving of happiness.

As the heir to the Aerianne Archduchy, her only role is to get married and produce viable offspring. Restore her family’s prestige and pass her gift to her son.

Nothing more, nothing less.

But oh, she was indeed a fool.

Such a fool.

Though she knows how foolish she is, she can’t help it.

She can’t help but crave and desire something that was not hers to possess.

As unsightly and disgustingly greedy as she is, she can’t help but foolishly wish.

What sort of grave sin did she commit to deserve being treated this way?

As she idly twisted her leg back and forth in deep thought, she looked back down to Aelius through the trees.

The golden ball that represented his soul was golden when she first cast her blessing on him.

Then, it became a sinister purple.

And in this very moment, as she watched on, it began to glow and ominous, deep red.

Waves of spine-chilling pressure erupted out of him, pressure that only she could feel through her bond with him.

It was… rage.

She always thought maybe he was distant, maybe he just didn’t care.

Maybe he found her to be a nuisance, but right now, he was angry.

Frighteningly furious, like an encroaching madness that she could never comprehend.

What tormented him so? Because of what she said?

She enraged him? Or maybe he enraged himself?

She couldn’t tell.

But she could tell that with such a reaction, their fight affected him in some way.

Maybe there was hope for her after all.

Even if she’s fallen into the depths of hell, as long as there’s a chance, she’ll crawl out with bloodied nails if she has to.

He’ll never hurt her, right? Even though their relationship may be twisted, after all they’ve been through, surely she still holds a place in his heart?

Just as Aria was in deep thought, she heard the crunch of leaves and the snap of a twig from off to her side, and gasped as she snapped her head over.

Her eyes immediately landed on a boy her age, hunched over as he tried to approach, his hands raised up submissively.

“Ahem. Good evening!” he exclaimed, and Aria realised she was exchanging glances with the Young Daniesvich Lord.

Oh no, he’s seen my face!

She felt her breath catch in her throat as she lunged at her mask and threw it on, spinning around and raising her staff at him.

Oh dear… Aelius is going to kill me, she thought as she felt her mind run amok, but she then quickly took a deep breath to regain her composure, and gave him a cold glare.

“Hey, calm down!” Damien yelped, flinching at Aria’s menacing wand.

“I’ll keep it a secret. I promise! I just happened to be passing by, that’s all!”

Hah! Passing by? Aria scoffed. Leaving the safety of the encampment to go into the forest alone in the middle of the night, just passing by?

She sharply inhaled.

Should I kill him?

She narrowed her eyes.

But no, he’s the son of the employer. Wait, what if I make it look like an accident?

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“You need not worry. I will not compromise your identity,” he assured her with a hand on his chest and a confident, warm smile.

“Are you alright? I heard crying. Is there something I can do for you?” he innocently asked.

Even if my identity was leaked out, Aelius said there won’t be an Aerianne Archduchy to chase me down soon anyways, right? And besides, I don’t think I can take an innocent life, even as unpleasant as this child is.

“Y-you’re very beautiful!” Damien suddenly blurted, his face flushed, and Aria felt disgust overtake her.

“I just thought it such a shame, for a girl as breathtaking as you to be weeping alone in the middle of the forest.”

I can’t believe he of all people got to see my crying figure. There’s only one person in this world who’s allowed to see such a side of me.

She lowered her wand and turned away, rubbing her brow in frustration.

Crying about unrequited love and I exposed myself to the worst possible witness.

Sighing and shaking her head, she felt clarity return to her mind, and made her way to the edge of the treeline.

“Wait! Let’s talk! Tell me what’s bothering you, I can solve it for you!” the Young Daniesvich Lord one-sidedly pleaded, and Aria stopped, glancing over her shoulder.

She saw a look of hope dash across his face, his eyes lighting up, but died again as soon as she spoke.

“If anyone finds out you saw my face, you’ll die the most painful death,” she warned him and then disappeared into the shadows.

—-----------------------

Aelius didn’t watch as Lia went to chase after Aria in the trees, instead crossing his arms and looking up over the night sky, a sour look on his face, a sour taste on his tongue.

He felt a raging anger within him at first, but as moments passed, it quickly turned back into cold apathy.

Callousness.

A familiar, pale-skinned woman with long red hair dropped down behind him and a pair of arms slung over his shoulders, hugging him around his chest.

“You’ve softened, Aelius,” she remarked, her tone apathetic and indifferent.

Though she was but an immaterial Spirit in this moment, he could still feel her soft flesh up against him.

“It seems I have,” he could only admit with a sigh.

“Normally, you’d charge ahead without thinking about the consequences, but it looks like time has changed you,” she continued and Aelius shrugged.

