Red Riding Hood - Chapter 31
The day before the New Year.
Ylfus’s messenger hawk, Sird, returned.
The hawk, with its yellow beak and golden eyes, perched on Gybi’s saddle, glaring alternately at Ylfus and Cinq with its sharp eyes.
Growling, Ylfus untied the small piece of paper attached to Sird’s leg.
“Sird! Why are you glaring at me like that? Aren’t you even glad I’m alive?”
Sird stretched out one leg for Ylfus but immediately thrust its beak toward his hand in a threatening gesture once the paper was removed.
Cinq, who had never seen a trained hawk before, found Sird fascinating, but the sharp beak and talons made her too scared to approach.
Ylfus embraced her as she watched from a distance and said,
“Hahaha! Cinq, listen to this! Sir Brian’s knights have finally won!”
Cinq now understood somewhat. That meant he had won.
To be precise, he had won, almost died, and still managed to survive.
Smiling shyly, she replied,
“That’s great.”
“Good. I need to write a coded message immediately and send it back with Sird. I’ve been observing the sun’s position over the past few days and have figured out a rough estimate of where we are. The forest is vast, so it might be a bit challenging, but my knights will find this place soon enough.”
The Wolf, who had been smiling brightly, gazed into her eyes and said with certainty,
“Then, Cinq, we’ll leave this place together.”
Cinq looked up at him and smiled.
Even now, her world was so small, and there was still so much she didn’t know.
But it didn’t matter. Even if she admitted her ignorance, Ylfus never considered her foolish. Instead, he would tell her many stories in his kind voice and promised to show her all those things with her own eyes.
Now, she realized that once she overcame fear, excitement awaited her on the other side.
Standing on her tiptoes, Cinq planted a small kiss on his lips. Keeping her lips pressed lightly against his, she whispered,
“Alright. Let’s leave together, Lord Wolf.”
Feeling his breath begin to quicken again, she quickly pulled back.
She went inside, tied a red hood around her head, and grabbed a freshly washed basket.
“I’ll go to the village and buy some food. The pantry is completely empty now.”
At the mention of the village, Ylfus’s face filled with concern.
“Cinq, will you be alright?”
“I’ll be careful.”
She gave him a bright smile to reassure him.
“It’s New Year’s Eve. Everyone’s kind right now. And this is important. Since it’s almost New Year, if I go to the temple, the priest will give me some delicious galette!”
At the mention of galette, Ylfus licked his lips.
“We’ll have galette for dinner tonight, then.”
Cinq beamed and nodded.
“Yes!”
With her basket in hand, she headed toward the village.
The streets were still dull and gray, but perhaps because the New Year was near, no one bothered her.
The milk shop owner, a cow, merely clicked her tongue when Cinq broke two milk bottles but said nothing.
The cabbage vendor even tossed a handful of loose Brussels sprouts into her basket along with her purchase.
Cinq flitted about the gray streets like a red butterfly and then headed to the butcher to buy meat for the Wolf.
Unlike usual, no one was outside the shop. It seemed they had just brought in fresh meat, as a cart was parked in front.
Holding her basket tightly, Cinq peeked into the cart.
Inside, a sheep with fleece as white as clouds lay still.
Headless.
Cinq quickly averted her gaze from the dead lamb, clutching her basket tightly, and entered the shop.
The butcher’s shop was dark. The air was thick with the stench of entrails, and the floor was sticky with the blood and grease of slaughtered animals.
She walked through hanging sausages that swayed like curtains. Somewhere, she could hear voices chuckling and talking.
“The priest is bringing in a new brothel owner!”
“They’re bringing more than one prostitute, too? This should be fun!” someone said.
“What about Cinq? What’s going to happen to that girl?” someone else replied.
“That’s obvious. She’s committed sins too,” came the response.
Cinq spoke up.
“What’s so obvious?”
At that moment, a sharp meat huuk shot out between the hanging sausages, lifting a pile of them. Through the gap, the faces of a Pig and a Cow appeared.
The Pig, holding up the sausages, waddled out with its large, balloon-like belly.
“What’s this, Cinq! When did you come in? Buying more meat? Aren’t you eating too much lately?”
Cinq asked again,
“What sin have I committed?”
The Pig snickered, slapping its jiggling belly.
“Are you gorging yourself now that the nasty old brothel mistress is gone? Keep eating like that, and you’ll end up like me!”
Cinq realized the Pig wouldn’t explain anything to her. Just like everyone else had done to her all this time.
