Chapter 4

Translator: Latte Editor: BakaReem

The approaching footsteps echoed sharply throughout the halls, growing louder every second. After a while, the attic door slammed open, revealing a maid. Everyone’s eyes darted towards her.

Panting, the maid spoke, “Th-the lord has just sent Sally to the capital to pick up a new dress for the young miss.”

“You’re just in time. We were actually discussing that….”

“He’s sending her to the Grand Duke of Valentine.”

The chatter stopped, and a heavy silence settled over them, everyone was speechless.

“We’ll be at the expense of the Grand Duke.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The maids shifted their gaze towards Aria.

Everyone was pale, afraid to imagine what the Grand Duke might do once he finds out about Aria’s mistreatment within the mansion.

Unexpectedly, some of the maids sympathized with her. They pitied her because she had been abused all her life.

“The Grand Duke hasn’t sent an official letter of marriage though,” one of the maids pointed out, trying to reassure the others.

Needless to say, her efforts were futile.

Due to inheritance and family alliance, marriages were contracted at a young age in most noble houses. Hence the average age of engagement was rarely over fourteen.

The Grand Duke of Valentine would turn fourteen years old this year.

“Well, she’s going to die anyway.”

“That’s right. She’ll be sacrificed to the devil before he harms us.”

The House of Valentine usually searched for marriage partners only once in a generation. Then, the wife would have to bear the child of the Grand Duke and continue his bloodline.

The child of the following marriage would get to inherit his succession rights, titles, precedence, and entailed property, but it wasn’t as good as it sounds.

The Grand Duchess usually dies after giving birth to an heir.

There had been many rumors about it, but no one knew the actual truth.

Those that became the Grand Dukes’ bride had to break all ties with their family and friends.

‘They were nothing but sacrifices.’

That was what everyone called them.

“You can’t speak, and soon you’ll be stuck in the Grand Duke’s mansion forever. You have nothing to fear, though! I’m sure you’ve suffered much worse.”

While listening to the maids, Aria recalled her memory of last night.

After she got hold of the Mermaid’s Tears, entrancing the Count became quite simple.

All she did was add a few words to the lyrics; ‘send me to the Grand Duke of Valentine,’ and it immediately worked.

‘Shall I sing to them like what I did to my father?’

No, there was no need for that.

The maids kept repeating, “You need not be afraid!” but Aria did not respond.

There was an uneasy tension in the atmosphere. The maids’ unsettled eyes glanced unceremoniously around the room.

Then, Aria rummaged through a small old silver bag that she had been carrying on her shoulder.

She was mute, so she carried the bag every day as it contained items that helped her communicate.

Inside the bag was a bottle of ink, a quill, and a pack of cards. Aria wrote on a card and held it out to the maids.

[Get rid of this. Make it edible.]

The maids let out a gasp. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Sh-she’s ordering us..….”

Aria stared at them, her expression as empty as a blank sheet of paper. Then, she kicked the bowl of soup beside her feet and spilled its contents all over the floor.

[Right this instant.]

* * *

Aria gazed at the maid who nervously served her tea.

She asked for edible food but was given afternoon tea instead.

The maid laid flamboyant desserts on the table.

‘I don’t even know what these are called.’

The sweet aroma wafted through the air, but Aria hated it.

‘These types of lavish foods were common for aristocrats.’

But not for Aria.

How long had it been since she was treated as a human being, not as a bird in a cage?

Aria beckoned for them to leave after sipping her tea.

“I-if the young miss needs anything, please don’t hesitate to call us.”

‘Not in their life.’

She would never give them the chance to make up for it.

Aria glared at them, her sight blurred with fury as she remembered the maids who had deftly abused her. It was the kind of glare that harbored malicious intent.

‘I will get my revenge someday.’

Aria shifted her eyes downward, thick pink lashes brushing the apples of her high cheeks.

She gave them a smile that seemed sweeter than the delicacies laid on the table. The maids were astonished by the scene before them. Then, she opened her pink lips and mouthed.

—Get out.

The maids, who read Aria’s lips, were startled and hurriedly left the attic in panic.

After a while, the sound of footsteps completely disappeared.

‘I’m sure their whole body stiffened when they saw my sarcastic smile.’

How exciting.

Aria touched her cheek once more, her smooth skin, which was no longer scarred.

When Aria was a Siren, Count Cortez would always tell her about nobles.

The aristocrats within the capital were demanding and loathed the sight of anything ugly.

Since Aria had a burn mark that covered half of her face, she was labeled as ugly.

Hence why the count forced her to wear a mask.

However, she did not need one now as she didn’t have the burn marks anymore.

‘Still, I should cover my face again.’

The expression of disgust.

Aria knew the look. It was the look that the nobles made when she accidentally stripped off her mask.

When they saw her face, their insides would curdle like milk with lemon. The sight of her made them sick from the ends of their hair to the nails on their toes.

She did not need the mask.

However, Aria’s daily routine consisted of her wearing a mask, so she planned to do it again.

* * *

“Are we on the right path?” Count Cortez growled, irritated by the rattling sound of the carriage wheels.

The coachman replied with a quivering voice, “I-I’m not sure, My Lord. We’ve been following the path, but I can’t even see the entrance of the mountain….”

“If you don’t know, then who on earth will?!” He shouted, finally losing his temper.

“Stop the carriage this instant!” He raged.

It was definitely morning when they left the mansion, but now, the sun was already setting.

