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Meanwhile…

"Maxen."

Maxen stopped by the lobby, turning to the entrance of the manor where Conrad was entering. He had never seen Conrad do any workout routine despite having a good body build, so seeing him in his gym attire was quite new for Maxen.

"Yes?" Maxen faced Conrad when the latter stopped several steps from him, handing the duffel bag to the servant.

"Are you going to sleep?" Conrad asked, making Maxen raise his brows.

"No, sir."

"I see. Then can you accompany me to my tonight's arrangement?"

Maxen's brows furrowed, rocking his head. "If you need me… then I can."

"Good. Meet me here in thirty minutes." Conrad walked up to him and planted a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it mildly before tapping it. "I'll be back."

With that being said, Conrad walked away while calling butler George to prepare his stuff. Meanwhile, Maxen stayed standing in the same spot. He tilted his head to the side, baffled at this sudden invitation from Conrad.

'I wonder where he plans to go at this hour…' Maxen shrugged, walking back to his room to have a change of clothes.

Thirty minutes later, Maxen was already in the lobby, texting Cosette about his plans with Conrad. However, unlike usual, Cosette wasn't responding. Hence, he assumed she fell asleep because they had quite a day.

"Maxen."

Maxen raised his eyes when he heard Conrad, seeing the latter wearing a smart casual. Conrad's attire was enough for him to assume wherever they were going, it wasn't a formal event.

"Let's go," Conrad urged, holding the keys to the car while Maxen followed him.

It was strange for Maxen to see Conrad driving with only the two of them. He knew Conrad rarely drives, and those times were the special days he had with his daughter Cosette. But Maxen didn't raise any question, trusting Conrad with all his heart even though his head was starting to shelter myriads of questions.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Maxen glanced at the driver's seat. They had been on the road for at least twenty minutes now, but neither of them spoke a word. The prolonged silence was thickening, but not suffocating. It just felt a little awkward for Maxen.

"Last night." Maxen flinched when Conrad suddenly spoke after another minute, looking at the driver's seat curiously. "Cosette came into my study."

"Ah…" Maxen furrowed his brows, waiting for further details.

"Cosette always comes to me and asks for something that I usually don't see coming. However, last night, she asked me a question I never thought she'd ever ask me in this lifetime." Conrad cast Maxen a quick side-eye. "Can you guess what is it?"

Maxen pondered about it before shaking his head. "I have no idea, sir."

"If I kill someone… will I be in trouble? — that's her question."

Maxen froze as he momentarily held his breath, staring at Conrad's side profile, wide-eyed. The lights from the outside would flash on Conrad's naturally sharp facial features, yet it wasn't enough to uncover what was inside his mind.

"She told me about your connection with this crime organization…"

"They have nothing to do with me." Maxen hung his head low, balling his hand into a tight fist. "I'm not… connected to them."

"For you, they are nothing and you have no connection to them whatsoever. But Maxen, does your opinion matter to them?"

Maxen's breath hitched, raising his shaking eyes back at him. Does his opinion matter to those people? Both of them definitely knew the answer to that. Maxen… doesn't have a voice for those people.

"I've thought long and hard about it last night. Should I kick you out? Naturally, I should since having you is simply putting my daughter in danger," Conrad paused, slowing down at the stoplight. "But then again, Cosette is deeply fond of you. ‌I'd know for sure asking you to move to another place only means she will also move to near your place."

Maxen lowered his eyes. "I can talk to her about it."

"That you will move?"

"Yes, and that she should stay." Maxen raised his head and set his determined eyes on Conrad. "I'm indebted to you and to her for all the help you've given me until now. The people that are claiming to be my family are not the type you want around her. I also don't want them lurking around her, knowing what they can do."

Conrad snapped his eyes when the red light turned green and started driving again. "What are you going to do after you move, then?"

"I… don't know." Maxen smiled bitterly, shrugging. "If they show up, I'll just reject them again."

"And if they didn't accept your rejection?"

"I'll fight."

Conrad arched a brow and looked at him for a moment. "You'll fight? How? Will you kill them?"

"I don't know, sir. They killed someone in front of me and let me shoulder the guilt of that person's death. Someone went to jail because of it too. So… I don't know how far they will push me or how deep they will drag me," Maxen confessed honestly, knowing he could never lie to him. "But all I know is… I want you and Cosette safe and away from that mess."

"I see…" Conrad let out a short and dry chuckle, shaking his head, eyes on the road. He then leaned his elbow against the windowsill, propping his knuckles against his jaw. His other hand is still on the steering wheel.

"Maxen, don't misunderstand. I did consider finding you a new place, but then, ever since I took you in, you are already my responsibility." Conrad's tone was calm and almost nonchalant, ignoring Maxen's gaze from his side. "It is my fault for not asking you questions in the beginning or running a background check on you. So, to make up for that, I asked my people to investigate."

Suddenly, Conrad pulled up on the side of the road. Maxen snapped his eyes and looked at the window, furrowing his brows, seeing that they pulled up in the bustling nightlife of the Oldtown district.

"What…?" Maxen looked back at Conrad, only to see him shrug nonchalantly.

"I told you, Max. I would rather raise the man who will marry my daughter. And that wasn't exclusive to how you treat her, but also on how you protect her." Conrad rolled down the window when someone knocked on it.

"Sir, everyone is on standby and we're just waiting for your go signal."

"Tell the captain it's his call, not mine. I just brought my son so he can watch." Conrad cocked his head and his eyes fell on Maxen's confused countenance. He didn't say anything as he glanced at the man outside again.

​ "My only request is to leave my message." Conrad's eyes flickered dangerously. "The next time they follow my kids, it won't be as childish as this raid anymore."

"Yes, sir."

Conrad rocked his head and waved, rolling up the window. When he looked back at Maxen and saw the gigantic question mark on the latter's face, he chuckled weakly.

"Don't worry. Treat it as a field trip. You'll learn one or two… I hope." He tipped his head in the establishment he pointed at earlier, but Maxen could only look at him with a mouth ajar.

Since when did a drug raid become a field trip?!