Red Riding Hood - Chapter 57
Vinya often grumbled that their business could only properly begin once Cinq received her first customer, yet the priest endlessly delayed buying her. She sneered, saying it was unbelievable how stingy someone so wealthy could be.
But deep down, Cinq was grateful to the priest.
He always called her incomprehensible names like “my sinful purity” or “my chaste harlot” and declared that he would be the one to first remove her red hood.
But it was always just words. He never did more than gently stroke her cheek.
“Haa… haah… huu…”
Cinq gasped for breath as she looked down. The barn’s roof was now much closer. She was confident she could throw the lantern and hit it from here.
Taking a deep breath, she widened her eyes and swung her arm, hurling the lantern toward the barn roof.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a small flame flickered to life.
Cinq stood still for a while, watching as the flames grew.
Thanks to the wind, the fire quickly spread.
In no time, bright red flames engulfed the entire barn roof, licking hungrily at the air as they blazed, creeping down the wooden pillars.
Once the fire grew large enough, Cinq retraced her path, climbing back up the sloped roof. Hugging the surface closely, she carefully stepped on the spots she had descended earlier.
Suddenly, one of the bricks beneath her foot crumbled, causing her leg to slip.
“Ahh…!”
Cinq, crawling on the roof, pressed herself flat against it. Her legs trembled violently, and her knees felt weak.
Then, from above her, a voice cried out.
“Cinq…!”
She trembled as she cautiously raised her head.
Standing atop the pointed roof was the priest, his veil fluttering wildly against the black sky.
It looked almost like translucent wings.
As if irritated by the veil, he pulled it from his head and tossed it away. The veil, or wings, was quickly caught by the wind and flew off toward the dusky horizon.
The priest, his face pale as milk, shouted,
“Good heavens, Cinq! Come up here, come to me!”
Cinq lowered her head, trembling.
She wanted to climb up, but she couldn’t move.
A pale hand suddenly gripped her wrist tightly.
“Cinq.”
It was Quiel.
He had already climbed down to her from the roof’s edge and now stood in front of her, his glistening pink eyes fixed intently on hers.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her gently.
With a grunt, Cinq grabbed his hand and managed to move her legs, crawling upward with difficulty.
Quiel, one hand gripping the topmost brick of the roof, used his other hand to pull her up. He smiled.
“Welcome home, Cinq.”
His words sounded like a casual greeting, as if nothing had changed. Unable to help herself, Cinq smiled back.
She reached out to grab the roof’s top brick and managed a small smile.
Holding her hand tightly, Quiel gazed at her face, his expression filled with overwhelming emotion.
In a trembling voice, he whispered,
“Cinq… There’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you. The truth is, I’ve always…”
But he never finished his sentence.
With a cracking sound, the weathered brick he was holding crumbled like ash, and Quiel lost his balance, sliding downward.
Cinq screamed,
“Priest!”
Her body stretched like a taut rope as she clung with all her strength to the brick in one hand and to Quiel’s hand in the other.
Quiel scrambled to find footing, but the decayed bricks crumbled beneath his weight, scattering like dust.
He looked down. The barn was now a sea of flames, the fire consuming the straw piles and window frames.
Farther away, he saw the wolf knights advancing with torches in hand. Though his masked villagers resisted, they were no match for the king’s soldiers.
Quiel turned his gaze upward again.
“Priest!”
His sinful purity, his chaste lamb, his burning desire, his sweet yearning…
No, none of that mattered.
Cinq.
She was there.
Her golden hair streaming wildly against the darkening sky, catching and reflecting the firelight.
Her eyes remained the same clear blue, eternal and unwavering despite the filth of his desires, his demonic schemes, and the cruel burden she bore.
Those unchanging eyes were fixed solely on him.
“Come up. Please, come to me.”
