"I'm willing! I'm willing to eat the apple!"
"Oh?"
The old woman reappeared. She held the tempting apple in fingers as withered as dry bones. "Come on, then."
Winter took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide, and bit into it. He chewed and swallowed in great mouthfuls, and soon the entire apple was in his stomach. He had not even spat out the core.
"Very good."
The old woman tossed a bag in front of Winter. Through its open mouth, he could clearly see that it was stuffed full of pound notes. A rough estimate put it at several hundred pounds at least-for ordinary people, this sum was certainly enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
"Then, from now on, your soul belongs to me. Live a good, long life~"
The old woman grinned and turned around. "Oh, right. You don't need to keep me a secret. Tell anyone you like. Whoever wants to make a deal with me, I'll appear in time-and of course, that includes you."
"If your publicity brings me more souls, perhaps I won't need yours anymore. Hehehehe..."
With a series of sinister, grating laughs, the old woman disappeared.
Only then did Winter begin gasping violently, clutching the left side of his chest, where his heart was pounding.
After a long while, he snatched up the bag of money and grabbed a handful. Real! It was all real money!
Just then, the passenger ship sounded its whistle. Winter hastily scrambled outside, shouting, "Stop! Stop! I want to get off! I want to get off!"
Meanwhile, after returning to the pier, the old woman's body twisted and rapidly shrank, turning back into Lilith. Beside her, Edward also removed the Invisibility Cloak.
"How was it? Did you feel the potion digesting?"
Lilith nodded,