Chapter 51
Ylfus babbled whatever came to mind, desperately flailing his hands and feet.
But the chains wrapped multiple times around his wrists and ankles were so tightly wound that they merely dug into his skin without showing any signs of loosening.
“How about this?” he said. “If you leave this rotten body and my beloved wife alone, I’ll repay the kindness you’ve shown to a stranger with a ransom. Bring me paper and a quill right now! I’ll write a pledge offering gold equal to the weight of both our bodies as ransom.”
He forced a genial smile.
“My wife is light, but I’m quite heavy, you know?”
At that moment, the door behind them opened, revealing figures wearing a crow mask and a boar mask. They carried a tray bearing sharp knives, iron hooks, tongs, and tools for melting sulfur.
Quiel sneered,
“Ah, your torture instruments have arrived.”
He picked up a sharp knife and an iron hook from the tray held by the crow.
“Black Wolf, what shall we start with?”
Pretending to deliberate for a moment, Quiel set down the iron hook and spoke in a cruel voice,
“Eyes should definitely be last. You need to see what happens to your body.”
Ylfus realized he was facing true danger. The forced smile vanished from his face.
He bared his teeth, glaring fiercely, and said,
“Fine. I was actually a paladin. I’ve prepared myself for a death like this.”
Looking up at Quiel, he continued,
“But not my wife. Not Cinq. She’s done nothing wrong. Promise me you won’t harm her, and then do whatever you want with me.”
Quiel silently stared down at him.
After a moment, Quiel slowly set the knife down.
He gestured to the boar, who had been about to place the tongs in the furnace, to step back. His voice, now calm, said,
“If I act now, I’ll just end up with a corpse hanging on the pyre. I’ll wait until the sky darkens.”
***
When Cinq opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar place.
An elegant canopy of grayish-brown fabric hung above her, and her body was wrapped in a soft silk blanket.
Slowly, she pushed the blanket aside and sat up. She soon realized she was wearing a white lace dress.
Blinking through her dizziness, she glanced around.
She was not alone.
At the foot of her bed sat an angel—entirely white, with beautiful white wings cascading from its back.
The angel slowly turned its head toward her.
“…!”
No, it was no angel. It was the priest wearing a white veil.
The priest spoke in an angry voice,
“Cinq. My tainted lamb, yet still my sinful purity.”
His bloodshot eyes looked even redder than before, as though they might shed tears of blood at any moment.
He continued,
“Let us now speak of your sins.”
Cinq struggled to compose herself and asked,
“Priest, where are we? Where is Ylfus?”
The priest’s voice was filled with torment.
“Cinq, do not utter his name to me. He is the Black Wolf. He will cause rivers of blood to flow and bring death to all!”
“No. His name is Ylfus Gracian.”
Quiel recoiled, as if struck by a lash, his body curling.
“Please, Cinq! Do not utter that wretch’s name in front of me!”
Cinq instinctively realized something terrible had happened to Ylfus.
She knelt, her voice pleading,
“Priest, he is not the Black Wolf. But if you truly believe he is, I will take him away. No one will bleed, and no one will die.”
Quiel groaned in agony, covering his face with his hands.
“No, that cannot happen. I… I must restore everything to its rightful place. Abandon him, Cinq!”
Cinq’s blue eyes trembled.
“No, that’s impossible.”
Her hands, trembling, clenched together as she spoke firmly,
“He called me his beloved bride. He set me free. He taught me what it means to be loved, how fulfilling it is to love someone. We love each other.”
“Cinq, Cinq! Stop!”
“Under the sacred witness of the moon, in solemn air, we consummated our union. We didn’t exchange rings, but we shared the warm blood coursing through our veins.”
“Ah, please!”
Cinq’s voice shook but remained resolute.
“This is love. It isn’t a sin.”
Quiel screamed, his body trembling violently as he clutched his face.
“Cinq, that’s a sin worse than any other. Ahh! Truly, it’s unforgivable by anyone but God!”
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