In A World Full of Silence, My Heart Will Find Its Way To You - Chapter 70

Outside the bedroom, a knock broke Count Dennis’s thoughts.

Soon, a maid entered the room, carrying a tray with fragrant tea.

“Count, I’ve brought some tea for you before bed. Please have it before it gets cold.”

The Count didn’t take his eyes off the documents, even when he saw the teacup placed on the table.

With just a slight nod from him, the maid, with a subtle look in her eyes, quietly stepped back.

A deep silence followed. The candlelight flickered in the Count’s eyes as he finally glanced at the teacup.

Without much thought, he picked it up and took a sip of the steaming tea. But his heavy, sunken eyes remained lost in thought.

He let out a sigh as he thought about Edward.

He wanted to go to Edward’s room right away, thinking of his poor child, but he knew too well that there was nothing meaningful left to say.

‘What should I do… to keep him from getting hurt…’

Lately, Edward’s dark expression weighed heavily on his heart.

If he ever found out about Aria and Eric’s marriage, who knows how he might react.

But the more he tried to comfort him, the more he was only seen as a harsh father. Whatever he thought of doing just felt useless.

After taking another sip of tea, the Count turned his head toward the window.

“Hah… that foolish boy…”

Just as a long sigh left him, a sudden, burning pain began to crush him from within.

He instinctively grabbed his thick neck with his hand, but the pain only tightened, choking him relentlessly.

His hand trembled with a sharp jolt, and his body began to stiffen. As a result, he dropped the teacup onto the floor.

Crash!
The shattering sound broke the silence, ringing out like a scream, but the outside remained still.

“A-anyone… is anyone there…?!”

The Count forced the words out, struggling.

But despite his painful cry, no one responded from outside.

A pounding headache followed, and blood gushed from his mouth, spilling onto the floor.

His breathing became short and desperate, and in the fear of death, he forgot how to breathe properly.

He tried to crawl forward, pushing through the crushing pressure on his body, but he didn’t get far before collapsing.

“W-what is happening…! Argh!”

Blood flowed endlessly from every opening in his body, and at last, the Count realized something was terribly wrong. His barely-open eyes turned toward the shattered teacup.

At that moment, sharp words from his wife long ago came to mind.

“I will never forgive you. You’ll regret what you said today—definitely.”

He couldn’t believe it. No matter what, he was still the head of the family, a husband, and a father.

If only it were a dream. But by the time he realized it had all been part of his wife’s scheme, it was already too late.

Feeling like he was falling off a cliff, his face hit the floor lifelessly. His eyes froze as they met the cold surface.

Soon after, his gaze, which had been spinning in confusion, stopped completely—along with his breath.

As a heavy and deep silence settled over the room, the maid quietly stepped back inside, scanning the area.

When she looked down, the gruesome remains scattered around the dead Count filled her vision.

Her pupils trembled as fear took over her entire body.

“Once the Count stops breathing, quickly clean up the scene,”
she remembered the head maid saying. At once, she moved swiftly to erase the evidence.

Even as her small shoulders shook, her hands didn’t stop. She cleaned up the broken pieces and wiped away the blood soaking the floor.

Only after the place looked a little cleaner did the fear start to subside.

Sigh.
She let out a breath, wrapped the bloody rag and broken teacup in cloth, and hid it inside her clothes.

Biting the inside of her lip as she looked down at the dead Count, she quietly left the room.

She felt a small sense of relief, believing everyone had been perfectly fooled.

A quiet morning. Sunlight streamed through the narrow gap in Aria’s window and filled her room.

Aria slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the bright light. Her brows furrowed slightly as she carefully moved her tired body.

After everything that happened through the night, her body still felt heavy and sore.

As she turned her head, her eyes landed on Eric, still asleep.

His long black bangs fluttered slightly in the breeze, barely revealing his closed eyes.

Her gaze drifted down to the blanket that barely covered the curve of his thigh.

