Chapter 16: Afraid Of Lighting
Illaria smiled widely when she saw Dante coming. She quickly got off her chair, ran as fast as possible, and hugged Dante tightly.
"I thought you forgot about this day and wouldn't come." the girl's voice sounded shaky, whether it was because she was holding back tears or was too happy that the person she had been waiting for since noon had finally arrived.
For a few moments, Dante was surprised to be suddenly embraced by Illaria, but he immediately showed a gentle expression and knelt in front of Illaria to hug the child.
"Happy eleventh birthday, Illaria." Dante stroked Illaria's long hair. "It is impossible for me to forget your special day, sweety."
Dante then gave her a bouquet of flowers and a gift he was carrying. "I've even prepared a bunch of gifts for you."
The smile on Illaria's face grew even more when she opened Dante's present and saw a big teddy bear inside.
"It's Mr. Teddy that I saw on tv last month!" Illaria was ran circling with the doll in the dining room. She couldn't stop laughing and hugged Dante again when she forgot to say something. "Thank you, Daddy!"
Dante picked up Illaria and her doll, then brought the little girl to the dining chair. "The food is getting cold. Have you not eaten since morning because you were waiting for me?"
Illaria shook her head quickly and replied while pouting, "Mary forced me to eat breakfast and lunch! Even though I wanted to eat with you today."
Dante looked at Illaria seriously. "Next time, if I don't come by noon, you should eat first. It would be best if you didn't get sick because you want to wait for me. Do you understand, Illaria?"
Illaria lowered her head, then fiddled with her fingers, fearing that Dante would scold her. "But I get lonely when I eat alone. Can't Daddy accompany me to eat every day? If coming here is such a bother for you, Illaria can come over to Dad—"
"Illaria." Dante cut her off. "Have you forgotten why Daddy forbade you to leave this house?"
Illaria, "Because there's a monster chasing me out there."
He nodded. "Yes, the monster is still looking after you and will hurt you if he catches you."
"But when will he stop chasing me?"
Dante patted Illaria on the head and answered in a soft voice. "Until I catch him."
Illaria Moretti wasn't Dante's biological daughter but the daughter of his late older sister, who died ten years ago, Carlita Moretti.
Carlita didn't die naturally, but she was killed by someone Dante didn't know.
Eleven years ago, Carlita ran away from the Moretti residence because she wanted to live a normal life and no longer wanted to have anything to do with the mafia world. The woman left quietly and even erased all traces of her, making it difficult to find her.
However, without the knowledge of the rest of the Moretti family, Dante managed to find Carlita's location. His sister lives in a small town in Seykia.
For several months, Dante only watched Carlita from a distance because he didn't want to ruin her peaceful life.
He saw Carlita smile more often when she lived away from Moretti Familia. The woman worked as a kindergarten teacher and often looked after her neighbor's flower shop.
However, something terrible suddenly happened to Carlita.
Exactly one year after Carlita left the Moretti house, Dante finally decided to visit his sister in person. Not just by watching her from afar but by coming as a guest to her home.
Unfortunately, Dante didn't think this meeting would be his last meeting with Carlita. Even before Dante knocked on her door, he heard successive gunshots inside Carlita's house.
When Dante stepped into the house, he saw Carlita lying motionless on the floor. Blood flowed from her body and stained the floor, her clothes were covered in red, and Carlita didn't respond even though Dante had called her repeatedly.
His sister died while the killer escaped from Dante's pursuit.
When Dante wanted to touch Carlita's cold body, he realized Carlita was hugging a baby. The baby was only one year old and didn't cry while she was in Carlita's arms as if thinking her mother was sleeping as usual.
As it turned out, Carlita left because she wanted to raise her daughter in a good environment.
But Dante was sure that his older sister also left because she wanted to escape from the pursuit of someone who tried to kill her.
"Daddy!" a call from Illaria snapped Dante out of his daydream.
"Yes, are you said something?"
Illaria, "Earlier I asked, will Daddy want to have dinner tonight and accompany me to sleep?"
Dante smiled. "Anything for you, sweetie."
• • •
As his promise, Dante stayed by Illaria's side all night, and as punishment for arriving late, Illaria forced Dante to continued eating the tart that tasted as sweet as honey and sugar.
Dante even thought the baker might have added a sugar sack to the cake.
In truth, he hated sweets, but since Illaria looked happy every time she saw Dante eat cake, he finally forced himself to eat five plates of tarts.
