[TVL] 33 — What Hell Looks Like (M)

Warning: Mature themes of violence and SA ahead. Please skip ahead to Ch. 34 for a censored summary if you cannot handle these themes.> 

So dirty. Don’t touch me. Stop, you’re making me sick. This place is hell.

“...Luciano, please live..”

Who was it that said that? Everything was blurry. He couldn’t even tell if the voice was male or female, old or not. He didn’t even know if that person really existed.　With all the strength he could muster, he managed to squeeze out a single name.

“Mileia.”

But no answer came back. There was a rough whirring sound. It was the sound of walking. Every time he swayed; pain shot through his body. He was on someone’s back when he finally regained clear consciousness. He realised that he was being carried on a back and was distraught with fear of human skin. He felt like he was being raped.　

He came to his senses when he saw a familiar face. Leandro, his subordinate, with his thick eyebrows. And then there was Frian. They must have been in the Rivas region on an investigation. Luciano realised the significance of their presence and had an unpleasant premonition.

“Father, ... what about mother? Where’s Mileia Ugo, Roybal, Adorno, Paco, Pedro, Mariano ... What happened to everyone? What about Armenia? Teges … What about Serrat?”

A breeze blew and his silver hair was washed away. It smelt of soil. This was outside, not the castle.

“What happened to Mileia? I have to help quickly … Frian, let me down. She’s in the library.”

“Don’t Luciano, you can’t go. You are not ready to walk now. Your bones are broken and you’ve been injured badly.”

His vision was obscured because his face was swollen from the beating. He didn’t remember who hit him or when his bones were broken. His memory was fuzzy and lacking.

“Go back to the castle. I have go back. I promised to help. I have to get back soon.”

“We’ll get as close as we can. But, no further.”

Frian and Leandro were wearing black robes. And so was Luciano. The three of them put on their hoods deeply and walked down the road to the castle, hiding themselves. The city was overrun by Teges’ army and was in ruins. Many houses had been burned. The river seemed to be overflowing. The city of Serrat, once known as “ The Land of Flowers,” had disappeared.　

Luciano forgot his breath when he saw the walls of the castle. There was his father. There was his mother. In between them was Mileia, her fluffy golden hair cut short.

She was beaten to a pulp and looked like she was in pain. Her neck slumped down. Her dress had been stripped off and she was completely unclothed, wearing not a single thread. She was only twelve years old. What kind of humiliation was this?　

All of his beloved family members were hanging with their hands tied and bound by ropes. Even if he wanted to help them, he couldn’t go to their side. He was surrounded by Teges’ soldiers, and he couldn’t reach them.　

Tears welled up in his eyes, which he could not control. They flowed endlessly. He tried to push forward and go to them several times, but was blocked by his desperate subordinates.

“Don’t get in my way. I’ll go even if I have to kill you. My father is alive, my mother is alive. Mileia might be alive, too. I have to help soon. ...Father, Mother, Mileia.”

“Luciano. This is what Teges is showing you. That’s what they’re doing to lure you and kill you. Please hold it back. Please bear with it, Luciano.”

Luciano closed his eyes; his face crumpled. His cheeks got even wetter. In his heart, he understood – what action he must take as the prince of Serrat. He could not be divided.

“You are not the only one who’s having a hard time. The castle fell at sunset. Very few survived. The heads of the aristocrats are displayed around the castle. My wife and son too. My father, mother, grandmother... younger brother and sister. The same is true for Leandro’s family. Neither his parents nor his brother are alive. We have to get back at them. We can’t let it finish as it is here.”

He thought he was all-powerful, that there was no one who could stand in front of him. But he was completely wrong. He couldn’t run with broken legs. He couldn’t even hold a sword in his broken hands. He hated himself for being so helpless. He hated himself so much that he wanted to kill himself.

Father, mother, ... Mileia. I’m sorry for being so weak…

He thought it was hell when he was being raped, but it wasn’t.

In his country that had been overrun, in front of his family, he couldn’t do anything. And he was left to watch them die.

From here on out, he was being shown what the dying of living flesh; what decaying looked like. This was the beginning of hell. This was a world where his country and his family had disappeared.

Everyone must perish. Die equally.

//Oh my god, you can feel his pain. To say that being r*ped is not hell, and the helplessness of watching your loved ones die in such a humiliated way. My heart is bleeding 