Alex was baffled.

Anyone with even a bit of brain cell would already know he wasn’t going to be killed.

He had clearly negotiated terms with Varyn.

’Just how did he live his life all this time?’

Alex doubted it was an IQ problem. Rovan was a cultivator.

Even if he wasn’t a genius, he should be smart enough to read the situation.

That left only one answer.

Rovan had lived a life with no real accountability.

When he made a mistake, someone else cleaned it up.

When he offended someone, he had no conflict as people afraid of his family name.

All of this resulted in he never learned where the line was.

He never learned what fear really meant until now.

What real consequence is.

Alex looked at the trembling man on the floor.

Rovan’s hands were still raised like he was offering himself, as if Alex would accept him like a stray dog.

It was pathetic..

Alex leaned back and stared at him.

"You want to live?"

He doesn’t bother to explain the situation

Rovan’s head shot up. "Yes! Yes, Sir Edward!"

Alex nodded.

"Good," he said. "Then put your life on it."

Rovan froze. "I... I will. I swear. I can do everything! Even sign-"

"No need," Alex cut him off. "You don’t deserve to be my slave."

At his current position Alex doesn’t need useless slave.

Rovan’s face turned pale.

Using soul contract is common in situation like this, to make sure the won’t get betrayed.

Yet Alex reject it outright.

This make him fear for his future.

He doesn’t even realize how much he was looked down by ALex.

That made Rovan fear for his future even more. If there was no contract, what was stopping Alex from doing whatever he wanted? Putting another soul into his body? Using a parasite? Something worse?

The uncertainty was more terrifying than a binding oath.

"Get up," Alex said.

Rovan scrambled to his feet, almost tripping over himself in his haste.

Alex opened the door.

The staff member was still waiting outside, as if she had been there the whole time.

Her expression didn’t change, but her eyes flicked briefly to the cracked floor behind them before returning to neutral.

Minutes later, they arrived at Beatrice’s shop.

It was still closed, but Beatrice was inside, checking the inventory. She needed to make sure everything was ready for whenever she could reopen.

She turned when the bell above the door rang.

Then she saw Alex. And she saw the man trailing behind him.

She didn’t recognize Rovan, but since Alex was the one bringing him here, she assumed his identity was important.

Rovan flinched the moment he saw her.

His face went stiff. If he could have run, he would have. He had thanked his luck leaving the bar earlier, thinking no one had seen him in that state.

But now, someone else saw him like this, and it was a woman he found attractive.

If not for the situation, he might have already tried to make a move on her. Now, he just wanted to disappear.

Beatrice’s gaze jumped between them.

"Alex, who’s he?"

Alex walked past the counter. He took a bucket and some rags from the cleaning closet, then handed them to Rovan.

Rovan stared at the items like they were poisoned.

Alex nodded toward the floor.

"On your knees," Alex said.

Rovan’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Beatrice looked stunned. She didn’t understand what was happening.

Rovan swallowed hard.

Under Alex’s stern gaze, He dropped to his knees.

Alex pointed at a stain on the tile near the entrance.

"Start there," he said.

Rovan’s hands trembled as he dipped the rag into the bucket.

Then, he began to wipe.

Back and forth, Like a servant.

Beatrice stood there, completely baffled. She looked at Alex again.

"Just what’s happening?" she asked.

Alex’s expression didn’t change.

"He’s a new servant," Alex said. "For this store."

Rovan’s shoulders shook. He kept wiping.

Beatrice blinked hard. "A servant... here? He doesn’t seem to have thes skill for it."

Alex leaned slightly closer to her and spoke in a low voice, calm and simple.

She could see how clumsy he clean the floor. It’s clear he have no experience doing it.

And it’s not like they don’t have formation to clean the shop every day.

Right now people only hire people as staff mostly for looks, as it tell they’re rich enough to hire real people to do it.

"He begged for aj ob" Alex said. "So I gave him one."

Beatrice frowned. "What?"

"I cannot say much, since I don’t want you to be involved further, but he’s related to what happen to your Father."

Rovan scrubbed harder. The rag squeaked against the tile.

Beatrice watched him, her eyes turned colder.

"Is he one of the main culprit?"

Alex shook his head. He raised his voice so Rovan could hear clearly.

"You will stay here till I meet your uncle," Alex announced.

Rovan’s hands paused for half a second, then he noddeed.

Alex continued, his tone cold and casual.

He pointed at Beatrice.

"You only need to clean, carry, and do whatever *she* tells you."

Beatrice stiffened. "Are you sure about that?"

Alex nodded once. "Yes. Do whatever you want as long he stay alive and can move." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Rovan’s head lowered even more. His body shook.

He maybve naive in many things, but he know what usually happen to people on his situation, but he didn’t dare complain.

Alex looked back at Beatrice. "Well you take care of him."

He than leave both of them together, going to other floor to meet with Minggyue.

Left only the two of them Rovan could feel Beatrice cold gaze.

"So your Uncle is the one scamming my father?"

Rovan’s voice came out hoarse. "I - I don’t know for sure. But since Master Alex say so, it should be the case."

He doesn’t dare to look at Beatrice, even now he could feel her hatred.

Beatrice walked in front of him blocking his path. "Look at me."