Dark Dad’s Rebirth - Chapter 11: Time at Crossroads (6) (M)

“There’s only two kinds of fathers: those who get off on their daughters born from my cum, and those who suck their daughters’ cunts, and those who spread their legs for them.”

Unlike a moment ago when he had bared his teeth fiercely, the act of licking her vagina was much gentler. He opened the tightly closed flesh and gently pressed the clitoris hidden inside with the tip of his tongue. Aria tried hard to suppress her pleasure and tightened her body.

Perhaps because he was annoyed by her appearance, Caelius gently sucked and bit the swollen flesh.

“Hmph… … .”

Even though the hole trembled and clear fluid flowed out, Aria never showed the reaction he wanted. She stubbornly held back her moans, even if it meant biting her lips to the point of bleeding. The more Caelius licked the gap of her flesh, the more persistently Aria suppressed her pleasure.

“Huh… … .”

The tongue that had been moving between the vagina and clitoris suddenly pierced the hole. Surprised, Aria gasped and jerked her waist, but that was it. She didn’t vomit out any of Caelius’s pleasant moans or wet breaths.

Who did he resemble to be so stubborn? Caelius shook his head internally and stroked her inner walls in a circular motion.

“Ahh… … .”

She gripped the quilt so hard her knuckles were white. It should have been hard to stay awake when her plump lips were chafing beneath the soaking wetness, but Aria kept her wits about her. It was a cowardly act, and the caresses were so affectionate that they weren’t painful, but apart from the physical, her insides felt like they were rotting away with each of Caelius’s actions.

As the tongue that had been poking her sloppily slipped out, the love juice flowed out. Whatever. Aria just limply stretched out like a prey waiting for her breath to stop.

His fingertips wandered around the throbbing vaginal opening. He rubbed the flowing liquid over her plump flesh as if spreading it, and Aria’s legs became even stiffer.

When Caelius tried to stick his hand into the hole, Aria, who noticed it like a ghost, tightened her grip and stiffened her body. Caelius let out a small sigh at her timid resistance.

“Relax.”

“… … .”

“I don’t intend to hurt you. I’m not planning to hurt you.”

What on earth had caused this sudden change of heart? It was almost laughable how he barged into the room earlier, spewing anger and throwing a tantrum, only to now act so gentle despite his threatening behavior.

“Why? Just do it, whether it hurts me or not. Since when did you ever care about something like that…?”

Her voice, laced with resentment, shot sharply toward Caelius.

“Stop pretending to care about something so out of character and just do what you want,” Aria said, her voice faltering under tension but forcing herself to finish.

“If you’re going to do it anyway, just get it over with. It’s disgusting enough for me as it is.”

At her words, Caelius’s previously indifferent expression twisted. Had her remarks struck a nerve? For the first time, he failed to mask his reaction as he locked eyes with Aria.

“Should I start by shutting that mouth of yours?”

A gaze full of irritation sharply turned toward Aria. Without warning, he untied his necktie and stuffed it into her mouth. Startled, Aria’s eyes widened as she tried to spit it out, but Caelius stopped her. His large hands pinned her arms down, rendering her completely immobile.

“Mmff…! Mmm!”

Aria struggled and resisted, but Caelius merely smirked in satisfaction, his lips curling upward.

The tie in her mouth carried the scent of the cologne Caelius often used. The familiar fragrance struck her with a pang of longing so intense it felt like her heart was being wrenched. Even in such a wretched situation, his scent burrowed into the cracks of her disillusioned affection, shaking her to her core.

Aria’s expression twisted in anguish. Seeing this, Caelius let out a small sigh and said,

“Finally, some peace and quiet.”

It was clear that the man before her was not the Caelius she once knew.

If it were the Caelius of old, he would’ve erupted in anger by now…

No matter how many rude words she hurled or how much she provoked him, Caelius remained calm and composed. The only sign of his irritation was a faint crease forming between his brows.

The hand that had been wandering over her white vagina suddenly opened the gap between her flesh and pressed down on her swollen clitoris. Then, Aria’s body jerked in surprise and she gasped in pleasure. As his fingertips gently rubbed her love juice, Aria twisted her waist and let out a groan.

“Huh… … .”

Even though she tried to suppress the rising pleasure by putting all her strength into her body, it was not working. The hand that was wandering around the gap between her labia was just teasing her throbbing vagina as if it was mocking her. Then, all of a sudden, he pushed his middle finger into her throbbing vagina.

