X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the ServerThe night before, at a wealthy merchant’s mansion on Wisteria Road, the Killer, Jack Cage, lay in a pool of blood. His cloak was stained with gore and grime, resembling a butcher’s apron in a slaughterhouse.
He coughed violently, his wretched gasps sounding as if they would tear his lungs from his chest.
After a full two minutes, he finally began to recover, pushing himself up to spit a mouthful of blood-flecked saliva onto the ground.
‘The pain was unbearable,’ he thought. ‘My organs feel as if they are being constantly roasted over a fire.’
The poison the woman had used on him had nearly claimed his life.
He had barely survived by devouring souls to mitigate the damage, but this method ultimately offered no cure for the toxins.
Driven by an urgent need for more souls, he had, for the first time, taken the audacious step of breaking into a home to kill.
An excessive consumption of souls left him feeling lightheaded, much like the onset of intoxication, making it difficult to think clearly.
A stinging sensation in his shoulder confirmed, even without touching it, that the demonic shell was already expanding there. Over-consuming souls led to a deeper demonization and a stripping away of his rationality.
He could not consume any more souls, nor would it serve any purpose.
After devouring two souls consecutively, he despairingly realized the pain had not lessened. The poison had likely inflicted irreversible damage upon his internal organs.
Enduring the excruciating pain, he turned and burst out of the house. He sprinted through the midnight streets, knowing he had to escape back to his hidden lair before dawn.
Little time remained.
With a sliver of his reason restored, he grasped the gravity of his predicament.
This body, he knew, would likely not last much longer.
The “Tea Party” was actively hunting him, and their pursuers had already discovered his trail.
After his failure to kill the Saintess, the Inquisition would, sooner or later, also uncover his whereabouts.
He realized it would not be long before one of these factors led to his demise in this very city.
Yet, he had no intention of fleeing.
He would not back down. From the moment he decided to inflict bloody vengeance upon the imperial people, he had cast his own life aside.
If he was destined to die, he would at least make a grand gesture before his end.
With this thought, the idea of hunting the Saintess once more stirred within him.
However, after failing once, successfully killing someone would be far more challenging, as his target would undoubtedly be on high alert.
The Saintess, having narrowly escaped death, would most likely go into hiding.
‘I need a plan.’
To find a way to break this stalemate, he began to meticulously search his mind for every piece of information about Jeanne Decker: her daily routine, her movements, the people she associated with. He had, after all, shadowed her for quite some time before attempting the kill.
“’Among those you murdered, there was also a friend of mine,’” he recalled the Saintess shouting at him, the words surfacing unintentionally.
‘Right, perhaps I can use someone she knows to lure her out.’
Almost immediately, an insidious plan began to take shape in the Killer’s mind.
The pain in his body suddenly receded, and a cold sneer twisted the Killer’s lips.
****
That afternoon, at Saint Tower Academy.
Having just finished class, Alice Liddell walked to the main entrance of the teaching building, only to find it crowded with people.
“Why is she here?”
“Huh, that’s odd. This is the outer academy’s elementary school.”
“Is she waiting for someone?”
The murmurs reached Alice Liddell’s ears, stirring a sense of confusion within her. Which outer academy class was this?
‘Wait, isn’t that a famous person standing outside the teaching building?’
“Excuse me, coming through.” She prepared to push through the crowd, heading towards the building’s exterior.
As she emerged from the throng, her eyes immediately landed on Jeanne Decker’s figure standing beneath a tree.
Alice Liddell’s eyes widened instantly.
At the same moment, Jeanne Decker, who had been intently watching the teaching building’s entrance, spotted her and immediately strode over.
Alice Liddell involuntarily froze.
‘Wait? Why? Is Jeanne Decker waiting here for me?’
“Miss Liddell,” Jeanne Decker truly called out to her. “Do you have a moment? Could we step aside and talk?”
A ripple of excited whispers spread among the new students gathered inside the teaching building. Jeanne Decker was a celebrity of the Saint Hall Academy, renowned for her numerous followers.
Almost every freshman present yearned to befriend her.
As a senior student from the Ivory Tower’s inner academy, Jeanne Decker had virtually no interaction with outer academy freshmen on the second day of school.
Yet, this girl had prompted Jeanne Decker to personally seek her out. It seemed they must have known each other previously.
Everyone turned envious gazes towards Alice Liddell.
Alice Liddell, however, paid them no mind. Watching Jeanne Decker’s upright posture, a faint cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
“Would you mind sparing a few minutes, Miss Liddell?” Jeanne Decker asked again.
“Of course, not at all.” Alice Liddell, unable to refuse, could only manage a strained smile as she agreed to follow.
‘Why is Jeanne Decker looking for me directly on the second day?’
‘No way, no way? Is she already starting to suspect me?’
‘There’s no reason! Yesterday, to stop Jeanne Decker, I even abandoned all sense of propriety, breaking through all my limits!’
Jeanne Decker did indeed have a vague impression of having seen that witch somewhere before. After a day, she suddenly realized that Miss Alice Liddell seemed to bear some resemblance to the witch… it wasn’t entirely impossible!
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Alice Liddell’s heart began to pound with anxiety.
Her witch’s premonition, however, seemed to have no reaction.
But this was only natural. After all, she had saved Jeanne Decker’s life yesterday. Even if Jeanne Decker knew her identity, she wouldn’t go so far as to hand her directly over to the Inquisition to be killed.
However, if Jeanne Decker saw through her disguise, she certainly wouldn’t be able to remain at the academy, and her promises to Queen Isola and the others would undoubtedly go unfulfilled.
Moreover, she had even “ambushed” Jeanne Decker yesterday. Although it was out of necessity, she had still taken liberties with her.
Of course, it was just a kiss; strictly speaking, it wasn’t a major offense. Jeanne Decker shouldn’t kill her for something like that.
‘I wonder if a slap to the face would settle the score…’
While Alice Liddell’s mind raced with these chaotic thoughts, Jeanne Decker had already led her to a secluded corner of a nearby small garden.
A few other students were in the vicinity of the garden, but they were far enough away not to overhear their conversation. It seemed Jeanne Decker intended to discuss some “private” matters with her.
“Miss Liddell,” Jeanne Decker turned to Alice Liddell. “I’ll be direct….”
Alice Liddell instinctively swallowed hard.
Then, Jeanne Decker uttered a sentence that left her utterly astonished: “Would you be willing to stay with me tonight?”
Alice Liddell’s ability to think instantly ceased.
She blinked blankly for two seconds before finally managing to squeeze out a response from her throat: “What?”
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read My Ex-Husband Keeps Begging For Remarriage! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : My Ex-Husband Keeps Begging For Remarriage
