CHAPTER 7 – Innocence, Corruption (Part 8)

The pain of watching her Cedric vanish was like having her heart ripped out. It was more excruciating than being grazed by an arrow on the battlefield. It hurt more than she could ever imagine. 

How could the pain of separation be worse than being torn by swords and arrows? This pain, like a burning sword piercing her chest, didn’t seem real.

She had never dared to imagine that such a merciless separation could exist…

“Please, please…”

No matter how much she begged, the ice-cold expression on his face didn’t change a bit. There was not even a hint of pity for her as she cried and begged.

This man would never change his mind.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed like he had intended to burn all of his portraits from the beginning.

Realizing that there was nothing she could do to stop it, Lillian closed her eyes. Overwhelmed by a sense of helpless despair, her legs gave out, and she collapsed on the spot. Cedric, kneeling beside her, reached out and touched her face gently.

“Open your eyes, Lillian. Look at me.”

“…”

“You have the real me in front of you.”

But Lillian couldn’t bring herself to stand up. Now that she had lost the treasure she valued more than herself, she felt like nothing more than a soulless corpse.

“Does it hurt?”

He gently lifted Lillian’s chin, tucking her disheveled hair behind her ear as he whispered.

“So do I. It pains me, too, to watch you lose yourself in an illusion when the real thing is right in front of you.”

There was no focus in her clear, bead-like eyes.

She was aware that her unrequited love had grown into something monstrous and had taken a wrong turn. She had even plotted to secretly conceive his child.

Her desire to replace him with a painting was nothing more than a delusion born out of desperate longing.

However, admitting that the real facade she presented to herself was too difficult to accept and discard from her heart.

However, admitting and excising the truth that had been embedded in her heart for so long was too difficult.

Cedric easily lifted her as she was lost in thought.

Before leaving the underground cellar, he looked around as if to confirm and said,

“Remember this clearly. From now on, everything you love besides me will end up like this.”

The thirty-two portraits were still burning.

“Keep me in your heart for the rest of your life. I’ll fill the void for you.”

The incessantly flickering flames reflected in her empty gray eyes.

***

Cedric slammed the heavy iron door of the storage shut behind him and walked out.

Even though it was late at night, there were servants patrolling the corridors of the mansion. The sight of the woman lying limp like a doll in his arms and the man carrying her somewhere certainly didn’t look normal.

Cedric, however, seemed unconcerned by the gossip directed at them.

Everyone avoided meeting his gaze, fearing his piercing eyes.

With Lillian still in his arms, Cedric headed towards the chapel of the mansion.

Moonlight filtered through the stained glass and settled on the marble floor of the chapel. A statue of Christ, arms outstretched in mercy, looked down on them all from the highest point.

To be honest, the chapel was overly luxurious, but for Lillian, who was emotionally drained, the sacred and peaceful atmosphere, reminiscent of the cathedral, finally allowed her to breathe.

The image of the 16-year-old Cedric, with more than half of his face grotesquely distorted and engulfed in flames in the burning underground cellar, was something Lillian wanted desperately to forget as if it were burned into her eyes.

The burning underground storage room and Cedric, whose face was grotesquely half-gone, reminded Lillian of a scene she desperately wanted to forget.

Perhaps that’s what a part of hell looks like.

If that’s the case, Lillian wanted to avoid falling into that place at all costs.

Thankfully, the chapel exuded a holy atmosphere where anyone could receive forgiveness if they prayed to the Lord.

Finally opening her mouth, Lillian, who had been cradled by Cedric, spoke.

“…Are you going to repent?”

Her voice, cracked and worn from crying, sounded pitiful even to her own ears. Normally, she might have felt embarrassed, but now Lillian was numb to any provocation.

“Together… let’s repent, Cedric…”

The fact that he, a sinner, had to repent made Lillian burst into tears.

