He grinned at Aria's words and ruffled his bangs before stopping.
"Ah, what else is this?"
His hair, which had been neatly organized at the best, was cluttered again.
The boy frowned when his palms were sticky with the wax used to fix his hair.
"It bothered me."
Looking at his expression, he looked uncomfortable and wanted to wash it off right away.
"Go to sleep first. I'll wash up and come out."
– Hmm.
He went into the bathroom attached to the room. After a while, she heard the sound of water pouring through the closed door.
Aria quietly lay on Lloyd's bed, waiting for him to finish showering. But as she was quietly listening to the sound of running water in the bathroom…..
'Well, I feel a little bit.'
She knew nothing was going to happen. But her fingertips tickled as if static electricity kept rising. Why is her heart beating faster…
'I think I'm crazy.'
Aria pulled the blanket up to her neck and closed her eyes tightly.
After a while, Lloyd came out of the bathroom.
"….."
He didn't say anything. Even the sound of breathing could be heard in the room. The sound of water dripping on the floor echoed in her ears.
For a moment, she heard Lloyd shaking his head with a towel, and then he walked over to her side.
'What, what? He said he slept on the sofa.'
The boy's breath drew nearer. He bent his torso and stretched his arm over the opposite shoulder.
Aria held her breath. She felt the tight muscles wet from water and drops of water dripped down her cheeks.
Aria's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly lifted them up. As Lloyd looked down at her, a twisted smile was on his lips.
"Why, you said we should sleep together. Are you afraid?"
"….."
"You must have never heard from the priest that the devil catches you if you stay awake until late at night."
The boy picked up the pillow that was next to her and straightened his back. Then he took it and went to the front of the sofa and lay down on it.
'So why did you come to me and pick up the pillow from the other side?'
Aria slowly let out the breath she had been holding back, and stretched her body, which had been stiffened by the tension. Belatedly, her face became warm and her heart began to beat rapidly.
'Wow…'
In the middle of the night, with only grasshoppers chirping through the window, her heart was the loudest.
It sounded so loud, like her stomach pounding, that she was ashamed that Lloyd would see her own feelings openly.
'I was fooled.'
It's cute that Lloyd didn't like her for talking about the first night, so she just made fun of him. She even joked with him only once and then she stopped right away!
It felt like it got back to her.
'It's like Tristan's bad personality.'
Aria puffed up her cheeks with a sulky face. It was a childish act, but what about it?
It didn't matter as the only light in the room was a dim candle, and no one was watching.
"Why is your mouth sticking out like a beak?"
But did Lloyd have eyes on the side of his head? She was startled and her cheeks were deflated instantly.
"Go to sleep."
"….."
As he said, she should go to sleep before she could be more humiliated.
Aria closed her eyes tightly without any regrets and went to sleep.
***
Aria heard a groan softly in her sleep.
"…..ugh."
There was the sound of a groan and the sound of the leather sofa being scraped mercilessly against the fingernails.
'What.'
Her eyes lit up. And she jumped up.
Lloyd was crouching on the couch.
Aria was so startled that she thought her heart was going to drop to the floor.
She hurriedly got off the bed and ran to the couch where Lloyd was.
– Lloyd!
Aria woke him up by shaking him with her trembling hands.
She thought that he was having a nightmare. However….
"Keugh, kuuk!"
Lloyd bowed his back and vomited bright red blood.
Aria became pale as she couldn't do anything. She hurriedly took her hand away from him and took a step back.
'Did he just vomit blood?'
Lloyd?
'Why, why? Why?'
He can't.
It's enough for her to die.
'Why him. Why him.'
Burn her brightly, then he should be happier than anyone else.
Obviously no one was in the room except for Aria, but Lloyd's shoulder suddenly fell with a loud noise.
As if he had received a strong shock from something.
'What the hell is this….'
A blue bruise suddenly appeared on the white, smooth skin.
A solid red line was drawn, and the wound grew deeper and deeper and blood dripped.
The bones were reflected as if they were by a sword.
Her mind went blank.
Aria couldn't accept what was going on with Lloyd. It sounded absurd in common sense, but it was as if a fight had begun inside his body.
"Ha, ha…"
How much time has passed
Moisture flowed endlessly, and Lloyd let out a rough breath.