After dinner, Illaria invited Dante to play with her doll friends.
If only Scarlett had seen his state right now—he was wearing a furry bandana on his head and talking to stuffed animals. Dante was sure she would laugh loudly and humiliate him for a whole week.
"Daddy, I'm sleepy." Illaria rubbed her eyes as she yawned.
It was already 11 pm, so it was only natural for Illaria to be sleepy. Moreover, she deliberately didn't nap because she wanted to wait for Dante to come.
"All right. Let go to sleep." Dante picked up Illaria and brought her to the bedroom.
"Read me a bedtime story." Illaria took a picture book from under her pillow. "Mary used to read me this story."
"Lie down properly, and then Daddy will read you a bedtime story."
Illaria immediately pressed her head into the pillow and covered herself with the blanket. Her round eyes then stared at Dante, waiting for him to read her a bedtime story.
Leaning back on the bed, Dante began to read the story, "Once upon a time…."
Over time, Illaria slowly closed her eyes as she heard Dante reciting the story in a soft voice. At the end of the story, Illaria finally fell into a deep slumber while holding Dante's arm.
Crack! Crack!
The sound of thunder rumbled outside the window, making Illaria move closer to Dante to seek shelter.
Dante pulled the blankets over Illaria's body, then put some dolls on the bed to make her feel like many friends had accompanied her.
Dante suddenly remembered what Scarlett had said a moment ago as he watched the raindrops pouring down.
'I don't like the sound of lighting!'
[Does she honestly not like it, or is she just looking for excuses to stay at my place?]
Dante patted Illaria's back from outside the blanket as the thunder grew louder. However, Scarlett occupied his mind until Dante was dumbfounded for a moment.
[Has she eaten? Should I ask the maid to bring her some food?]
Because as far as Dante could remember, Scarlet hadn't eaten at all since escaping from The Night.
[It feels like my ears are quieter when she's not around ….]
Slap!
Dante slapped himself on the cheek as he couldn't stop thinking about Scarlett.
They had just spent one night together, but Dante's heart was already rebelling, and asked him to meet Scarlett again tonight.
Dante sighed hardly. He must have thought of Scarlett because he was addicted to their sexual activities, not because he wanted to see her personally.
Yes, there was no mistake. Dante only liked Scarlett's body, not the person.
Repeatedly, Dante convinced himself that he only saw Scarlett as his sex partner, not as someone he cared about.
Crack! Crack!
The sound of rumbling thunder once again sounded. This time, Dante finally came out of Illaria's room and wore his coat.
[There's no harm in checking her once. After all, we did agree to meet every night.]
As Dante passed through the dining room, he saw a lot of leftovers and tarts that he and Illaria couldn't finish.
Dante thought that instead of throwing the food in the trash, it would be better to throw it at Scarlett.
• • •
Knock. Knock.
In an instant, Dante was already in front of Scarlett's bedroom door. He carried a paper bag containing leftover dinner and tarts in one hand while his other kept knocking on the bedroom door.
However, no matter how much Dante knocked, there was no answer inside the room, as if no one was sleeping there.
Although Dante ordered his subordinates to lock Scarlett's door from the outside, Scarlett must have a way to open the door secretly.
Therefore, Dante suspected that Scarlett had sneaked out of her room so she could explore Moretti's mansion without Dante's knowledge.
"Scarlett, if you don't answer, I'll open the door immediately."
No answer.
Dante finally lost his temper. He immediately unlocked the door from the outside and entered Scarlett's room.
As Dante had expected, the room was empty.
Scarlett wasn't in her bed or on the couch in the bedroom. Even Dante didn't see her figure as he checked the bathroom.
"Damn you, Scarlett," Dante whispered as he took his cell phone out of his coat to call Saro.
However, before Dante could press Saro's contact number, he noticed a strand of red hair sticking out from under the television table.
Dante slowly walked to the front of the table and knelt to see what was under the table.
How surprised Dante was when he saw Scarlett's figure huddled under the table. She buried her face into her knees while her hands covered her ears.
Scarlett's body trembled, and her breathing sounded rushed.
"Scarlett?" Dante touched Scarlett's shoulder and asked, "What were you doing in-"
Surprisingly, Scarlett pointed a gun at Dante and showed her eyes that were filled with anger.
"Fuck off, or I'll shoot you." Scarlett's voice sounded shaky, but her eyes showed deep seriousness.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone