Red Riding Hood - Chapter 47

“An angel, you say, Cinq?”

Left alone, Quiel couldn’t contain his excitement. Without even wearing his white goat mask, he wandered around the backyard.

“I’m nothing like that. But if that’s how you see me… fine, I can be that for you. Cinq, how far do you think I would go to protect you?”

He resolved to be as honest as an angel—tonight, or perhaps tomorrow morning.

But he needed to prepare himself. The wine he had sent to her would be his ally.

Tonight, he would go to her. He would be there by her side as she slept alone in the dark brothel keeper’s house.

If she stirred awake, he wouldn’t sing her a lullaby or gently pat her back as he had before. Instead, he would softly caress her lips.

And then he would confess everything.

That he had watched over her for so long, yearning for her passionately, desiring her sweetly, but that she need not fear.

He would reveal that the angel who had stayed peacefully by her side while she slept was none other than him.

And he would ask her to call his name.

To stay with him.

Though they would have to wear beast masks among the villagers, beyond the temple grounds, in the deserted fields and forests, they could be free.

Cinq could let her radiant golden hair flow freely, and he would anxiously hold onto his veil, fearing it might blow away.

At least, they could sometimes walk together under the gentle sunlight—or beneath the silvery glow of the moonlight.

Quiel donned his veil and took the lamb mask in his hands. With eager steps, he walked toward the forest, toward Cinq.

Perhaps this moment was the happiest of his life.

After all, hope shines brightest just before it shatters.

***

Cinq’s room was dark. Only the large room Vinya had used was faintly lit.

‘Well, I suppose the larger room is better than the small one.’

Quiel thought absently as he approached the window where the light seeped out.

Or so it seemed.

In truth, everything before that moment was blurry, for what happened next struck him like lightning, scorching him completely.

In the warm glow, Cinq’s golden hair shimmered and swayed. A faint, cat-like sound came from somewhere.

Quiel frowned slightly, feeling a strange itch in his ears.

Cinq seemed to be brushing her hair. Otherwise, it wouldn’t ripple like that.

“Ah… Haa… Ahhh…”

Brushing her hair?

While making sounds like that?

Then another sound interrupted.

“Cinq. Cinq…”

A low, unfamiliar voice.

A man’s voice.

Cinq’s hair began to sway more violently.

“Ahh, oh… this feels… too good… Ahhh!”

“Cinq…!”

A dark hand emerged, gathering her hair into a single grasp. Like pulling back a curtain, it swept her hair aside, revealing everything beneath.

As expected, her body was breathtakingly beautiful, as if it might scorch his sensitive sight.

Her skin was flawless and radiant, like freshly molded cheese. Her shoulders and waist were delicate, and the curve of her hips meeting the straight line of her back resembled the graceful shape of a lute.

The dark hand firmly gripped her pale hips. Its owner thrust upward forcefully, lifting her body. Cinq let out a piercing cry, her voice reaching dizzying heights.

Her body trembled and bloomed like a grand flower in full bloom, swaying with abandon.

“Ahhh!”

Cinq sobbed, her entire body quivering.

Completely forgetting him, lost in the throes of ecstasy. Enveloped in a joy that had nothing to do with him.

She had entirely erased the miraculous moment they had shared beneath the sunset, when they had seen each other’s true selves. Now, intoxicated by carnal pleasure, she blossomed like a layered flower drinking deeply from its stem, blooming without him.