Something large pressed through a tight entrance. A slow breath escaped her as it slid into her wet depths. Hot kisses were pressed to the corners of her eyes, to her lips. Who could be this devoted to her? That thought was about to be swept away by fierce, driving hips. No. I need to see who it is.

Layla had never sought the god outside of the prescribed prayer hours at the temple. Even now, in the midst of all this chaos and confusion, she did not seek the god. She had never once leaned on the god. As though mocking that very fact, her own voice echoed and rang through the space.

“Give me the strength to break free from the one who leads me into darkness.”

“Give me the eyes of wisdom to discern what is wrong from what is right.”

That was unmistakably her own voice. Being dragged into this dream against her will was infuriating enough, and now not only her body but her voice was being controlled as well. Fury surged up inside her, and Layla cut through the prayer that was forcing its way into her ears and cried out.

“Devin. Are you there? Get me out of here!”

He had said he would come to her room that night, so he might already be there by now. Or perhaps he would hear her desperate voice and come to rescue her. He had been lingering around her all this time, so he was likely nearby. But Layla’s hopes crumbled to nothing as Devin’s answer never came.

“Devin.”

Layla called out to him once more with all the urgency she had. She was thinking frantically, over and over, about how she might escape from the dream.

The ash-grey eyes of the High Priest and the ash-grey eyes of Devin slowly overlapped. Each time a fine feature matched and fell into place, Layla swallowed her breath in bewilderment. Ha. Why did I not see it? It was the moment the High Priest from the scattered fragments of time and the face of Devin she had spent these past few days with joined together like two halves of a whole. Unbelievably, they were the same person.

The Devin she had been with all this time was the High Priest she had married?

It was too absurd to even react to. Perhaps the god noticed she was thinking of someone else, for the god pressed into her mind.

“Sacred Layla, you ought to find your joy within me, where I have permitted you. You are always so busy seeking out others. And you call yourself my servant.”

The god had come to her again. Then someone’s hand touched her thigh and stroked her gently. She could tell at once that it was not the same one who had given her such fierce pleasure moments before. If asked how she could tell, she had no ready explanation, but she simply knew, in a vague and certain way, that it was a different person touching her. At last, the hand caressing her took hold of her chin and made her look at him.

Through Layla’s wide open blue eyes, she saw something shifting. The figure that had appeared blurry and out of focus gradually became more distinct. From the time she had been chosen as a Saint at seven years old and come to live in the temple, she had served the existence of the god in a vague and unquestioning way. A Saint was the god’s servant. But she had never truly believed the god actually existed.

The god was something she could not see, and the object of her resentment for keeping her locked in the temple. Yet here, defying every law of nature, the god was looking directly at her. There were no words to describe this existence. A man of maddening beauty and maddening handsomeness. Why the god was not a person but a god was something she could understand from the sacred energy alone, and from an appearance that defied all explanation.

“So you are startled to see me like this.”

“……”

“I am glad you are not disappointed.”

“……”

“My Layla. There must be something you want most right now. Tell me the sorrow inside you. Plead with me. I will take away your sorrow and your suffering.”

“Are you truly the god? I have not wandered into yet another dream, you truly are the god?”

“What do you think? Am I the god?”

“It will sound foolish, but…… yes.”

“My servant. You please me. You do not disappoint my expectations.”

Ha ha ha, the god laughed with a sound that shook through the body. Layla had to hold her breath against the violent and fierce current that came off him. He radiated a noble and sacred energy, but he was not the god she had imagined. Did multiple gods exist? The god who was rummaging through her mind without permission caught on immediately.

“Yes, in the world of gods, many gods exist. What kind of god am I, do you think?”

“What kind are you?”

“Is it not all right for at least one among the gods to be a little crooked?”

“How can a god, who ought to be the most exalted of all, harbor improper intentions and dwell in a temple?”

“Ha. How presumptuous to try to lecture me. No, no. You must be saying anything that comes to mind because you are confused right now. I suppose I ought to let it pass just this once. That temple only ever drew the same people back and forth. Did you never find it strange? Not a single person was curious about the temple’s existence or tried to learn of it. Was the place you lived in truly a temple?”

A chill shot up from the tips of Layla’s toes and she breathed in sharply. The place she had been living was not a temple? She was exhausted trying to figure out where to believe and where not to. She only wanted to escape this wretched dream.

“My one and only servant, whom I have permitted. You ought to find complete joy within my embrace, which I have permitted. So then. Whatever you ask of me, I will grant. For I alone am the one who protects you.”

Was it true? He stroked her cheek with tenderness and held her gaze with even greater tenderness. Hurry, tell me. He pressed her like that.

“So now you are a god who grants anything?”

“You amuse me. You do not disappoint.”

“I want to see my friends. They must be searching for me desperately.”

“To gain one thing, you must give one thing in return. I will grant your wish, so you must pay me a price.”

“I have nothing. You are a god, so you would know that better than anyone.”

“Yes. No one knows you better than I do. Contrary to what you think, you have a great deal to give me. Will you pay the price?”

She knew she should not believe and follow the words of this one who called himself a god, but she did not want to spend forever trapped in a dream like this. She could tell that without his permission, she would never wake from this dream. No one had to tell her. She knew it by instinct.

Layla felt resentment toward Devin rising for not answering her call, and pressed her closed lips together tightly. He was the High Priest, and he had deceived her. Seeing her memories returning in fragments, she knew she would soon recover all of them. The one she had been with in the indecent dream was Devin, who was also the High Priest. At first, she had not known because his face was hidden, but now she could tell. The one who had sent her friends away to another place was also the one who was both Devin and the High Priest. And yet he had not told her a single word of it.

But the Devin she had spent these past few days with had cared for her. Even in the brief encounters she had with the High Priest, she could feel that he had been considerate of her at every turn. Right now, she was tired of the High Priest, tired of Devin, tired of the god. She only longed for her friends, who would be her comfort. Why had she not recognized her own husband at a glance? Why had she not tried to learn more about Devin, who had been hovering around her? Memory loss aside, Layla closed and opened her eyes at her own foolishness. If she had been just a little more perceptive, there would have been a proper chance to find out, not this hollow way she had come to know it now.

“Layla, say it yourself. What you want.”

Layla bit her lower lip and answered.

“I want to be with my friends.”

The one who called himself a god smiled with satisfaction. A smile spread across the god’s breathtakingly handsome face, leaving its mark like a stamp. The noble and sacred energy was unmistakably strong, yet a chilling presence followed close behind it. When that laughter was heard no more, a different space opened before Layla.

Maris, Nihil, and Salina were running toward her in a desperate rush.

Layla left Devin, who had deceived her, behind and walked into that path.