PROLOGUE – One Entrapped in the Devil’s Scheme
“Sir Cedric Edelgard, have intercourse with me.”
“…What.”
Cedric barely moved his stiff lips.
That woman is suggesting something so inappropriate right now…
“What did you just say?”
A groan escaped him, like a strangled man. The panic in his voice was a world away from his normally steady voice.
For some reason, the woman facing him, Lillian, was calm.
“I asked you to engage in s*xual relations with me.”
“…”
Cedric’s thick lips parted in disbelief.
On either side of Lillian, sitting on the guest sofa, he could see the consecrated objects.
On the left, is a tapestry with a b*by angel playing.
To the right, a gleaming silver crucifix.
The place where the woman uttered insane nonsense was in an office on the 11th floor of the Toulouse Cathedral.
It was the office of Cedric Edelgard, a m*mber of the sacred Knight of the Silver Cross of the Toulouse Cathedral.
It was no secret that he was about to be officially ordained a priest. But…….
“Do you, by any chance, not know what a s*xual relationship is? I mean no offense, but considering your noble status, Sir Edelgard, it seemed possible.”
The woman who was uttering such remarks had a clear and innocent face. Cedric was dumbfounded and stared at her for a moment.
“S*xual relations involve the physical union between a man and a woman. The er*ect*on of the male g*nitalia is inserted into the moist v*gina of the female and for the purpose of impregnation…”
“Stop!”
It was absurd to hear. And to make matters worse, in broad daylight… What an absurd conversation.
Stunned, Cedric closed and opened his eyes. The silver cross sparkled, announcing its presence in the sunlight.
‘Damn. This is not a dream.’
The woman was still sitting somewhat casually, looking at him.
“What in the world…”
He wiped the corner of his mouth hastily. He was nervous that someone passing by in the corridor might hear this disgraceful conversation.
“Are you drunk?”
There had been a faint smell of alcohol from earlier.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then why are you saying such things to me?”
Cedric lowered his voice, his sturdy upper body leaning forward.
“Why do you come to me out of the blue and talk nonsense like this?”
“It’s not sudden. I clearly told you before.”
Lilian’s innocent eyes stared directly at him.
A mesmerizing, hazy, yet fierce gaze. Cedric was taken aback.
‘Yes, this was the woman…….’
She’d been here before. She had done something similar before. In the middle of a fierce war, she’d said something similar then.
“I said I love you Sir Edelgard.”
“…”
His lips dried. The memories of “that day” resurfaced. Memories that should never be brought up again, memories to be buried forever… the unjust accident.
“I love you.”
“…….”
“I love you so much, Sir Edelgard!”
‘A lie.’
It was obviously the woman’s lie.
“For 17 years, I’ve loved only you! You are my god, my salvation, the only one I want to dedicate my body and soul to…!”
“Please, just shut up.”
The words came out harshly. The woman flinched, but she didn’t withdraw, staring at him as if she couldn’t back down.
“You kissed me! You took my lips! You kissed me like you were responding to my confession of love……! Ugh! Ugh!”
Unable to endure it any longer, Cedric finally covered her mouth with his hands.
“Uh-uh, uh-uh!”
He could feel the tickling movement of her lips against his palm. Cedric sighed.
“I told you to shut up.”
Lillian winced under the piercing stare
It would be impossible to overcome this man’s strength. Not even Lillian, with her divine magic. After all, they had been through hellish battlefields together, and she knew him well.
“…That day, everyone was facing life and death situations. Including me. Everyone was not in their right mind.”
Cedric emphasized the phrase ‘not in their right minds’.
He didn’t want to tell a woman who had been a close comrade, and who apparently liked him, that he was crazy.
“Even if you were a devout follower, could anyone be in their right mind on a battlefield where people’s throats spilled like grains of sand? We spent six years in the midst of bloodshed.”
“Uh uhuh uhuh uhuh uhuh.”
It seemed like he was saying, ‘I wasn’t in my right mind.’
Lillian looked up at him with her characteristically gentle eyes, but it was no use.
In truth, Cedric had considered Lillian a bit of an odd woman even before “that incident” occurred. Her constant, dense gaze towards him… It was definitely not normal.
“Let’s consider today’s events as if they never happened. Also as for that incident.
Cedric unknowingly held his breath.
“That incident” was a sudden accident. At this point, where everything had returned to its perfect place, he never imagined that the incident would come back to haunt him.
Choosing his words carefully, Cedric finally spoke.
“Let’s consider it as an illusion. A phantom caused by the spirits of the battlefield.”
Cedric tried to quietly bury “that incident” as if it had never happened.
“Let’s never speak of it again. I won’t ask you for forgiveness either.”
‘Please, let’s end it here. Please.’
However, Lillian was a much more persistent woman than he had judged.
Bite.
Cedric pulled his hand away angrily at the moist, soft sensation in his palm.
‘That…… crazy woman!’
Lillian’s gaze was dark with resentment as she looked at him in shock.
“It happened just 122 days and seven hours ago in reality. How can you dismiss it as an illusion?”
‘She even counted the days!’
A chill ran down Cedric’s spine. His finely drawn eyebrows furrowed.
