(9)

This slum area was known as an unsafe area, the high number of criminal crimes and gang activity made this place mostly only inhabited by poor people. However this was the only place where Lucian could rent cheap rooms.

Several groups of men who had been walking behind him had followed Lucian's steps, at first Lucian thought they were walking in the same direction, but when Lucian turned to the other path, they too, followed in suit. Lucian quickened his pace as he searched the inn with his eyes.

"Are you a tourist? Want us to help you around?"

"Why don't you stop and chat with us?"

One of the men called out, they laughed and kept following him. Lucian paid no heed, he quickened his pace, pretending that he did not notice their presence. The darkness of the street made it difficult for Lucian to find a place to hide.

"Why are you running? Haha, we are not bad people. No need to be afraid."

The group of men seemed to be in a drunken state.

Checking the pocket, Lucian breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that he still had some coins with him. The coins in his pocket were only ten coins, it was probably only enough to stay for two days and buy some cheap food.

Lucian felt a bit lucky to have a habit of leaving coins inside his clothes' pocket, otherwise he would have run from the Douglass mansion penniless and he might have ended up sleeping on the street or under a bridge.

The group of men were still following him, Lucian ran when he saw the sign of the inn flashing from afar, he did not want to risk his money to be taken by a group of suspicious men, who then started running when they saw Lucian rushing away from them.

Luckily, there was a street guard on duty to turn on the street lights, he realized that Lucian was being chased, the man shouted at the group, "Hey!"

Lucian heard their footsteps abruptly halt, the group then backed away when they saw a street-guard man, Lucian lowered his head, thanking the old man.

"Even if you are a man, walking alone to this place unarmed is a foolish decision. At least bring a gun, sword, or a cane, whatever kind of weapon you have. This area is dangerous."

The old man descended the stairs after finishing turning on the street light, Lucian again bowed his head in a show of gratitude.

"Are you a tourist? you lost?"

".... I'm looking for an inn."

"Ah, yes, the inn over there, the inn is cheap but still be careful if they ask you to pay a fortune, haha. Then I'll leave you first young man, I still have many street lights to turn on."

Lucian watched as the man walked towards the other street lamp which was still not lit, he again breathed a sigh of relief and walked briskly into the inn.

The old woman who was on guard at the front scanned Lucian up and down with a sharp gaze. Lucian opened his mouth.

"I'd like to rent a room for two days. How much would that cost?"

"8 coins"

"8 coins?"

"Yep, two days eight coins. One day 4 coins. That's cheap enough, considering you also look like a young man who has a lot of money."

"Sorry, but I don't have much money."

The middle-aged woman looks at him skeptically as if not believing him, a beautiful healthy young man with pale skin, ginger hair and blue eyes, probably hard to believe that he was not from a wealthy background. Her eyes began to scan his body from top to toe, and seeing Lucian wearing dirty and shabby clothes, the woman frowned, clicking her tongue.

Lucian checked his pocket and took out some coins, "So, 8 coins?"

"I will give it 6 coins for you, young man."

Lucian's eyes lit up, at least there would still be some left, he intended to look for a job around this area tomorrow. There was no way he would live on with only 4 coins remaining.

He nodded right after saying thank you to the woman, handing 6 coins on the table, then took the key that was given to him. He walked up the wooden steps, the creaking sounds of the stairs, cobwebs and dust covering the walls made it clear that this inn was not very well maintained.

Unlocking the door, a small room with lots of dust made Lucian cough, he approached the bed and sat on it, the sheets were faded in color and the bed was not soft. It was not really that different from the bed he had in the hut, better than to sleep under a bridge.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, which already struck eight in the evening, Lucian sighed. He lay down on the bed, massaging his throbbing forehead.

The coins he brought with him were only enough to last for two days. Marquess Gerald must be suspicious of Lucian who suddenly missing from the Douglass mansion area, not only him, Ivan and Eric must also feel astonished by Lucian's sudden disappearance, though Lucian was very sure that Ivan and Eric would not care, considering that Ivan had always been reluctant to accept Lucian in Douglass mansion.

However that guy—

Marquess Gerald.

The man would definitely look for him, if Lucian's hunch was right, the man seemed to know what was really going on.

"No way, I should not think about him."

The man's voice still made his heart flutter, at first he thought that his identity as Jake Gifford's son would not be revealed. But the universe said otherwise, karma seemed to be chasing him, following him wherever Lucian tried to run. What a pathetic man, Lucian felt really pathetic, the heart beat would not cease, even in this situation, the man's face still managed to make his cheeks heat up.

This seemed to be part of karma and punishment for him, even his first love would never come true.

Wincing at the sudden headache, Lucian closed his eyes. He ran away without bringing anything, without bringing any medicine, he also did not bring clothes, "What will happen to me after this?" Thinking about it made his headache worse.

After the Douglass family's anniversary event was over, maybe in about four days he would sneak back to his hut to pick up some of his belongings and savings and then look for work in another area, never to return to that mansion again.

It's a simple plan but can it work smoothly?

He recalled the conversation between Marquess Gerald and Ivan.

'Ivan, I can't believe you are hiding this from me. We have been friends for a long time but it was only today that you told me about this.'

Could not— he could not return to the mansion anymore. From their conversation, Ivan would most likely take him to meet the marquess.

Maybe this is the beginning of the punishment for my sin.

I mean, this should have happened, many people are miserable because of my actions, because of my decisions, many people have suffered because of me, so I should have lived in misery.

Don't be a coward anymore.

Lucian deserved to be miserable until the end of his life.

He felt his eyes heat up, but tears never came out of them. Maybe because there was no longer Rogan by his side, in which case he could only cry near Rogan.

Closing his eyes tightly, he felt his stomach growling, he had not eaten since afternoon, but Lucian no longer had the energy to go out to buy food, going out at night was dangerous in this area, so he decided to sleep, though his mind was filled with loud noises, voices that often replaying in his head over and over.

'Jake Gifford's son deserves to die with him.'

'Jake Gifford's son enjoyed the fortune from illicit money taken by his father, he should also be punished.'

'Is the son shameless? His father is a criminal he should end his life!'

'It would be better if Jake Gifford's son was also in jail.'

It was noisy, all the sounds bothered him, scratching his brain. Lucian covered his ears, even though he knew it was not a sound that could be drowned out by simply covering his ears.

'Lucian, it was you who made it possible for me to kill, it was your hands that made it easier for me to kill them.'

The moment his father's voice rang loudly in his ears, Lucian's eyes shot open, he sat up straight, staring blankly at the dusty walls of the room, his breathing ragged, the pain in his head intensifying.

"No. It's not my fault, you are the one who told me to do that. It's not my sin."

'It was your hand that killed them both.'

"No! it's all because of father! this is all because father threatened me to do that."

'It's your decision, Lucian. You chose that path, you chose to save yourself, thinking that the decision would set you free, instead of happily accepting your fate, you became selfish.'

This voice always haunted him. Without pause, always ringing over and over again. Haunting his days and nights.

Lucian stood up, banged his head hard against the wooden wall, 'Thump-thump-thump', he hit his head many times against the wall until the voices in his mind grew quieter.

Damn it.

He cursed.

There would be no happy ending in Lucian's life as he had yearned for since childhood.