"Hahaha!"
Asher was probably dead by now! Luke grinned. He knew Asher had been acting differently for the past few months. But his opponent was a famous assassin, and one from the Motorola family at that!. Even if Asher was strong, their levels had to be different. It was obvious to Luke that Asher would die miserably.
"slurrrrrp-."
'Ah, I feel so good. I've never felt so good in my life.'
Luke gloated as he was feeling as if all his stress had been thrown away. It was hard to think about how Asher would have sullied his glory as the heir to the Halvark estate in the future.
"Ahhhh- Okay."
Luke eventually left the tavern to enter the manor, and arrived at his room. He locked the door and lay on the bed as he closed his eyes.
"Oh, here you are."
As soon as Luke was about to fall asleep in a good mood, he heard a voice next to him. Luke hurriedly got out of bed and shouted in shock and fright.
"You! You! Who are.. you?!"
"Calm down, Master Luke."
In the dark, the owner of the voice gradually approached. Luke's pupils dilated when he saw the dark figure's face.
"Asher?"
What? Asher had assumed him to be dead. Luke raised his head and opened his mouth blankly with all kinds of negativity.
"How come…?"
"Why? You make it sound like I'm not supposed to be here."
Asher approached a step forward with a smile. Luke flinched and took a step back.
"What's wrong with you? Master."
A whispering voice echoed throughout the room into Luke's ears. Luke shivered.
He felt like he was going to die. The fear of death struck him, and then soon disappeared as he gathered his wits about him.
"…Oh, no. I'm just surprised."
'Cause you're supposed to have shown up in town.'
Luke smiled rather brazenly.
Yeah, there was no evidence. An assassin doesn't tell his victims who his client was. Even if the assassin did, he couldn't touch him without evidence.
Luke was an aristocrat, and Asher was a commoner. It was that simple in his mind. Luke shouted confidently.
"How dare you come into the sleeping quarters of an aristocrat? Get out right now! I'll punish you later."
"Oh you, punish me?"
Asher muttered without bothering to hide his laughter. Luke flinched at the smile, but didn't loosen up on his stance.
"Isn't that what you already did? I went to the place that Master Luke wanted me to go, and I was attacked by a bunch of thugs, and they happened to say Master Luke was the one who ordered them to do so."
"…Really?"
'You worthless things!'
Luke spat out a curse in his head. He couldn't believe that the assassins were called mere thugs, and that they were beaten by Asher. Not only that, but they had given up his identity as the client!
'Motorola is full of trash idiots.'
Though quite flustered, Luke recollected his expression, feigning ignorance and then distorted his face in anger at the indirect accusation.
"Are you implying that I commissioned assassins in the Halvark territory?"
Luke clenched his fist.
"How dare you say such nonsense!"
There was no evidence except for the assassins themselves. Since it came down to this, Luke figured he could just press it down with his power as the successor.
"I can't believe you insulted myself, a noble! I will have this brought to my father and you will be punished immediately! I'm sure you'll be kicked out of the town with this!"
"Master."
And Asher called out to Luke in a soft voice.
"Do I look like an idiot?"
The calm air around Asher completely disappeared with those words, and a heavy pressure started to exude from Asher's figure.
"Huh…?
Luke couldn't figure out the situation and spoke with a stupefied expression.
"Go right now, how dare you…"
"That's enough, Master."
Asher slowly moved on to Luke.
"I don't want to have a dirty argument with you. It didn't have to be this way, but it seems you wish for it to be."
Luke's face turned pale. When Asher approached him closely, the concentration of the pressure became more intense.
"Ah-ahhh…"
"You are nothing to me."
Asher pushed Luke's chest lightly. Luke fell and sat down on the bed.
"I also want to be nothing to you, just like you want."
The intangible pressure Luke was feeling started to press down on Luke firmly and he paled. A cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck as his eyes widened in fear.
"Do you understand?"
"Gasp!"
The pressure then disappeared. Luke held his chest and exhaled. Tears and snot flowed out of his eyes and nostrils, followed with a nauseating pressure.
"Wow…."
Asher looked down at Luke.
"You will be the lord one day and I'll be out of this town. And I'm leaving it at that. That's it for our relationship. You don't need to have any worries beyond that."
In Luke's mind suddenly he realized Asher wanted nothing to do with his power as the successor.
Luke's face turned brighter than before, perhaps he understood Asher's meaning.
"Give me a chance…"
"You don't have to beg for anything."
Asher patted Luke on the head.
"Let's just be indifferent to each other. Like watching a bug passing by, without any interest. Do you agree?"
Luke furiously nodded his head. Asher put his hand down.
"All right."
Asher stepped back. His body gradually began to disappear into the shadows.
"It's like a contract of sorts, do you understand me. I'm not going to visit you anymore and you should do the same….. But if you try to break it this 'contract'…"
Asher disappeared, leaving the last word.
"I'll be back for you."