Chapter 1: (Illustration)

Chapter 1

Translator & Editor: Latte

"Aria, my angel," the emperor said earnestly.

"Come and save me."

Salvation.

The emperor seeks salvation from the monster.

'How absurd.'

It was so funny that she could no longer laugh.

Aria stared at him as he stretched out his hand towards her cage, but she didn't move.

"Please sing!"

"........"

"Aria! If you don't sing, I'll make sure you'll never be able to walk again," he fumed, threatening her into submission.

His strength was quickly ebbing, his madness near. After tons of threats and persuasion that lead to nowhere, he finally resorted to begging.

He was completely insane.

"Please sing for us. Siren. I beg for your mercy."

"Please, Siren...," the dancers pleaded.

Until just a few months ago, these were the people who wouldn't hesitate to bring her misery. They laughed at her and whispered behind her back.

The musicians and conductors who played the song for the Siren. Even the knights who guarded the emperor.

They called her a monster.

But here they are now, begging on their knees, waiting for Aria to open her mouth.

Aria caught her breath as something lunged painfully up her neck.

"...cough!" she spewed.

It was blood.

The pain throbbed in her chest and the blood slumped all over her body

She looked at her hands which was now coated in blood, the red fluid loosening her grip.

With teary eyes, she clutched her chest.

'Ah.'

'So this is how I die.'

Aria smiled.

'At long last.'

She can finally have her eternal rest.

Her tightly closed lips opened and she finally sang.

"Come to me, sweet death."

As Aria began to sing, the whole audience became silent. Nobody could take their eyes off her.

She's been abusing her voice so it became rough and tired over time. Nonetheless, everyone was still mesmerized at her singing. Her voice rolled over the hills in sorrowful waves. It was raspy and quiet yet so powerful as it was brought out in a fit of pain.

"Come and guide me into peace."

The song, which started calmly, wrapped around them like a warm ray of sunshine.

They echoed amongst the masonry and up to the rafters, then comforted and stroked them tenderly as if it were the voice of an angel.

"Oh, my lord...." Someone said as they shed tears with a serene smile.

The melody purred to the soul, piercing through and touched their hearts from within.

"I am tired of this world...," Aria continued singing.

This song she sang was a hymn about seeing heaven through death.

However, due to Aria's dark tone, it became a completely different song.

It turned into a song to call upon the devil.

"Come, the blessings!"

The irresistibly sweet sound that reverberated in the silence instantly clutched their hearts.

Aria's songs were like poison, slowly devouring their entire being from within.

"Come!"

The murky voice grabbed their ankles and dragged them straight into the swamp.

Into the swamp of the abyss,

Into the swamp of death,

Into the swamp of hell.

The sound spread violently as Aria continued to sing at the top of her lungs.

"I am waiting for you!" she shouted.

She begged to God who had abandoned her.

She begged to God but ended up getting hurt, cursed, and left alone again.

Eventually, she lost hope in God.

"Come and close my eyes."

If there's no God, then she sincerely prays that the devil will take her instead.

"Gasp, gahk!"

Suddenly, the emperor let out a strangled scream as he felt overwhelming pain. He couldn't breathe, it was as if someone was strangling his neck, squeezing the life out of him.

A second later, he lost strength in his feet and he fell to the ground. The impact of the fall shuddered all the way through his body, which only made the pain ten times worse.

"Blessed sabbath, come!" Aria sang as she let the last note of the song curl slowly from her lips.

The song was over. The ritual was finally finished.

"Gasp, cough....!" The emperor choked as he gasped for air.

His hands were shaking and his whole body was soaked with cold sweat.

Puzzled, the fallen emperor slowly got back to his feet.

"Wha-what on earth is going on?!"

When the emperor looked around, he realized that most of the audience had fainted. Turns out, it wasn't just him that had to endure that unbearable pain.

Some of the knights that regained consciousness drew out their swords, but their aim was negligent and their feet staggered.

The emperor was appalled. If he had a sword in his hand, he would have carelessly ended his own life because he couldn't withstand the pain.

"Thi-this....."

The dread creeps over him like an icy chill, numbing his brain.

"How dare this b*tch...."

But when he came back to his senses, that fear quickly turned into anger.

"How dare you try to kill me!"

Aria had little to no rights as she was the only Siren remaining on the land.

"I saved you from the brink of death, and this is how you repay my kindness?" he ranted.

Sirens live for the purpose of singing. They are not allowed to do anything else.

"Today, I will surely break your will to live. I shall punish you for disobeying me!"

He took one of the knight's sword and lunged towards her.

Suddenly, a black shadow cast over her.

After living inside the cage her entire life, she finally gained freedom.

She closed her eyes.

'Sweet death, blessed rest.'

It was then that the door suddenly swung open.

A man with black hair said, "What a sad song."

He moved closer with those hollow eyes that stared so deeply into her own, and as Aria raised her head, their eyes met.

'The Grand Duke of Valentine....'

The man who sold his soul to the devil.

The man who was not supposed to be here actually came.

His red footprints stained the white marble floor as he approached her.

'He really came.'

Aria couldn't believe it.

The duke took out his sword which was drenched in blood.

The blood on his sword danced merrily as he drew a semicircle on the ground.

"If you seek salvation from the devil, then now is the time."

Beyond the wide-open door, the blood-stained imperial palace was as serene as a tomb.

Just like it was in the beginning.

"You're welcome."

The devil killed the emperor.

"The sabbath has come," he said indifferently.

Then he took the key out of the emperor's arms and unlocked Aria's cage.

Creak—

The cage slowly opened.

Standing underneath the chandelier, the devil shone brilliantly. His eyes, which looked like burnt ashes, glistened underneath the lights and when they reflected it, they made tiny stars.

In this dark night, his eyes are like the moon, scattering the nascent rays, ever illuminating her soul.

'How stunning....'

For the first time in Aria's life, she was mesmerized by a person's eyes.

"The birdcage is open. Fly anywhere you wish to go."

It was a memory that she would never forget even after her death.

Aria looked at her shackled ankles with a blank face.

Then she raised her head.

'The Grand Duke of Valentine....'

A traitor who killed the emperor.

Yet, he was her savior.

Her cage was wide open.

As the grand duke said, if she had wings, she'd gladly fly away.

But.

"I can't fly anywhere," Aria said as she laughed and wiped her bitter tears.

Her death was near.

'Put an end to my life...'

As Aria was about to open her mouth to make her last will, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her vocal cords.

She bent over as drops of blood splattered on her lap and knees. By slow, torturous degrees, the coughs eased in intensity and then slowly, slowly passed.

She glanced at the violent red that stained all over her body before her eyes went blank.

"You are a bird with a broken wing..."

The Grand Duke's languid gaze briefly touched her twisted leg.

"Siren, I've heard that listening to your songs drives people crazy."

Aria collapsed.

Her body slowly becoming weak.

The grand duke held her dying body in his arms and said, "Then I guess your song won't affect me. Because I've always been crazy."

"......."

"If there is a limit to madness, you must prove it yourself."

The devil smiled and carried her body.

Having no strength left in her frail body, Aria finally closed her eyes in the devil's arms.