The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

And Aria wanted all of that strength to be strictly kept for Oresfall.

She just stared at Claire through the carriage window.

And Claire finally asked her question.

She just looked straight into Aria’s eyes and she spoke softly, but firmly.

”Do you actually like us, Aria?”

Claire sighed.

”Because I can easily tell. Even though I don’t know him too well yet, and most of our conversations are strictly professional regarding the military... I can easily tell that your opinion would matter much, much more than his own personal feelings. Or my feelings.”

Claire looked directly at the little girl.

”He would put your priority and your comfort before anything else in the world. So my question is... do you actually want us to be a part of your family?”

Aria just opened her mouth slightly, and then just closed it back.

The honest answer was complicated.

She had been thinking about what was best for her father. Not what was best for herself emotionally. And she had been mostly thinking of both of these women as valuable assets for Oresfall instead of an actual, loving family.

Aria just blinked twice and quickly looked away from the window.

She stared down at the wooden floor of the carriage and she slowly opened her mouth.

”I don’t know.”

Her voice was soft and barely audible, but of course, both Claire outside and Serena inside could still clearly hear her.

And Claire, when she heard this hesitant answer, she let out a dry, wry chuckle.

And Aria could easily sense, just from the bitter tone of that chuckle, that Claire was disappointed with the answer. The knight had definitely been expecting her to say yes with a bright smile.

But Aria just truly did not have an honest answer to that question right now and she had no intention of lying to them.

Aria looked back up at Claire through the window.

”Let me think about it. I do like both of you... but I just don’t know yet.”

There was an immediate silence between the three of them.

Serena didn’t talk, and neither did the other two. The air inside and outside the carriage just turned so awkward that the three of them didn’t even dare to look at each other’s eyes anymore.

And that was exactly when the carriage shook a little.

The door opened, and Adrian just casually climbed inside while the carriage was still moving.

He sat down right beside Aria with a wide, excited grin on his face.

”We are getting really close to the territory border right now! How are you guys doing in here?”

Aria just looked up at him.

And all of a sudden, the only thing she felt was a weird, bubbling sense of annoyance at his timing, and also the urge to just hug him tightly.

But instead, she just pouted at him.

And the whole tense atmosphere inside the room instantly changed.

Outside, Claire immediately urged her horse to take a few quick steps forward so that Adrian wouldn’t see her through the window.

And Serena, on the other hand, just sat perfectly still in her seat with her face bright red, frantically wondering if he heard their embarrassing discussion or not. She just nervously looked up, purely with her eyes while keeping her head firmly down, and she looked at Adrian.

She saw that he wasn’t even looking at her. He was entirely focused on Aria instead.

And Serena just wondered to herself.

’Did he... was he hanging outside the carriage door just quietly listening to the whole thing? If he did hear it, then I think I should be completely safe since I didn’t directly say out loud that I like him romantically.’

But then she just paused her train of thought for a second before glancing up at him again.

She immediately pursed her lips until they became like a thin, tight line. She slowly looked out the window and she saw Claire riding just a few feet away, away from Adrian’s view.

And Serena just went back to thinking about the whole thing.

’Wait. Did I just completely lose a massive opportunity to confess my feelings indirectly? Claire did it! And since she was riding outside, she must have seen him move from the other carriage to this one. And maybe... maybe that is the reason why she even boldly admitted it out loud! She wanted him to listen!’

Serena gripped her dress tightly.

’But I didn’t. I completely backed out. So why am I... I shouldn’t really be happy about being safe. Should I just say it to him too right now? But that will be way too direct!’ she thought, not wanting to be left behind.

And while Serena was overthinking and wildly assuming things, the reality of the situation was that Adrian had simply just walked out of Wang Lei’s carriage and directly hopped onto his own.

He had not heard a single word of the conversation, and nor was he even remotely aware about the topic that they were talking about. He just completely barged inside like a happy idiot, looking totally satisfied with whatever he might have done in the other carriage with Wang Lei.

He looked down at Aria and smiled.

”Why are you pouting?”

He reached out and playfully pinched her soft cheek.

Aria just immediately swatted his hand away and just looked the other side, looking out of the window to ignore him as she puckered her lips.

And almost after a second of ignoring him, she finally gave in.

”You never came here for four whole days. You just completely forgot about me.”

Adrian immediately went from being hyperactive to completely melting. He gently put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to comfort her.

”Well, sweetie,” he said slowly, his voice dropping into a soft, serious tone. ”You know that we have a massive war ahead of us, right? And Papa has to do a lot of preparations.”