“There’s just a lot of things to think about,” he answered.

“Hmm…” her red eyes eyed him up curiously. “It’s nice to relax. It’s nice to show kindness, even if it can become a weakness. We’re in a new world now where the past may not apply but…” she detached from him and floated back up into the sky again.

“You should never forget what we’ve been through. I mean, just keep those harsh lessons somewhere deep in your heart. You don’t necessarily have to act on them but, don’t be surprised if someone suddenly decides to stab you in the back like you always expected them to.”

As she reached the end of her words, she found a tall branch at the top of one of the trees and sat down at it, leaning up against the trunk and looking out at the stars and the moon, the breeze gently flowing her hair.

Aelius bit his lip at her advice, and then felt a sense of self-directed ridicule, before scoffing.

Look at me, squabbling with a teenage girl over nothing. What the hell am I even doing? So cringe, like a K-drama… he suddenly felt an overwhelming pain strike him in the brain.

“Gah!” he gasped, his hands flashing up to his temple.

As the sudden shock distracted him, the pain dissipated and he found his mind blank again.

“What the fuck was that?” he murmured, breathing deeply.

What was I just thinking about? The pain had disappeared like it was never there. Something about a K… K- what was it?

He frowned. It was something to do with Aria…

He turned to look over his shoulder where Aria and Lia disappeared off to.

No matter how hard he tried to recall what was on the tip of his tongue a moment ago before the pain struck, he was unable to.

Is this another part of my missing memories?

He sighed heavily.

Well, thinking about it’s gonna go nowhere. I should focus for now. If Aria is really playing a game, then I really only have two choices. I could refuse to play and get rid of any risk, by disposing of her, but I don’t want to do that. It’d be a shame and…

Aelius clutched his chest, recalling Alea’s words, for him to become more forgiving.

Or, my remaining choice is to… beat her at her own game. I have no idea what her aim is, but if she wants to stab me in the back by getting close to me, then all I have to do is keep her so close that before she can do anything, I can foresee it and prevent it.

Aelius found a tree trunk nearby and slid down onto his rear, leaning up against it and looking up at the sky where Asura gazed at the moon.

Maybe something happened in my past life, like it did with Quarren Leos. But I decided to look into the real cause. Firstly, that I was weak. Secondly, that Leos was drafted by the Forbidden Order for whatever reason. Maybe, if I want to change the future, create a different outcome, then I can save Aria too. I can create a new life.

He gave a deep breath.

Instead of holding onto past grudges that no longer exist, I should commit to a new path. Create my own path. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind.

The skill Path. Its description was still censored out, but perhaps that’s what this power was meant for?

To give him options, and let him choose? Let him take his own path?

In his deep thought, he heard a soft crunch beside him and turned to see Lia had returned, standing over him.

“You’re alone?” Aelius asked, pulling himself to his feet.

“She was crying really hard,” Lia answered, clutching her arm by her side.

“Aria really is so pitiful.”

Aelius bit his lip under his mask.

Pitiful, huh? Yeah, I guess so.

He looked back into the trees, recalling his past memories.

Pitiful is the perfect way to describe her.

Just as how people had called me, and indeed, I was also pitiful.

Aria was a bitter, vengeful and hateful person by the time she was an adult.

I was the exact same.

Aelius took his mask off and buried his face in his hands for but a moment, to refresh himself.

When people called me pitiful, bitter and evil, I always felt it was unfair. It was unjust, because it was the world that made me this way.

Did I choose to have all my loved ones die around me?

Did I choose to have my sanity tested, to turn into a monster?

To sell my soul for power?

No, I had no choice!

It wasn’t my fault. It was the world to blame.

But they never listened, they only said I was evil at my core, I was a demon.

Hypocrites.

They turn me into a monster and then condemn me to purgatory afterward.

Hypocrites. And… this whole time, I’ve been doing the exact same thing to Aria.

She’s not born evil, or hateful.

It’s the world that made her that way.

It’s not her fault she went down such a path, just as it's not my fault I went down that path.

Yet I acted like she had no chance of redemption.

I treated- I still do, treat her like she’s a monster.

I look at her with the exact same eyes that they looked at me with.

He deeply sighed.

If she’s saveable. I would like to save her.

I don’t want to turn into the same as the monsters I hated in my past life.

I’d rather become a demon again too, than a hypocritical preacher.

Judgemental, ignorant or selfish - I want to live proudly.

I said I couldn’t believe her story, only because I was scared. And even though right now, I still don’t know her true intentions, it’s still cowardly of me to act frightened of her.

So, I will face her properly, I will win fair and square, only because I have the luxury and arrogance to do so.

