Chapter 194

Chapter 194

194: Fragments of the Past // As I descended to the first floor of the brothel, familiar and unfamiliar faces came into view. ‘Sert…?’ Was he still alive? He was one of the gang members who had raped me with Keir in the past. I remember him because he used me quite often. The rest of the gang members… were faces I didn’t recognize. I don’t know all the gang members, and it’s been quite a while, so I guess it’s natural. “Hmm, you’ve arrived.” Sert nodded at me. I feigned an anxious expression and asked him. “…What’s going on?” “Nothing much.” Nothing much, my foot. As if I’d believe that. “Boss Rockard wants to see you. So, I’m taking you to him.” At that name, I felt a sense of foreboding. Rockard. The boss of the Rockard Family, a man who had survived and reigned in Lakers’ underworld for a long time. …Was he still alive? Well, it didn’t seem likely that he, who wielded considerable influence in the underworld, would be purged. The name Rockard Family was still in use, after all. He wasn’t the absolute ruler of the underworld. Because Count Lantaine didn’t want the underworld to be unified, there were several forces similar to the Rockard Family. But it seemed he had succeeded in surviving the purge. A tough cockroach. “Why me…” “I wouldn’t know.” “….” Sert shook his head as if he didn’t know, but his expression was somewhat dubious. Moreover, the other gang members he was leading were looking me up and down with blatant eyes. How should I put it? It was the look of someone eyeing a woman who was about to become prey. “….I understand.” In any case, it was clear that they were going to take me to Keir. I nodded and quietly followed them. // In the narrow stone chamber, a torch was burning quietly.

-Crackle, snap.

