Morgana raised her hand quickly.
"O-Okay, okay... calm down," she said hurriedly, her voice strained, her hand waving slightly as droplets of blood from the ruined plate flicked carelessly through the air and landed against her cheek.
Lia snapped out of her haze, her breath catching sharply as awareness returned all at once. Her eyes drifted downward... and froze.
The table had transford into sothing grotesque.
Crimson spread across the surface in uneven streaks, the once untouched al now torn apart into sothing violent.
"I-I am so sorry..." Lia stamred, her fingers loosening around the fork as guilt and embarrassnt flooded her expression all at once.
Morgana forced a small smile, brushing it aside with a light chuckle that did not quite reach her eyes.
"It’s fine... you’re at that age where fantasies bloom the brightest," she said with a soft tone, almost indulgent.
"Where the heart starts weaving impossible shapes and calling them real... it happens."
Lia’s reaction ca instantly. Her lips pushed into a stubborn pout, her brows knitting together as sothing defiant sparked within her.
"But that’s not a fantasy!" she insisted, holding onto sothing she refused to let be dismissed.
"I refuse to believe there is no one like that... soone like him has to exist."
Morgana’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smirk, her gaze sharpening slightly as she leaned back just enough to observe her niece more carefully.
"Let’s say... even if soone like that exists," she said, slowly laced with quiet provocation.
"What are the chances that you would ever find him in this vast, indifferent world?"
She let the thought settle, then added lightly, almost too casually,
"Who knows... he might already belong to soone else... married, completely out of your reach."
For a mont, everything stilled.
The light in Lia’s eyes flickered, dimming as sothing fragile cracked beneath the surface. Tears gathered slowly at the corners of her eyes, clinging there as if afraid to fall, her lips parting slightly as her breath faltered.
As if she didn’t expect this possibility.
"I... I..."
Morgana’s expression shifted imdiately. She didn’t think her niece would cry about this, "N-No, that’s not what I ant—"
"I will steal him."
The words cut through Morgana’s words.
"Huh?"
Morgana flinched.
Lia slowly lifted her head.
The air around her felt heavier and suffocating. Her eyes had darkened, depth swallowing the softness that once lingered there, and the smile that curved along her lips no longer held warmth... only sothing disturbingly certain!!
"No matter how many won stand beside him... no matter how many hands try to hold him..." she said with calm, unwavering, threaded with sothing dangerously pure.
"I, Aurelia Scarlet, will take him... with nothing but love!"
She straightened slightly, her chest lifting with quiet pride, as if declaring sothing sacred.
Then, slowly, she brought her hands to her cheeks, her fingers pressing gently into her flushed skin as her expression softened into eerily tender... sothing that felt too deep.
"I will drown him in love..." she whispered, "So much love that he won’t be able to breathe without ... that even the thought of leaving will feel like death..."
A soft, broken laugh slipped from her lips as her expression turned crazy!
"Hehe... he will stay with ... forever... even if I have to break everything else to make it happen...Hehe~"
!!
A violent chill crawled down Morgana’s spine, coiling around her like an unseen hand.
Morgana flinched... this kind of feeling, she had never felt from Lia... was it because erasing her mories caused so unknown personality to arise?
"I-I don’t think your mother would allow you to marry anyti soon," she said quickly, her voice tightening as she forced out a fragile laugh that trembled at the edges.
"You’re still too young to think about such things... ahaha... ah..."
"Maybe... after a thousand years," she added weakly, swallowing hard. "U-Until then... let’s... keep those thoughts buried for now."
It wasn’t fear that gripped Morgana... not entirely.
But for a single, fleeting mont... Lia had looked exactly like her mother!
That sa suffocating intensity... so twisted!
That sa overwhelming, consuming devotion that bordered on sothing dangerous... so confused!
That sa quiet, terrifying madness hidden beneath the language of love... and so madness!
Just like Bloody Mary!!
Morgana exhaled slowly, though the breath did nothing to ease the tightness in her chest.
Just rembering it made her stomach twist violently.
’Damn it... I feel like throwing up again...’ she thought, her hand rising instinctively to her lips, rubbing them harshly as if trying to erase the phantom sensation of sothing that once touched them... sothing she wished she could forget but never truly could.
Just then,
"Oh? Don’t worry about that." Lia suddenly blinked, her entire deanour shifting as if a switch had been flipped. The earlier intensity lted away, replaced by a sly, almost playful expression.
"I think I’ve found a way to handle Mother."
Morgana frowned, her brows drawing together as unease crept back in. "What do you an?"
Lia leaned closer, her eyes sparkling with excitent, her voice lowering as if she were sharing a secret too amusing to keep.
"You rember that broadcast that went across all the Empires, right?"
