Jane gazed silently at Sophie before speaking in a voice as cold as the mountain wind. "Do you know how I usually discipline guards who refuse to obey?"
Sophie remained silent.
Alec withdrew his numbing mist, and sensation immediately returned to the body restrained between him and Felix. The moment her strength came back, Sophie began struggling with all her might.
A newborn vampire's physical power was overwhelming. Had Felix not been there to help, Alec knew he would never have been able to restrain her alone.
Seeing that Sophie still refused to yield, the chill in Jane's red eyes deepened into something ruthless. She spoke each word slowly and deliberately.
"I grant them pain."
The instant those words fell, Jane activated her gift.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed across the training grounds. Instinctively, Alec and Felix tightened their grip on Sophie's arms.
Yet almost immediately, they realized the scream hadn't come from the person they were restraining.
It came...
From behind them.
"You'll end up exactly like him." Jane calmly walked past Sophie until she stood beside the guard who had collapsed onto the ground, writhing and begging through agonized screams. "You'll beg for life, and you'll be unable to die."
She carefully controlled the intensity of her pain illusion, ensuring it remained just severe enough to produce horrifying screams without causing permanent damage. Then she casually nudged the trembling guard with the tip of her boot.
"Who gave you permission to hand her the tablet?" Her voice became colder. "You couldn't even keep watch over a single item. Worthless."
The guard curled into himself, apologizing over and over while shaking uncontrollably. The warning had achieved its purpose.
Sophie stopped struggling. Only stubbornness kept her standing now.
Even so, she forced herself to stammer defiantly, "Th-Then... you... go ahead. They've... all been through it before. S-So... I've got... nothing to be afraid of."
Jane bent down and picked up the tablet lying on the ground. The heavy metal device dangled delicately between her thumb and forefinger as though it were something filthy she had no desire to touch.
Turning her head slightly, she glanced sideways at Sophie and gave a faint, mocking laugh. "So... you intend to fight me with that little theory of deterrence?"
The words instantly reminded Sophie of the conversation they'd had beside the waterfall in Jane's territory. Back then, Jane had questioned why Sophie hadn't simply snapped Felix's neck.
Sophie had insisted that intimidation often produced a greater effect than immediate violence.
"So you've convinced yourself..." Jane slowly walked over. "...that because you believe you can endure the burning pain... once you've experienced it... you'll never fear it again."
She lifted the tablet until its cold metal edge gently pressed beneath Sophie's chin. Only separated by that icy piece of metal, Sophie finally experienced Jane's true terror.
Every hair on her body stood on end. An uncontrollable shiver swept through her entire frame.
Holding her upright, both Alec and Felix clearly felt the violent trembling passing through her body. Without exchanging a word, the two instinctively shifted their grip from restraining her to supporting her.
Sophie no longer possessed the courage to argue.
"But..." Jane's lips curved faintly. "I refuse to indulge you."
She had no intention of letting Sophie off so easily. For too long, she had spoiled this newborn vampire.
So much so...
That Aro himself had eventually stepped in to stop her.
He had told her she didn't need to force herself to become someone different. She only needed to discipline Sophie the same way she disciplined every other newborn.
So now, following Aro's wishes, Jane reminded herself she had to become stricter.
The tablet slowly left Sophie's chin.
The next second...
Splash!
Jane casually threw it into the nearby stream. The rushing current immediately caught the device and carried it downstream.
The old tablet, the faithful companion that had stayed beside Sophie for so many years, quietly drifted away with the flowing water, disappearing farther and farther into the distance.
"No!"
The sight shattered the final thread holding Sophie together. With a sudden burst of strength, she broke free from the hands restraining her and charged desperately toward the stream.
But Alec and Felix possessed battle instincts honed over centuries. Almost the instant she moved, the two acted together once again.
Together...
They subdued her.
This time, Jane stepped forward personally. She grasped Sophie firmly beneath the chin while Alec and Felix forced the struggling newborn down onto her knees.
Looking down from above, Jane found her own reflection mirrored within Sophie's darkening eyes. The same cold expression, the same merciless gaze...
Yet, for the very first time, Jane also saw something she had never witnessed before.
Indifference.
Not her own.
Sophie's.
Part of Jane felt she ought to be pleased.
Now... she finally resembles a vampire.
Yet instead of satisfaction, a strange, nameless anger flared hotter inside her. Her gaze slowly traveled over Sophie from head to toe.
Then...
She smiled.
"So... it seems I overlooked one more thing."
Clutched tightly in Sophie's hands was the old, worn notebook.
The thirst burning within Sophie had gone unsatisfied for days. Without fresh blood to quiet the fire, the scorching sensation inside her throat only grew stronger.
Her red eyes steadily darkened toward deep brownish black. With them, her emotions became increasingly restless, increasingly violent.
Without warning, the worn notebook was snatched from her grasp. Its cover had already become soft and wrinkled from years of use.
Compared with the expensive stationery Alec had recently brought her, it possessed almost no monetary value whatsoever. Only minutes earlier, Felix himself had been reading through it.
Instinctively, he blurted, "That notebook is..."
Jane shot him a single icy glance. Felix immediately swallowed the rest of his sentence.
"Give it back!" Sophie struggled violently, far more fiercely than she had when the tablet was thrown into the river. "This... this one... you can't take this one!"
Whether it was the influence of the newborn period or whether the notebook had touched the deepest part of Sophie's heart, the storm of emotions inside her grew increasingly uncontrollable.
For the first time, an overwhelming urge toward violence completely eclipsed her reason.
"Oh?" Jane looked down at her. "So... you secretly retrieved your tablet behind my back, yet I can't teach you a lesson openly?"
She had always hated Sophie's defiance. Most of the time, they got along wonderfully.
Only one conflict had ever truly existed between them.
Sophie clung far too tightly to her human life. She constantly quoted human fairy tales and resisted allowing her human identity to end with a death certificate.
She had even declared that she wished to live only two hundred years, a lifespan pitifully short by vampire standards. And now, she was openly challenging authority over nothing more than a worthless object.
Jane finally understood. Aro had been right. She truly had been far too gentle. Far too indulgent. Perhaps that excessive kindness was precisely why Sophie had never displayed enough value to justify remaining within the Volturi.
Which was why, earlier today, Aro had personally informed Jane that once Sophie's newborn period ended, she would be expelled from the Volturi. Sent elsewhere, to survive on her own.
"It's for the prosperity of the Volturi." Aro had spoken honestly, making no attempt to conceal what he had done. "Chelsea merely lent a small helping hand."
He bent slightly, bringing his eyes level with Jane's. His tall figure blocked the light as he smiled gently. "Because I don't want to see you heartbroken either, my dear Jane." He placed a hand lightly over his chest. "You are just as important as our family."
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