Chapter 386: The Woman Everyone Desires
The shy moon hid behind the clouds, its faint light streaming through the window and casting a glow over the two figures.
Roy held Carmilla in his arms.
After Roy's bold inquiry, Carmilla hadn't refused—nor did she know how to. She already harbored a faint affection and admiration for Roy, and as the emotions of her represented sin surged, that affection and admiration expanded infinitely. Stirred by Roy's audacious words, she found herself inexplicably deceived.
It had to be said that as an Archbishop, Carmilla's innate talents were extraordinarily potent, leaving even Roy in awe.
After resting for a while, sensing the girl in his arms had regained some strength, Roy spoke softly: "...Tell me about your past, Carmilla. I want to know it."
Roy knew little of Carmilla's past—only the instincts and truths of the "Lust Archbishop." Though this "act first, ask later" approach might have shamed or angered another woman, Carmilla clearly didn't mind.
Like a drowsy cat, she narrowed her eyes, shifting slightly to nestle more comfortably in Roy's embrace before murmuring timidly: "...W-what would you like to hear?"
Carmilla was still as timid and shy as ever, easily stirring a man's protective instincts.
"Were you born a Witch?"
Roy asked curiously, his interest piqued by the origins of Witches.
"Yes, I've been a Witch since birth, though I didn't know it when I was little."
Carmilla buried her head against Roy's chest, whispering softly with warm breaths.
Tickled by the fragrant exhalations of the Witch, Roy suppressed the flutter in his heart and continued, "...I'd like to hear about your childhood."
At his words, Carmilla fell silent in his arms.
"Not willing? If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."
Roy wasn't a man devoid of sensibility; he wouldn't force a woman who had just been intimate with him.
Carmilla started slightly and flustered, "...N-no, it's not that I'm unwilling. I was just thinking about how to say it... The fact that you want to know about my past, that you want to understand me, makes me... very happy."
Carmilla pressed her lips together as she spoke. No one had ever wanted to know what had happened to 'Carmilla' before. Not even other Witches had asked what Carmilla had been like in the past. Roy's words filled her with gratitude because finally, someone truly wanted to understand her—to know what had happened to the Witch named 'Carmilla.'
Roy gently stroked her back, calming her agitated body. He said nothing, quietly waiting for Carmilla to begin.
In a voice soft, delicate, and timid, Carmilla unfolded her past and her heart before Roy, revealing a long-hidden picture.
It was a story that seemed simple yet was terrifying in its implications.
The woman was born in an ordinary village, the countryside of a small, poor, and backward nation. She was a typical village girl, nothing more.
Her parents loved her, her brothers loved her, and she loved her family—or so she had once believed.
Because it was the impoverished countryside of a small nation, her family had arranged a fiancé for her early on. Like all village girls, she was meant to live out a plain, hard life in a forgotten corner of the world.
But this ordinary life was shattered.
A man of great power passed through that remote village. Normally, a village girl like her would never have caught the eye of such a ruler, but inexplicably, the man fell in love with her at first sight.
To possess her, the ruler resorted to trickery and force, staging a scene of abducting a virtuous woman. In the backward, isolated corners of that small nation, such acts were usually beyond resistance.
But fate had other plans. The girl's family loved her, her fiancé loved her, her brothers loved her, and so did everyone in the village.
Then, the small village rose in rebellion. The flames of war spread from the village to nearby towns. Everyone who saw the woman fell in love with her—some joined the rebel army to protect her, others joined the ruler's forces to claim her. The war engulfed the entire nation until the ruler's opulent palace was reduced to ashes by fire.
Everyone thought this war had ended, but no one expected that as more and more people—men and women, young and old—fell in love with a certain woman, they would throw themselves into the flames like moths drawn to fire.
The war raged on, no longer just a conflict between small nations. Surrounding countries were dragged into the fray, and the chaos even spilled over to the borders of the Vollachian Empire.
The woman's name and legend spread far and wide. Those who had seen her were driven to madness and obsession, while those who hadn't described her as a celestial fairy.
Yet the war waged for her sake brought her no pride. On the contrary, the battlefield nearly crushed her completely.
"I'm just a village girl. Whether they call me a heavenly fairy or a beauty that topples nations—what does any of that have to do with me? I'm just an ordinary village girl. I don't have that kind of worth."
Destroyed nations, plundered cities, burning metropolises, the remains of the dead, brutal slaughter—the war of blood and fire unfolded before her eyes. She was afraid. She was terrified.
Her fiancé knelt atop a mountain of bones to propose to her, but his face—once that of a simple farmer—was now twisted beyond recognition. Countless soldiers knelt before her, declaring their love. Her parents and siblings knelt before her, begging her to accept their affection once more.
Everyone in her presence forgot how to think, how to breathe—consumed only by the ambition to possess her love.
At that moment, the woman finally realized that no one had ever truly loved her. The love she thought she had from her parents, her siblings, her fiancé—it was all an illusion. From the moment she was born, her parents, her brothers and sisters, her betrothed, the villagers in that desolate hamlet—none of them had ever loved her. What they loved was merely the beautiful fantasy in their own hearts.
At that moment, the woman was exhausted. She finally decided to give up.
No one had ever loved her. No one had ever truly seen her. No one had ever understood her. She had been living in "Carmilla's world" all along.
She abandoned her family, abandoned her fiancé, abandoned the soldiers who waged war for her, and fled alone.
Everywhere she went, those who saw her fell in love with her all over again. Each person fought desperately to possess her, annihilating all rivals in their path. The lands she passed through were left in ruins, littered with corpses.
Until one day, the woman met another woman with white hair, who called herself the "Witch of Greed, Echidna." She was the first person the woman had ever encountered who didn't fall madly in love with her at first sight. And this "Witch of Greed" extended an invitation—would she like to live in her castle?
The woman agreed without hesitation. At last, she could breathe. She could live like a human being, not trapped in that terrifying, false world.
This woman was none other than the Witch of Lust, Carmilla—the woman who had sparked countless wars, the woman the entire world desired. Her name as a Witch was feared by all.
She had no love. She endlessly pursued lost love, yet endlessly welcomed love that brought destruction.
"It's all in the past, Carmilla! Now, you are loved—loved by the Witches, and by... me!"
Roy didn't know if his words were a lie. All he knew was that after uttering them, Carmilla descended into complete madness, utterly consumed by lust.