I Love You
I had a dream. A dream in which I was laughing joyfully with Leo. The happy memories we had shared together. He used to give me roses as gifts.
“Lia! This one—I saw it on the way and thought it was so pretty that I bought a single stem.”
I had never really liked flowers. They were beautiful when they bloomed, but they wilted so quickly that the sight always felt painfully fleeting. Until then, I had never decorated my room with any.
“You know what, Lia?”
“Hmm?”
“They say the language of a red rose means passionate love and beauty.”
“But once the flower wilts, doesn’t that make the meaning meaningless?”
“Maybe. But I think it depends on how you look at it. Even if the flower falls, the warm feeling you had when you received it stays forever in that person’s heart.”
At the time, his words sounded so forced that I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Leo, you sometimes say things that don’t make any sense.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. But I like even that part of you, Leo.”
“My little baby is saying such sweet things again. You’re making my heart flutter.”
“…I’m not a baby, you know?”
“You’re cute, so to me you’re my baby.”
“Idiot…”
“I love you, Aria.”
“…Me too.”
“Me too, what?”
“……I love you.”
No matter how much we bickered, we always ended in a loving embrace. From then on, I came to love flowers. Seeing Leo smile so brightly made me happy too.
But suddenly, the image of Leo laughing before me began to blur. The figure that had seemed close enough to touch if I reached out grew hazy, and a black fog swallowed everything around us in an instant.
Leo’s form vanished completely, and I was left alone in pitch-black darkness.
My heart surged with panic. No. No, Leo. Don’t go. Don’t leave me behind.
As if mocking my plea, the terribly quiet, pitch-dark void dragged me down into an invisible abyss.
Leo. Leo. I called his name desperately, but only hollow silence answered. Once again I was left alone, my hand reaching into empty air, grasping at nothing.
That was when it happened. Suddenly, someone gently took my hand.
It was a warm touch. A familiar sensation—slightly large and rough, yet filled with kindness. I knew at once. This was Leo’s hand.
Thank goodness, Leo. You’re still here with me.
The heavy darkness that had surrounded me transformed into a world of gentle light, and my anxious heart grew calm, as if the fear had never existed.
I could still feel Leo’s warm hand in my left one.
Thank you, Leo. For holding my hand. For staying by my side. I love you. Forever, only you….
“…….”
How long had I been asleep? When I opened my eyes, the room was already wrapped in dim twilight. Had I really slept until evening? A fleeting sense of emptiness rose at the thought of having wasted an entire day, but it was quickly followed by the thought that it was fine to rest for one day.
For some reason, sleeping so deeply seemed to have washed away all my fatigue. With my mind still hazy, I slowly scanned my surroundings. I quickly understood the situation.
Oh. That’s right—I fell asleep in Leo’s bed.
Wait… but where is Leo…?
At that moment, I felt a strange warmth in my left hand. A gentle heat. The touch of soft skin. A familiar sensation my body still remembered even after years without it.
Someone was gently but firmly holding my hand.
“……!”
I swallowed hard and slowly turned my head. When my gaze reached the figure lying on the left side of the bed, I couldn’t hide my shock.
Leo was asleep, lying face-down on the very bed I occupied.
I held my breath without realizing it. It seemed he had been sitting in the chair beside the bed, watching over me, and had eventually dozed off like that.
Why?
The question filled my mind.
Why was Leo sleeping face-down on the bed where I lay? Why was he holding my hand? Why? Just why?
“…….”
My head felt like it would overheat and explode. Heat surged through my body, and cold sweat broke out on my palms.
Had I done something in my sleep? Otherwise, there was no way Leo would be lying like this, holding my hand on the bed I occupied. Now that I thought about it, I might have been calling Leo’s name while trapped in a nightmare…
“…….”
Still lying down, I gazed at Leo’s head with a complicated expression as he slept beside the bed. It was just like him—the kind Leo. If someone was suffering from a nightmare, he wouldn’t be able to ignore it; he would try to help in any way he could. Was this the result of that kindness? Him holding my hand at my side?
Carefully, I slipped my hand free from his and gently stroked his head. His glossy red hair felt soft beneath my fingers. Lost in the moment, I continued stroking his hair for a long time.
Then affection welled up inside me, and before I knew it, I whispered,
“…I love you, Leo.”
The way you can’t bring yourself to treat even a villainess like me harshly. Your diligent focus on your work. Your handsome face. Your wonderful voice. All of it. Every single thing.
I won’t leave you again. So someday, I hope you’ll look at me once more.
I prayed that prayer earnestly in my heart.
