The figure stood quietly in the center of the alley, seeming entirely out of place in her surroundings.
The pedestrians and the noise seemed to be cut off by an invisible barrier, becoming blurred and distant. No one noticed anything wrong with her — only Ilus detected her presence at a single glance.
Sunlight was blocked by the shade of the trees planted on both sides, shrouding the person in a long, narrow shadow that outlined a tall and familiar silhouette.
The girl’s footsteps suddenly froze in place.
The residual warmth of her ecstasy still burned in her chest, but a chill more piercing than river water on a winter night surged up her spine, instantly freezing the lingering smile on her face.
‘It’s impossible, this is impossible!!!’
‘It must be a hallucination,’ Ilus thought in disbelief as she rubbed her eyes, but the other party just stood there, motionless.
Sila had said it herself… the dagger went through the neck and heart… and she even brought back that Blood-stained Bowknot. Iliana must be dead!
The girl blinked hard again, hoping it was just a trick of the light or a passerby with a similar figure.
But as her eyes gradually adjusted to the light at the boundary of light and shadow, the details of the silhouette became cruelly clear piece by piece.
Her build was indeed very similar to Iliana’s, but her face was hidden under a hood and could not be seen clearly. However, the black tips of hair peeking out from under her cheeks caused Ilus to feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
‘Is it… is it really Iliana? Could it be that Demons truly can’t be killed?’
‘No,’ a voice in Ilus’s heart cried out repeatedly.
‘She’s definitely not Iliana. Maybe she’s just someone with a similar build and hair color!’
But in the next moment, Ilus’s breath caught, her heart seemed to stop suddenly, and then it began to beat frantically.
Blood rushed to her head and then receded in an instant, leaving a cold sense of dizziness.
She instinctively wanted to retreat, to turn and run, but her legs felt like they were filled with lead, firmly welded to the rough stone road.
Even the wind in the alley seemed to have stopped.
The figure slowly removed her hood, revealing the familiar face beneath.
It was… Iliana.
Her complexion looked a few shades paler than usual, but she was indeed alive.
Looking further down, Ilus finally understood why she was wearing a hood and cloak.
Sila had indeed succeeded. She could see the blood faintly seeping through the cloak — wounds clearly pierced by a dagger — but why was she still alive?
Those pale golden eyes, neither unfocused nor lifeless, were precisely locked onto Ilus.
The light in her eyes shifted, reflecting the girl’s face, which had turned white as paper, and her eyes, which were wide with extreme terror.
The corners of Iliana’s mouth curled up into an arc extremely slowly.
That wasn’t a smile; it was the cold, joyful arc a predator displays while admiring the final struggles of its prey.
‘She knows I was the one who hired the assassin!’
“My, Young Lady, why are you here? And dressed like this? Madam will surely criticize you once she finds out.”
Her voice rang out, slightly raspier than usual, yet still clear and steady. It even carried a trace of that familiar, hair-raising tenderness.
At this moment, Ilus was too terrified to hide her expression.
Desperate gasps for air came from the girl’s throat, but she couldn’t utter a single word.
She wanted to scream, to question, to howl “Why are you still alive,” but all sound was strangled in her throat by fear. She could only watch helplessly as Iliana took a step toward her.
“N-No, don’t — don’t come any closer!”
Ilus tried to retreat, but her long, beautiful legs trembled violently beneath her skirt, nearly failing to support her body weight.
She instinctively took a small half-step back, her body swaying, almost falling to the ground.
And that was the only weak attempt at escape she could manage at this moment.
Now, every tiny sound, including her own heartbeat, was distorted and magnified in her ears, only to recede instantly. The whole world was left in a state of buzzing.
And at the center of this buzzing was the sound of Iliana’s footsteps, growing louder as she drew near.
By the time Iliana reached her side, Ilus’s consciousness was still screaming to run, but her body betrayed her, standing frozen in place.
“Young Lady, you seem to have discovered my little secret. What do you think should be done about this?”
“I-Iliana, p-please… forgive me…”
“That won’t do. Young Lady, don’t be afraid. You are a dish for me ～ and my most anticipated dish at that. Naturally, I can’t let you go ～”
“B-But…”
Ilus wanted to say something more, but in the next moment, she was picked up by the waist by Iliana and carried toward the Duke’s Mansion.
Ilus tried to struggle to catch the attention of passersby, but she soon discovered that everyone seemed as if they couldn’t see them at all.
No — ! Deep despair surfaced on Ilus’s small face.
“Iliana, I — I don’t want to — “
When Ilus was roughly thrown onto the large bed, her strong desire to survive made her cast aside her dignity to beg for mercy, but the Demon didn’t seem to give her a chance.
“Shh ～”
Accompanying Iliana’s shushing gesture with her index finger, two Bone-thorn Tentacles emerged from her back…
Seeing this, Ilus’s terror clearly intensified, to the point where she could feel her delicate body trembling even more violently.
“You have quite a lot of nerve, Young Lady, daring to show your fangs to me ～ and more than once ～”
Iliana lightly licked her lips, a cold light flashing in her eyes.
“Even though the things you’ve done are quite interesting to me ～ I don’t like disobedient children. Since you can’t seem to remember, how about you remember it with your body ～”
“W-What do you want to — *Eek* — !”
Ilus was lifted up by her neck as Iliana grabbed her. Because of the Demon’s previous rough movements, her dress had torn, revealing a large area of pale, tender skin.
But Ilus couldn’t care about that at all. Her only passage for survival was blocked, causing her to struggle with all her might.
Her vision began to spin and contract. The pain of oxygen deprivation was far sharper than she had imagined, like a red-hot iron nail driven into her windpipe.
She instinctively opened her mouth, but could only emit broken sounds. *Heh… heh…* Saliva slid uncontrollably from the corner of her mouth, pulling a bright, thin line across her pale skin.
Was it going to end here? Ilus used her last bit of strength to beat against the hand around her neck, but Iliana’s hand was cold and steady, not wavering in the slightest despite her struggles.
She only tilted her head slightly, her pale golden pupils reflecting the image of the dying girl.
She seemed to be savoring and admiring the cheeks flushed with blood, the pupils dilated with fear, and every inch of muscle convulsing in a futile effort to survive.
“Look, Young Lady.”
Iliana’s voice was as soft as a whisper, yet every word hammered into Ilus’s buzzing mind.
“This is the punishment, but it’s far from over ～”
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