Chapter 138

Aria listened to determine the direction the song was coming from.

It was so faint that she focused her attention to the fullest. But she didn’t know where the song was coming from. Maybe it was the sound of a ringing in her head.

“What song do you hear?”

Then Aria suddenly closed her eyes and, as if something had been drawn from her, she moved slowly and sang the song.

“I think I still hear.”

“Eh?”

“The singing in my ears.”

“……opera?”

Vincent was perplexed. Why would she reply with a song when she can just say it in words?

“Wow, as expected.”

Is this the Siren’s class? Vincent rubbed his chin in admiration.

“Should I respond with a song?”

Then.

Khmm, coughing, he took a deep breath to sing. But, as soon as he did that, his mouth was closed.

“Uhp!”

“Shut up.”

It was Lloyd. Lloyd, who didn’t care enough to be cold to others, remembered Vincent’s singing clearly. Crumpling his face like a piece of paper, he turned his head back to Aria and looked into her complexion.

“Aria?”

“……”

But no answer came back.

She closed her eyes and didn’t even move, as if something had caught her mind.

“That soft and strong voice. Like a cooing of doves…”

That was the moment.

The moment Aria hummed, a bird was chirping somewhere.

She opened her eyes. Then, with a swish, she turned her head and rode on her horse, looking straight in the direction of the sound of the birds.

“…sister-in-law!”

Aria drove her horse without hesitation.

As the startled Vincent raised his voice and called her, Lloyd grabbed the horse’s reins and ran after her.

Vincent, who hesitated for a moment, hurriedly got on his horse.

“Oh enchanting night.

Divine rapture.

Oh delightful memory,

Mad euphoria, sweet dream!”

Now, Aria was singing along to the song as she heard it in her ears. With strength in her voice.

Of course, it was an impromptu song that she had never practiced before. She didn’t know what effect it had, so just like when she sang ‘Song of Dawn’, she had to pour out all of her energy without any control.

Then her voice showed her the way.

The sound of birds, the sound of the wind, the sound of the rustling dry leaves, the sound of a flowing river,

It was the sound of a Siren calling.

Aria could be sure.

‘How…….’

She ran frantically, narrowing her eyes and clenching her teeth. If she missed the sound even for a moment, it seemed like it would end like this.

Aria, almost in trance, drove her horse. At that moment, the scenery she had once seen in her dreams unfolded before her eyes.

An endless waterfall.

Dense grass and trees reaching the sky.

Children throwing gemstones and laughing while playing.

“In the clear starlight.”

The Milky Way across the vast night sky.

Drums and traditional instruments resound somewhere.

In line with the performance, people wearing wreaths circled around the bonfire.

The harmonious chorus filled her ears.

“I think I still see them, half drawing the long veil, in the tepid night breeze.”

There was a mist-like haze in front of her eyes. She reached out her hand towards the air.

“Oh, delightful memory.”

She thought she could reach it, just a little bit, a little bit closer.

“Oh, delightful memory.”

A little bit more…….

“Oh, delightful memory.”

“Stop!”

It was then.

The focus returned to Aria’s eyes, who had been distracted for a moment. Lloyd’s scream awakened her.

She reflexively pulled the reins.

Neighh-!

The horse wept loudly and swung its front legs.

There was a cliff that was so far down that it looked like there was no end in sight. A thick stone crumbled from the bottom of the horse’s hoof and disappeared without a trace.

“Gasp…….”

Aria, who was rarely flustered, swallowed a gasp with a pale face.

She did not know that she had rode her horse until she left the hunting grounds quite far away. Besides, she arrived at a cliff. If she did, she would have suffered a violent death.

“Aria!”

Like Aria, the surprised Lloyd, swiftly pulled her off her horse and took her into his arms.

“Ha, damn it…”

He muttered a small swear word and hugged Aria tightly. To the point where she can’t breathe.

Aria, who was stunned for a moment after receiving the shock, looked up at him.

‘Your heartbeat is incredibly loud.’

He seemed very surprised.

