Dark Dad’s Rebirth - Chapter 10: The Real Aria (4)

After her bath, Aria sat quietly on the bed, waiting for him. She was determined to apologize the moment Caelius returned. As the door opened, he entered, striding forward with something in his hands.

“D-Daddy…”

Aria forced the words out, her lips trembling.

“I-I’m sorry.”

At her sudden apology, Caelius looked at her with an expression that seemed to ask what nonsense she was spouting. Though his face only reflected bewilderment, his naturally stern features made Aria misunderstand, thinking he was angry.

“I-I… I…”

Her voice faltered as she caught sight of his deeply furrowed brow. The sight made her grow even more nervous.

“I-I… I…”

Unable to finish her sentence, she stammered the same words over and over. Meeting Caelius’s piercing black eyes, which were fixed intently on her, only heightened her discomfort.

Aria’s mind raced as she tried to figure out why he might be angry.

She didn’t want to end up confined to a room again like she had been at the marquis’s estate. She had always tried her best to please him, knowing that defying him could lead to punishment. But today, she had cried loudly, thrown a fit, and screamed that it hurt. If she continued like this, she feared she might be locked away again, a thought that filled her with dread.

“I’m… I’m useless…”

Her face turned pale, and her voice trembled as she finally spoke.

“I’m s-sorry… so sorry.”

“What?”

Caelius let out a faint laugh, baffled by her words. But his reaction only deepened Aria’s conviction that he was upset.

“I won’t… I won’t do it again.”

“…What won’t you do again?”

Caelius growled lowly, his displeasure evident.

“I… I won’t whine about it hurting anymore…”

Aria reached out and grabbed the hem of his shirt with her small hands, as if pleading with him not to abandon her. The tiny gesture seemed to convey desperation.

“Riri… Riri was wrong.”

Caelius, however, remained silent, his face expressionless. It was as if he was staring at something beyond her frail touch, lost in thought.

“I won’t do it again,” she repeated, tears brimming in her eyes.

Even as she begged for forgiveness, his cold expression didn’t soften. That icy demeanor only deepened Aria’s despair. She feared that if she couldn’t appease him, she would become a useless daughter, hidden away and forgotten. That was the one fate she couldn’t bear.

Frantic, she spoke again.

“You can… do it. It’s okay.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Caelius immediately cut her off.

“I may not be a good father or even a good man…”

His voice was tinged with frustration as he bit his lip, his face twisting with emotion.

“But I don’t recall ever making you say something like that.”

Indeed, since bringing her to the estate, he had ensured she had only the best—an elegant room, lavish meals, and clothes made from the finest fabrics. He had thought she was content, always trailing after him, seemingly happy with everything he gave her.
But now, faced with her dejected expression, it seemed as though she feared being abandoned. It baffled him. When granted such luxury, most would either grow conceited or arrogant. Secretly, that was the reaction Caelius had hoped for.

Yet here she was, trembling and meek, as if terrified of being cast aside.

“Riri…”

Caius cautiously called out to Aria. Still, Aria’s head was bowed deeply, and she could only mumble an apology.

“Riri.”

“I-I was wrong…….”

“Look at me, Riri.”

Even when I told her to look at me, she hesitated, unable to meet my eyes. Caelius sighed heavily and grabbed her cheek.

“Riri.”

“Yes, yes…….”

Aria was still shaking, her skinny body shaking like an aspen tree, still afraid of being scolded.

“I don’t lock you in your room like Amerine.”

“Ha, but…… still, I mean, you didn’t bring me here for nothing.”

Aria’s words made him pause.

“I’m supposed to be useful…….”

She didn’t finish her sentence. He clenched his fists and pondered his use. No matter how much she thought about it, all she’d done since coming to this manor was play and eat, and even then, after what she’d done to her unscrupulous sleeping father, she deserved to be left behind.

To be an outcast, you had to be useful. Aria recognized that fact instinctively.

Caelius stared at her for a moment, then spoke softly.

“Your very existence is useful.”

“……?”

He didn’t bother to answer Aria’s dumbfounded question.

Blonde and golden-eyed.

Her very existence made her useful to Caelius, but there was no way Aria would know that. She merely bit her lip nervously.

“Don’t think about it.”

Caelius said nothing more, instead reaching for the ointment in his hand. Aria gave him a questioning look. Caelius pursed his lips, a hint of guilt in his gaze.

“I thought you might have a cut …… down there.”

Aria’s large eyes narrowed and her lashes fluttered.

“That’s why I stopped to apply the medicine, not because I’m mad at you.”

His voice was uncharacteristically soft, and she flinched at Caius’s touch, which was gingerly brushing her inner thighs in a way that made her sound stupid.

Her slender legs parted slightly at his touch. Her labia parted again, revealing the crimson flesh hidden beneath the smooth flesh, and the quivering vagina beneath was red and swollen, a testament to the intensity of the act.

