Chapter 14 - A Deal Proposal
When night arrived, Aleshia wore her black cloak as she flitted through the streets of the noble district. She hid in the darkness as she moved. She made sure to avoid the patrolling City Guards. Not long after, Aleshia arrived in front of Lawrend's mansion.
She entered his room the same as before. She saw no more bags of gold, but rather, there was a note that says, "Meet me in my father's room.". It was written by Lawrend.
Lawrend was currently waiting inside his father's room. He was drinking a glass of wine. If you look at his hands carefully, you would see that it was shaking a little bit. In all honesty, Lawrend is very nervous right now. Even if he had the leverage of the Alive Bounty, it was not guaranteed that the assassin would not kill him on the spot.
If Lawrend dies then his plans would all be in shambles. What's worse was that he would also lose his life. He gripped the wine glass tighter as he waited for the assassin's arrival. Before long, the door to the room opened silently.
The assassin was back. She was holding onto a dagger in a reverse grip as she entered his room. She looked around the room and her cold eyes finally rested on Lawrend. Lawrend shivered when he met her eyes. It was like a beast was staring straight into his eyes.
"Where did you get my sister's picture?"
Aleshia's voice was so cold that Lawrend felt his confidence dropping to the ground. He opened his mouth to try to speak but no words came out of his mouth. His nervousness was getting the best of him.
Aleshia waited for a while, but her patience ran out. She walked closer towards Lawrend.
"I-I will talk!"
Lawrend blurted out hastily. The fear of death was suffocating him.
"Where. Did. You. Get. My. Sister's. Picture!"
Aleshia opened her mouth again and this time it was so cold and emotionless that Lawrend was sure that if he didn't talk now then he would certainly die.
"P-put down the dagger first. I'm getting nervous seeing it."
Lawrend couldn't help but say first. He was having flashbacks of the time when Aleshia almost killed him.
"Hm. If you try any tricks…"
Aleshia did a cutting motion at her neck. Indicating to Lawrend that he will die if he tries to trick her. Lawrend swallowed his saliva nervously. Aleshia hid the dagger inside her cloak. Only then was Lawrend able to release a sigh of relief.
"I won't!"
Lawrend shouted to her. Aleshia raised an eyebrow and looked at him silently.
"I got it from this…"
Lawrend pulled the locket from his pocket and showed it to her. Aleshia's eyes opened wide in shock when she saw the locket. She never realized that she dropped this locket.
"How did you get this!?"
There was anger in Aleshia's face as she looked at Lawrend. Lawrend jumped back in fright. She was like a beast before, but now she was like a demon from hell.
"You dropped it on my bed."
Lawrend replied fearfully. Aleshia furrowed her eyebrows. She felt frustrated right now. How could she make such a rookie mistake!? It almost cost her little sister's freedom!
"Give that to me!"
Aleshia grabbed the locket out of Lawrend's hands. Lawrend pulled back his hand in fear. Aleshia inspected the locket and found that nothing was wrong with it. The Alive Bounty posted by the guild had this exact same picture of Ella.
"What do you want?"
After looking at the locket for a while, Aleshia looked at Lawrend with a raised eyebrow.
"W-what do you mean?"
Lawrend couldn't understand what she meant. His heart was beating fast as Aleshia stood there very close to him. She could easily kill him at this distance.
"Why did you put an Alive Bounty on my little sister?"
Aleshia gritted her teeth in anger. She now regretted not killing him earlier. If she only did so, then this problem would not have cropped up. She grabbed the dagger hidden under her cloak and held onto it.
Lawrend's eyes widened in realization. He was right. It was her little sister. He grinned inwardly after thinking that.
"I want to make a deal with you."
Lawrend swallowed his saliva and stared straight into her eyes. The swaying of the candle in the room lighted Aleshia's cold eyes from time to time.
"A deal? Again?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞ℯ𝙬𝗲𝗯n𝗼νel.𝒄𝑜𝘮
There was a sneer on Aleshia's face as she looked at Lawrend. She had enough of his deals. She would kill him right now to end this farce.
"I-I promise it would be a good one!"
Lawrend shouted frantically as he backed away nervously. He was afraid that she would not listen to what he has to say.
"If I kill you right now, do you think I still have to listen to your nonsense?"
Aleshia pulled her dagger out and moved closer to Lawrend. Lawrend backed away and before long he hit the wall. Pressed against the wall and with nowhere to go, Lawrend saw his life flash before his eyes. Aleshia rested the sharp end of her dagger on Lawrend's neck.
Lawrend wanted to resist but his nervousness was stopping him. If he tried to move now he could imagine the dagger sinking into his neck and slitting it.
"Y-you can't kill me…"
Lawrend tried his best to speak. His breathing was haggard and his eyes couldn't help but look at her hand that was holding the dagger from time to time. Aleshia moved her face closer to Lawrend. Lawrend felt his heartbeat go faster.
"Do you think I care about your father?"
There was a sadistic grin on Aleshia's face as she spoke. Lawrend's eyes opened wide.
"I-I didn't place the bounty in my name! If you kill me right now, my subordinates would kill your sister once she's captured!"
Lawrend hastily spoke out in fear that she would slit his neck right now.𝑓re𝘦𝔀𝗲𝘣𝘯𝘰νℯ𝒍.c𝗼m