He wiped the cold sweat dripping from his forehead, then looked at the pale Aria and let out a languid sigh.
"Ha… that's why I didn't want to bring you into the room."
"….."
"Come here, frightened rabbit. It's not like you've got a deadly disease."
Lloyd tried to reassure Aria, but well. It was not at all.
What had happened to him seemed more serious than deadly disease, so she was stiff.
Even asking if he was okay seems meaningless. He couldn't be okay.
– Lloyd….
Aria sent him a message, contorting her face as if she was crying.
She's speechless, she doesn't know what to do, and like a fool, she can only think of his name.
"Sometimes I have seizures."
Lloyd explained lightly. It was a refined expression for whoever heard it.
'How can that be a seizure?'
His body was unilaterally mutilated by an unknown force.
It was nonsense.
Creak–
The boy grabbed his dislocated shoulder as if he was used to it and tucked it in. There was the sound of his bones snapping together. He didn't show much pain, and he turned his shoulder to make sure it was moving properly.
'Growing pains….'
Was it about this? Then it means that it has been this way ever since then.
Aria really didn't know. Nothing at all.
"The karma of the family. From generation to generation, to atone for sins that have been committed, like this."
He pulled out a bandage and wrapped it roughly over the wound. It was a careless treatment to the extent that she doubted whether the treatment would work properly.
"Becoming a devil."
"….."
"Rabbit. Are you scared?"
Lloyd paused what he was doing for a moment before tilting his head.
The warm smile that draped over his lips seemed to represent the current twisted boy's judgement.
"If you're scared, will you let me go now?"
He asked like floating. It was as if he had erected a thorn to desperately hide his own wounds.
So Aria did not even think of hiding the tears that were flowing from her, and it was dripping,
She ran and hugged Lloyd tightly.
"….."
He hardened his body. Then he grabbed her shoulder as he quickly dug into her arms.
"You're going to get blood."
"Lloyd."
Lloyd paused and stopped pushing.
"You…."
His eyes, which had been slightly distorted by the pain, opened in an instant.
Lloyd pulled her out of his arms with more certainty this time, with expression questioning his own ears.
"Did you just say that?"
Aria didn't care if he felt betrayed and if he asked if she had been deceiving him.
But she didn't like him being sick.
To death.
She hugged Lloyd desperately.
"Please don't push me away."
She rested her forehead on Lloyd's shoulder.
"Did you know. The land where lemons bloom."
And she hugged him tightly, as she whispered a healing song into his ear.
"in darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow,
a soft wind blows from the pure blue sky,"
Originally, it was a song that had to be sung with a clean tone like a flute and a chirping bird.
Clear and transparent.
The more it did, the more pronounced the effect.
However, the melody of the song did not continue smoothly and was cut off with sparse moisture.
Because of the flowing tears, the tone was wet like falling raindrops.
"…..stop."
Lloyd tried to push Aria back with his low, locked voice.
"the myrtle stands mute, and the bay-tree high?"
Aria didn't stop. As if it was submerged in the water, the muffled song continued.
"Do you know it well?
It's there I'd be gone,
to be there with you, O, my beloved one!"
She hugged Lloyd tightly and pressed her forehead to his shoulder.
She continued to dig into his arms without being pushed away.
The more he did it, the more the boy hardened his body as if it had stiffened.
The cut, which was deep enough to leave a permanent scar, healed in an instant.
This was because, along with Aria's abilities, Lloyd resilience was far greater than that of ordinary people.
"I told you to stop."
Finally Lloyd managed to push her away.
In fact, if he had used his power to force her off, there would have been no way he couldn't have done it.
No, would it be more accurate to say that he didn't do it?
Lloyd's eyes, which had barely met hers, were dimly blurred and hazy.
"Haa….."
The boy let out his breath slowly.
The reaction was a beat late. She was terrified late.
Vincent's words came to mind.
"Easy to go crazy, easy to break."
Because the Siren's abilities were not physical, but emotional.
'I was told that the mental power of the direct lineage is very weak.'
Was it suddenly too much stimulation for Valentine, who was vulnerable to madness?
'What if he was already addicted?'
Concerned, she called out his name cautiously.
"Lloyd?"
"What happened to your voice…"
Lloyd let out a slightly cracked voice.