“Michael... I had another dream about her.” Luca took a deep breath and gently rubbed his heated forehead. “That dream felt just as realistic as the previous dream... and I saw Ammely, too. She looks sad. I think she blames me. Yes, it's all my fault. Of course, she would be upset if I didn't pay attention to our daughter.” He laughed forcefully, enduring the pain that pierced his chest.
Michael could only listen to Luca's muttering in silence. He couldn't say anything since, after all, he'd done the wrong thing by telling Luca about Ammely's last wish to her guardian. Michael could not escape his guilt to Aria, Ammely, and especially Hera, even if he perished.
“Why do you think she sent these dreams?” Luca raised his head, looking at Michael, who flinched at his question. “Aria... Isn't she the one who made me dream about Hera? I remember it because Ammely used to tell me about her delightful childhood dreams.”
“...” Michael continued to be silent, his brow furrowed, before slowly nodding his head. “However, Sir, Aria has the ability to make anyone dream about the events of the past. She couldn't have made you dream of Lady Hera’s death when she was still alive.” He went on to clarify.
Luca nodded. He lowered his head once again, attempting to recall the dream in his mind.
In his dream, Luca walked down a dark tunnel. He tried to reach the distant glimmer of light before his eyes, the only source of light in the darkness that surrounded him. But as he got closer to the light, his heart began to beat faster, as if telling him not to approach it at all costs.
But Luca continued to walk closer. The piercing shriek he faintly heard from afar became louder. He could feel the heat spreading throughout his body as the light became brighter. The light was tinged with crimson, as if it were burning something in front of him.
A large painting on a wooden easel was engulfed in flames despite the fact that it did not appear to be affected.
Luca stopped his steps in front of the painting, his face heated with astonishment. No matter how intensely the flames seemed to sear him, he couldn't tear his attention away from what was portrayed in the painting.
Hera sat in a vibrant flower field. Her smile was full of happiness as two little girls shoved a perfectly arranged flower crown towards her. She was also wearing a flower crown on top of her head, which appeared sloppy in comparison to the flower crowns on the hands of these two little girls.
The painting burned for a while, as if waiting for Luca to see it, before slowly disintegrating into ashes that were dispersed throughout the darkness.
From his left side, a glint of crimson light appeared. Luca shifted his gaze to the other burning painting.
In the second picture, Hera is seen with the same two little girls, one braiding her black hair and the other sitting in front of her, demonstrating how they made flower crowns from a basket of flowers beside them. They were all smiling and laughing, and their faces were bright with joy.
This was the first time Luca had seen the pure happiness on Hera's face, but also an expression that seemed foreign to him. He was astounded. He felt as if something was crushing on his chest with remorse.
Luca wanted to see that expression in person, but would he have the opportunity? He didn't know it, given how awful their relationship was at the time.
He wondered if everything would be normal between him and Hera. It might be very difficult to achieve, considering he didn't know anything about his daughter until now.
All of those false reports, her former servant's fears, and the blood contract made him wonder what he had been missing out on in the last seventeen years of Hera's life.
Like the other painting, it caught fire not long after Luca saw it, leaving only ashes that scattered slowly into the darkness that surrounded him once again.
There was no other source of light, only total darkness, and no heat to keep his body from shivering from the unexpected cold.
“Father…” A weak and shaky voice called out to him.
“Father…” The voice became more distinct, and then an astonishing laugh echoed.
“Father…” Interspersed with scornful laughter. “Please… Help me…” The laughter abruptly came to an end.
Then there were cries and tortured screams.
The voice continued to echo in the darkness. Luca ran, trying to reach the source of the sound, but no matter how far he ran, the voice didn't become louder or quieter. It seemed as if the voice was following his every move, keeping the same distance from him.
Luca pressed his chest, which was pounding hard. “Hera?” He screamed in a panic. “Hera!” In the darkness, Luca couldn't find the girl he was seeking.
The voice that made him keep running aimlessly was now no longer audible.
He had a look of despair on his face, which had turned pallid.
“Father… You are here?” a whisper suddenly sounded close, and a crimson light could be seen not far from where Luca was standing.
Luca's eyes widened as he stared closely at the light source.
A burning girl approached Luca and stopped in front of him, her tattered dress covered in blood. Her entire body was covered with bruises and blood.
“I'm terrified... I'm in a lot of pain... I despise them... I despise you... Why? Why did you not save me? Why did you let them go? They ruined me... They... They…” She didn't move and only gazed at Luca, crying emotionless as she said those words with tears streaming down her cheeks.
She kept uttering her agony while Luca couldn't even move. Even though he desperately wanted to pull the girl into a hug, he couldn't, as if something was holding him back.
He could only watch the girl slowly burn, listening to her screams and cries of anguish, just like in his first dream. He is unable to act in any way.
When Luca saw someone grabbing the girl's shoulders and bringing her into their arms, his heart wrenched. That person did what he couldn't do for his daughter. Luca's hands were clenched at his sides, he always felt powerless in these dreams.
As the girl's body grew limp in that person's arms, the flames that had previously consumed her were gradually fading out.
That person lifted the girl's burnt body and walked away from Luca. He paused for a moment and glanced at Luca. “Behind you.”
