CH 92

Red Light District of Withya, where the lights shone brightly and it looked as clean as any other tourist attraction. A place prepared for priests, where they secretly visit young and beautiful women. 

However, there was a completely different landscape in the back alley. Insects were buzzing on the dirty streets, and the women peering out of the windows had wrinkles on their faces. The prostitutes, whose demand decreased due to their age, lived here in the back alleys and sold their bodies. 

The main customers now were the merchants, no longer the priests, and because of that, the streets were dirty and gloomy like ordinary prostitute towns. Melibea was the thinnest prostitute in the alley. 

Unlike other prostitutes who die from illness or ailment within ten years, she had been selling her body here in Withya for thirty years. So there were few men she hadn't met and few men who didn't know her. But the man she met today was the most impressive person in her life.

"Melibea, there's a guest."

"I told you I wouldn't accept anyone today."

"That's..."

Melibea, sitting with crossed legs and smoking a cigar, nervously looked back. The tall man had already entered her living room.

"Where..."

Melibea, trying to shout, "Where are you?" soon fell silent. Before her, there were darkly sunken golden eyes under hair illuminated by the moon. 

The sharp gaze and the shine of his lips were characteristic of the noble priests she had seen before, and his face was dazzlingly beautiful. And she knew that face. When she was young, it was the face of a person she had been jealous of.

"Claudia?"

Melibea shook her head because it was absurd despite what he said. He looked terribly like Claudia, but he was a man and had a different hair color. Besides, the dead cannot come back to life. A silver-haired young man resembling Claudia. 

When she thought about it for a moment, the memory of a child's face appeared blurry in her mind. He resembled his mother and seemed unfortunate. He was Claudia's son.

"Are you Doha?"

"I came to hear the story of my mother."

Doha spat out his business with an expressionless face. His cold eyes fixed on Melibea, but she, who focused only on the vivid images of the past, laughed fearlessly.

"Hahaha! I used to be so arrogant as to ask for a piece of bread. Why would I...?"

"Tell me, when, how, why. Who killed her."

Doha interrupted Melibea and left a wad of money on the table. It was an amount she had never had before. She checked the money and quickly took it into her hands, so that no one else would see it. Fortunately, her colleague had stepped away for a moment. She laughed like a madwoman at the idea of being able to keep the money for herself.

"Doha, you crawled and cried because you didn't want to leave. Did you succeed?"

"Don't say useless things. Answer me. If you don't want to lose the money."

"Sure, sure. Of course, Claudia is..."

Doha clenched his fist at the relaxed voice. Like preparing for an unexpected blow, he clenched his teeth tightly. However, that alone was not enough to bear the truth.

"She died less than a month after they took you away. It was because of you."

"... What?"

Melibea's finger pointed at Doha. To him, her finger was like a sharp knife.

"Whenever I saw a priest, I begged him so much to be able to see you. That's what caused the temple's anger. Finally, a knight who looked quite tall came and slit her throat."

"You begged him to let you see me? Why? Did a priest kill my mother?"

He felt as if a bomb had exploded in his head. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but it was difficult for any of them to come out of his mouth. He could barely utter a word, feeling dazed.

"...Why?"

"Why did you sell me, betray me, and then beg to see me again?" Doha wondered to himself. He was more curious about that than why she died. Melibea, who managed to understand the question, smiled.

"Because the temple promised to raise you in a good environment. That's why I let you go. On the condition that I could see you often."

"What was the temple's reason?"

"Of course, because your father was a priest, he had a fairly high rank."

Claudia called him a lover, not a guest. Melibea added, murmuring.

Doha's arms began to tremble at that moment. His mother hadn't abandoned him. It wasn't a betrayal. It wasn't a lie when she said she loved him. But all this truth didn't come to light until long after her death. Soon after entering the temple, he remembered having a terrible premonition for days. He didn't know why back then, but it was probably the day his mother died. A suffocating shock soon struck Doha. He no longer had the energy to hold up his body. But Melibea didn't stop talking.

"I suppose the temple didn't want to fulfill their promise. Claudia, who was begging to see her son and lover, had her throat quickly cut. That person with gray hair and red eyes."

Gray hair and red eyes. Only one of the high-ranking priests Doha knew had that appearance.

"You're no different from your mother. You're acting like a fool in a pathetic love story."

It must have been true because he acted as if he had known his mother.

"The High Priest, Gibralfaro," Doha whispered softly, his yellow eyes gleaming terribly in the darkness. He looked like a growling beast.

Doha's neck was flushed with blood, and his eyes trembled with rage. She was the woman he loved most until he met Lariette. That's why he had blamed her his whole life. There was no reason to be angry at the person he had lost due to a misunderstanding.

"Who is that? Is he a priest you worship?"

"I suppose the money in his pocket has covered all his expenses. Look on the bright side."

"Aren't you volunteering today?"

Melibea's colleagues approached and mocked Doha with her. It seemed they saw him as the boy still on the street begging for bread. His bloodshot eyes stared at the women who were busy laughing, unaware. He wanted to shut their noisy mouths immediately and break their necks. But as soon as he approached, the image of his dead mother appeared in his head. The image of Gibralfaro, who killed a defenseless woman, was also included. If he killed them now, nothing would change. Doha clenched his teeth and turned around without saying a word. Then, leaving behind the haunting laughter, he left the rundown house. Doha stood tall with his head bowed in front of the door. Through the thin wooden door, the voices of women could still be heard.

"I haven't seen him in a while. How much does he resemble Claudia? How unfortunate."

