<h4>Chapter 91: _ Getting Rid of the Body</h4>


    <strong><i>~Luis’s Point Of View~</i></strong>


    I’ll kill Axel.


    I don’t care if he has been the only one to remember me in years, but I was beginning to lose it every time he came around to rant.


    Why the hell was he ranting to me like I was the cause of his predicament? And did he mention kissing what’s mine?


    Oh, I’d gag him until he choked on his own spit. ughter him like a pig, cut him open limb by limb, and finally feed my pig friends his remains.


    Speaking of pigs...


    After María José slept off in my arms during our pigsty conversation, I remained there.


    She stirred against me, her breath warm where it fanned over my corbone, but she didn’t wake. It was almost dawn now, the first light creeping over the horizon, slipping through the cracks in the wooden walls of this wretched pigsty.


    I’d spent thest few hours watching her sleep,mitting every tiny detail to memory—the way her fingers asionally twitched, the soft parting of her lips, the way her brows furrowed as if even in sleep she was haunted by something.


    I hated that.


    I wanted her to sleep like she had never known pain, never known suffering. But the world was cruel, and I wasn’t na?ve enough to believe that one man... one monster—could erase the damage already done.


    Still, I could try.


    And it started with making sure she rested peacefully, uninterrupted.


    I, a man who had once carved out a traitor’s heart just to see if he could still beat in my palm, was now reduced to this—a pathetic fool admiring the way hershes fluttered against her cheek.


    <i>Pathetic.</i>


    But I didn’t care.


    I could stay like this forever.


    Unfortunately, dawn was approaching, and I had things to do.


    I carefully maneuvered María José onto the floor, ensuring she remainedfortable before whispering the incantation for the cloaking spell.


    It was a simple thing, a small trick; a veil of magic that would render her invisible to the pigs. They wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t smell her, wouldn’t trample her in their mindless search for food.


    <i>You’re wee, sweetheart.</i>


    I adjusted the nket over her, brushing a stray curl from her forehead, before rising to my feet and stretching. My body protested the movement, muscles stiff from staying in one position too long, but I ignored it.


    "Rest well, my little flower," I murmured, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.


    With that, I turned to the pigs.


    "Well, my dear swine, it seems I’ve let you down today," I announced, hands on my hips. "No fresh corpse for breakfast. Tragic, I know."


    They stared at me, nk and stupid.


    One let out an ungodly snort, sttering filth onto the ground. Another began rooting around in something that I refused to acknowledge.


    I sighed. "I see you’re devastated."


    A particrlyrge pig, whom I had affectionately named <i>Benedetto</i>, grunted, his wet snout twitching in expectation.


    I crouched beside him, patting his head. "I promise I’ll make it up to you. My next victim? Oh, he’ll be a feast. Plump, juicy, full of regret—I’ll season him with fear and marinate him in agony."


    Benedetto’s ears flicked.


    I smirked. "d you approve."


    With that, I straightened, brushing off my pants. It was time to deal with ra.


    .


    .


    The moment I stepped outside, the morning air hit me, superseding the thick stench of pig shit with something far more bearable. I inhaled deeply, stretching out the stiffness in my limbs, before heading toward the secluded area where I’d stored ra’s corpse.


    She was still there, of course, crumpled in a heap like a discarded doll. The blood had dried now, crusted over her torn clothing, and her face was sealed in a crooked grimace.


    I tilted my head, examining my handiwork.


    "You were such a nuisance," I murmured, gripping her by the ankles and dragging her across the dirt. "You hated the world, now I helped you get rid of it."


    I bet she was in more turmoil now in death than she ever did while she was alive. Ghosts with resentments usually found it hard to find peace in death.


    I chuckled, my shoulders shaking at the realization that once again, I had cursed a soul to eternal damnation.


    The forest was quiet as I walked deeper into the trees, ra’s lifeless body bumping over roots and rocks. A part of me had considered feeding her to the pigs regardless, but I decided against it.


    They would have made noises, and irritated María José, and besides, I needed her to disappearpletely. No loose ends. No trails leading back to María José or getting her in trouble.


    By the time I reached the clearing, the sky was fully awake, illuminating golden light over the damp earth. I dropped ra’s body with a careless thud and rolled my shoulders.


    "Alright," I muttered to myself. "Let’s get this over with."


    I stacked a pile of dry branches and leaves over her. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I ignited a me.


    The fire roared to life instantly, greedy and bright, swallowing the body within seconds. The heat licked at my face, but I didn’t move, didn’t flinch. I just stood there, watching as ra ck was reduced to nothing but ash.


    And yet... even as the mes crackled, even as the air filled with the sickly-sweet stench of burning flesh, I felt nothing.


    No satisfaction. No thrill.


    Nothing.


    Because she wasn’t María José.


    She was just another problem I’d cleaned up.


    María José, on the other hand, was now the only thing that made my chest tighten in ways I didn’t understand. She was the only thing that made me <i>feel</i> something other than rage and hunger.


    I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair.


    It was time to go home. Time to figure out what to do with this new flower I had just found blooming in my garden. Just you hold on, María José.


    Very soon, you’ll be mine and I’ll destroy everyone who ever made life difficult for you... even if it was in the teeny tiniest bit.