Faint scratch marks still lined the strong, triangle-shaped muscles of his back.

A life filled with constant pain from an un healing curse. How hard must it have been to endure that?

Without thinking, she reached out and gently touched one of the scars.

Suddenly, a sleepy voice came from beside her.

“You’re awake. I couldn’t sleep at all, thanks to you.”

Eric’s blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. His half-open eyes lazily swept over Aria’s body.

Aria quickly pulled the white blanket over her upper body.

Eric’s lips curled into a long smile as he slowly sat up, the defined muscles on his body flexing smoothly.

When Aria’s gaze shifted somewhere it shouldn’t have, Eric gave her a teasing smile.

“Trying to act distant again? You should’ve stopped last night if that was the plan, don’t you think?”

He ruffled her hair and gently pushed it back. Even that light touch made Aria’s heart race uncontrollably.

“I-I should get dressed…”

Her brown eyes rolled around, looking for her scattered clothes.

With a playful grin, Eric wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

At the shorter distance, Aria’s breath grew cautious.

“If we get married, we can wake up like this every morning.”

Married…
That word made Aria’s eyes tremble. Eric looked at her startled face and smiled knowingly.

“So you were planning to run away after taking my body?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Then why do you keep making that face? You clung to me all night, and now you pretend nothing happened?”

“That’s not it…”

I’m just embarrassed.
The silent scream tickled her lips.

Maybe it was the light through the window, but Eric’s melancholy blue eyes looked even deeper than usual.

For a moment, Aria’s brown eyes shook again. She had a bad feeling—if she stayed like this any longer, she might fall into his gaze and never come back.

‘I just want to follow my instincts… I don’t know if that’s okay…’

As if guided by something, she leaned forward and softly kissed him.

Eric’s blue eyes trembled slightly.

Aria quickly turned away and took a small breath to calm her racing heart.

Thump-thump.
Worried he might hear it, she held her chest and shut her eyes tight.

Eric silently watched her, tracing his lips with his fingers, as if trying to remember the strange, new feeling.

Just then, Jacob knocked on the door.

“Young lady, are you awake? I brought you some tea. May I come in?”

Aria quickly got up, grabbing the clothes next to her, and shouted back.

“J-just a moment! Jacob, I don’t need tea!”

“Then breakfast is ready, so please come down when you’re ready.”

As Jacob’s footsteps faded, Aria turned to Eric in a panic.

“What are you doing?! You need to leave before Jacob notices!”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?! How did you even get in here last night? You need to go back the way you came—quickly!”

“Don’t tell me… you want me to sneak back the same way?”

“Of course! What if Jacob sees you?!”

Aria nearly screamed. Just imagining Jacob finding out made her dizzy.

While she was pale with worry, Eric calmly put on his shirt and walked out.

“W-wait! If you go that way—!”

But before Aria could stop him, Eric was already heading toward the dining room, where Jacob was.

While Jacob prepared the meal, an awkward silence filled the table. He held his aching head in his hand.

‘Don’t tell me… he was here all night? If word gets out, the Bailey family will be in chaos…’

Jacob had no idea how to handle the situation. He glanced back and forth between Aria and Eric with a heavy expression.

Then Eric, who had just taken a sip of water, spoke.

“We should find a new estate for Aria soon. Of course, it’d be great if you stayed by her side too.”

“W-what do you mean by that…?”

Aria’s eyes widened, and she quickly spoke up in protest.

“I’ve already caused you enough trouble. I don’t want to be a burden anymore.”

“Burden…? Who in the world calls his wife a burden?”

“W-wife…? Who’s your wife?!”

“Trying to play innocent now? I didn’t know you were the type to act so cold. Last night, you were completely different—mmph!”

Aria hurriedly covered Eric’s mouth.

Jacob’s face clearly showed his shock. It was obvious something had happened between them last night.

He quickly looked away, trying to hide his red face.

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