I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family

I thought I must be dreaming.

I must have dozed off while petting Rere’s head.

That must be the case, because I’d have a hard time registering this situation if it wasn’t a dream.

“…What a terrible dream.”

A dream I had because I missed him so much.

I must’ve slept without my eyes completely closed because I couldn’t really sleep. So I couldn’t help but smile.

If I could, I’d rush over to stroke the Duke’s cheek.

“It’s not a dream.”

Before I knew it, he left the bed and approached me.

“…If it isn’t a dream, then what is it?”

“I’m not kidding. I’m back, Leona.”

My mind was in shambles when I heard the words I wanted to hear the most. I clearly heard his voice, but at the same time my ears were buzzing.

“Huh…you’re real…?” I stammered like a fool.

It was clear that my legs went to him, and I was in his arms, but my memory was so hazy that I couldn’t tell when I was sinking into his arms.

“Leona.”

But from the moment I heard his voice.

“Please look at me, Leona. I missed you so much.”

I slowly raised my head at his plea. Then I saw him looking down at me affectionately like he had always done.

His red eyes glowed with more affection than I’d ever seen before, and his smile was as light as a cotton ball.

“Are you really Luca?”

“I’m Luca, the man who loves you and is loved by you.”

“B-But…”

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He didn’t appear when I cried out for him in agony, but to think he’d appear at times like this, would it make sense to say that he was Luca?

I shook my head and buried my face in his chest again.

“No one knows you. Even the Duke himself…he said he doesn’t know anyone named Luca.”

“Because Luca did not exist in this world. In the first place, I was getting ready for my resurrection.”

My frozen heart seemed to melt in an instant.

“…Are you going to disappear again this time?”

“What do you think?” Luca said playfully as if to soothe my rapidly gloomy mood. So I hugged him tighter in a hurry.

“No, I don’t want that…Don’t go. Don’t go, Luca. I feel like I can only be happy…when Luca is here with me.”

“Don’t worry, Leona.”

“You…aren’t going to leave?”

“Yes, I don’t have to leave now. Because I’ve become complete.”

It wasn’t until I heard his firm statement that I was capable of pulling myself away from him.

“What do you mean by complete?”

“First and foremost, I am Duke Ian Petri. My grandfather’s name was Luca. For a while, I used my grandfather’s name because I couldn’t think of another.”

He sat me down in a chair, knelt before me and made eye contact with me.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you everything.”

I rubbed his cheeks. He did not shy away from my touch, and his cheeks were warm. As a result, my seemingly stopped heart felt as if it were starting up again.

“Are you really the Luca I know?”

“Of course, Leona. I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye properly before breaking up with you. Otherwise, neither I nor Leona seemed to be able to let go of each other.”

I wanted to refute him somehow, but I couldn’t come up with anything. Because I knew from the depth of my heart that if we hadn’t broken up like that, I wouldn’t have let Luca go then.

At that time, he wiped the tears from my eyes.

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“Are you crying because of me?”

“I-I’m not crying.”

My tears seemed to swell up along with my overwhelmed feelings.

“It’s been a long time since someone cried for me. I really missed you, Leona.”

“It’s indescribable how much I missed you.”

“I feel the same. That’s why I couldn’t wait to return. But I was a little late because the Duke was too weak.”

“…Is he related to Luca’s disappearance.”

Somehow his eyes looked sad.

“The Duke is my childhood that I voluntarily forced to stop, in other words, the wrong choice that I made.”

“Your childhood?”

“My childhood, yes. My time wouldn’t have stopped if I had truly accepted and moved on from my sister’s death. But I’m a foolish man who couldn’t do that.”

He spoke softly, but there were emotions swirling around in his voice this time.

“Then time started flowing again because you moved on?”

“That’s correct. That’s why the Duke passed out. I should have returned to my original form now. The Duke you’ve seen so far is my childish self from the past.”

“So what the old butler said…”

“He must’ve said that the Duke’s personality stayed the same as when his parents died, didn’t he?”