Aria and the Count had been riding inside the carriage for days without rest. They were utterly exhausted.

“Damn it all! He yelled, gritting his teeth. “That devil bastard, I swear, one day I’m gonna…”

The Duchy of Valentine was an unknown land. Tucked away amongst the Ingo Mountains and forests, the land was cut off from the outside world. Foreigners were strictly prohibited from entering.

Furthermore, the territory had tight security. They would check everyone thoroughly before letting anyone in.

Even when engaging in large and small diplomatic activities or dealings with merchant guilds, the Valentine family had always censored their opponents with great strictness.

Understandably, they ignored the Count’s offer to meet.

‘There wasn’t even a single reply.’ Aria mused.

The Cortez family was famous for its lineage of musicians.

Amongst them was Maestro Lo Cortez. He was famous for his overwhelming talents in singing, songwriting, and composing.

He was known as ‘The Father of Music’ and was considered to be the most outstanding musician of all time.

‘Even Cortez, the Maestro of Music, was disregarded by the Valentines.’

Thanks to this, the Count snapped. His rage exploded like magma.

He immediately hired a guide from the guild, scheming to break into the Grand Duke’s mansion.

“It is better to go back, My Lord.” The guide calmly remarked.

He assured the Count that he was the best in the industry.

But Aria was petrified.

She felt a chill down her spine.

“Your request was ridiculous from the very start! Nobody dares to visit the Grand Duke’s mansion. Those that enter the Ingo Mountains have never come back alive!”

The Count had given him a large sum of money, yet he told him to go back. Anger boiled deep in his system, and he was ready to kill the guide.

“You were the ones who accepted my commission! If you dare not take responsibility, you must pay with your life!”

Count Cortez threw open the carriage doors and drew his sword, ready to cut his neck.

“If I’m killed, you too will be chased down by the guild.”

“Then we’ll both go down to hell!” Count Cortez snarled, the sword cutting deeper into his neck.

“Gasp!”

The two of them continued to bicker; meanwhile, Aria’s gaze was elsewhere.

She leaned out of the carriage and stretched her arms out the window.

Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation.

‘Is this… a barrier?’

The source of the Siren’s power is enchantments.

The Siren’s ‘enchantments.’

The Mage’s ‘mana.’

The Priest’s ‘divine power.’

The Shaman’s ‘spiritual power.’

Each power has its own differences, but the energy’s essence was more or less the same.

The barrier blocked the entrance of Ingo Mountain.

‘Is this perhaps… an illusion?’

The barrier prevented them from entering the mountain by creating an illusion. It seemed as if they walked in a straight path, but in truth, they were constantly circling around the same place.

Some intruders weren’t able to cope with the situation, so they ended up killing themselves.

‘As expected, this wasn’t easy.’

Then, the sun was gone, and the night time came. The paths that were illuminated just hours before became lost in the blackness. As the forest fell into darkness, Aria heard the cries of beasts.

Rumbles— There was a shock and vibration as the ground trembled.

“Agh!”

“Wh-what in tarnation?!”

The knights of the House of Cortez unsheathed their swords, their skin clammy with nervous sweat.

“That’s why I told you to go back!” The guide wailed, “Goodness gracious, what are we gonna do if the rumor about the monster is true?!”

“Monster?”

“The deformed beast. Many times larger than the common predator.…..”

“What? Why are you telling me that now?!”

“Because you kept shouting at me! You didn’t even stop to listen!” he accused.

Aria had also heard of the rumor.

The reason why so many people thought of the Valentines as devil worshippers were because of the rumor.

“It’s the devil’s curse……” someone muttered.

Suddenly, a scream broke out.

“Argh!!!”

“H-help!”

The sound echoed throughout the forest, desperate and terrified. It was a cry of hysteria and disbelief, bordering fear. The scream was one of the guard’s last words before he perished.

Aria fixedly stared at the knights surrounding her and didn’t look away for even a second.

Yet, by the time she blinked, another knight fell to the ground, his corpse soaked in a pool of blood.

‘My eyes can’t keep up, but I know there’s something here!’

A moment later, everyone was dead. The knights, mercenaries, guides, and even the coachmen… the life that had once dwelt within them was nowhere to be found.

It was a brutal slaughter.

The ground was covered with soulless bodies lying limply.

Aria lifted her head from the ground. In the midst of the bloody corpses stood a man wearing a black cloak.

“How entertaining,” he smirked.

His voice was deep, like a low roll of thunder.

“How did the House of Valentine fall to such a state? The social hierarchy is nothing but a joke.”

A massacre had just happened before Aria’s eyes, but she felt no remorse. Her tragic past had diminished her emotions.

‘This method of slaughter…’

Beside the man were two large creatures that seemed to be the ‘monsters’ that the guide talked about.

“It’s been a while since the dogs ate.”

The man called the beasts ‘dogs’.

The creature was huge and grotesque with black matted hair. They looked like wolves that were three times bigger than the regular size.

Then Aria locked eyes with the man.

‘Gray eyes…’

The man came up to her, passing the pile of corpses, and pointed his sword at her.

His lips parted.

“Kill her.”

Aria’s brain had shut down.

The beasts ran towards her, and her knees gave away as she fell to the cold, hard ground.

She shut her eyes, waiting for them to deliver the last, finishing blow.

“Kyaa-!!!”

…

But there was no pain at all.

Aria opened her eyes, tears blurring her vision.

“Sob, sob…”

The monster licked Aria’s hand and wagged its tail like a dog.