"People have been killed for me. Because I wanted it, and because there was someone willing to oblige. I didn't hold the sword, but I did kiss the hand that did. So what's the difference, that you regret the lives you've taken? Or is it that you tend to play with your food?"

Had Koujaku been torturing someone else, Alec doesn't know that he would have cared. Of course it being personal changes things.