Dark Dad’s Rebirth - Chapter 9: Jealousy (4)

“Ah, Daddy, huht, sob, R-Riri… it hurts, it hurts… sniff, it hurts…”

Of course, it was pain accompanied by pleasure, but unlike usual, the pain was more overwhelming. Even just her pelvis, gripped roughly by him, felt as if it might break from the agony.

Her small hands formed fists as she pounded against Caelius’ back. Aria put all her strength into it, but he didn’t budge an inch. Like a rutting stallion, he moved his hips while coldly staring down at her.

“Huuh, sniff, Daddy… I-I really…”

The act was even rougher and more unrestrained than it had been in the carriage. It was only natural, now that they were free from the confined, restricted space.

Caelius gazed at Aria as she wept and begged for his forgiveness. He couldn’t understand why he was acting so petulantly, all because she had ridden horses with that insignificant fledgling.

“J-just a little, sniff, gentler… Daddy, please, gentler… ahh…”

Even as she gasped for breath, her attempts to appease him with coaxing gestures were both pleasing and pathetic to him.

Lifting her legs, which seemed as if they might snap with just a bit more force, onto his shoulders, he thrust roughly into her raised hips.

The sound of flesh meeting flesh and Aria’s pain-filled gasps filled the room entirely.

His hold on her legs prevented her from struggling. As Caelius slowly pulled out his thing, her swollen insides moved along with it. It was drier than usual, so it stung. Aria furrowed her brow and instinctively tightened her strength against the hole. Then, the inner wall narrowed.

“Relax.”

Caelius’s hand struck Aria’s backside with a sharp smack, leaving a bright red mark on her pale, plump skin. The sting made Aria shudder and let out a pained whimper.

He hurt her without the slightest consideration, yet he told her to relax.

She resented and despised him for it. Her vision blurred with tears. Hastily wiping them away, Aria looked up at Caelius.

His cock pierced through her tense inner walls with a hard thrust. Aria’s hands clenched hard in the sheets. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the sheet and stiffened.

“Sob, sob… … Ah, I won’t do that. Never, ever again… … sob, ah, leaving Daddy… … .”

I won’t ride with another man, leaving Daddy behind.

She had to continue talking, but she couldn’t finish because of the tears welling up to the tip of her throat. Like a rabbit caught in a trap, Aria was caught by Caelius, unable to run away or struggle. Like an animal waiting for death, she just wanted this to end quickly.

-Ah, Daddy… … sob, it hurts.

-Does it hurt a lot?

-Yeah, uh… … It hurts, Daddy, it’s too big, haa.

In the midst of that, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang in Aria’s head.

Again. Memories of Aria and Caelius from the past. And emotional assimilation.

“I- I b-bled last time. Heh, gently… … .”

“Shh, don’t cry. Daddy will be gentle.”

“Yeah, gently… …”

“You need to relax. Okay?”

“Daddy, Riri, hug me.”

Caelius pressing his lips to her cheeks and nape of her neck in a loving way. Aria begging him to hold her in a flirtatious way.

The image of the two of them stuck in my head.

I feel like I can’t forget them.

The excitement of that moment, the affection in his eyes, the whisper of love in his voice, the ache in her pussy from his rough thrusts, the pleasure of sharing her body with him, even if it was a little painful.

The unfamiliar emotions rushed in, out of place in this terrifying moment.

And then the tears rolled down her cheeks. They weren’t tears of anguish over Caelius’s unruly cock.

“Oh, Daddy…….”

A hoarse voice slipped through her teeth, breaking the silence. Hearing someone call his name, Caelius suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked down at Aria. She hesitated, her lips quivering silently for a long moment, unable to form the words.

Caelius, too, seemed to sense something. He stood there, dazed, locking eyes with her. It almost seemed as though he was waiting for her to speak, as if he knew she had something to say.

After what felt like an eternity of silent trembling, Aria finally managed to open her mouth.

“Ah, hold me… sob… hold me, Caelius…”

He must have lost his mind. Calling his name without permission?

Yet, neither her body nor her mind listened to reason.
It felt as though someone else was controlling her, compelling her to utter his name without restraint. A flood of worry came crashing down on her belatedly, wondering if she had only provoked his anger further.

However, Caelius, looking down at Aria, didn’t lash out. Instead, he furrowed his brows deeply, his expression inscrutable as he stared at her.

It was a look she had never seen before.

One thing was certain: the emotions on his face were raw, without a trace of falsehood.

Caelius’s gaze, his pupils, trembled with an unfamiliar emotion.

“It’s okay, Daddy. You have me, Riri.”

“Darkness shines brightest when it’s beside the light. I’ll be your light.”

A familiar voice echoed in her head, accompanied by a splitting headache. That voice always made her weak, unbearably so. Once again, she was helplessly swept away by the surge of emotions.

As soon as she gave in, the unknown voice began to spill over, as if it had been waiting for this very moment. It burst forth like a dam breaking.

