"Looks like there's nothing more I can do," Aleister shook his head and took out the bottle of Crystal Wine from his bag. "The least I can do is let you drink from some of the finest wine before you die."

"I can't believe it," Stronvun murmured. "I never thought I would even ever lay my eyes upon a bottle of it ever again."

"And tonight, you will experience it." Aleister poured the wine into six wine glasses he conveniently prepared earlier. He laced four of them with a fast-acting sleeping pill he crafted last night. As the clear, rich red-purple wine poured out of the diamond-shaped nozzle, it splashed into the glass and instantly dissolved the sleeping pill. He poured his and Luo Yun's drinks into similar but different glasses, so he didn't mix them up.

The other four all sat down where they previously stood. Stronvun rocked back and forth while keeping a blank expression. Panry continued his prayers. Aluyra stayed on her knees and didn't make a single noise. Malozar sniffled as he clearly held back tears.

Luo Yun had a grave expression on his face. Aleister hadn't filled him up on his plan completely, so he wasn't sure if Luo Yun was faking this or was being sincere. He's probably faking it, and damn is it good. Even I'm thinking it's real.

"I will do my best to compensate each of your families. This is all my fault in the first place. Even I didn't know how insane Aleister could be. He may have hidden behind my connections earlier, but rest assured, I will make sure he faces the appropriate consequences."

"Hey—"

"His actions were utterly unexpected and out of my control." Luo Yun took out a notepad from inside his jacket pocket and ripped out a few pages of blank paper. "If any of you have any last wishes, you may write them down."

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"What kind of punishment will he suffer?" Aluyra asked. ""

"Well, technically, I said the training would be torturous and you might die. And let alone you, I didn't expect any of you to fail." Aleister sighed as he sipped on his wine. "Honestly, I thought I hid the locations of the vials in fairly obvious places. So it was really you that failed—"

"Up to twenty years in exile, fifteen years of hard labor, and a fine of one-thousand gold to your kin."

"Bastard." Aluyra downed her glass of wine in one shot and slammed it down. A few moments later, her eyes closed, and she collapsed onto the floor.

"The poison is entering its last phase," Aleister said, downing his entire glass of wine. "Drink up, or else you might never get the chance again."

Stronvun and Malozar each drank their glass of wine. Stronvun passed out soon after. Due to Malozar's size and orcish blood, the sleeping pill would take the longest for him to effect. This was fine, because if each of them passed out at the same time, Panry, who was the most reluctant to drink, might become suspicious, even if Aleister knew he was completely exhausted and barely able to stay awake in the first place.

Panry opened his eyes and took a hold of the glass, his hand shaking, and drank the wine. His glass fell while he was halfway through, and his body collapsed.

Aleister could see Malozar's eyelids droop. Barely a fourth of his eyes were visible. "It was the best cake I ever had."

"Thank you..." Malozar's words slurred, and he fell onto the floor.

Luo Yun looked at Aleister. "Please tell me they aren't actually dead."

"First of all, what was up with that whole punishing thing? Oh, but having them write their final thoughts was a fantastic idea. I could have used that. Shame the sleeping pills activated so fast, which should answer your question."

"Good. I didn't want to deal with the mess this would have created. But, what do you plan on doing with them now?"

"I need your help to strap them down into four separate rooms. When they wake up, they'll be unsure of their current state. And that's when the fun will continue."