Around ten minutes later, George's body was drenched in sweat. After a short pause, he fell on top of the barely moving girl while still being inside of her.
Finally, he felt he could sleep well.
Shortly after, he fell asleep, but the girl wasn't.
Tears stained her eyes and the pillow as she cried in silence, afraid to wake him.
If this happens again…
Remembering the times she had disturbed his sleep, her weak body trembled.
Suddenly, as she lay on the bed, a hand appeared from behind her head and gently covered her mouth, frightening her so badly she almost screamed.
Her eyes widened as she looked up and saw a figure wearing a strange wooden mask that seemed grown into his face, revealing only his eyes.
The figure whispered, his gaze shifting from the girl to the sleeping George, "Do you wish to get revenge for what he did to you?"
The girl looked at the masked man deeply before the man slowly withdrew his hand.
The girl understood immediately and looked at George lying on top of her, not even bothering to pull out as if knowing that she would not do anything and just accept it like always.
Hatred started to replace the despair in her heart.
The longer she looked at him, the more horrifying memories resurfaced, until the hesitation in her heart finally vanished and she nodded confidently to the stranger.
Her emotional state was in disarray.
"Here. Make him swallow it," he quietly whispered and passed the small perfume bottle to the girl.
Vincent saw a slight hesitation in her eyes and said, "You can speak, but quietly. As long as you don't shout, he'll not notice anything. I've taken care of it," a nearly invisible transparent fire burned in his eyes.
"Will it truly… kill him?" she asked.
The masked man nodded silently.
"Will… it be painful?" she asked once again.
The masked man didn't reply right away, "I'm not sure as it doesn't belong to me. But even if it doesn't kill him, I'll still make sure he doesn't see the sunrise," he spoke confidently, reassuring her.
The girl looked at the masked man deeply before suddenly asking something that slightly surprised him.
"Can you tell me your name?"
Vincent briefly contemplated and found no need to refuse it in this situation, "Vincent."
The girl nodded as a slight smile appeared on her bruised face.
"One more. Can you please… show me your face?"
"..."
Vincent remained silent as thoughts raced through his mind, weighing the decision.
Hearing no response, she added with an almost pleading voice, "Please…"
After taking a deep breath, the girl saw how the green mask on his face began to slowly fade away into his face, gradually revealing his appearance.
Seeing the calm and young face, her heart skipped a beat and she giggled slightly.
"If only we'd met before everything had happened, maybe…" she spoke as tears started to flow again before she spoke again as faint hope appeared in her heart.
"Can you please do one last thing?"
"..." Vincent didn't speak, which was like a silent approval.
"A… Kiss," she suddenly spoke while gazing at his face, disregarding anything around her.
"No." Vincent replied without hesitation, shattering the last faint hope in her heart before understanding dawned and she let out a quiet chuckle.
"I see. Heh. She's… must be a very lucky girl."
She then started sobbing.
"My name is… Hanna. Please… don't forget me."
Afterwards, as she said it, she suddenly opened the bottle and poured all the liquid into her mouth before opening George's mouth and pouring half into his.
When Vincent saw that George began to wake up, he placed his hand on his head and the soul force output intensified significantly, making George lose consciousness while Vincent's calm face paled, but he didn't let go of his hand.
Time passed.
Vincent deeply exhaled and removed his hand that was slightly trembling.
He weakly glanced at the two unmoving bodies on the bed and nodded inwardly.
'It's over.'
Vincent didn't plan for such an ending before coming into the city.
He visited the pleasure house first to get rid of the Madam in charge of it as she knew Alisia's name and origin, but after he found out that she was planning to kill George, Vincent recalled how Alisia told him about this Madam and how she treated her with decency, not forcing her into providing any intimate service.
With those two factors combined, Vincent came to a decision to let her go, but he left something behind for her just as a reminder.
'If she's a smart woman, she'll make the right choice.'
Afterwards, Vincent casually roamed the house, looking for some valuable stuff that might be useful to him before leaving the house after he changed his clothes as well as taking a bottle of wine.
He had expended too much essence and soul force and could no longer maintain his concealment.
What he needs right now is to get through patrols safely, leave the elite district and find a random inn near the city gates to sleep.
…
The sun was high in the sky.
Within the elite district, quite a commotion had broken out as people stood beside the residence gates in front of the rich-looking house as enforcers were blocking the entrance.
Meanwhile, within the bustling crowd, stood a certain woman that looked at the house calmly, but her heart was racing.
She suddenly took out something from her pocket.
It was a piece of paper.
The woman slowly unfolded.
[ I'll help you with your little wish.
For your own sake, erase everything related to Alisia and forget that she ever existed.
Let's hope that we'll never see each other again.]
The woman continued trembling even after finishing the note.
'There was someone yesterday in the room…'
'I need to stop talking to myself when I'm alone,' she mocked herself and left the crowd as fear crept in her heart.
She didn't realise that the little habit of hers had just saved her life.
…
"He's dead? That's for the better then. He was getting on my nerves lately."
Inside a huge mansion within an elite district, an elderly man in luxury robes was sitting at the table, reading a book.
"Yes, elder. He was found dead inside his house," the elderly steward replied respectfully.
The elder calmly turned the page, "How did he die? Assassination?"
"Yes, elder. His female toy used some unknown poison on him and then herself."
The elder didn't reply as he read the book, but the steward didn't dare to leave without permission.
Some time later, he closed the book and spoke, "You're free to go. If any additional information appears, inform me."
The steward bowed and closed the door behind himself.
The elderly man slowly caressed his beard.
'The idiot made too many enemies for no reason—and now he doesn't even know who truly killed him.'
'His toy killed him? Maybe. But where did she get such a poison that can kill a Stage 2 body practitioner? Surely not with money.'
The elderly man went towards the window.
'Well, whoever did it, he did me a favour.'
'You wanted to marry my granddaughter, Joanna, just because you reached the 2nd stage? Heh.'
'Once weaklings suddenly get a bit of power, they become too full of themselves.'
The elder exhaled and his thoughts shifted to another topic.
'In roughly a month from now, the auction should begin. My clan needs to get its hands on those 'two', no matter the price. If I get them, then Stage 4 will not be an impossible dream anymore.'
The elder man stood beside the window a bit longer before departing.
…
Several hours later, the sun slowly sank toward the horizon.
In the Freewind town, Vanessa and Patricia sat at the table while Alisia stood beside the window, looking in the distance, waiting.
'Please… be alright.'