Aria, surprised by the sudden sensation of insertion, resisted even harder, but it was a movement that could be suppressed with just one hand from Caelius.

The hand that had penetrated deep inside moved vigorously, stirring the inner wall. It rubbed her insides as if it was deliberately searching for the place she felt.

“Ugh… … .”

It was obscene, the way she gagged on his hand. The paw-scorched hole in her pale flesh clenched and unclenched at Caelius’s beckoning.

He pressed down on her small body as if he was confining it with his own body, and filled the room with creaking sounds. Every time Caelius moved his hand, a squelching sound was constantly heard between Aria’s legs.

“Hmph, euuh… … .”

Was it just because of his mood? He was still stubborn, but Caelius now seemed to be anxious about hurting Aria’s body. And Aria could feel it too.

Even if he covered her mouth and tied her hands, Aria couldn’t help but notice. After all the time we’ve been together… … .

‘Why on earth… … . ’

Why aren’t you angry?

The situation was displeasing. What could possibly be done about it now?

Aria knew very well that his half-hearted kindness would only harm her. That was why she had intentionally provoked him and behaved insolently… but she hadn’t expected him to react this way.

“Ah, ha…”

She tried to say, “Dad,” but her pronunciation was muffled because of the tie in her mouth. Instead of answering, Caelius, who had been poking her thin inner walls, inserted another finger. Water overflowed through the narrow gap, soaking the sheets.

“S… sniff, s-stop…”

Though her words were slurred, her refusal was unmistakable. Was he actually going to listen to her for once? Caelius paused his chaotic movements, raised his head, and looked at Aria. A heavy silence briefly settled in the room.

But that silence was soon broken by Caelius himself.

“…No. Not allowed. Don’t.”

His indifferent, deep voice and sharp gaze bore into her.

“Is that all our daughter knows how to say?”

His tone carried blatant displeasure.

She didn’t want to cry… but against her will, a sob escaped from between her lips.

“Sniff…”

Her large, golden eyes brimmed with tears, and her trembling lips, biting onto a tie, quivered pitifully.

“What exactly are you unhappy about?”

His voice remained calm and low, but the restrained anger within it was undeniable. Caelius drew in a deliberate breath and exhaled, as though trying to suppress his rising fury. Yet, the rigidity of his expression betrayed no improvement.

In place of an answer, Aria shook her head, signaling for him to stop. That simple act only further aggravated Caelius.

Forcing down his irritation, he spoke again.

“I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”

But the moment he opened his mouth, his bottled frustrations spilled out, his voice taking on the tone of a child unable to contain their own discontent.

“I… I’m not like Amerin. I didn’t mistreat you the way she did.”

His voice grew louder, as though scolding her for some invisible fault.

“Then why… why on earth—!!”

Suddenly, his rising volume culminated in an outburst, his deep voice echoing heavily through the room.

A short, explosive yell. And then, the oppressive silence that followed.

Aria, stunned, stared up at him in disbelief, unable to process the loudness that had assaulted her ears. Caelius, catching his breath, stood with his face flushed, his expression a mix of raw emotion and frustration etched deeply into his features.

Her words caught in her throat. She felt an unfamiliar weight pressing against her chest, as though something invisible was crushing her. His expression, stripped bare of pretense, looked as though he was being devoured by his own overwhelming emotions.

It was a side of Caelius she had never seen before—a man overwhelmed by his own emotions, seemingly lost in a state of agitation. Aria couldn’t believe it even as she faced him, her mind blank as if wiped clean.

The room was steeped in an uncomfortable silence, broken only by his labored breathing. It was a sound that felt wholly out of place, coming from a man so adept at hiding his emotions.

Could this be an act too? Is this another lie?

No, it wasn’t an act.

The truth of his turmoil was evident in his gaze. His deep black eyes, seemingly endless, were locked onto her with a raw intensity, conveying an array of emotions that nearly stole her breath away.

This face, these eyes, this expression—they were all foreign to her. The man standing before her seemed nothing like Caelius.

The pressure in her chest grew, as if it were being crushed. Yet Caelius, oblivious or indifferent to her discomfort, pressed on.

“I filled your wardrobe with nothing but the finest fabrics, and your jewelry box with diamonds so rare they appear once in decades, free of any impurities.”

His trembling voice seemed to grip her, cutting into her like a blade. She couldn’t comprehend why every word he uttered hurt her so much.

“Every meal you’ve eaten, not a single one was carelessly prepared. Even the water you use for washing every morning—I made sure it was infused with rare Eastern flowers that even princesses can hardly obtain!”