“Just one more chance… if you grant me that, I promise I’ll never cause trouble again. I’ll let go of everything and live a normal life, loving someone the way others do.”

“If… if my involvement has brought misery to you, then please, in the next life, let it be a life without me. Just let it be like that.”

“I begged like a dog.”

What? What were you begging for?

Caelius’s brow creased deeply.

Something on the verge of surfacing… yet remaining out of reach. A relentless itch in his thoughts, but he couldn’t grasp what it was.

“I’ll treat you better than anyone in this world. I’ll treasure you. Even if I’m nothing but chaos to others, I’ll never, not even once, be chaos to you.”

It was an achingly tender and sweet feeling, one that didn’t suit him in the least.

“It’s a miscarriage. It seems to have been early in the pregnancy, but the bleeding is severe.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. Royals can’t have children together.”

“Unless the young lady was involved with someone else…”

It felt like his throat was being squeezed. What in the world were they talking about? These unfamiliar scenarios were creeping into him, consuming him as though they had always been part of him.

The strange, yet somehow familiar, echoes in his mind thundered. They planted vivid memories in his head, as if these things had actually happened between him and her.

This is absurd. None of this ever happened… So why?

But then, the thoughts that were dragging him into the abyss suddenly thrust him back to the surface. And at the very end of it all, there she was again—Aria.

“…Riri.”

The familiar scent, the familiar hair, the familiar eyes, the familiar smile.

Her whimpering, begging to be held, didn’t feel unfamiliar at all. The way his name spilled from her small lips—everything about it felt as though it had always been meant to be this way. Like a chaotic puzzle finally snapping back into place.

The sharp, dangerous aura he had been radiating disappeared entirely at some point. The irritation and untraceable anger that had plagued him melted away. He found himself staring blankly at Aria. Reaching out, he gently wiped the tears from her face. She leaned into his hand, rubbing her cheek against his palm as she looked up at him.

This, from the same woman who had been trembling in fear just moments ago.

Thinking to himself that he must have truly lost his mind, Caelius carefully smoothed her disheveled hair. He tenderly swept her messy locks back and lightly brushed his fingers along her cheek. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he pressed a kiss to her pouty, protruding lips.

In response, Aria wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging tightly to him.

“…I’ve gone mad.”

The words weren’t directed at her. Aria, too, seemed to understand this, as she no longer trembled in fear or recoiled.

There was a strange sense of comfort. Holding her small frame, so delicate that it felt as though even a slightly tighter embrace might break her, his heart pounded violently.

Aria clung tightly to his waist, burying her face against him. Though his still-buried arousal pressed insistently against her inner walls, neither of them seemed to mind.

Caelius gently patted her with an uncharacteristic tenderness, his fingers brushing through her disheveled golden hair. It was soft, cascading like silk between his hands.

Why? he wondered. Why am I acting so tenderly toward her?

Simply because she’s my daughter?

The thought came unbidden, but it didn’t sit right.

Suddenly, a strange longing surfaced—a desire to hear her call his name once more.

“Name…”

He murmured absentmindedly, his deep voice roughened, almost sensual. Leaning in, Caelius whispered softly into her ear, his voice low and deliberate, as though weaving a spell.

“…Say it again.”

It was an odd request, wholly out of place. Yet neither Caelius nor Aria questioned its peculiarity.

“…Caelius,” Aria mumbled quietly.

The name felt familiar as it lingered on her lips. As soon as she said it out loud, an unexpected smile crept onto her face. It amused her, tickled her, somehow making her want to say it again.

“Caelius…”

“Mm,” he responded softly.

“Caelius,” she repeated.

She forgot that she had just been raped by her father and looked up at him with tearful eyes. Caelius’s expression hardened momentarily when he met her eyes.

For some reason, her smiling face felt like she was longing for him. Caelius quite liked that smiling face.

It was a simple smile that didn’t match her royal face. Nevertheless, it was nice to see.

He found himself wishing she would keep smiling like that.

“Caelius.”

At her repeated calling, Caelius didn’t respond. He simply gazed at her with a warm, indulgent look, as if encouraging her to keep going.

Her small lips moved, forming his name again and again, and it stirred something soft and warm in his chest. It wasn’t unpleasant.

Aria felt the same. Even as she said his name aloud, she wasn’t afraid or anxious. It felt natural, as if this had always been their normal.

“Caelius.”

As he struggled to maintain an air of indifference, watching her lips move faintly, Aria hesitated for a moment. Her tentative manner was both endearing and faintly ridiculous to him.

He didn’t understand why he felt this way—these strange, gentle emotions toward her. At the same time, a peculiar instinct stirred deep within him. A warning. He shouldn’t hear what she was about to say next.

But before he could act, before he could stop her, Aria’s lips parted.

“…I love you.”

The moment those words reached him, his mind went blank. It felt as though someone had pushed him off a cliff, his heart plunging into a bottomless abyss. The sensation consumed him entirely.

Before him stood Aria, her expression unfamiliar, staring at him.

