Alice looked out the window at the young men training. Wearing just a shirt that was soaked in their own sweat, they swung their hard rods in the air at each other, letting out a loud clang each time the edges rubbed together. She had to press a hand against her mouth when indecent thoughts popped in her mind.

The only thing that was missing in Alice’s life in this moment was one, money, and two, romance. Money was starting to become less of a problem day by day as she snuck around the estate at night.

There were countless items to find in this rich noble house after all. Porcelain teacups with floral prints, hairpins that sat unused in a drawer somewhere, jewelry with the insignia of House Nikodemus that was impossible to pawn off, you name it. Romance on the other hand… She let out a sigh.

“All these young men, and not one deigns to look at me…”

Patting the pillow filled with feathers and straightening the blanket on the bed, she felt quite depressed standing in the girl’s bedroom. It was bare, like an oasis in a desert that had dried out.

The child had been living here for a few weeks now and the only thing that seemed to change was the amount of books that multiplied each day.

They were in all sorts of genres: history, philosophy, other words that ended in -y, and none in romance. Her eyes went cross eyed when she riffled through one of the thinner, but still thick books. The pages were cramped full of ink leaving only a nail’s length worth of margins. Did she really like to read such boring books? The only remotely fun-looking books were the fairy tales and children’s stories. Such weird tastes she had.

The sound of the door opening shocked her back into work mode.

“Alice, there you are.” Just hearing that eerie monotonous voice sent shivers down her spine.

“What is it my lady?”

“I have a letter for you.”

“A letter for me?” Sure enough, a white envelope was in the child’s hand. Who was it from?

“I will be busy for a bit, you’re free to do whatever after you’re done cleaning my room.” Sure, what would a fourteen year old girl be busy with.

Reading the letter, Alice had to muffle her squeal upon reaching the middle part. This couldn’t be. It was a love letter! Oh my days, she knew it was a fluke when that girl, Melissa, had gotten one before her. Believe in yourself and so shall the Goddess believe in you. All her praying had finally paid off!

‘Your hair is beautiful like the countless rivers streaming down the duchy,’ the opening line made her heart jump. ‘All I see at night is your sleeping silhouette in my bed.’ Oh, my, gosh. Who was this daring fellow! There on the bottom, a neat signature was adorned with hearts. Signed Ronald.

A puff of air rose atop of her head. He was one of the more handsome ones of the knights!

She had shirked away from her tasks once to look at them train. The sight was still fresh in her memory as she wiped away the drool that had escaped her mouth. Ronald was the one with the green hair right? Not bad, she nodded. Not bad at all.

‘Under the sweet moonlight, I want to bare my feelings to you. Will you chance me a meeting at the abandoned church, my lovely Alice.’ There was a heart beside her name. It was too much for a pure maiden like her. She had to give him a piece of her mind. At night that is. Perhaps in a warm bed even.

With newfound gusto, Alice stopped what she was doing and went quickly to work to gather information about this so-called abandoned church.

She asked a maid with braided hair. It really did look like braided bread.

“A church? Why would there be a church here? But I’m not that familiar with the lay of the land. Maybe one of the maids that has worked here longer knows? Should I go ask for you?”

She asked the cook.

“We’re a little bit busy in here! A kitchen is like a battlefield–”

She asked the elderly gardener. Which was a mistake in hindsight.

The gardener started the conversation by rambling on and on about the importance of having trusted people in one’s life. He compared it to a blind person that had no sense of touch. How would such a person be able to know about their surroundings if not directly told? He asked her. She nodded with a smile.

The sun had already begun to sink in the sky when he finally told her the church’s location, only after rambling about his favorite dish of course. It was boiled broccoli.

So it was in here? Pitch black darkness flooded the overgrown forest. A rat-like squirrel flitted across the countless trees that laid a canopy over it.

Alice didn’t really feel like entering, not in her maid uniform at least. Turning on her heel, she went and changed into something more elegant for her rendezvous.

Holding a lamp in one hand, and the hem of her dress in the other, she ventured into the forest. Spotting the gray building hidden in the sea of trees, she thought it to be ugly.

Priests had always liked to drone on and on about the importance of the five commandments and all that. That living one’s life with honesty would bring good fortune. But look at that building, crumbling and dusty.

She would have most likely ended up like that hadn’t she broken some of the commandments herself. It was until then that good fortune had shone on her.

Taking a seat on one of the few sturdy benches, she waited. Would he really come? What would he think about her dress? A light-blue dress that she had hand-tailored on the account of her waist feeling quite constricted these days.

She had bought it the day after the Duchess fell in that accident so it was puzzling why it had already shrunk in size. She thought to herself, sitting in the gloomy ruined church.

Where was he? The moonlight was shining as he had written and it was getting a bit cold. Persevere, Alice! Love doesn’t come for the weak ones! Repeating that mantra helped her feel a little warmer.