"Claudia said she was favored by a nobleman, and she pretended to be special because of that. In the end, she and her son are the same, ha-ha!"

"Yes, a high-ranking lover would come to pick her up. Pathetic bitch, she deserved to die."

Doha's body twisted. A thick, dark energy spread around him. Let it go. Let's go back to Rie. Doha tried to make a decision, but what he heard next halted his steps.

"What you said about the priest, was it your sister, right? No matter how many times she asked about her son, they weren't supposed to send him from the capital, right?"

"What do you mean? I just told you. I'm afraid our valuable clients will be honored."

"Hahaha! How audacious!"

The bowed head slowly lifted. There was no trace of guilt left on his expressionless face. Doha turned and slowly opened the door. Then, without hesitation, he entered the house.

"What! Why are you listening to us...? Nooo!!"

"Ahhh!"

And what followed was a massacre. Blood splattered over and over again. Soon, the blood pooled on the floor and flowed like a river, leaving traces of bright red handprints on the windows. The dying woman stared at the open door, but her neck snapped before she could attempt to escape. Unable to make sounds to scream. Doha, stained with the blood of the prostitute, let out a deep sigh as he gazed at the horrifying scene with an expressionless face. He slowly wiped away the blood drops flowing over his eyes. His vision was blurry because he had been splattered with too much blood.

Tinkle!<

The sudden sound made him slowly turn his head. There was someone standing by the open door.

"Perhaps it was time to rip the hair off the second woman."

Doha laughed and recalled the moment he first felt the signal. He felt it, but he was so angry that he couldn't stop the killing. There was something rolling into his view. It was a blood-stained pendant. The one he ripped off Asrahan's neck.

"I told you to stay in the lodging, my lady," he said, looking tenderly through his coat. Doha looked at Lariette with a smile. It was such a vain and comforting smile, filled with complex emotions. Lariette trembled pitifully. Her whole body trembled like a tree, but her purple eyes stared fixedly at Doha. They were the eyes he loved, but this time he wanted to avoid them.

"Is it a misunderstanding?" Lariette asked with trembling lips.

"I... have... Misunderstood?"

It was a question that seemed to seek an answer. If it wasn't a misunderstanding, if Doha really did something to Asrahan, if he attacked Asrahan as if he had massacred these women without hesitation. If that were the case, then she would feel guilt for Asrahan's sake and betrayal by Doha. Doha simply let out a smile, his eyes narrowing lovingly.

"Do you expect to be wrong?"

The mask that Doha had been wearing for many years began to crack slowly. He walked painfully towards Lariette, bleeding.

"Doha."

"Yes, Rie."

Doha smiled again, responding kindly. Lariette's skin crawled.

"Doha, we, we..."

Lariette gasped. Doha, who was getting closer to her, was afraid of his first friend. His red eyes soon moistened. The voice that followed was desperate.

"We are friends."

It can't be like this. There's no way that you, my friend, attacked the person I love. Lariette wanted to beg him to tell her that all of this was a lie. Doha approached without responding. Then, he firmly held her face when she was about to take a step back and wiped her tears with his thumb. Lariette shivered, tightly closed her eyes, and opened them when she felt the rough touch. Doha's face had come too close without her realizing it.

Clap!<

At that moment, Lariette's palm struck Doha's face. His face turned to the side due to the maximum effort she put into the blow. A bright red handprint remained on his cheek, and his lips burst, causing blood to flow. However, his expressions remained beautiful.

"What is this...?"

"Not even for a moment."

Doha's low voice interrupted Lariette's screams. Numerous emotions flickered within his golden eyes that were watching her.

"I have never considered you a friend, Rie."

Doha laughed as if crying. Lariette simply opened her mouth without understanding and couldn't say anything. It seemed like time had stopped. She couldn't make any sound or move her body. Her head was so dizzy that it felt like the world was spinning. And soon, a statement that seemed like a confession followed.

"I bribed the knights of Candel to capture any woman with pink hair and spread rumors in the capital."

The violet eyes gradually tinged with surprise. Doha looked through her eyes and continued confessing his sins.

"It is a lie that the Duke of Candel is trying to kill you. Rather, I tried to kill him. Unfortunately, I failed."

"You...!"

Lariette, who had stiffened, approached with a light in her eyes and gripped him by the collar when she heard that Doha had tried to kill Asrahan. At that moment, she finally reacted to his words. Doha continued, indifferently observing the slender fingers on his neck.

"I discarded the letter you gave me. And I only sent him a headdress; it should have been a sufficient message to Duke Candel."

"You... How could you...!"

The once sweet and charming purple eyes now held nothing but resentment and reproach. Doha briefly lamented the idea that he would never see her soft gaze and hear her sweet voice again. However, he had no intention of letting go of Lariette.

"You promised."

Doha's hands removed Lariette's hands, which were gripping his neck, and held them. His crazed eyes shone fiercely. The devil's whispering voice sounded in his ears.

"You said you wouldn't leave me."

Lariette trembled under the strong grip of his hands. It was terrifying, Doha's shining eyes were looking at her amidst the decapitated bodies. She felt so sad and scared of her friend who had suddenly changed. But what was even more terrifying was not correcting the misunderstanding. She couldn't stay like this, knowing that she had severely hurt Asrahan.

"That was when you were my friend."

Lariette's mana surged like a giant wave and forcefully pushed Doha's body. In an instant, a shield formed around her. It was a magic similar to Bluff's. Suddenly, she carefully expelled her mana from the tips of all her fingers.

"Now you're not anymore."

She could aim at Doha's neck at any moment.