Dark Dad’s Rebirth - Chapter 13: Regret (1)

“What did you just say…?”

Caelius, unable to process the maid’s words, repeated them like a fool.

The maid, trembling and bowing her head, quickly clarified, “Lady Aria has brought Lord Verha into her bedroom.”

There was no need to hear anything more. Caelius bolted out of his chair and stormed out of the room.

His destination was clear: Aria’s bedroom.

* * *

Leon, startled, tried to push Aria away. But she clung to him tighter, whining as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.

“Mm… no, I don’t want to.”

“…”

“Daddy… don’t leave me…”

Leon’s words caught in his throat as he faced the unbelievable situation unfolding before him. His confused gaze locked onto Aria, who was begging for his embrace.

“What… what is this…?”

Completely flustered, Leon stammered, unable to make sense of the moment. Slowly, Aria reached out toward him. He could have avoided her hand, but he sat frozen, unable to react. Her small hand touched his cheeks, and before he could fully grasp what was happening, Aria pressed her lips to his.

Her chapped lips gently sought affection, covering his in a soft, yearning kiss. It didn’t stop there—Aria, desperate to fill the emptiness inside her, slipped her tongue between his lips.

That was when Leon finally snapped out of his daze, trying to push her away.

But before he could act, the door burst open without so much as a knock. Startled, Leon turned toward the sound.

Standing in the doorway was Caelius, the man Aria had been longing to find.

The murderous intent in Caelius’s dark eyes froze Leon on the spot. He couldn’t move, paralyzed by the overwhelming pressure emanating from the Grand Duke.

Desperately, Leon pushed Aria aside and stammered, “Y-Your Highness…”

If—if the rumors Aria had whispered were true, and there was an unspeakable relationship between the Grand Duke and the princess—then Leon realized he was in grave danger.

A chill ran through him as he imagined leaving the estate not on his feet but being carried out.

The room fell into an oppressive silence, thick with tension. Aria, having been abruptly pushed away, sat trembling, anxiously biting her lip.

The suffocating weight of the atmosphere felt as though it might strangle Leon at any moment.

“I never thought things would escalate like this…”

Leon knew he had to leave. Staying in the room with Caelius any longer would only worsen the situation. Determined to escape, he rose to his feet.

But Aria, startled, immediately reached out to him.

“Don’t… don’t go…”

Her desperate action sent an even darker, more chilling glint into Caelius’s eyes.

“Princess, please… you mustn’t—”

Leon couldn’t finish his sentence.

Before he could even comprehend what had happened, Caelius’s fist came down on him like a hammer.

Thud!

The sound echoed through the room, harsh and final. Leon crumpled to the floor, his head spinning violently. The blow had been a single punch, yet it left him so disoriented that he couldn’t even muster the strength to stand.

He couldn’t move a finger; all he could do was clutch his face, trembling in primal fear. Like livestock waiting its turn in the slaughterhouse, he cowered pathetically before Caelius.

The dark room was suffused with a stifling atmosphere, heavy with malice. The tension in the air was sharper than any blade, pressing down mercilessly.

“D-Daddy… Daddy…”

Aria’s faint, trembling voice cut through the silence, her pale complexion stark against the dim light. The quiet sound of her shifting on the bed filled the room.

The word “Daddy” made Caelius freeze mid-swing, his fist poised to strike again. He turned sharply, his gaze locking on Aria, who sat awkwardly on the bed.

“Riri…!”

The moment he saw her, Caelius’s body moved before his mind could catch up.

Abandoning the fallen Leon, he rushed toward Aria. But the closer he got, the more he noticed something was wrong. Scattered near the bed were hallucinogens, their containers carelessly strewn about. Aria’s eyes couldn’t even focus properly, her gaze dazed and unfocused. Her cheeks were hollow, her body emaciated to the point of fragility.

Thump. Thump.

His heart thundered violently in his chest. The proud confidence that always glimmered in his eyes was replaced by a flicker of fear and dread.

“…Riri.”

Caelius called her name again, his voice laced with disbelief, as he stared at her in stunned silence.

“Riri!!”

At the sound of his urgent call, Aria blinked slowly before breaking into a soft, foolish smile.

“Daddy?”

The instant her bright, innocent smile appeared, Caelius’s world crumbled.

“Hehe, it’s Daddy… Daddy… Hug Riri.”

It felt as though the ground beneath him had given way, plunging him into an abyss. Like he had been struck repeatedly with a blunt object, his mind reeled. Inside his head, warning alarms blared endlessly.

“You were warned not to waste time indulging in pointless pride.”

A voice, whose origin he couldn’t place, mocked him cruelly.

Caelius stood frozen, as though rooted in place. He couldn’t move a muscle, his hands too weak to even clench into fists. The knuckles he had been squeezing so tightly a moment ago now fell slack.

Meanwhile, Aria smiled brightly, reaching out her arms as though nothing had happened, still pleading for a hug.

Her actions left Caelius speechless. It felt as if his throat had been squeezed shut, choking him. No words would come.

‘No… no, this isn’t right. Something’s wrong.’

His entire body turned pale as if the blood had drained from him. His heart felt as though it were being torn to shreds, each beat stabbing him with pain.

“What… what kind of joke is this?”

After what felt like an eternity, those were the only words he managed to force out.

“Don’t play such a goddamn sick joke!”