“Is that why he said he acted like a child…?”

Luca nodded.

Come to think of it, Luca had told me that the Duke behaved like a child. He acted like a child who didn’t want his things to be taken away, so everything he did to Rere made sense to me now.

“It’s because he is literally a child. A 15 year old child.”

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“Ah…”

“That’s why he refused to accept responsibility. He believed that his sister’s death was not his fault, and he felt the same way when he kicked out many people from here.”

“Is that why the Duke is sick?”

“Yes, and it’s all over now. My time and the Duke’s eventually overlapped, and now he is left in the past. My time will continue now.”

“You’re not leaving?”

My hand trembled as I stroked his cheek. Maybe he felt the tremor since Luca wrapped his hand over mine.

“Because I’m me. I’m not leaving now. We can be together.”

“Really? The Duke…”

“He’s only a memory. He’s going to live in the past. And I am who I am today. If you hadn’t awakened the Duke, I would cease to exist for sure. The Duke’s time would have stopped forever.”

“Ah…! Don’t tell me…?”

“Thank you for waking me up. You make me aware of our separate minds, the future, and even who I am, and now I could live in the present.”

What else could I say? I just looked at him silently.

“That’s why you said my choice was important.”

“That’s right. Thank you for letting my time flow again.”

He had me back in his arms before I knew it. I could feel his warmth and smell his scent. When I leaned on his shoulder, the tears that I had swallowed poured down like a cascading waterfall.

When he vanished, I felt as if my heart had been stripped away. I was angry, sad, lonely and sick. I thought that my life was ruined because of this feeling of love.

But my heart was back.

“I missed you.”

My heart was racing as if to tell me that I could live and shouldn’t be sad any longer.

“Me, too. I missed you as well. I hoped to return. I wanted to wrap my arms around you and smell your scent. So I’ve been terrified the entire time. I said my goodbyes calmly, but I was worried I wouldn’t see you again.”

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“Luca…”

“I wasn’t afraid to disappear, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t see Leona again. For the first time, I wanted to live. As your man and Rere’s father. I really wanted to live.”

His emotions were only directed at me as his voice seemed to sink into tears

This was the only thing I wanted to say.

“I love you, Luca.”

“Can you call my name instead of Luca now?”

“…Ian.”

“Yes, Leona.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more than my life. You are my heart, Leona. I can breathe only when I have you. So..would you like to live with me forever?”

He pushed me back slightly from his arms and stared straight at me. I had always thought the Duke’s red eyes were deplorable, but Luca’s eyes were as warm as a bonfire.

“Actually, I don’t know if I’m a little shameless. I’m saying this because I don’t want anyone to take Leona away from me.”

“Ian.”

“If you still need time…”

“Shall we be a proper family now?”

“…Are you really willing to do that? I haven’t proven myself to you yet. Because the Duke always showed you his bad side.”

I put my hands on his cheeks.

“But you are different. I’ve never been loved by anyone in my life. And you gave me the love that I need. You let me live. So let’s love each other properly now.”

He smiled sweetly as if he was swept by waves of emotions. Then he tilted his head and leaned in slowly. His breath brushed against me, and soon my lips met his soft lips.

My heart beat like crazy as if it was my first time. I was so ecstatic as if I’d lose my mind just by kissing him.

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So I wrapped my arms around his neck. Thanks to this, our distance became even closer.

Every little movement was sweet, and even Ian’s breathing felt sweet.

Then,

“Mmh..”

We jolted away from each other at Rere’s quiet mumble. As if she caught us red-handed, she was busy mumbling with her flushed face.

However, Rere, who kept making a small noise, didn’t show signs of waking up.

“I-I think she just mumbled in her sleep, Leona.”

“I-I think so.”

We couldn’t even say ‘shall we continue what we were doing?’ so we just stared at each other in a daze.

We couldn’t stand the awkwardness, so we ended up touching Rere’s cheeks at the same time.

“Ah.”

“L-Leona, go ahead and touch her.”

“…L-Let’s touch her together.”