Well, I don’t have the luxury to do so, but I will make it so that I have the luxury to do so, and I will beat her at her own game.

—-----------------------

Damien’s face twisted into contempt and offence as he watched the girl named Aria leave him behind.

His fists clenched tightly into a ball and he grinded his teeth, giving a deadly glare in the direction she left.

How dare that lowly bitch… when I was the one who came to give her attention.

He recalled their conversation and felt anger bubble up inside him.

Even after I tried to be so nice to her.

He broke into a jog, chasing after her into the trees and after drawing closer to her slow, walking figure, began to secretly follow her, biting his nails as he hid behind the tree trunks.

How dare this bitch…

He continued to follow her until she came to a clearing and he curiously peaked out to see the black-haired girl from before, as well as Lius waiting for her.

Aria approached them again, and Damien watched with rage as they exchanged some words he could not hear.

It appeared to be an emotional conversation, before Lius pulled her into a long, tight hug.

After they pulled apart, the three left back to the encampment again, leaving Damien fuming at the sight.

He’s hogging these two to himself… even I don’t get to go around with two girls hanging on my arms like that… who does he think he is! Lowlifes, the lot of them!

He spun around and began to pace back and forth.

Does she not put me in her eyes, because of him? She’d rather cling to him than me? Prosperous! What does he even have to offer? He’s just another filthy Mercenary. That Mercenary dared to speak up to my sister. He puts down the Daniesvich name. How dare he… how dare he hog the woman I set my eyes on… He can’t compare to me. I’m a Noble! I am destined to stand atop commoners.

Damien wanted to tear his hair out, shouting out in rage in the middle of the night.

But his little episode was interrupted when he heard the snap of a twig from behind him and he spun around, gasping to see a dozen cloaked figures surrounding him in the trees.

“It’s the son,” one of them remarked from a branch above him.

“Shh,” the one at the front, a tall and muscly figure hushed them and took a step forward.

“Who are you!?” Damien demanded from them.

“That doesn’t matter. We saw what happened with the girl just now. Haha,” the man gave a mocking laugh. “You were quite fabulously brushed off, weren’t you?”

Damien’s nostrils flared at the provocative and smug insult.

“How dare you- I warn you, I can command a large group of Mercenaries to kill you all!” Damien threatened them with a wave of his arm.

“Okay, okay, kid. Settle down,” the man scoffed.

A group of B-rank Mercenaries who can barely take on an ogre, want to kill us, the rulers of these lands?

“We can help you. You want the girl, right?”

Damien stopped, his brain processing what was going on.

“S-so? How would you even help? And what do you want in exchange? Could you tell I was a man of wealth? I suppose I could pay you a fair amount of gold if your words are true,” Damien crossed his arms, shyly looking away, tempted by their offer.

“That brown-haired kid is the reason why you can’t tempt her heart, young master,” the man smugly told him. “As long as he lives, she will never look in the direction of a man of such great stature as yourself.”

Damien nodded in agreement.

“Yes, yes. He is a nuisance.”

“So, all you have to do is take him out of the painting, no?”

The man reached into his cloak and revealed a glowing, white orb.

“That’s what this thing can be used for.”

He reached his arm out, presenting it to Damien.

“All you have to do is throw this at him, and we can take care of the rest. Very simple, right?”

Damien looked at the orb with curious eyes.

“What is this device?” he asked, looking at the man doubtfully.

“The solution to all your problems is what it is. Now hurry, for time is running out.”

“...Very well, but if I find out you dared to lie to me…” Damien took the orb, slipping it into his pocket.

“Oh no, we wouldn’t dare!” the large man exclaimed.

“Now, for the orb to work, you must use it at the right time. Only when everyone is gathered for dinner, tomorrow, should you use it. Of course, be discreet so no one can see you do it.”

“...Alright then,” Damien narrowed his eyes doubtfully for a moment, but still spun away. “Tomorrow, at the time of dining, I will throw this towards him. That’s all, yes?” he asked over his shoulder.

“That’s right, young master. For you to remember so quickly, you’re truly different to us commoners,” the tall man answered.

At the end, his tone ran cold but Damien seemed not to notice.

“Hah! Of course. We’ll settle your reward afterwards then.”

“Oh yeah, we sure will,” the man spoke under his breath and the men under him laughed ominously, but Damien was already gone, returning to the encampment.

“Boss, do you really think a sloppy plan thought up in seconds like this would work?” A woman’s voice asked in sincerity and the tall man turned to face his cloaked companion.

“It’s the heaven-sent chances that are the best ones, Laila. And fools like that dumbass Noble are the easiest to manipulate.”

“Well… if you say so.”