The crackling screams of the torch and the remnants of the flames that leaped up with it ended their fleeting lives by landing on the cold stone wall. “….” “….” In the narrow, dark room, two men were facing each other. No, the word ‘facing’ would be wrong. One of the two men was chained, bound, and kneeling. “….” “….” They stared at each other in silence for a while. “…Haa.” Finally, one of the men sighed. The man, sitting on a chair and looking at the bound man, quietly called out the other’s name. “Keir.” “….” “What am I going to do with you?” The man, Rockard, lamented in a rough voice. His languid expression was distorted as if exhausted. With a distorted face, he quietly muttered to himself. “This is an important time.” “….” “I clearly told you to stay quiet.” “….” “But why did you provoke Jin?” Rockard. The godfather of the underworld, who controlled three brothels, including the Black Rose Manor, and over two hundred gang members, asked Keir in a low voice. And Keir barely managed to answer. “…I didn’t kill him.” “…You didn’t?” Rockard didn’t believe it. He couldn’t help but disbelieve it. Keir had gone alone into the underground waterway where Jin’s gang was waiting, and he had come out alone. The gang members who followed found Kud, his genitals mutilated, and his men dead. When Rockard’s gang members confirmed the scene and came back out of the underground waterway, Keir had disappeared somewhere. Only a fool, or even a fool, wouldn’t notice. “How amusing.” “….” “Kud was Jin’s most trusted confidant, like a brother.” “….” “He was quite skilled with a dagger. I heard he was killed with a single blow, and his genitals were mutilated.” All the circumstances pointed to Keir’s betrayal. It might be ambiguous to call it betrayal based solely on that action, but the result was terrible. “Now that his brother is dead, Jin won’t remain silent any longer. Nor should he remain silent.” “…Boss.” Keir struggled to speak, but at that moment, Rockard’s eyes turned cold. “Don’t call me that anymore.” “….” “I know you saved me two years ago.” “….” “We wouldn’t have been safe without your tip. But just because you saved me doesn’t give you the right to kill me.” At Rockard’s cold rebuke, Keir lowered his head. Of course, he could understand this situation. Killing Kud and his men was probably Laila. Like when she killed the four mercenaries outside the gate two years ago, like when she subdued him last night, Laila would have easily killed them with the strange power she had since birth. Of course, she wouldn’t have intended this situation. There was no way Laila, who had been missing for two years, would know about the current underworld. She wouldn’t know about the truce between Jin and Rockard, or Count Lantaine’s business, and she wouldn’t have done it knowingly. This situation was a product of the gears of coincidence. “….” …Then, wasn’t this divine punishment? Wasn’t it divine punishment for treating her like livestock, less than human, and tormenting her to the point of death? Keir thought so. “Keir. You’re a smart guy.” As if foreshadowing that his thought was correct, Rockard’s voice echoed in his ear. “If Jin and I fight, we’ll surely perish together. Even if we survive, Count Lantaine won’t leave us alone.” The Count, the owner of the city, was currently conducting an important business. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that causing a disturbance at this time would endanger the organization. “…Then, who would benefit?” “….” The answer was obvious. The Carrafa Family. They, who had been all but ruined by the purge two years ago, would feast on the corpses of the two beasts. “…Tell me.” “….” “What did Carrafa say to you? What did he promise you that made you betray me?” Rockard’s voice was old, as if tired. Nevertheless, his eyes held a cold rage. Keir couldn’t face that rage. “….It has nothing to do with him.” In the end, Keir had no choice but to confess. A lie he had created about something he hadn’t done. But in Keir’s confused mind, a precise truth couldn’t emerge. “…It has nothing to do with him?” “….” “Hmph.” At the answer of his subordinate, whom he had thought would be loyal forever, Rockard sighed deeply. He stared at the wall of the dungeon with a quiet gaze, and then slowly continued. “…Then, you still harbor resentment towards me.” “….No.” “You hated her. That prostitute who was beautiful yet dirty, vile, and weak. Isn’t that right?” “….” “Isn’t it funny?” Rockard asked with a faint smile. He knew about Keir. And he knew about his childhood friend, the woman who was like a sibling to him. “She spread her legs for anyone. She could have become a star in the beautifully shining night sky, but in the end, she couldn’t overcome her base desires and begged men for affection. Maybe she wanted to be trampled on.” “…That’s…not true.” “It’s not true! You trampled on her too, didn’t you? When did you strangle the woman’s neck as if you were going to kill her with your own hands, only to miss her warmth after losing her? So, you needed someone to take revenge on, didn’t you?” “….” Rockard’s words were wrong. But they weren’t wrong. As he said, Laila had embraced men of her own volition. Even though she had the power to break free from all those bonds, she didn’t. She simply pretended to be a vulgar prostitute and accepted all the humiliations inflicted upon her. “….” Keir couldn’t understand that heart. He couldn’t even guess. So, he wanted to ask. But he had made the wrong choice in front of the returned Laila. The result was this. “Yes, I understand that you still harbor feelings for that woman.” Rockard, who had been muttering to himself, smiled for the first time, as if revealing his emotions. The smile was savage and vile, befitting the king of the underworld. “To be honest…she was a decent woman. I was going to call her a few more times, but she became too dirty, so I stopped.” “…She’s…not that kind of woman.” “Hmph. If that’s what you think.” Keir barely managed to answer, but Rockard didn’t listen to him. He was already losing faith in Keir. In Rockard’s mind, it was only a matter of time before Keir, whom he had thought of as a brother, became a traitor. “….” After a moment of silence, Rockard continued with a low sigh. “I won’t kill you.” “….” “I can’t kill you. Jin will want your head. All the wounds that will be carved into your body belong to him.” But unlike his words that he wouldn’t kill him, Rockard was looking at Keir with angry eyes. “…It’s a shame. If you had two bodies, I could have hacked you to pieces as much as I wanted.” “…Boss…” In the end, he too was a betrayed man. Even if it was a series of misunderstandings, the result was betrayal and ruin. Rockard, who had been betrayed by someone he trusted and would soon be wounded, had no intention of letting Keir go unscathed. “Still, I’ll have to settle for what I have.” He couldn’t kill him. But he had another heart. And that heart would soon be placed before him, torn to shreds. “Boss, what…?” “…There’s no need to say more.” Rockard slowly got up and stuffed a gag into Keir’s mouth. “Mmph!?” It was a gag to prevent him from speaking any further, and at the same time, to prevent him from committing suicide. Looking down at Keir, who was now completely subdued, Rockard quietly said goodbye. “…Enjoy it slowly. If you can’t avoid it, you should at least enjoy it, shouldn’t you?” It was only after some time had passed that Keir understood the meaning of those words. //

-Thud, thud.

