Chapter 11

Inside Gudnight's room, it was a little hard for Leo to walk in because the room was too narrow. What made it like that was the messiness of all the treasure she had collected. Leo looked around the room, and what he saw was gold and jewelleries as well as rare weaponry that could not be found in any other place. "Please, have a seat." Gudnight invited him. He took a seat while she closed the door. The outside noise gradually slowed down after the door was closed; blocking all the noise that came inside which also gave the room more privacy so that nobody will come to interrupt them.

"You want a drink?" She started to pour the liquor. "No, thank you." He tried to refuse it but she still poured for two. "Don't be too tense, here just have a drink." She placed a glass of ale on the table. "It's been a long time since I last saw you." She took a seat. "Since the tragic accident." She continued while drinking. "Don't bring up the past, just keep looking forward." He felt uneasy. "Please don't be mad, I'm sincerely telling you that I miss you." She gave him a smile but he just kept quiet and tried to forget what she just said.

"Don't you miss me anymore? Especially our time together?" She spoke in an alluring voice and presented her body with a sexy pose. Unfortunately, he seemed uninterested and ignored what she was doing. His mind was thinking more about Alan, worried for his safety. "Fine, you're not fun." She gave up and took a seat back to normal position. Leo wanted to start talking but she just stopped him by using her hand. "I know exactly what you want." She just kept drinking until she finished it. "I'm the only one that is capable to fulfil your wish, am I right?" She guessed. His facial expression reflected his discomfort.

"Let me give it another guess, she gave you a task. From what I see, she allowed her son to come with you. That means that you are not here to kill someone, am I correct? " His eyes were open wide, shocked for what she had presumed was almost correct. "I am not here to talk about your assumptions." He kept his mouth seal so as to not reveal his motives. She convinced herself that she was right after looking at Leo's face. "Wow, you're not fond of talking; I love this side of you." She smirked. "So, what business has brought you here?" She continued.

"I need your help to trespass the border." He said but suddenly she laughed without hesitation. "In my business there is no term such as 'HELP', there must be benefits for both of us." She explained. He threw two pouches of money on the table. The money spilled directly from the pouch. "For two men." He started the negotiations. It seemed like she gave him the expression of an unsatisfied face. Then, another pouch was thrown on the table. "What about that?" He asked whether she was satisfied or not but she didn't answer. She just looked at the money and at him repeatedly. After that, her facial expression turned serious.

Her glass was empty; she stood up and refilled another serving of liquor into her glass. "Tell me Leo, what is the most valuable thing in the world?" She looked inside her glass. Leo just sat still not because he ignored her question but because he couldn't figure out the answer. Suddenly, his mind had drifted away to somewhere unknown.

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It was a rainy day in one of the slum area. There was a boy who was skinny and dirty with torn clothes standing in the middle of rain. He purposely stood in the rain because at that time he was thirsty, and so he drank the rain water. After he finished drinking, he walked back to the abandoned house that he normally used as a home. Every time he entered the house, he will start to pretend to greet his parents like how other children would normally do in which parents too, in most caes, happily welcome their child back home. Unfortunately for him, no one came to welcome him. He felt alone and sad as he was an orphan.

When he was hungry, he had to consume leftovers from the garbage. Sometimes, he has to fight with other homeless people for the food. Because he was still small, he was easily defeated by other homeless people who left him hungry and injured with bruises on his body. He did not have any money to be able to afford a proper meal. No employer wanted to accept him because he was still small. No kids wanted to play with him; instead, they just bullied him and called him names such as crazy and orphan.

That night, it was cold outside. That boy can't sleep very well because there was no warm blanket for him, no comfortable bed and even the house he took shelter in cannot protect him from the coldness. He looked at the sky, a beautiful night with sparkling stars made him felt calm. He placed his hands up trying to catch the stars but he can't reach it. He tried so hard but in the end the result was the same.

"Why is it impossible for me?" He started to cry. He can't stand living like this. Today and all the past days, was so hard for him to endure. For tomorrow, he feels uncertain. The only thing he can do right now was to just pray to God that all of this will end because he was too exhausted and questioned if he was in any way valuable to this world.

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Finally, he was wide awake. He was awakened from his past. Remembering the dark past made his heart a little shattered. He almost shed some tears but he was disturbed by the sound of something thud. It was Gudnight's glass that hit the table. "The desperate need and hunger for love, money and power as described by many is actually a lie." She expressed her thoughts. "There is only one valuable thing that people don't realize of". She grabbed her drink. "Our desire." She smirked. Leo just stayed quiet and kept on listening.

"They say money can't buy happiness." Her hands made a gesture to mock those words. "Money can buy anything and everything but can't buy happiness." She continued her gesture. "That's all bullshit!" She sounded angry. "When you have love but don't have enough money, happiness still won't come to you." "It's the same with money, without love you will never get the happiness, living in despair and alone." She continued.

"You meant that my money is not what you are after?" Leo finally spoke. "Wow, you got me." She suddenly stood up. "In my business, desires are my priority." She said. "Just tell me, what are you after?" He began to sound serious. "You are not only clever but you also make my heart fluster." She used her fingers to gently run through Leo's skin, starting from his arm all the way up to his shoulder. His facial muscles tightened and he gave her a death stare. She realized that and quickly drew back her hands.

"Rather than giving me a high pay, you can take all the money and just work together with me." She tried to offer him. "I would rather give you a high pay." He responded. She kept walking behind him. "Imagine that you getting what you desire most." She whispered to his ears. "All of these will be yours; including myself, I can be yours too." She tried to seduce him. Specifically, she used her breasts to make him change his mind.

Leo suddenly went quiet. Gudnight thought that she successfully convinced him. She thought maybe one or two words will make him submit to her. "Right now, the high societies urgently need us and are willing to pay us very large sum of money." She showed me all of the money. "And with you and me cooperating together, we will be on top of the world and there will be no one who can stop us." She gave him a hug him while she tried to imagine about their future together.

"What you have said was very interesting." She was very happy after hearing this. She gave him a tighter hug. "I would like to refuse your offer, I'm very sorry." He said without hesitation. She was offended by those words. She abruptly stopped her hugging. "You dirty scum, how dare you play with me." She became mad. "You gained nothing working for that whore." She walked in circles around Leo repeatedly. "I already made an oath to serve her until the end of my life." He said. "Your pitiful oath." She spat on the floor in disgust after she heard Leo's words.

"Don't be lying to me, let me see your face." She quickly walked to the front. "Ha, this is not for an oath, this for is love." She was confident of herself. "Fine, I will take your offer because I already lost interest in you." She suddenly changed her mind. "Remember, this is the last time I engage in any kind of business with you." She did not spare any tolerance. "Deal." He just agreed with her.

"I think I'm short of it." She said after she counted her gold. "What do you mean?" He was dumbfounded. She pointed her finger at the door. He quickly opened the door to search, worrying what will happen to Alan. The bar suddenly turned into a joyful place and they were grouped at the centre to cheer at someone. He slowly got into the crowd. "Curse you, son" He was surprised that Alan was the centre of the people's attention trying to finish his ale. Alan was surrounded by a lot of jugs and he was totally drunk.