City of Sin

Book 3, 10

Ugliness

“But...” Coco was still cowering, not knowing what to say. Richard’s words and icy gaze were still deeply imprinted in her mind, as clear as if it had just been yesterday. It left her scared, terrified. She had no idea what would happen if he discovered her crossing his bottom line.

“Coco! I know what you’re worried about. It’s Richard, isn’t it?!” the youth grew more and more agitated, puffing out his chest, “How does he matter? What’s so good about him? He just has a great father, only a bastard son between Gaton and some random bitch. Why hadn’t we heard of him for ten whole years? His father is a Marquess, so they made some sacrifices to the Eternal Dragon. If not for that, how would he have become a runemaster? He isn’t even a level 10 mage! I can kill someone like him with a single strike! If he’s been on the island for so long, why hasn’t he made a rune in all this time?”

“No, Richard is...” Coco had once been Richard’s assistant, and had some knowledge of magic. While she had no clue about how far Richard had come as a runemaster, he most definitely wasn’t anything like what the youth was saying.

“Come with me!” the youth interrupted emotionally. He didn’t pay any heed to the weak rebuttal, completely immersed in his own thoughts.

The cool night breeze blew through the forest, causing Coco to tremble in the cold. She thought of the consequences of Richard finding out and took a step backwards, speaking quietly, “Erwin, it won’t work. I’m the partner Richard chose. We can’t go against the family!”

“How about this...” Erwin settled for the next best thing, “bear my child, in secret!”

Coco considered it seriously for a moment, but then remembered something else and shook her head, “No. He hasn’t touched me.. If we do that, he’ll definitely notice! How about waiting till—”

Erwin made a sound of understanding, both delighted and shocked as he grabbed her, “He really hasn’t touched you?”

“Yes.” The pressure on her shoulders suddenly increased. Coco had a bad feeling and began to tremble, fear creeping into her gaze.

“Then give yourself to me!” Erwin suddenly pounced over, holding her in his arms!

“No, Richard will kill us!” Coco did all she could to resist, her voice raising an entire octave. However, Erwin only turned a deaf ear as his hands grew more fierce and his breathing urgent. The moment he touched her supple, energetic body, it was as though his entire being was ignited; he no longer cared about the consequences. He wasn’t an Archeron anyway, only a part of a branch family through marriage. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t even a vassal. Now that he had the potential to become a rune knight, he would get a fairly good position in any family.

Coco was merely a level 2 illusionist. Although she was stronger than most girls, that was not a match for Erwin. It took a short struggle for him to press her down on an empty area, her clothing unable to restrict his strong hands.

Hurriedly removing everything in his way, Erwin started panting, “What is Richard anyway? He’s already lost in some random plane, and definitely won’t be coming back! His bones have probably turned to ash already! Who’ll know about what happens between us? His damned father is already trapped by the Mensas too, and won’t be coming back! All the Archerons he bullied have allied in secret, and are preparing to chase his family off the island! You have no idea how many offerings he’s kept in secret. As long as we get them, we’ll be able to perform ceremonies at the Church of the Eternal Dragon. When the time comes, we’ll become legendary beings! Who cares about Gaton?!”

“No! We’ll all die!” Coco’s voice gradually got louder. She did love Erwin, but no matter how weak she was, she was still an Archeron. Someone like her could not handle the consequences of what was happening right now. Both Gaton and Richard gave off a similar feeling. They were taciturn volcanoes; once they erupted, they were unstoppable.

However, Erwin steeled his heart and continued. Coco’s purity had caused many of his worries over the past few days to ease, and he decided to grab this gift from fate...

A few coughs suddenly sounded out from outside the forest, scaring Erwin. The youth jumped up from his position over Coco.

The old steward’s voice sounded from outside, “It’s already so late, who’s inside?”

Coco tried to calm herself, trying her best to make her voice seem normal, “It’s me, Sir, Coco.”

Erwin gave Coco a long look and retreated, silently disappearing into the depths of the forest. For her part she quickly tidied up, steadily walking out of the forest to stand in front of the steward.

“It’s already so late, what are you doing here?” the old man asked sternly. His eyes were focused on her own, not flitting across the telling signs on her clothes.

“Richard... hasn’t been back for a long time. I was worried and couldn’t sleep, so I took a walk,” Coco lowered her head and said softly. In that instant, even she believed these words. Under immense pressure, women always performed better than usual.

The old butler nodded, his expression growing tender, “Have patience, Coco. Master and Young Master aren’t ordinary people. They can make all sorts of miracles happen. Don’t forget— the Archerons are in their place today because of Master Gaton’s work. Besides, you’re an Archeron yourself; you should know full well the repercussions for infuriating them. The rage of the Archerons will burn the blood of generations of our enemies to ashes!”

“I remember,” Coco answered gently.

The old butler nodded, leaving with his hands behind his back. Coco heaved a long sigh, but then she suddenly realised the meaning of his latter words. She broke out in a cold sweat as she took a look around the dark forest, growing increasingly afraid before she ran off while holding her skirt.

Ten days later, another meeting was called in the castle of the floating island.

Gaton had been trapped for half a month, and there had been no news at all. This wasn’t too long, but it wasn’t too short either. It was enough people for certain people with certain intentions to change their minds. They shifted from ‘what’s going to happen when Gaton’s back?’ to ‘so what if he comes back?’. This should have taken much longer, but the temptation of the offerings had sped it up several dozen times.