Chapter 66: The Price of Vengeance

Forty-five minutes later, Alice ceased her actions. Camilla was barely responsive.

She observed Camilla intently. Camilla lay motionless, her eyes unblinking.

Her expression was vacant. The strip of cloth, meant to prevent her from biting her tongue, was thoroughly soaked with saliva, and her garments clung to her, drenched in fresh sweat.

“Not even an hour, and you’re already done?” Alice exhaled slowly.

She recalled her own experience, having been tormented for the better part of a day in the security office’s interrogation room.

However, considering the effects of the ‘Joy and Pain’ potion, the intensity of stimulation and agony Camilla experienced in this hour was incomparable to ordinary torture, even if Alice’s curse caused no actual physical harm.

As a final test, Alice pricked the straw doll once more with a needle.

Camilla’s body trembled, and a muffled groan escaped her lips. Beyond that, there was no further reaction.

She could still feel pain, yet her spirit had long since shattered, and her physical strength was utterly depleted. She lacked the energy for any normal response.

Camilla’s lips moved slightly, as if she wished to speak.

Seeing this, Alice reached out and untied the cloth strip, leaning closer to her. “What do you want to say?”

“Kill…” Camilla’s voice was hoarse, barely a whisper, like the buzz of a fly.

“What?” Alice hadn’t heard clearly.

“Kill me… kill me…” Camilla painstakingly squeezed the words from her mouth, repeating “Kill me” over and over.

She could no longer think coherently, only expressing her deepest desire instinctively.

She could not bear this torment for another moment.

Alice scrutinized Camilla. It was nearly time; her spirit had completely surrendered.

“I have a way to free you,” Alice said.

Camilla slowly lifted her face, her voice thin and reedy. “Please, free me… I’ll do anything…”

“Then, are you willing to offer your soul?” Alice asked, her gaze fixed intently on Camilla’s eyes.

‘Soul?’ Camilla’s expression was blank.

‘What is that?’ She couldn’t comprehend it, but the implication was clear: she would no longer suffer if she paid some price.

Whatever that cost, she would pay it without hesitation.

“I’m willing. Take it quickly,” Camilla replied weakly.

“Excellent.”

Having received confirmation, Alice began her final task. She consciously channeled the power of her ‘Abyss’ pathway, extending a hand towards Camilla in a gesture of demand.

Since Camilla met the conditions for soul harvesting, the ‘Soul Reaper’ ability activated instantly—a power inherent to the ‘Abyss’ pathway from its lowest ‘Heretic’ rank.

Camilla began to feel her consciousness being drawn out of her body by an invisible force. Her already diminished capacity for thought was further weakened, leaving her mind utterly blank.

Grayish-white mist seeped from the depths of her pupils, gathering in Alice’s hand and solidifying into a coin-shaped crystal.

Concurrently, Camilla’s eyes lost their last glimmer of vitality.

Finally, like a broken puppet, her head slumped heavily, and she showed no further signs of life.

Alice checked her breath, confirming she was still alive.

Though alive, she was effectively no different from the dead. Stripped of her soul, she lacked even basic self-awareness, reduced to a mindless living corpse.

Alice tightly clutched the devil’s currency, feeling the icy touch of her enemy’s soul in her palm.

It was all over. The drama of revenge had concluded with the fulfillment of the prophecy.

The wicked noble daughter, Camilla Dumpty, had met the end of her sinful life at Alice’s hands.

Alice turned and strode out of the hay shed.

Dawn was approaching, a faint sliver of white appearing on the horizon. The rain had ceased, and residual drops dripped from the eaves.

Alice spread her arms, embracing the breaking day, and inhaled deeply.

She had often read in the sacred texts of the Church of Salvation, ‘Overcome evil with good, show mercy to your enemies, do not let anger consume you, for the end of revenge is endless emptiness.’

‘The end of revenge is endless emptiness?’

Perhaps for some, but it certainly wasn’t a universal truth. At least for her, she remained immersed in the exhilaration of having avenged a great wrong, feeling as though she had been reborn.

Who said revenge was always empty? The joy of vengeance was known only to the avenger themselves!

“Are you satisfied?” The Duchess’s voice sounded from nearby.

Alice turned to see her standing with folded arms in the abandoned farmyard, seemingly having waited for her.

“Completely satisfied,” Alice replied with a genuine smile.

She was profoundly pleased with the script the Duchess had orchestrated.

“Then, your request has been fulfilled. Do not forget our agreement, Alice. The entrance exam is in one week; study hard.” The Duchess smiled sweetly. “If you were to break our agreement now, His Majesty might forgive you, but I, however, would have to punish you.”

“Rest assured, I will keep my word,” Alice calmly responded.

“That’s good then.” The Duchess smiled. “Now, let us deal with the aftermath together.”

****

That same morning, the Duchess reported to the security office, claiming that Camilla, who had been bailed out by the Liddell family, had left their home during the night without a word.

By early morning, searching guards discovered Camilla, soaking wet and unconscious, on the riverbank downstream in the Gray River District.

Upon regaining consciousness, Camilla remained disoriented. The security office ultimately concluded that Camilla, fearing her crimes, had thrown herself into the river and was washed ashore, her mind affected by drowning. After a brief trial, Camilla was not imprisoned due to the lack of suitable facilities, but instead committed to a mental asylum.

Shortly thereafter, a mysterious ‘righteous thief’ appeared in the Gray River District. Under the cover of night, they distributed a large sum of money to orphans, disabled individuals, and others living in dire straits within the district. None of the beneficiaries knew that this money was originally bribes and illicit gains accumulated by a certain chief of security.

****

“A month later, Alice Liddell inherited the ducal title. Soon, the Capital Sacred Academy announced its admission list for regional sacred academies.

At the Southwest Sacred Academy, to everyone’s astonishment, Duke Alice Liddell, who had temporarily enrolled for a month, secured the top spot in her class with exceptionally outstanding theology scores.

Alice was thus admitted into the Capital Sacred Academy.”

The magic mirror was once again shrouded in mist. Isola had finished viewing the prophecy of Alice’s future.

Alice’s name had appeared on the Capital Sacred Academy’s list in her divination.

She should have been delighted by this news, yet for some reason, she couldn’t help but sigh.

The stigmata had been largely suppressed; it was time.

She rang a bell, and soon the Butler of the ducal estate rushed over. The Duchess had instructed the Butler never to slight their esteemed guest, Lady of Hearts.

“Please prepare a carriage for me. I need to go to Maplewood City,” she requested of the Butler.