Chapter 46
The world around them… was not wrong. It had been a flawed world from the start, but he had faithfully adhered to its flawed rules. Everything was proceeding as he had planned.
Then was the problem with him—or with her?
Was it himself?
Had he missed something?
Or was it with Cinq?
Had Vinya’s hallucinogens dulled her sense of guilt? Could the d**g have been that potent?
Quiel quietly studied her transparent eyes and then knelt on one knee before her.
But Cinq, it’s almost over. If only you would acknowledge your sin, if only you would take a single step toward me. I could give you everything.
“Dear Cinq. My sweet little liar, my tainted lamb.”
Like his false God, he yearned for her sin.
“But I understand you. I can be the one who understands your sorrow, your anger, your despair. Only I can do that. And I will forgive you. Because I…”
But Cinq—
His sinful purity still rejected him.
“Priest, I don’t need forgiveness. I truly didn’t do anything wrong!”
He sighed.
“Cinq, oh, how headstrong you are! I’ve never met a child like you.”
As he writhed in anguish like someone suffering after drinking seawater, Cinq flared her small nostrils and made a mischievous face.
The most devastating part was that even in his despair, he felt utterly happy.
What else could torment him this way?
Only Cinq. Only she could do this to him.
She alone could drive him to lead a sinful flock, to devise and execute devilish plans, and yet make him writhe in despair when they failed, all while making him smile with just one adorable expression.
That fact filled him with an ache of joy so sharp it stung his chest.
Quiel smiled in his torment.
“Why do you do these things? Though I must admit, you are adorable.”
As she looked up at him quietly, Cinq straightened her knees and stood.
At that moment, something inside her began to shift. Quiel could feel it.
Her once perpetually clear blue eyes now glimmered with a vivid light. Her usually expressionless, lovely face took on a resolute determination, as though she had made up her mind.
Quiel’s eyes widened.
It felt as though several layers of thin, colored glass were shattering one by one before him. Shadows that had obscured the view fell away, and he finally saw the real person standing beyond them.
Quiel realized it then.
This was the true Cinq.
She was neither the sinful purity he had conjured in his fantasies nor the innocent harlot he needed to save with his devilish schemes.
She was a woman who, though bound by the chains of fate, had walked forward on her own two feet, wounded by countless traps, and now stood firmly on solid ground.
Cinq spoke in a voice so clear it was almost moving.
“Goodbye, Priest.”
She turned away.
At that very moment, the wind blew, scattering dry leaves everywhere. Bathed in the golden glow of sunset, the leaves shimmered as if they were made of gold, reflecting the radiant light.
He felt his throat tighten.
Cinq.
I’ve called your name thousands, tens of thousands of times, and yet…
You don’t even know my name.
He was overcome by an incomprehensible, impulsive emotion.
He had seen the real her. Now, he too wanted to show her the real him.
Quiel removed the white goat mask from his head and threw it to the ground. Then he called out to her again.
“Cinq, you’ve finally given me a proper greeting.”
At the sound of his voice, Cinq turned back. He saw her pretty eyes widen in astonishment.
He clasped his hands together nervously, awaiting her reaction.
He had never shown his bare face to anyone, and he knew there were only two possible outcomes:
They either recoiled in terror, like his mother, and went mad, or they clung to him obsessively, like his father.
Cinq seemed shocked. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and squinted as she looked at him.
“Priest? Is that you, Priest?”
He nodded.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Cinq.
Please. Accept me.
Feeling his mouth go dry with desperation, he asked,
“Cinq, how do I look in your eyes?”
At his question…
Cinq smiled brightly and said,
“You look like an angel.”
And Quiel…
…smiled.
Discussion
1 CommentReactions
ailahfries
But my Mr Wolf-😭
Why the author must make Quiel's yearning so goood