Before she realized it, Caelius was shouting, his anger seeping into his words as he berated her.

“So what on earth are you so dissatisfied with?!”

No, this isn’t right. This isn’t what she wanted.

“I’m someone you don’t hesitate to call a bastard, but I’m not enough for you?”

It was completely off track, so far gone that she couldn’t even begin to fix it. As despair spread across Aria’s face, Caelius let out a dry laugh, his lips curling into a crooked, mocking smile.

Still, his own emotions were in turmoil. His expressions shifted rapidly—anger contorting his brows, disbelief making him laugh bitterly, only to be replaced by another bout of frustration. He looked like a man acting out his own chaotic drama, his face unable to settle into any one expression.

The unfiltered emotions spilling out of him were almost unbearable, like impurities that grated against her nerves. To make matters worse, Aria instantly grasped that the “bastard” he mentioned referred to Leon Verha. The absurdity of the situation almost made her laugh in disbelief.

Is he jealous?

He claimed not to love her, so why? Could it truly be nothing more than possessiveness?

Aria’s own gaze quivered with confusion and distress. She felt overwhelmed by the intensity of his unrelenting stare, unable to withstand it. Then, Caelius pulled the tie from her mouth and demanded:

“Speak. Tell me what the problem is!”

His hands clamped down on her shoulders with such force that she let out a small groan of pain.

“…Then why are you acting like this?”

Had his emotions stirred something within her as well?

“Why are you confusing me like this? You don’t love me, you don’t even care whether I exist or not, so why do you keep messing with me?”

Her voice cracked as she struggled to suppress her tears, her words coming out heavy with suppressed sobs. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, betraying her attempt to hold them back. The absurdity of fighting over such things with her father struck her—there was no other word for it but farcical.

“I’m a person too. I have feelings too. I wasn’t born just so you could use me to seize the throne or satisfy your whims. I’m not a tool for you!”

Her voice grew louder with each word.

“I just wanted to be loved like other kids! To live a normal life, with normal parents! Not someone like you!”

Her tirade became a flood as the dam of her emotions burst, her voice shaking with anger and pain. She lashed out at him, pouring all her bitterness and frustration into her words, like someone drunk on their own despair.

Caelius, who she believed to be an unfeeling mastermind—a man impenetrable as an iron fortress—was left reeling. His face twisted as though each of her words struck him like a physical blow.

“Normal parents. Someone other than you.”

She knew better than to think such words could wound him, yet the despair in his eyes made her feel as though she’d driven a nail straight into him. Guilt crept in, and Aria looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

Caelius let out a hollow laugh, rubbing his face in frustration, his rigid expression betraying the storm of emotions he himself couldn’t seem to quell

“No father in the world could give his daughter what I have given you!”

Caelius struggled to suppress his fury, biting his lower lip hard to keep his voice steady. But the unfamiliar storm of emotions rising within him only made his irritation worse.

“Even Azecresis couldn’t do this for his empress! Who else but me could provide for you like this?!”

His voice, despite his attempts at restraint, escalated into another primal shout. His neck strained with thick veins, bulging from the strain of repeatedly raising his voice.

Yes, perhaps this was a ticking time bomb bound to explode someday. Aria lowered her gaze, her golden lashes trembling as she processed it. The timing had simply come earlier than expected.

“When did I ever ask for any of that?”

“What?”

“When did I ever demand the treasures of the world be laid at my feet?!”

Aria’s voice rose, sharp and trembling, as she snapped back at him. Without pausing for breath, she continued.

“Oh, don’t tell me you didn’t understand what I meant?”

A bitter smile twisted one corner of her lips. The mocking smirk was so distinctly his, an exact replica of Caelius’s own expression when he was displeased. Even in her smallest habits—raising the left corner of her mouth when annoyed, twitching her right eyebrow when in thought—she was his mirror image.

Why does it have to be this way… why is it so hard to sever these feelings, even when I hate him so much?

The transparent, unwavering love she once had for him had long been tarnished, replaced by a tangled mess of resentment, heartbreak, and betrayal.

“I never wanted any of that!” she yelled, her voice breaking. “I was so stupidly, blindly devoted to you that even if we were sharing stale bread on a cold, filthy street, I would have been happy—because it was you!”

Her words, harsh and unrelenting, left Caelius staring at her with an expression that spoke of incomprehension. She had expected as much. His inability to grasp her feelings was no longer surprising. She hadn’t said those things expecting him to understand.