Even his voice trembled, completely unlike the Caelius he once was. He was like a frightened prey animal, unable to believe the reality unfolding before him. His breaths came in short, panicked gasps.

“Aria.”

“Mm?”

“ARIA!!!”

His sudden shout made Aria flinch, her small body curling up in fear.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SICK GAME?!”

His furious outburst terrified Aria, who tightly squeezed her eyes shut. Grabbing at the blanket as though it could shield her, she trembled violently, her fear palpable.

“D-Daddy… are you… are you mad?”

Every time she opened her mouth, a wave of unfamiliar emotions surged up from his chest, choking him.

“Riri… Riri… I-I’m sorry… Daddy… Daddy, don’t… don’t be mad. Riri… Riri was wrong…”

Her small lips quivered as she spat out disjointed words, her voice trembling. Her unfocused eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

Hearing her pitiable words, Caelius could no longer muster the strength to yell in anger.

There was no time to indulge in pathetic jealousy over a kiss with someone as insignificant as Leon Verha. Not when Aria was in this condition.

This was far more dire.

This was never what he wanted.

Not even for a moment, not even in his darkest thoughts, had Caelius imagined such a situation.

‘Who… who dared to do this to Riri?’

As the thought crossed his mind, another, colder realization struck him. He knew the truth. No one could have forced this upon her—not in this way. He knew this because, in his own moments of despair, he had willingly turned to the same substances.

A torrent of thoughts—dozens, hundreds, thousands—crashed over him, suffocating and relentless.

Who had driven this small, fragile girl into such desperation?

There was no need to search far for the answer.

It was him.

It had always been him.

In the end, Aria’s words had been right.

“They say sons take after their fathers… Seeing you, I can imagine what Grandfather must have been like.”

The methods may have been different, but Caelius realized he was no better than the late king he had despised so deeply.

“…You’re exactly the same.”

For the first time in his life, Caelius felt something he couldn’t name. It was agony—like someone had taken hold of his heart and torn it to pieces. Every breath caught painfully in his throat, as if a massive weight pressed against his lungs, filling him with suffocating nausea.

“No… this isn’t… this isn’t right…”

His mind blanked out, but he couldn’t afford to stand there like a fool, staring at the broken girl before him.

“Riri…”

His voice cracked, trembling with an unfamiliar wetness as it escaped his lips.

“Riri, Riri, Riri…”

He reached out and gently cupped her hollowed cheek. Aria’s golden eyes, once filled with fear, softened with a flicker of happiness.

Just that small touch brought her joy. She nuzzled her face into his hand, like a child seeking comfort.

The sight made his expression crumble.

Memories of his actions flooded back like a relentless storm—each one like an insect burrowing into his flesh, gnawing away at him.

“Daddy…”

He tried to speak, but his throat was choked with emotion. Taking a shaky breath, he struggled to steady himself, to find his voice.

“Daddy…”

But the words wouldn’t come.

For the first time, his ever-dry eyes brimmed with tears. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to speak, but all that filled the room was the sound of his ragged breathing.

At last, the tears spilled over, streaming down his cheeks. After an agonizing pause, his voice finally broke through.

“Daddy… was wrong.”

The words, spoken in a coarse, broken voice, hung in the air, frail and pitiful. They could never undo the harm he had caused. Such feeble words could never heal the wounds he had inflicted, the knife he had driven into her heart.

Why hadn’t he seen it sooner?

Her smiles had never been for the jewels or the power he offered her.

She had smiled so softly for his warmth, for his gaze, for the touch of his hand.

All at once, the tangled web of thoughts in his mind was severed, as though by a blade.

She was never meant to be something he possessed, something to claim as his own.

He was never meant to hurl cruel, cutting words at her, desperate for her affection yet too prideful to admit it.

He was never meant to indulge his pitiful pride and bring another woman into their home without a single word to her.

And he was never, ever meant to realize the depth of this wretched, twisted love so late.

Behind him, he felt the faint presence of Leon, crawling on hands and knees to escape the room. But Caelius couldn’t bring himself to care. Leon was a nobody—someone who could be dealt with at any time.

Right now, none of that mattered.

Caelius took Aria’s frail hand in his own, lowering his head before her.

He didn’t dare grip her too tightly, afraid that even the smallest pressure might cause her pain.

“Riri…”

Tears fell endlessly onto the back of her hand, soaking it.

“Riri… Riri…”

Suppressed sobs slipped out from between Caelius’s gritted teeth. He bit down hard on the soft flesh inside his mouth, desperate to hold back the tears, but it was no use.

“Daddy’s sorry… I… I was wrong…”

He couldn’t even remember the last time he cried like this. Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to contain the overwhelming surge of emotions that threatened to drown him. But the tears continued to fall unchecked as he muttered apology after apology, his voice breaking under the weight of his guilt.

Then, warmth touched his cheek.

When he opened his tear-filled eyes, he saw a small, trembling hand brushing at the corners of his eyes, as if to tell him to stop crying.

“Daddy…”

Her tiny gesture froze him in place. He looked at Aria, stunned, like a fool.

Seeing his tears, Aria’s face scrunched up, and she too began to cry, her lips trembling as she pouted.

“Why is Daddy crying?”

“Riri…”

“Don’t cry… sniffle… Riri doesn’t like it when Daddy cries…”

Her actions were no different from those of a child in her infancy, and the sight shattered Caelius completely. He clutched at his own hair, breaking down.