Even though he had burned her most precious treasure, Lillian had already forgiven him. No, forgiveness wasn’t even a concept that applied. She couldn’t bring herself to hate Cedric. Even if he had taken her life instead of the painting, it would have been the same.

The intense, poisonous love that had consumed her for so long had elevated Cedric Edelgard to a realm beyond mere humanity in her eyes.

Her past mistakes were completely erased by Cedric. While it felt hollow, like her chest had been pierced, as the painting burned to ashes, that was all there was to it.

Now, she even felt grateful that Cedric had finally put an end to her persistent bad habit.

“But what about you?”

Lillian was prepared to share his punishment. She wanted to free him from the twisted madness that had ensnared him.

“Pray to the Lord for forgiveness. He knows your sacrifice. If you pray… He will forgive you.”

But Cedric, instead of praying at the bench, gently lowered her beneath the statue resembling the Lord.

The coldness of the marble floor enveloped Lillian’s entire body.

“I didn’t come here to pray.”

“Huh…?”

Lillian’s puzzled gaze slowly rose to meet him.

Moonlight cast deep shadows on Cedric’s sculpted face, creating an atmosphere of darkness and light. The beautiful face she knew so well was mostly obscured by shadows, giving the impression of two personalities divided between light and darkness.

“I came here to show you just how low I am.”

A sinister aura emanated from the still green eyes. As Lillian stared at the imposing figure of the shadowed man, Cedric’s large shadow enveloped her body.

“Let us show the Lord, Lillian. That we are one.”

As his hand slipped under the hem of her dress, Lillian finally realized what he was about to do.

Horrified, she instinctively turned over. All she could think was that she had to get out of there at all costs.

“Ah!”

Cedric easily tore apart her dress from behind as she tried to crawl across the floor to escape.

In an instant, his lips descended onto her exposed back. Lillian struggled desperately.

“No! Stop! Please!”

But in spite of her protests, Cedric’s lips moved lower and lower along her spine, as if to bestow a kiss of blessing. It was a gesture so incongruous with the situation and the place that it felt like he was mocking her defiance.

“Don’t do this, this is sacrilege! Doing this before the Lord…”

Suddenly, a hand slipped under her lower abdomen, lifting her hips. Her struggling hands reflexively grasped the ground. In the meantime, her b*ttocks parted, and she felt a hot sensation.

Startled, Lillian shuddered as if struck by lightning.

Cedric, gripping one of her cheeks as if to burst it, buried his head there, moving his tongue.

Though she had never considered herself a devout believer, Lillian had grown up in the church all her life until adulthood.

This was an act that could never be tolerated.

To be on all fours in the holy temple of the Lord, with her b*ttocks exposed…

And to be touched intimately in that sensitive place…

The sensation of his tongue felt like a searing branding iron against her throat. The heat that quickly engulfed her once cold body was overwhelming.

Unable to bear the torture any longer, Lillian desperately reached out with all her strength. She scratched the floor desperately, but her futile struggles were in vain against his firm grip on her b*ttocks.

“Stop it! I said stop!”

As she screamed out, her body was lightly flipped over.

The high ceiling came into view. The ceiling painting depicting the ‘Last Supper’ unfolded before her eyes.

Lillian was completely overwhelmed by the holy picture that filled her vision.

The day when the Lord blessed and sanctified this land. Fifty people filled with the Holy Spirit were raising a cup of abundant love.

All of them, n*ked, were looking down at her, spreading her legs under Cedric. Their sharp gazes felt like needles piercing her body.

With the holy mural praising the Lord before her, here she was, doing this act right now. No, this was absolutely unacceptable…

Overcome with fear, Lillian shook her head.

At the same time, an inexplicable, tingling heat rose from her abdomen.

“No… No, please, no… Ahh!”

As she held her breath in fear, she was pierced straight through.

As the pole-like m*mber filled her inner walls, Lillian involuntarily stopped breathing. Everything about him felt too big and too hot.

“Ugh…”

Even Cedric frowned due to the overwhelming pressure.