“Daddy, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

“Riri… hic… Riri is useless, I’m sorry.”

Unbidden, fragmented scenes played out before his mind’s eye. He hated it—hated the inexplicable visions forced upon him. He didn’t want to hear those apologies, repeated like a broken record from her tear-streaked face.

He didn’t want to see her with that dull, lifeless golden hair, locked in a cell. The sight was unbearable.

It felt as though his heart had been carved apart, the nausea rising with it. Was it because he didn’t want to see Aria like that?

But then again, why? Why couldn’t Aria end up like that? Why did the thought of it disturb him so much?

A splitting headache struck, sharp and relentless. Again. Another headache.

As Caelius grimaced in pain, perhaps sensing his distress, Aria’s voice trembled, cracking as she spoke again.

“Caelius… Caelius… I love you.”

It was as though she was finally saying words she had long been unable to speak, like a lover reunited after an endless separation. Tears streamed down her face, her voice breaking with sobs as she repeatedly told him she loved him, her words laden with sorrow.

He instinctively understood. The love she spoke of wasn’t simple familial affection. Then again, at this point, talking about parental love or familial bonds seemed laughable.

“Then why are you crying?”

“…Because you’re not.”

Why should I cry?

He wanted to ask but didn’t. Her tear-streaked face bothered him too much, so instead of answering her, he pressed his lips to hers, offering solace in the form of a kiss.

Cupping her soft, pale cheeks with both hands, he kissed her gently, almost reverently, as if handling something precious. It was unlike him, this tenderness.

The warmth of their touch was soft and fragile. As their lips met, something inside him stirred and churned, a deep, unfamiliar sensation rising to the surface. It wasn’t unpleasant—just unfamiliar.

A dull ache throbbed in his chest, and his head pulsed with pain.

To escape the strange sensations, they sought each other desperately. When her lips parted, Caelius leaned in without hesitation, pushing inside as if he had been waiting for her invitation.

Their tongues entwined, hot and slick, exchanging breath and mingling saliva in a fervent kiss.

The motion of his hips, which had stilled momentarily, resumed—slowly this time, a stark contrast to the earlier, rough thrusts fueled by frustration. His movements now carried a deliberate tenderness, a sense of purpose that hadn’t been there before.

Aria gasped, her breaths quickening as she melted into his embrace, pressing herself closer against him with every trembling sigh.

The unfamiliar sensation of being filled so completely overwhelmed her. The heavy presence inside her began to withdraw slowly, only to push back in with deliberate weight, brushing against her inner walls in a way that sent shivers through her body.

“…Hhht…”

A soft sigh slipped from her lips, and Caelius pressed a light kiss to the corner of her eye.

“…Should I stop?”

At his question, Aria shook her head faintly, a silent plea for him to continue.

Both of them, at that moment, realized just how utterly mad they were. The thought struck them simultaneously, yet the blame each placed wasn’t on the other—it was on themselves. A farcical tragedy in its own right.

His embrace felt warm and familiar.

The softened expression in his eyes, the gaze that was usually so indifferent, the firmly closed lips—everything about him was something she had longed to see again. These were the things she had spent countless years yearning for.

As she closed her eyes, she felt emotions that only the original Aria might have understood. It was dangerous, undeniably so. It felt as though she truly were the Aria from the original story, consumed by her emotions, lost in her memories.

Her breath hitched, as if someone were squeezing the air from her lungs. The Caelius who lived in Aria’s memories was heartbreakingly gentle, almost cruelly so.

That was the kind of love he had taught her—a love so tender, it bordered on agony.

The once hollow, pitch-black eyes now shimmered with a love so profound they resembled a starlit night.

Caelius’s first love had been clumsy and unpolished.

The memory of how they had ended began to blur, losing its sharp edges. Why he had turned away so coldly in their final moments no longer mattered. All that remained was a beautifully curated recollection of the most radiant version of Aria and Caelius, polished to perfection, as if plucked from a dream.

A man who knew how to wield a sword but not how to hold a flower had awkwardly chosen a brooch for her. He had knelt down, offering it with unsteady hands. The overwhelming affection in his gaze had been what kept her alive, what made her heart beat in those moments.

One thing was certain: Caelius was Aria’s sun.

Foolishly devoted, Aria hadn’t been able to forget him, even in death. Perhaps that was why her memories still clung to her, tormenting her even now.

Her head felt foggy, her sense of self unraveling. The sheer absurdity of Aria’s love was suffocating. Even now, those unbidden memories of a tender and warm Caelius clawed at her, filling her with a longing that wasn’t entirely her own.

How pathetic.

Aria had loved him still, and that love had only cheapened her, reduced her.

Being held by Caelius now, feeling his touch as if they were lovers reunited, was more painful than she could have imagined. The storm of emotions raging inside her left her unable to respond with any semblance of composure.

She knew she shouldn’t let herself drown in his kindness, but before she realized it, she had already begun searching for the Caelius of the past in the man holding her now.

Just like the original Aria—pitiful and hopelessly attached.