LADAD Chapter 7

"It seems the sacred maiden has exhausted herself from using her power."

Aaron spoke as soon as Amelia withdrew her hands from the child. Amelia startled and her eyes widened.

"Let's postpone today's prayers until next week."

"Yes."

Louise answered politely with her hands clasped together. Though she was Aaron's cousin in private, within the temple there existed a clear hierarchy.

"Louise, you may go now."

Aaron said with a leisurely smile spreading across his face. Louise departed as well. Amelia turned to look at the woman with a forlorn expression, but the woman who had been overcome with gratitude that her child could receive divine blessing and healing had already taken her leave.

"I shall escort you."

Aaron spoke gently as he gazed down at Amelia, whose face bore the desperate look of a mouse driven into a corner. Yet beneath his words lay an unmistakably forceful undertone.

"......"

'He certainly won't let me be.' The moment that thought crossed her mind, her fingertips began to tremble of their own accord.

"Shall I carry you?"

It was when she couldn't bring herself to take a step. Aaron spoke in what seemed like a worried voice. His mouth was certainly smiling, but his eyes weren't smiling at all.

"N-no."

"......"

"I'll walk on my own."

Amelia declined Aaron's offer. Above all else, she had no wish to be carried in his embrace. The very thought of her skin touching Aaron's was abhorrent to her. And so, trembling though she was, she had no choice but to follow in his wake on her own two feet.

"The sacred maiden seems ignorant of how to cherish her own body."

Aaron, walking ahead, spoke quietly. Amelia couldn't offer any response and only moistened her lips with her tongue.

"You are no different from a pillar of Escliffe."

A body that must not be injured, hurt, or die. Amelia was a body that must never be used carelessly.

"Even if you don't die, that doesn't mean you don't feel pain."

The child had merely seemed to have a fever, which was fortunate, but what if it had been a child with an infectious disease? There was no way Amelia, who had been hidden and raised in the depths of the temple, would have any immunity to plague. The moment she collapsed without preparation, they would all be screwed.

"P-please stop..."

It was just as she was about to order him to go back. Knowing there were no watching eyes, Aaron grabbed Amelia's wrist and pulled her along.

"You didn't think this would just pass by, did you?"

Amelia fluttered like a piece of paper as she was dragged by him. Once Aaron had made up his mind to do this, Amelia had no choice.

"I-I don't want to."

At the entrance to the stairs leading underground, Amelia stiffened her body in resistance.

"If you didn't want to come here, you should have listened."

Did they know their master had come? Bark, bark. Loud barking sounds echoed up from the basement. At the same time, Amelia's face turned ashen. Not missing the moment her strength drained away, Aaron hoisted Amelia over his shoulder and began descending the stairs.

"I don't want to!"

She tried struggling with her body, but the effect was minimal. Aaron reached the basement without being shaken. The dogs caged behind iron bars spotted Aaron and wagged their tails. With short fur gleaming sleekly and lean, muscular bodies, the dogs looked more accustomed to hunting than to guard duty.

"Over there, you did wrong."

Amelia hastily apologized. Dogs were terrifying.

"I was wrong. I won't, I won't ever do it again..."

But Aaron didn't stop. The belated apology spat out in terror after acting arrogantly had no effect.

"Get in."

Aaron opened the locked iron cage with a key. As soon as the gap appeared with a click, the dogs immediately tried to push their bodies through.

"Please. I won't do it again."

Though Amelia apologized several times, Aaron didn't hesitate to lower her frail body to the floor. Then he pushed her into the cage.

"Why are you so slow to learn?"

Aaron muttered with what seemed like regret and locked the door again from the outside. Three dogs drew near and began sniffing from Amelia's feet to her legs. As if determining whether she was prey or not.

"D-don't come close."

Amelia backed away in terror.

"Ah!"

As she kept backing away, her ankle got caught on a chain stretched across the floor. In that moment, the chain that had been worn sharp by the dogs' teeth and claws grazed Amelia's ankle. Along with a sharp sting came the faint scent of blood.

"Ah, ah..."

Just then, the dogs' eyes gleamed as if they had caught the smell of prey. Particularly, the eyes of the one with a large scar running across its face flashed menacingly.

"Bring her here."

The beast from her memories let drool fall as it opened its jaws. Her consciousness went blank.

The day the twin sisters died, Amelia's mother lost her mind. She moved when told to, but that was all. She never acted of her own will. Naturally, there was never any spark in her already dead eyes.

