Secret Scion

The man with the buzzcut then said, "As underlings, we shouldn't try to guess what our master wants. It's a taboo. Master Schmidt must have his own plans. All we need to do is to obey his arrangement."

No one dared to say anything else when they heard the man with the buzzcut say that.

After crossing a busy road, Asher ended up in a dark alleyway very quickly. When he stopped, he once again lit up a cigarette and inhaled.

It looked quite creepy when the white smoke wisped in the air under the shadowy illumination of the streetlight. The man with the buzzcut frowned as he became somewhat nervous. Asher must have already discovered them a long time ago. He was indeed not an ordinary man.

As they stood at the entrance of the alleyway, they could not help but stop as Asher continued to smoke. The man with the buzzcut then said, "Long time no see, Master Crawford. You are still as graceful as ever."

Asher narrowed his eyes. If they knew about his real identity, there was only one possibility left. They were sent here by the Schmidts.

"The Schmidts have such good noses. What are they? Foxhounds?" Asher turned around and looked at them quietly. "That being said, you won't be able to take my life with just a few of you." "We know that you are really good at fighting, Master Crawford. It's true that we're indeed no match for you. However, we have our orders. We never had a choice to begin with. Come, Master Crawford. Show us what you can do." The man with the buzzcut had his eyes on Asher. Asher merely smiled and said, "So who gave you the orders? Was it Rose? Perhaps it's Xavier?" "Master Garrett."

Even Asher was somewhat surprised. Two years ago, Garrett was just a kid that would follow wherever Sam would go. He had never expected that after two years, he would have climbed to such a high position in his household.

He thought that the Schmidts would send Rose. If that was true, it would be a headache for him. However, it seemed that his worries were unfounded after all. The Schmidts would never give power to Rose unless it was absolutely necessary.

"You won't be able to kill me. Go back and tell Garrett to go back to Alexandrius if he knows what's good for him. I don't want to cripple both the brothers. I believe that the Schmidts don't want to see this happen as well."

"Master Crawford, you are quite arrogant, aren't you? Thanks to the household's support, Master Garrett has already surpassed Master Sam after these two years. He's no longer the kid that you met all those years ago," the man with the buzzcut said.

"Oh? Is that true?" Asher said as his eyes turned cold and deadly. "If you want to get yourself killed, then be my guest. I'm more than happy to oblige."

A powerful aura seemed to instantly fill the space around Asher as soon as he said that. Even the other men were surrounded by it. Even when they were no weaklings, they could feel the chill run down their spines.

They never thought that Asher would be so terrifyingly powerful.

However, they had their orders from Garrett. Even if they knew that it was a dead end, they had no choice but to attack head on.

"Our apologies then, Master Crawford." The man in the buzzcut clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles after saying that.

"Worthless pieces of trash! How dare you show yourselves in front of my master! Do you have a death wish?!"

A middle-aged man's voice boomed suddenly in the alleyway, and a man wearing a gray-colored shirt appeared in front of them. He was so fast that all they could see was a blur.

"Gunther Glade!" When the man with the buzzcut saw the man in the gray shirt, his frown became even deeper. He did not expect that Gunther himself would be in Rollinsford as well.

He knew that Gunther was an elite that the Crawfords had nurtured. He had also seen Gunther's abilities. They could never match Gunther in battle. Originally, fighting Asher was already going to be a pain. To make matters worse, Gunther had appeared. They had absolutely no chance of winning now.

"Boss, maybe we should just retreat. With the two of them fighting together, even Rodrick won't have the confidence to defeat them," one of the men said, already thinking of withdrawing. "True, Boss. If Master Schmidt knows what's happening here, he won't blame us."

At this moment, even the man in the buzzcut began to hesitate.

"My master has already shown you mercy. Why are you still here?!" When Gunther saw that the man with the buzzcut was still undecided, he swiftly attacked and struck the man in the chest. The latter was thrown into the air like leaves being swirled by a hurricane.

"Boss!" The remaining few were not bold enough to stay behind and quickly made their escape. When Gunther saw the men making their escape, he turned around and said in a humble tone, "Master Asher, when the Master realized that the Schmidts are taking action, he sent me here to support you. I am yours to command as you wish."

