Chapter 22

“Are you afraid of lightning, miss?”

“Yes…”

“But what’s even scarier is your father.”

*

022

Compliance (Part 2)

*

“Just read it out loud, one page at a time.”

The voice guiding me on what to do was surprisingly kind. In a way, it wasn’t much different from how Anne usually was.

Pass me the knife, tie the knot here—just ordinary conversations. Honestly, it wasn’t any different now. How hard could it be to read a book out loud?

But the atmosphere behind me, with Anne standing so stiffly, was so strange that I hesitated for a long time.

After waiting long enough without making progress, the candlestick Anne was holding tilted.

Drip.

The melted wax dripped onto the back of my neck. As I tried to struggle and writhe, Anne pressed down on the back of my neck, preventing me from getting up.

At least my mouth was free to scream.

“Ahhh! Wh-what is this…?”

“There, there. Good boy, Louis.”

Like soothing a child, yet with the strength of an adult, Anne pressed me down again. The wax smeared and spread, burning my skin, but my gaze was forcibly directed toward the book.

This sensation was familiar. Holy fire. But whether it was the flame of God or the devil, the essence remained the same—it was unbearably hot for humans.

“Shall we continue reading?”

“…What’s the difference?”

Maybe it was because I had regained some strength from eating. Or perhaps it was because my mind had stabilized with you by my side.

The flame I thought had been extinguished deep within me reignited. Like a kitten held by the scruff of its neck, unable to move, I screamed sharply.

“Huh?”

“What’s the difference, you and that Inquisition Judge!”

Desperately, as I tried to shake off Anne’s grip and stand up.

Bang!

A force incomparable to before pressed me down. With a pressure that felt like my neck might break, my head was slammed onto the table.

It hurts, it hurts. Blood, red as ever, flowed from my forehead, staining the first page of the Scripture spread out before me.

In the beginning, ■ was ■

But more than the physical pain I had grown accustomed to, my heart ached more. Anne, Anne was hurting me.

Not with tools or methods, but with her pure strength. One might argue that it doesn’t matter how the pain is inflicted.

But you, and I, couldn’t think that way.

“Ah.”

A voice neither warm nor cold, sounding surprised, came from above. I could feel the strength slowly draining from the arm that had struck me, but I too lacked the strength to lift my head.

I couldn’t see Anne’s expression, but Anne couldn’t see my face either. In that state, I spat out my words.

“Is this… for my sake too?”

“……”

No answer came.

The sacred book was stained with blood and saliva, but I couldn’t care less. Silence lingered as I couldn’t even think of lifting my head from it.

The blood stopped flowing unnaturally fast, and the pain began to heal. I decided not to dwell on it. This too must be the grace of that great God.

As I kept my forehead pressed down, a trembling voice came down from above.

“No…”

In a tone as if she had broken a cherished bowl.

“I wouldn’t hurt Louis.”

“Then, what was that just now?”

“That… wasn’t Louis just now…”

What nonsense are you spouting? Unable to bear it any longer, I lifted my head again. The wound had stopped bleeding, but the blood that hadn’t been fully wiped away clung stickily and fell.

The book, soaked and ruined with blood, was returning to its original, worn but neat state, as if nothing could defile the glory of God.

Seeing that, a violent impulse surged within me. If I tore that book to shreds, would the Reformatory rewind even the damage to the book as if nothing had happened?

Just as it rewound my pain as if it were nothing?

“Good, it’s Louis now.”

Clearly, the eyes of a frightened girl were visible. But it wasn’t the fear of me being hurt, nor the sadness of being hated by me.

Her gaze, somehow misaligned, couldn’t be fixed no matter how hard I tried.

“You…”

“Read, Louis. Quickly, come on.”

Like a broken machine, Anne urged me again with fragmented words. As if she wouldn’t even bother explaining what had just happened.

The words spat out rapidly were as frantic as a small beast being chased. Bereft of consideration, her grip pressed down on me so hard it hurt, not even allowing me to twitch.

Yet, when I still didn’t turn my gaze to the book, Anne tilted the candlestick again.

In the flickering flame, my distorted reflection shed tears. A drop of hardened wax, carrying heat, flowed down the back of my neck.

“Ugh…”

“I don’t want to hurt you either, Louis.”

Despite the monotonous whisper, her eyes held a strange fervor. When I finally turned my gaze to the book, the tilted candlestick returned to level.

But the lingering pain remained. I wanted to reach out and check how much I was hurt, but held down by Anne, even that was impossible.

Stammering, I began to read the Scripture, still faintly stained with blood.

“In the beginning, there was nothing.”

Once this ‘teaching’ was over, my back would be as smooth as if it had never been burned. At that moment, all the pain I felt would be treated as if it never happened.

The more I read the archaic, tedious phrases in the old book, the more my head spun, and anger surged in my chest. What did I do wrong to deserve this?

Ailim, answer me.

If you are truly a god, if you so love your children!

“In the distant past, Ailim, who felt boredom for the first time…”

Or am I not your child, being oppressed by those you love most? Am I just a finger that won’t hurt if cut off?

But of course, no divine answer came. Not from Ailim, nor from Laube. In the silence of the gods.

“Eternal and infinite… is ultimately meaningless.”

“Good, you’re doing well, Louis.”

Trembling, with the feeling of pulling a worm from my throat, I continued reading the Scripture.

While the shadow of Anne, holding the candlestick, loomed over me like a giant monster.

“Among the beasts of the land, sky, and sea…”

“It’s all for you.”

“Only humans, born closest to Ailim, have the right to rule the world…”

“You don’t have to understand now.”

“Rejoice, for you are the second most noble in the world.”

“I’ll save you.”

The sensation of a feminine body pressing against me, soft and slender yet full, stabbed at me like thorns. Like being embraced by an iron maiden, I was sometimes seized by the urge to feel my body.

To see if it had been pierced and riddled with holes. But you didn’t allow me the freedom to even turn my head.

The only freedom I had was to look away from the Scripture before me.

And even that meager freedom came at an excessive cost.

“Remember why our Lord fell asleep…”

“Yes. One step at a time.”

“You indulgent ones, did you have the freedom you deserved?”

In a world filled with light, brighter than anything, time stained with wax and tears slowly passed.

Even with my eyes closed, the brilliance was so intense it kept me awake, yet in this light, you who enveloped me still spoke only of darkness.

“Moving toward the light.”