Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was brought back to the West Tower.

That was the place Saint Mercy Academy specifically used to house tainted witnesses.

They called it housing, but it was actually house arrest.

There were guards outside the door.

There were iron bars outside the window.

Inside the room was a bed, a chair, and a Blank Confession Book.

And Lian.

He had come in before the guards.

He closed the door and took off his white gloves, his movements as slow as if he were opening an old letter.

I stood by the window.

The iron chains on my wrists had been removed, but a ring of red marks still lingered on my skin.

“Are you satisfied?” I asked.

Lian placed his gloves on the table.

“Not entirely.”

“Did I not cooperate well enough just now?”

“You smiled too early.”

I turned to look at him.

His tone was calm, as if he were correcting a breach of etiquette.

“They will think you feel you have nothing to fear.”

“I never had the right to fear in the first place,” I said. “You all used it up three years ago.”

Lian fell silent for a moment.

He approached me.

I did not step back.

Stepping back would make it seem like I was afraid of him.

I had already hidden my fear of him for three years.

Hidden it with great difficulty.

He stopped one step away from me.

“Starting today, you cannot see anyone alone,” he said.

“Does that include you?”

“It does not include me.”

“Of course.” I smiled. “The lapdogs of God have privileges.”

He looked at me.

I thought he would be angry.

But he merely said, “You used to insult me much worse.”

My smile froze.

Used to.

The worst phrase between us was “used to.”

Three years ago, I was not yet a perjurer.

Nor was Lian a Saint Candidate.

He was the youngest Deacon in the seminary.

I was copying forbidden books in the library.

The first time he caught me, he didn’t report me.

He took the book away and returned it to me the next day with a piece of paper slipped inside.

On it was written: *Chapter five is translated incorrectly. Don’t believe it.*

Only later did I find out.

He had already finished reading all those forbidden books long ago.

He had even less faith in the academy than I did.

But in the end, I was the one kicked out of the academy.

He stayed.

Rising higher and higher.

So high that everyone had to look up and call him Saint.

I asked, “Why me?”

Lian said, “Because only you can make them believe that the judgment was wrong.”

“No,” I said. “They will only believe that I am wicked.”

“Then let them believe that first.”

His voice held no ripples of emotion.

Yet my chest felt as if it had been slashed open by something.

“You are always like this,” I said. “Whenever you want something, you push others into the mud first.”

Lian lowered his eyes and saw the red marks on my wrists.

He reached out his hand.

I dodged.

His fingertips stopped in midair.

In that instant, I saw a shallow sinking in the depths of his eyes.

Like some kind of pain that shouldn’t be there.

But he quickly withdrew his hand.

“The second interrogation is tomorrow,” he said. “You will be asked about the North Tower Incident from three years ago.”

I asked coldly, “What do you want me to say?”

“Say that you saw the light back then.”

I froze.

“What?”

“Say that you saw Damian summon an evil spirit. Say that you were afraid, so you concealed part of the truth. Say that you came back today because God told you to complete your testimony.”

My hands slowly clenched into fists.

Damian.

Even after three years, that name could still make my stomach turn cold.

“He’s dead,” I said.

Lian said, “I know.”

“Because of my testimony.”

“I know.”

“And also because you didn’t object.”

This time, Lian finally raised his eyes.

I stared at him.

“You stood right there. You knew perfectly well that I was lying.”

He did not deny it.

He merely said, “I couldn’t save him back then.”

I laughed out loud.

“So now you’re here to save everyone?”

“No.”

He took a step closer.

I was forced to smell the faint, cold fragrance on him.

Temple Incense.

I used to like it.

Now I only find it sickening.

Lian said, “I am here to destroy them.”