“What… what do you want from me?”
“I told you. Intercourse.”
“Ha, please don’t be so explicit…”
“Just for half a year. It’s not like I want you to become my husband or retire and make me your wife. I just want to see you regularly and have intercourse with you. About three times a month? Yes, that should be enough.”
Lilian’s face remained calm as if she were talking about buying bread at the market. It was clear that she had played out this scenario in her head countless times.
Cedric became even more repulsed by this woman.
“Excu…”
“Sorry?”
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m not the crazy one. If anyone is, it’s you, Sir Edelgard, the tempting devil.”
She claimed it had been 17 years.
17 years that she’d been in love with him.
Of course, Cedric didn’t believe her. No, he absolutely couldn’t.
“If you reject my proposal, I will immediately go to find the bishop. I will meticulously recount the kiss that happened 122 days ago, from the moment your lascivious tongue touched my lower lip…”
“Lillian!”
Cedric, with his face turning red, shouted to stop her.
“How can you make such remarks in this holy temple?”
Unlike her usual calm demeanor, Lillian, at this moment, was like a wild horse on the loose.
“In order to become an official priest in this holy temple, one must be pure. However, you have already lost your purity. What will happen if the bishop learns of this fact?”
“What on earth do you want from me?”
“S*x…”
“Forget it. Are you blackmailing me now?”
“Blackmail?!”
Lillian, who had become agitated, hesitated belatedly. Her transparent pupils rolled on the floor.
“I want you to take responsibility for what happened that day.”
‘Ah, that day.’
That day…
Cedric bit his lip at the irreversible reality.
It was the day before his entry into the Citadel. As if a disastrous defeat was promised, death loomed before everyone’s eyes. On the verge of life and death, Lillian had made an unreasonable demand of him.
“Why did you kiss me that day?”
“…You asked me to.”
If he didn’t, she threatened to escape! Whether allies died or not, she would abandon the battlefield and leave!
Even then, Lillian was a priestess. Her sacred magic was a key force for the Silver Cross in determining victory or defeat.
In response to Lillian’s absurd demand, Cedric offered his lips like a lamb to the altar. A sacrifice, or something like that.
“Yes, take responsibility for that.”
“…”
Cedric, having lost his words, looked at her with eyes that turned from confusion to disdain.
‘What is this audacity? ‘
They say that when a man is mad, he sees nothing.
Who would have imagined that Lillian, a priestess famous for her modesty, would come and make such a request in broad daylight?
“If our affair is exposed, not only will you lose your official priesthood, but you will also be dismissed from the knighthood.”
“Ha.”
It was a bluff. Priests went in and out of brothels, openly lusting after drinks and women. The only exceptions were the four officials closely associated with the revered Saint.
However, Cedric Edelgart was not one of those men. Lillian, who had spent six years by his side in the squalor of the battlefield, knew this fact well. That’s why she couldn’t give up.
Her noble warrior.
Her prince, as pure and clean as the snow-covered fields.
“Choose. Whether to be dismissed or to engage in secret intimacy with me several times.”
“…”
“It’s simple. After the promised six months, I will leave the capital and head to Turin. The duration might end even before the six months. You might not have heard of it, as it’s a rather obscure place, but in Tuirin…”
“Lillian.”
Cedric, who had his forehead in his hands, finally lifted his head.
“A wraith has taken possession of your soul, the same wraith that roamed the battlefields.”
“No, I’m just in love! If I’ve done wrong, it’s because love is a sin! If the spark keeps burning, it’s because you’ve continuously fed it, Cedric!”
“Say one more word, and I’ll call for Priest Johann immediately.”
Johann was a renowned exorcist with a high reputation. Known for his brutal methods of exorcism, Priest Johann’s laboratory was just downstairs.
“Are you so averse to having intercourse with me? Am I that kind of woman whom you wouldn’t even want to touch?”
Tears welled up in her eyes, resembling those of a helpless lamb
A sigh escaped Cedric involuntarily. Does this woman even know what she’s saying?
“Am I not pitiful enough, having followed you to the battlefield just for you?”
“Inappropriate.”
With just one word, despair flickered across Lillian’s face. Somewhere in Cedric’s chest, there was a twinge of discomfort
“……I have no doubt of your faithfulness, Lillian.”
“No, in fact, I am not a believer. I have never felt the presence of the Almighty in my heart. There was only you for me.”
Cedric, who had held his breath, finally let out a long sigh. He was troubled.
He needed to be cautious of that innocent face. He had succumbed to her seductive words and distinctive charm once before.
“Lillian. You’re…… you’re too.”
“Crazy?”
“Too innocent.”
Yes. Although she had come to the holy temple in broad daylight and uttered unimaginable mad words, she was quite innocent. Cedric, who had kissed her with his own lips, knew it even better.
Knowing the path and actually walking it are different, Cedric was certain. Even though she pleaded with him for intimacy, she probably doesn’t even know what the act is really like…….
“Absolutely not!”
Thunk. Cedric grabbed her outstretched wrist.
“I will pray for you, Lillian.”
He clasped her hands over the Bible and closed his eyes with purity.
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