Gunther had been under the Crawfords' care since he was little. Without the Crawfords, Gunther would have already died on the streets. That was why Gunther was completely loyal to the Crawfords.

And that was also why Gunther was trusted by the Crawfords. Especially Asher's grandpa. He would not have sent Gunther to support Asher if it was not because something serious had happened.

After a moment of contemplation, Asher asked, "Gunther, is Rodrick Johnson in Rollinsford as well?

Gunther nodded and said, "Yes. The Master became worried about your safety because he found out that Rodrick is here."

When he heard that, even Asher began to show some concern as he continued, "Rodrick is the best among the Schmidts' fighters. At the same time, he is also someone on the Capital City's Elite Ranking. Sounds like Xavier wants to bury me in Rollinsford once and for all." Gunther said nothing as Asher continued, "Gunther, if Rodrick wants me dead, we have a ghost of a chance against him even if we work together. That's why your presence here in Rollinsford won't be able to change anything. You should return to the Capital City and tell Grandpa I'll handle everything here myself."

"That's ill-advised, Master. If I stay here, I can at least put my life on the line to defend you in your time of need. If I leave, you will be alone. Knowing that, I cannot be at ease," Gunther said nervously.

Asher then said with a grin, "Trust me. Garrett won't let me die so easily. Not to mention that you are one of the Crawfords' mainstays. You cannot simply sacrifice yourself like that. The Crawfords cannot afford to lose you."

After he had finished saying that, Asher left the alleyway without any regret. He gave the black car on the opposite of the road a glance before leaving quickly.

"Master, if you know that they can't kill Asher, why are you exposing our presence to Asher? Telling him that we're already in Rollinsford? You'll just put him on high alert, right?" In the black car, a middle-aged man wearing a suit asked Garrett with a troubled expression on his face. That man was Rodrick Johnson, the man that was on Capital City's Elite Ranking.

He did not understand why Garrett did not send him to take out Asher. If he were to do it, Asher would not be able to see the next sunrise.

"Simple. I don't want him to die so easily." Garrett opened the car window and let some fresh air in. A vicious smile appeared on his plain-looking face. "My brother has lived in pain for the past two years. All I wish to do whenever I see Asher is to tear him limb from limb. That being said, killing him would be a mercy. I want him to live in eternal pain, and die in suffering. My brother lost to Asher because he underestimated him. Not only did he become a cripple, but he has also brought shame to our family name. Let me be the one to finish this for my brother." Only then did Rodrick understand Garrett's thoughts. It seemed like this young master of his wanted to prove that he was much more able than his brother to stop some of the gossip going around.

When Noelle reached home, it was already very late at night. Just when she was about to go back to her room to sleep, Carter's voice echoed from nearby, "Elle, you're home late tonight."

"I had something I needed to do so I went out. Why haven't you gone back to rest yet?" Noelle turned around and saw Carter walking toward her.

Carter said with a soft smile, "I cannot sleep. Come, Elle. Accompany me for a stroll in the courtyard."

When Noelle heard that, she could not help but take a step back. Ever since her marriage with Asher, Carter no longer asked her to accompany him on a stroll. She also had very few chances to be alone with him.

Noelle knew very clearly that if Asher was not a scion from the Capital City, Carter would not have changed his attitude toward her.

"Elle... if I'm correct, you went to look for Asher, right?" Carter gave Noelle a quick look. "If I didn't force you, you wouldn't have divorced Asher. Do you hate me?"

Noelle would be lying if she were to say that she did not hate him at all.

However, no matter how much she hated him, Carter was still her grandfather. In her veins flowed the same blood as his. They were both Stewards.

Noelle pulled her hair back and said with some hesitation, "It has already come to this. It's meaningless to speak about any of this anymore."

"So, you do hate me." Carter let out a cynical smile. "I know that it has been unfair for you and Asher for the past two years. Nevertheless, I'm the patriarch of the Steward household. I need to place our household ahead of everything. Asher wants you to replace me, right? You'll soon know of the sacrifices that I have had to make."

"Grandpa..." She could not explain why, but Noelle could feel her heart throbbing in pain. It was the first time that Carter had spoken to her in that kind of tone.

She felt stuffy deep within her heart.