Hearing that, Morgana’s heart skipped. She knew exactly what Lia was referring to... the mont when Aether/Victor... had appeared before the entire world, displaying both suffering and sacrifice, truth and deception woven together.
’Don’t tell ...’
Morgana flinched slightly, her expression tightening as she looked at her niece.
"Y-You didn’t... fall for Aether, did you?" she asked, her tone laced with horror, as if bracing for sothing she absolutely did not want to hear.
As if... not this again.
Lia’s face imdiately twisted in visible disgust, her nose scrunching as she pulled back slightly.
"What? Hell no!" she snapped, almost offended. "Not that jerk who kept trying to take advantage of . Definitely not him."
Even though she respected the man who had saved her from danger, the way he had acted so familiar... the way he touched her, spoke to her with unsettling closeness, even uttered words of love... it had sent chills across her skin at the ti.
She crossed her arms lightly.
"I ant soone else," she added, her voice lowering with a hint of admiration.
"The one who ruled the dragons... the Dragon Emperor."
Morgana’s face went completely blank, "You’ve got to be kidding ..." she muttered under her breath before her lips parted slightly.
"Victor?"
Lia’s eyes lit up instantly, glowing like two polished crystals catching the light.
"Yup!" she said brightly, without the slightest hesitation.
"..."
Morgana froze.
Of all people... why him?
WHY HIM AGAIN?
Her mind scread in silent horror, thoughts crashing into each other.
How could she possibly explain that both of those identities... the one Lia rejected and the one she admired... were the sa person?
There was a very real chance Lia’s mind would shatter if she connected those dots too quickly.
Dangerous... far too dangerous!
Morgana’s expression hardened instantly, turning cold, her voice firm as she stood up abruptly.
"No. I am not letting you marry him," she declared, stepping forward before pulling Lia into a tight embrace.
"You belong with us."
Lia squealed softly, caught off guard as her face flushed red.
"Sqk!-A-Aunt! What are you saying—"
"Nope! I’m not giving you to any man," Morgana insisted, her tone turning possessive as she pressed Lia tightly against her busty chest, holding her far too firmly.
Lia’s voice muffled as she struggled slightly, her breath catching. "I can’t... breathe...!"
After a brief struggle, Lia finally managed to wriggle free,
"Who said I’m marrying him?!" she shot back, slightly annoyed.
"And this isn’t even about my marriage!"
Morgana halted mid-motion, blinking as confusion replaced her earlier intensity.
She loosened her stance completely.
"Then... what are you talking about?"
Lia panted lightly, her cheeks still flushed as she steadied herself. Then, slowly, a cheeky smirk spread across her lips, her eyes narrowing with a mischievous glint as if she had uncovered sothing clever.
"When we watched the broadcast..." she began, leaning in slightly again,
"I noticed sothing interesting."
Morgana’s expression stiffened.
"I saw Mother’s eyes," Lia continued, "They were completely fixed on him... on that Dragon Emperor."
She tilted her head slightly, her smile widening just a little.
"She was smiling... not her usual cold smile... but sothing different... like she was captivated by him... by how ruthless he was against the traitors..."
A brief pause followed, her eyes gleaming with quiet confidence.
"I think..." she said softly,
"My mother might be more suitable for him."
"..."
"..."
Silence fell.
For a single second, the world seed to stop.
Then—
"Hahahahahah!!!!!!"
Morgana burst into loud, uncontrollable laughter, her entire body shaking as the sound echoed wildly through the room.
It wasn’t just laughter... it was explosive, chaotic, almost disbelieving.
Lia blinked in shock as she watched her aunt clutch her stomach, bending forward as the laughter only grew stronger, louder, more unrestrained.
Morgana staggered slightly before collapsing onto the ground, still laughing, her breath breaking between bursts.
"HAHAHA... S-Stop... AHAHAHAHA... I can’t... I can’t... HAHAHA!!"
Tears ford at the corners of her eyes as she tried and failed to contain herself.
"Him and her... HAHAHAHAHA!! What a joke!!"
The image alone was enough to send her spiralling again.
Morgana desperately wanted to see Mary’s face if she ever heard this... the re thought made her laugh even harder.
After a long struggle, she finally forced herself to calm down, though her shoulders still trembled with suppressed laughter.
She looked at Lia, barely holding it in.
"Why don’t we... pffft... tell your... ahaha... mother about this..." she tried to say, her voice breaking again as another wave threatened to take over.
"Oh my god... stop... Hahaha..."
Lia tilted her head, her brows knitting slightly.
There was nothing funny about this... not to her.
She was being entirely serious!
The way she had seen her mother look at the Dragon Emperor... that gaze, that subtle shift... it had been undeniable.
If anything, it only made sense.
And who knew... if her mother and the Dragon Emperor grew closer... if sothing ford between them...
Then perhaps... just perhaps... Lia might finally find her own path toward the one she wanted.
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