The Swindler and the False God - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The room the White Tower gave me was tiny.

A bed, a desk, and a window facing the inner courtyard.

White roses grew beneath the window.

I hated white roses.

They were far too easy for people to use as props for innocence.

A nun brought me a gray dress.

“Lord Saint said a sinful woman is not allowed to wear red before her interrogation.”

I looked down at my soaked red dress.

“What’s he afraid of?”

The nun frowned.

“Lord Saint is not afraid.”

“Then why does he care what I wear?”

That shut her up.

When I changed, I found the dress had a very high collar and very tight cuffs.

Even the White Tower’s clothing felt like shackles.

That night, Xize came to question me.

He stood in the doorway without entering.

“May I come in?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I slowly fastened my cuffs.

“Lord Saint is asking a female swindler that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll say no?”

“You may say no.”

“Then no.”

He nodded.

Then he turned to leave.

I froze for a moment.

“Wait.”

Xize stopped.

I was a little annoyed.

This man didn’t follow the script.

When normal men heard a rejection, they either got angry or pretended to be gentle and came in anyway.

He was actually leaving.

I said, “Come in.”

He looked back.

“Are you sure?”

“Ask again and I won’t be.”

Xize walked into the room and left the door open a crack.

I glanced at it.

“Afraid I’ll eat you?”

“To avoid suspicion.”

“For whose sake?”

“Yours.”

My fingers paused on my cuff.

His voice was too even.

So even I almost failed to catch it.

Xize set a record book on the desk.

“When you forged a miracle in South Market, you used phosphorus powder, fine silver thread, and lenses?”

I arched a brow.

“The Saint knows tricks of deception?”

“A little.”

“Learned them to catch swindlers?”

“Learned them to distinguish miracles.”

I laughed.

“Can you tell the difference?”

“Most of the time.”

“And the rest?”

He looked at me.

“I’m still learning.”

The room was very quiet.

Rain struck the window, and the white roses bent beneath the wind.

A wicked impulse suddenly rose in me.

I stood and walked up to him.

Only the record book lay between us.

Xize did not step back.

I raised my hand and brushed the rain from his shoulder.

The nun’s sleeves were too tight, exposing a stretch of my wrist.

His gaze lowered to it.

“Miya.”

“Mm?”

“Don’t dress a test up as an accident.”

My fingertips stilled on his shoulder.

He raised his hand and, through his white glove, caught my wrist.

His grip was not heavy.

But it would not allow me to move even half an inch closer.

“Do you want me to break my vows?”

I smiled.

“You have vows to break?”

Xize looked at me, his voice dropping slightly.

“I do.”