This was his limit. Caelius would never be able to understand the kind of love she had given him.

Because he was…

“You’re right. It was my mistake. I shouldn’t have expected anything from you,” she said, her voice laced with bitterness.

Because you’re just like me.

“A man who grew up with nothing but war, stripped of his position, and left to crawl through battlefields like a dog… what would you know about love?”

The smallest difference between them was that Caelius, in his deprived youth, had only the battlefield to cling to. And unlike her, no one—whether in pity or genuine affection—had ever reached out a hand to him.

Aria knew the words she was about to say would cut him deeper than anything else. She knew, and yet, she did not stop.

“They say sons take after their fathers…”

She delivered the blow deliberately.

“And looking at you, I can only imagine what your father must have been like.”

Her words were merciless, cruel, digging into him as if to excavate the depths of old wounds. It was as though she sought retribution for her own pain by leaving scars on him.

“You’re just like him. Exactly the same.”

She felt no guilt. Or rather, it wasn’t that she couldn’t feel guilt—it was that she didn’t have the luxury of caring.

In pursuit of her fleeting sense of relief, she left Caelius with wounds that would not heal.

And she justified it all by convincing herself that the scars she bore were far worse.

* * *

 

The soft, trembling voice that had always been starved for affection now turned into sharp daggers, piercing Caelius with every word Aria spoke.

The moment those words left her lips—“You’re just the same as him.”—Caelius felt his heart drop. A nauseating wave of emotion washed over him, leaving him unsteady.

Something’s wrong.

Where had it all gone awry? He couldn’t tell. His heart pounded loudly, foreign emotions coursing through his body, and an inexplicable alarm rang in his head, warning him that this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Self-loathing and despair.

These feelings didn’t suit him, yet they began to take hold.

Caelius had never considered himself a good father. At the very least, he had the self-awareness not to make such a claim. But he also didn’t believe he had failed Aria. In his own way, he had given her more leeway than he allowed anyone else, even cherishing her in a way he hadn’t thought himself capable of.

He wasn’t the kind of man to lavish affection on anyone. He had thought Aria would feel it—that she would know he treated her differently, more specially than anyone else. That she couldn’t possibly be unaware of it.

When had her once frightened eyes begun to reflect affection for him? When had this all started spiraling out of control?

This was the price for ignoring what he had always known: the void inside that small, fragile figure.

What am I even feeling right now?

He didn’t know. The realization that he couldn’t identify his emotions was pathetic, and yet, it was true. No matter how hard he tried to analyze it, his feelings toward Aria eluded him.

Is this possessiveness? he wondered. Or… could it really be love?

And if it is love, is it the love of a man for a woman? Or that of a father for his child?

Caelius found himself unable to speak further. His black eyes, usually unreadable, were filled with shock and disillusionment—feelings he knew were directed at himself.

Aria, as if shutting him out entirely, pulled the covers over her head. He stood frozen for a long time, watching the quilt rise and fall slightly as she cried beneath it. Occasionally, muffled sobs escaped the fabric, her pain seeping into the room.

Time passed, though he couldn’t tell how much. Eventually, the sobs quieted, and the quilt stopped moving. Only then did Caelius find the will to move.

Even though he had spilled out his pent-up emotions, he felt no relief. Instead, he was left with the sticky, unpleasant sensation of having wallowed in the mud.

Can this tangled relationship be fixed?

Would retracing their steps allow him to figure out where it had all gone wrong?

No.

Both Caelius and Aria arrived at the same conclusion. Aria no longer had the strength to hold on to him, and Caelius…

The night deepened, and the pungent scent of hallucinogens filled Caelius’s room.

The moment he left, Aria, who had been pretending to sleep, broke into uncontrollable sobs. She cried as though she wanted to drain every ounce of water from her body, wishing for exhaustion to claim her.

She hoped that if she cried herself into unconsciousness, she’d wake up without any lingering attachment to him. That these tears would wash away her painful first love.

From the day she first met him in that dusty attic, to the moment of his inevitable demise.

Caelius had been so radiant, so noble, like the sun in the sky. How could she not fall in love with him?

But the Caelius who once shone like the sun no longer existed. What remained was a man trapped in the echoes of his past, intoxicated by his own arrogance.

Perhaps, in the end, Aria had only wanted to see that man from her memories one last time. The one who, even if only in a fleeting moment, had offered her a flower with eyes full of sweet affection.

Whether that affection had been real or a lie no longer mattered.