At the sight of it, Caelius let out another pained whimper as he dry-cleansed himself. It was strangely uncomfortable.

“D- don’t look…… it’s embarrassing…….”

“I saw it all anyway, what’s embarrassing?”

“Well, still…….”

Caelius ignored her whimpering. He dabbed some of the ointment onto a clean, sterilized cotton ball and groped around her vaginal opening with uncharacteristic care.

“Ugh…”

“Stay still.”

“It’s… strange…”

“You’re so full of mischief.”

Caelius said this as a casual remark, finding the squirming Aria both insignificant and endearing. However, Aria interpreted his words differently.

‘He doesn’t like me because I’m too childish…’

Spreading her legs in front of her father was embarrassing enough. But Aria couldn’t say no anymore. She clutched the sheets tightly, pursed her lips, and didn’t whimper or struggle. The tiny woman shuddered at his touch on her sensitive flesh.

After carefully applying the ointment, Caelius finished and let her go.

“Sniff…”

Aria’s sobs escaped through her clenched teeth. Caelius frowned in confusion, startled by her sudden tears after he had just tended to her.

“Riri?”

“I-I’m sorry… sniff, I’m so sorry…”

He looked at her silently, as if wondering what she was apologizing for this time.

“You… sniff, you went out of your way to take care of me… sniff, but I threw a tantrum and complained…”

Aria wiped at her tears as they continued to flow despite her efforts to stop. For some reason, she felt like she cried more often when she was with Caelius.

‘I can’t cry. Daddy won’t like it.’

She tightly shut her eyes and recalled what Gossen had once said:

“His Grace prefers people who are useful. He dislikes children who do nothing but throw tantrums.”

At this rate, she feared she would become—or perhaps had already become—one of those useless, whining children.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Caelius let out a small sigh.

“Enough. Stop crying.”

“Sniff… hic…”

Aria nodded faintly, but the tears didn’t stop. Caelius didn’t tell her to stop crying again, nor did he say anything else to comfort her.

Eventually, as time passed, her sobbing began to quiet.

“Daddy…”

“…”

“I’ll… sniff… I’ll try harder.”

Caelius didn’t know what she meant by “trying harder,” but he chose not to respond.

* * *

It had been a few days since it happened. Aria didn’t want to be abandoned by Caius, so she did everything she could.

She began to learn everything she could, from the history of the Empire to economics, military science, etiquette, and speech.

He even wanted to learn the art of juggling. She tried to ask Gossen for a tutor, but he flatly refused. Instead, she secretly obtained books that noblewomen enjoyed and learned about sex between men and women.

When she gave the maids a small fortune, they would often bring her popular adult novels and illustrations.

Aria eyed them carefully. She didn’t know when that day would come, but if it did, she didn’t want it to end in a flurry like the last time.

She wanted to try harder, to prove herself useful next time, and inwardly, she wanted to learn the art of the night from the great Courtesans and make Caelius fall head over heels for her.

After all, there have been many emperors in history who have fallen madly in love with women, abandoned their wives, taken on mistresses, and nearly destroyed their countries.

‘If that were the case, I wouldn’t have to worry about being abandoned…….’

Aria flipped through the book, frowning. Suddenly, she remembered Caelius from that day. His muscular body, his strong abs. And between his legs…… a towering, dark-red penis.

“Hah…….”

She sighed at the memory of it. It was big, but it was too big. No matter how she thought about it, it was thicker than her forearm. She should probably prepare herself to accept something the size of his forearm first so it wouldn’t hurt.

After reading for a while, Aria awkwardly spread her legs apart. Then she fumbled between her own legs.

As the book said, if you start with one finger and work your way up, it won’t hurt as much as it did the first time. She rubbed the lone bulge of flesh, groping around her slimy wet hole.

“Hmph…….”

Then she slowly slid her hand inside. It was only one finger, but the foreign sensation was vivid.

As she rubbed her clit and inserted it into her hole, her heart pounded.

She didn’t feel guilty about masturbating, because she knew she was doing it for Caelius now, not just for her own pleasure, but for his, and it was oddly comforting to think of his face as she probed her hole alone.

“Daddy, hhhh, Daddy…….”

Aria closed her eyes and gasped, forcing herself to think of Caelius. I had a delusion of him touching me, caressing me gently, and it made me even wetter down there.

His chiseled face, his imposing height, his strong body. Certainly, Caelius was the kind of man that would make any woman turn her head.

Aria, always lonely, had fallen for him more easily than most.

Unaware that she was sinking to the depths of the ocean, she was too busy gobbling up the pellets of affection to fill the void.

At this point, she couldn’t even deny it. As much as she groped her own pussy at the thought of her father’s face, Aria liked Caelius.

As the opposite sex.

* * *