I had missed the timing to wake up. The sudden sensation of someone stroking my hair had pulled me from sleep, but I found myself frozen, unable to move. I simply kept my forehead pressed to the bed and pretended to still be asleep.
The hand in my hair was gentle. For some reason, it brought an inexplicable sense of peace to my heart. If this woman weren’t a villainess, I could have called this moment the greatest reward of my life without hesitation.
But knowing her true nature, I couldn’t allow myself to think that way.
Several more minutes passed in silence. Aria continued to stroke my hair without a word. I continued pretending to sleep, face down. I couldn’t make sense of the situation at all.
I was searching for the right moment to get up when—
“…I love you, Leo.”
“!”
The sudden words hit me like a bomb, leaving my mind blank. They were far too clear to dismiss as a mistake. I remained motionless, holding my breath, helplessly accepting the continued caress of her hand on my hair.
Only after a long time had passed, when Aria’s breathing finally evened out again in sleep, was I able to rise. Afterward, my heart pounded so violently that I couldn’t even look properly at her sleeping face before I fled the room as if escaping.
“Ha…”
I had taken refuge in the empty reception room, yet Aria’s soft voice still lingered in my ears.
I love you, Leo…
The words she had murmured while stroking the hair of a man pretending to sleep. What on earth had she been thinking when she said that to me? That sorrowful voice continued to echo endlessly in my mind.
What was that? It wasn’t the kind of thing one would say while in their right mind. Had she been seeing some illusion? Or did Aria still harbor lingering feelings for me?
Could she have fallen for me again after meeting me for the first time in so long? It wasn’t entirely impossible. After all, in the past, Aria had been the one to approach me first. Since she had fallen for me once before, it was possible for the same thing to happen again.
Yet she might soon grow tired of it again and turn her heart to someone else, just like before. People don’t change easily. There was no guarantee this wouldn’t become a repeat of the past.
That was exactly why I couldn’t simply rejoice at her shy confession directed at my sleeping self. Even if Aria had come to like me again, as long as the possibility remained that I might end up miserably abandoned like before, it was better not to begin at all.
My mind was a tangled mess. I didn’t know what the right choice was. But what disturbed me most of all was the fact that I, too, was shaken by her actions.
Even while telling myself this, it seemed I still had lingering feelings for Aria. Perhaps it was only natural. She was the only woman I had ever loved in my entire life. After we parted, I couldn’t even consider dating anyone else; I had loved her so deeply that every day was filled with terrible pain.
Now that such a woman had appeared before me again and openly shown affection, how could I not be shaken?
In any case, she truly was a devilish woman. It would have been better if she had never appeared again. If only that were the case, I wouldn’t be this confused…
In the end, because Aria had occupied my bed and fallen asleep that day, I had no choice but to spread a blanket on the floor and sleep there.
When I came to my senses, the sun had already risen. After falling asleep without realizing it, I woke to find that Aria had neatly arranged the bedding on my bed and disappeared from the room. She must have realized what she had done.
On one hand, I was secretly curious what attitude she would show when we met again.
Aria reappeared that day during breakfast at the mansion. Having apparently heard from the servants about the meal schedule, she came down to the first-floor dining room at the proper time. When her eyes met mine—she who had arrived to find me already seated—she awkwardly averted her gaze and offered a timid greeting.
“Ah… Hello, Young Master Leo. Good morning…”
She probably had no idea that I had overheard her murmured confession, but even without that, there were countless reasons for things to be awkward between us. Her behavior wasn’t surprising.
“Good morning, Lady Aria.”
I returned the greeting appropriately and sat down to begin the meal.
“……”
“……”
Unfortunately, my father had left early that morning to visit another territory, so only Aria and I were present in the dining room. The air felt heavy.
Aria, unable to meet my eyes and constantly watching my reaction, and me, too confused to think of anything to say, merely toying with the utensils. Time seemed to pass several times more slowly than usual.
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, I spoke first.
“Lady Aria.”
“Hic!”
A startled sound escaped her. She cleared her throat and answered timidly.
“W-what is it?”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes, I slept well. Thanks to you…”
“I’m glad.”
“Um… Did you sleep well too, Young Master Leo…?”
“Yes, well… I did, thanks to you.”
At my pointed remark, Aria glanced at me with an apologetic look and apologized.
“I-I’m sorry… for taking your bed…”
“It’s fine. I didn’t mind particularly.”
“Oh, I see…”
“Yes.”
In truth, yesterday’s events had bothered me immensely, but I didn’t express it aloud.
“……”
“……”
The conversation ended there. Once again, a heavy silence settled over us. It was unbearably awkward. I even had the illusion that the ticking of the clock on the wall sounded unusually loud.