Three children would be the ideal amount. Two boys and one girl. Imagining their stubby legs running up to her filled her heart, and then her husband would wrap his arm around the waist, and pull her into a kiss. Oh my gosh. Alice let her mind run wild as she waited for Ronald.

A full moon peeked from the roof making the statue shine. Something was sitting in the palm of its hand.

Approaching the altar, she glanced at the thing. It was a pouch. Not just any pouch, it was that girl’s pouch she had stolen. What was it doing here?

The statue was double her size, making her have to stand on her toes to even reach the Goddess’ waist. “I’m so close…” A little more, what if she were to only use one of her legs?

Stretching towards the pouch surely filled with coins, Alice’s body wobbled as she tried to both balance herself on the tips of her toes and reach for the treasure. The feeling of the rough fabric on her fingertips filled her with much excitement and she stretched even further. Like a sinner stretching for the heavens. Then she lost balance.

Her eyes followed the pouch and it got further and further away. Falling away from her. Someone had swept away her leg. Was this what the Duchess felt when she was pushed down the stairs?

“Gah!” All the air in her lungs got knocked out as she barreled towards the cold floor. Before even having the chance to process the situation, something rough wrapped around her neck as two hard things pushed down on her shoulders.

Alice’s eyes darted around trying to find who it was choking her and the stretching of her neck made it only possible to look down and upwards.

She looked up. Moonlight made the golden strands of hair look even more blinding than normal. Damn it! It was that girl!

Like a worm being burnt by the sun, she wriggled on the ground not caring in the least about her new dress. She had to escape somehow. Clawing at the rope on her neck didn’t seem to work, only making her nails cut into it, drawing fresh blood and leaving red marks. She was in danger of passing out unless she did something soon.

But how could that small girl have such a strong grip! Her vision began to darken as the overwhelming pressure on her shoulders increased. Tighter and tighter. Until a disgusting cracking sound reverberated through the church. Under the Goddess’ watch, her trachea got crushed from the winch on her neck.

Alice passed out.

***

Did she die? The golden circle did appear when a satisfying crunch rang out. Ha… my body would surely ache tomorrow. Like two dead fish, I laid on top of her while checking her pulse.

She was still alive. That would have been too easy, no? Wouldn’t you agree, Goddess. You just stand there and do nothing but look pretty.

I wasn’t someone insane enough to experiment on human bodies, but this had to be done. Taking out a knife one of the chefs gave me, I saw my own face reflected on it.

What an ordeal it was to find a justified reason for them to give me this paring knife. A drop of water blurred my face on its blade. The clouds overhead were starting to cry.

I stabbed into the unconscious body before me. The golden circles blared louder than a warning signal as the raindrops multiplied in numbers. You think some rain can stop me? You better come down personally if you want to save one of your own.

To conclude my tests, stabbing didn’t work no matter how I did it. Her limbs, her torso, even her eyes that had rolled back into her head. That’s to be expected so I tried something else. I pinched her nose and shut her mouth next.

My gloves were wrinkled from all that action earlier. Especially my right glove. Exerting force with my right hand was useless, so I opted to wrap the rope around the wrist instead. Like a chain, pulling my elbow back also pulled the rope tied to my useless limb. I would have to use my old pair of gloves when I got back.

Her chest rose as her unconscious body did its best to get press some air in its lungs. Up and down, up and down. It was getting faster and faster.

The cool rain had soaked my hair at this point, running down my face and onto hers. Then, a golden circle jammed itself between my fingers making her gasp like a fish out of water.

Neat, so that’s how that works. I should just hang her then. A thunderous roar lit up the sky as my body was being pelleted by the clouds.

I found out by accident once that a hangman’s noose was surprisingly easy to tie. Make an s-shape and wrap the other end a few times around it before pulling the tail through one of the loops. And ta-da, a knot fit for hanging someone.

However, that was the easy part of the plan. Now I needed something heavy enough to lift her in the air and an anchor to wrap the end around, someplace even reachable for me.

The rain went into my eyes as I surveyed the tall ceiling. My body heat was starting to disappear. The tiny water droplets surprisingly effective at stealing it. Maybe, and just a little maybe, I underestimated her powers a little bit.

There wasn’t a suitable spot to hang the rope. The crossing beams over my head were too high for me too throw around and the mushrooms peeking out of them didn’t really make them look sturdy enough to support a person even if I could.

“A person…” I looked to the statue.

The glorified chunk of rock was crying with the downpour rolling down her stupid face. Not smiling anymore are we? I just got an interesting idea.

Flinging the noose around the Goddess’ outstretched hand, I looped it around Alice’s neck. Then with the other end, I took a stroll to the wall at the back. That shaking backdoor seemed heavy enough to act as a counterweight.