As she listened to the beating of his heart, it seemed that she had regained her stability and reason.

“Rabbit, you.”

“……”

There really was no excuse this time.

Aria, who was silent for a moment as she hugged Lloyd tightly like a teddy bear, caught her breath and opened her mouth.

“The sound was cut off here.”

At that moment, Vincent, who was following them, said,

“Isn’t this the cliff where Viscount Tien fell?”

He crawled on the ground for a moment and looked down at the bottom of the distant cliff to see if there was something to check.

“Oh my God. I can see why the Imperial soldiers gave up and went back without checking the body.”

If they fell from here and survived, they would no longer be human.

“Isn’t it possible with a Valentine-level body?”

Vincent mumbled. Lloyd didn’t really deny it.

Because he knew that he would be fine even if he fell from here. Because even if he chanted the self-sacrifice spell, he couldn’t die.

Then Aria shook her head and said.

“But he was running away with some of God’s feelings.”

“Come to think of it… the power that Brother had was also God’s malice.”

It was not at all strange that he would have survived if he had divine powers.

“Malice… is a feeling too.”

It was when Vincent was muttering the feelings Aria had felt before.

Aria stared into the air, startled. She heard the song that was riding on the wind again.

“Oh, delightful memory.”

Without realizing it, she stretched out her hand towards the edge of the cliff.

At that moment, she was captured.

A hand large enough to wrap around Aria’s hand clasped hers. And pulled her inside.

Lloyd’s eyes and hers met. He was looking down at her with a firm look. They exchanged glances without a word.

After a while, Aria barely spoke.

“Let’s go down the cliff first.”

It took a full day just to go round down the cliff. The sky was getting dark and it was difficult to see right in front of them.

Vincent sighed and put the map he was holding back into his pocket.

“It’s too late to go back to camp.”

Of course, as long as Aria was present, no wild beasts would harm them. It didn’t change the fact that they had to stay outdoors with no roof above their heads anyway, so he continued to grumble in disapproval.

There was a small waterfall at the bottom of the remote cliff. Aria said while pointing at the bottom of the waterfall.

“I think we should go there.”

She didn’t know what was inside. But it was clear that all of the singing she had heard so far came from within. The closer she got, the clearer it was.

“Wait a minute.”

Lloyd jumped off his horse and threw off everything clunky except for his shirt and pants. And he jumped into the river with only a dagger.

As he moved without hesitation for a second, Aria and Vincent had no intention of stopping him.

“His body temperature will drop there… No, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Vincent was about to say something.

It was because Lloyd, who had crossed the river in an instant, entered the waterfall with a dagger in his mouth.

Not long after, Lloyd came back out of the waterfall and said,

“After cutting down all the tangled vines inside, there was an entrance to a cave.”

Normally it would take half a day, but with Lloyd, it was finished in just a few minutes.

Aria said coldly.

“I’ll go too.”

“Sister-in-law will definitely experience a drop in body temperature. You’ll end up lying ill.”

“How do you know?”

Are you a doctor? When Aria asked that absurd question, he nodded his head.

“At least where Sister-in-law is concerned, I am a doctor.”

“I agree.”

Even Lloyd, whom she thought believed in her heart, jokingly said.

“I’ll do the search myself.”

“However…….”

“I’m just going to check what’s inside for a while.”

Because there might be something dangerous. As Lloyd added, Aria had nothing more to say.

If there was something really dangerous inside the cave, there was a possibility that the Siren’s ability would not be of much help. For example, something like a trap.

“……Then hurry and come back.”

Lloyd nodded his head and entered the cave without hesitation.

Aria slumped down on the grass, thinking of waiting for him to finish the search.

Vincent took the seat next to her.

“I’ll light a bonfire.”

“Yes.”

Vincent gathered branches and lit them with flint. They sat for a moment with a bonfire in between.

However, after a while, Lloyd did not return.

Song quote: ‘The Voice (je croise entendre encore)’ from Bizet’s opera Les pêcheurs de perles.

※Lyrics have been adapted according to the content of the novel.