"Now's our chance."

Amelia was used to lifeless eyes as well. But the winter Amelia turned ten was a little different.

"M-mother?"

Where the strength came from in that frail body, her mother clasped Amelia's shoulders with both hands as she lay in bed and spoke. These were the first vital eyes she had seen in seven years.

"Let's leave now."

She didn't know how the opportunity had come about. But her mother, as if she had been waiting for this day alone, threw a hood over Amelia's head and pulled her along.

"If you stay here, you'll die too."

Not you, not you. The mother who desperately wanted to protect her child muttered like that.

"Where are we going?"

"You have to get out of here first. Get out of here and..."

Her mother, who had been moving forward while muttering as if this were her sole purpose in life, came to a halt. A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway.

"......"

One person, three beasts. The threat conveyed through growling sounds was clear.

"What dangerous thing are you two doing at this late hour?"

Moonlight fell. The face of sixteen-year-old Aaron, approaching young adulthood, was revealed. Aaron's palm stroked the head of the beast beside him.

"You should know that movement is not permitted. Go back."

At Aaron's words, her mother gripped Amelia's shoulder with shaking hands.

"Do you see those bushes? Run there. Behind them there's a hole big enough for you to fit through."

"What about you, Mother?"

"I can't come with you. You can manage well on your own, can't you?"

And she whispered just loud enough for Amelia to hear.

"No matter what, just run. Understood?"

Amelia nodded vacantly. Then her mother spun around and started running wildly. When Aaron let go of the chains restraining the dogs, the hunting hounds began pursuing her mother.

"Ah..."

Amelia, who had been standing there stunned, belatedly snapped to her senses. Following her mother's plea, she began running toward the western bushes.

"Bring her here."

In that moment, Aaron released the final leash he held in his hand. Taking this as its cue, the dog began chasing after the fleeing child. It was the dog with the large scar slashed across its face.

"Stay back, stay back!"

Amelia cried out as she ran toward the bushes. No human would welcome a beast larger than their own body drawing near. Especially when it was clear that what the beast carried was hostility.

"Aaaaah!"

Before she could even reach the bushes, her body was crushed under the beast that leaped from behind. Amelia thrashed about in terror. The moment the beast's drool dropped onto the nape of her neck was pure terror.

"Uh, uh, uaaaah...!"

Her scream couldn't even form properly. The dog Aaron had trained and set loose followed its instruction, biting Amelia's shoulder and dragging her. Each time she struggled, the teeth sank deeper. It felt as though her bitten shoulder might be torn away. Her body went nearly numb from pain and fear.

"Mother and daughter alike are truly foolish."

The dog that had arrived before Aaron released Amelia's shoulder like spitting it out. Aaron briefly clicked his tongue as he looked down at Amelia, who was foaming at the mouth and trembling. Then he grabbed the collar of Amelia's clothing and dragged her. Unable to even consider moving her injured arm, Amelia was simply pulled along. Her legs showing beneath her skirt turned red and swollen from scraping against the piled snow. Blood from her arm wound dotted every spot they passed.

"Don't!"

Her mother, who had been dragged there first by her hair, screamed upon seeing her young child being hauled by Aaron's hand.

"You could have just pretended not to see. You could have sent this child away..."

Fearing her child might die, she frantically pulled her close and wept pitifully. Even faced with the sobbing woman's resentment, Aaron showed no expression.

"Someone heard the screams. Someone saw this! You can't hide the secret forever!"

At some point, Amelia's mother shrieked spitefully. As if hoping someone would hear and come running.

"Anyone who witnesses this scene dies."

"......"

"And those who heard your screams as well."

Aaron sneered at that hope. The dogs snarled as they swept the area and pricked their ears. From where the cries of "Aaaah" echoed came a desolate wind. Carrying the stench of blood.

"That child is your future."

"......"

"Because you bore her."

Aaron said this, then gently petted the head of the dog that wagged its tail with blood on its muzzle, as if seeking praise.

"Because I bore her..."

Her mother, who had been stroking Amelia's head over and over, let out a sigh. Amelia gazed at the moonlight flickering beyond her mother's shoulder.

"We've become lower than dogs."

A night when hope vanished. Snow piled on her frail mother's shoulders, and wisps of black hair scattered in the bitter wind.

In God's name, hell was hauntingly beautiful.