As I walked behind Sert, I sighed inwardly. ‘…He’s really being blatant.’ Sert didn’t cover my eyes, nor did he give me any special instructions. But his steps were passing through the Rockard Family’s hideout and heading towards the underground passage built beneath it. “….” I knew a little about Rockard. Like other prostitutes, I had been called to him once. I don’t have any particularly special memories. I just remember it being so-so. I think he liked my blonde hair, but that was it. After being called once, I never saw him or was called again. ….Oh, did I ask him to take good care of Keir during our time together? I don’t remember exactly. Is it because it was a long time ago?

-Thud, thud.

“….” Even as I was thinking, my steps continued to descend. I was getting a little curious. If it was Jess being dragged away now instead of me, what thoughts would she have had as she walked into the underground passage where no one could hear her scream? “….” Of course, I was a little worried too. I didn’t love Keir like Jess did, but I also wanted him to live. After all, he was my friend. If possible, I didn’t want to lose a friend. “….Where are we going?” “We’re almost there.” When I asked as a formality, I got a rather strange answer. I asked where we were going, and he said we were almost there. It wasn’t an accurate answer. “….” A deep desire was seeping into Sert’s face. Was it because he thought that now that we had come this far, I was no different from a fish in his hands? Hmm. It seemed I had to prepare myself to be humiliated.

It wasn’t certain whether I could meet Keir, but it was certain that Sert was about to shove his cock into my hole. …However, only half of my thought was correct. “Here we are.” Sert led me to an underground prison surrounded by cold stone walls. I thought of it as a prison because of the thick barred door.

-Clang.

Beyond that door was Keir. “…Keir?” He wasn’t injured, but chained to the wall, he didn’t look very happy. Bound, Keir reacted to my voice and looked at me. “…Ugh…?” Keir was gagged. Just as I was about to get closer to take a better look,

-Snatch.

Sert’s thick hand grabbed my arm. “…Ah?” He turned around with eyes sticky with lust. Behind him, several men with similar expressions approached. Seeing that, I realized their intentions. “Ah….” …Was this what I wanted? It stings a little. If I were in Laila’s body, I wouldn’t have hesitated, but I’m not Laila now. I’m in Jess’s body, Keir’s lover. “Ugh!!! Ugh!!!” As if confirming my appearance, Keir shouted something with the gag in his mouth. His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins in his neck were bulging, making it hard to watch quietly.

-Smack.

Inevitably, I put a little force into shaking off Sert’s arm. I still don’t want to cause a commotion, but this isn’t much of a commotion. “Kuh!?” There isn’t much time. I shook off Sert’s arm and ran towards Keir. Tap, tap. “That bitch…!” “Shall we catch her?” “…No, leave her alone.” Behind me, I could hear Sert’s angry tone and the men’s gleeful voices. Thanks for letting me go, but it seems the humiliation I’ll suffer will be even worse. Well, I can handle that much. I don’t care what happens. It’ll only take a moment. “Ugh, ugh!!!” “Keir!” I cried out and ran towards Keir, who was trying to break free from his chains, and hugged him. It’s not particularly desperate, but somehow a desperate voice came out. “Oop! Oop!?!” “…Calm down.” I quietly calmed him down with the gag in his mouth. Then I whispered in his ear. “…It’s me, Laila.” In my voice that he would remember. [Author’s Notes] K: Laila! You came to save me! L: No, I got caught too.