Luca turned around as soon as he heard that. A woman stood directly in front of him, the woman he had always longed for.
On her pale cheeks, he could see tear stains. As Luca approached her, the woman slowly backed away, shaking her head. She gave him a disappointed look.
“Amme…” Before he could reach the woman, Luca felt like something had pulled him into consciousness.
Luca awoke before he could hug his wife's figure.
He shut his eyes as hard as he could. Remembering her disappointed expression and pallid face made him feel miserable.
Michael cast a piercing gaze up at the angel-shaped memorial in front of him, a translucent figure standing at the edge of the cliff, gazing up at the clear blue sky and enjoying the cold morning breeze.
“What exactly did you do to him, Aria?” Michael approached the figure, who didn't turn to face him despite the fact that her back stiffened at the sound of his voice.
“...”
“Why did you give Luca those ridiculous dreams?”
“Ridiculous dreams?” Aria's voice, just like her body, trembled.
“Put an end to it. You're fully aware that you're in serious risk right now. You're still imprisoned. You are aware that if you use your power, you will truly vanish, aren't you?”
With the jingle of chains, Aria vanished from Michael's sight. “You have no idea what you're talking about.”
Michael turned around. Aria was now standing in front of her master's memorial, tenderly caressing it.
“Since when can you fabricate dreams?” Michael continued to question Aria's intention of giving the dream, oblivious to the shift in Aria's expression, which became increasingly anguished.
Aria gazed down at the chains that bound her to Ammely's memorial, binding her to this world even after she had fulfilled her duty as a guardian. This was the result of Ammely’s last wish to her; she could only leave this place when Hera was living her best life.
“Aria!” Michael could only yell at the woman who was ignoring him, but he couldn't touch her no matter what.
“Michael…” Aria's voice was gentle. She eventually raised her head to meet Michael's gaze. “Did you ever consider that if you hadn't told Luca about Ammely's last wish to me, their relationship wouldn't be the way it is now?” Her voice grew hoarse.
“What do you mean? You're blaming me? You're well aware that you shouldn't grant that wish.”
“If not you, who should I blame? Do you think I'd grant it despite knowing the consequences for no good reason? We had our reasons, but you have no right to tell anybody about the last wish between me and my master!” Aria vented her pent-up frustration after learning about Hera’s circumstances after Michael told Luca about Ammely's last wish.
And what infuriated Aria the most was when the connection between her and Hera was severed on her seventeenth birthday, shattering everything she had done for Ammely and Hera, and for the Silverna family.
Even though Aria's crimson face hinted that she was shouting loudly, Michael could only hear her voice as a whisper, showing how depleted her power was.
“...” Michael's stern and cold face softened. He was well aware that he was wrong about that matter. “But... Aria, I can't let him live in such agony without knowing about what happened to his wife. You already know how much he loves Ammely.”
“And yet you let their daughter live as if she were a worthless person?” Aria's voice is full of mockery.
Michael was left speechless by her ridicule, but he was also bewildered. “How do you know what kind of life she lived?”
How could she not know what Hera was going through until now? Ammely's last wish made her bond with her daughter, which was one of the reasons why she was bound to this place as her punishment.
Aria expected things to change. Luca couldn't possibly ignore his and Ammely's daughter forever, so she waited patiently. But who would have imagined that everything would be in vain when Hera reached the age of seventeen?
Honestly Aria was scared, she didn't want to disappear after everything she had done for Ammely. As a result of her selfishness, she sought out Zane and made a deal with him to bring Hera back in time by borrowing his brother's power.
However, they could only turn back time to the day before Hera's death. And by doing so, not only did Zane form a bond with Hera, but so did his brother, all without Hera's knowledge.
Aria averted her eyes from Michael, unwilling to answer his question and instead muttering about something else.
“But because of you he has forgotten about Ammely now. He didn't care about her after you told him that. I got to watch this memorial slowly deteriorate, filled with weeds, until Lyonnel started cleaning it regularly on the day of her death.” Aria stamped her feet furiously, the sound of the chains clanking loudly in their ears. “Just once a year!”
...
“Also... Lyonnel didn't say anything about Rara; he talked about the mother and daughter pair that Luca had brought with him to this mansion, but he didn't even talk about his sister.” Her pale translucent hands gripped her dress tightly.
Michael didn't say anything. He remained silent, listening to Aria's words. Every time he thought of Hera, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. It weighed on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.
At the same time, he waits for Aria to reveal something crucial in her outburst without her knowing.
“... Do you want to know why, with my last ounce of power, I sent that dream to Luca? Even if I had to disappear forever, I couldn't bear the thought of her being unhappy for the rest of her !@#$.”
Michael flinched at the bizarre words that came out of Aria's mouth. “What did you say?”
“Ammely begged me to grant her last wish for them to be happy, yet you ruined it. It's all because of you, Hera !@#$ again and again.”
“Aria… What did you just say?” Michael arched his brows, puzzled. He couldn't hear anything from Aria after that.
And, as if she knew Michael couldn't hear what she was saying, Aria continued to shout at him, taunting him, before she slowly disappeared.
Michael stood there, stunned, for a while. He had the impression that what he couldn't hear was something he needed to know.
Then Aria is gone.