Chapter 131: Teaching The Young Master

Right before the bar in the lounge, the two groups kept staring at each other.

Lukas didn’t break eye contact from Boaz, his hand twitching at his sides, ready to throw hands if the need arose.

The silence lasted approximately three seconds before Boaz’s posture changed.

The man seemed to deflate, his pomposity disappearing as if he was a ball poked by a nail.

He bent slightly at the waist, his entire demeanor recalibrating into something Lukas hadn’t expected to see.

The man stepped forward and extended his hand towards Lukas with a smile that had abandoned all pretense of superiority.

"Lukas Valentine," he said, taking Lukas’ hand before he could get over his surprise, pumping the handshake with genuine enthusiasm.

"I have to say, it is an honor to meet you here like this. Truly. I watched every one of your matches in the tournament, and I have to tell you, I’m a big fan."

He glanced at Melody and Akira with the specific energy of a man who had decided the best available strategy was sincerity. "Your wives are remarkable. All of this is remarkable."

He gestured to his two guards, who stepped forward simultaneously, each one retrieving a polished wooden box from their spatial rings.

Lukas raised his brow at that. So that was the reason the man had brought guards?

"It’s just a small token," Boaz said. "Consider it an apology for my horrible behavior with your wives earlier, and also," he paused, his expression shifting into something that was trying very hard to be casual, "a gesture of goodwill from a man who would very much like to learn from your example."

Lukas looked at the boxes. Then at Boaz.

"I can’t accept these," he said.

Boaz’s face fell immediately.

"Please." He pleaded, and from his tone of voice, it was clear that he was not used to begging for anything. "You can consider it a consultation fee if you want to."

"Consultation fee?"

"I just— I just want to know your secret, man. How," he glanced at Akira and Melody, "how did you manage to bag such two loyal baddies?"

"I want to be like you. I want to also have women who’ll stick with me even when I’m not there, you know. All I ask is one tip. That’s all I ask. Just one."

Melody pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh, while Akira looked up at the ceiling, hands covering her mouth to hide her laughter.

Lukas sighed.

This was a young master on a crossroad. With one piece of advice, he could save this man’s life. Because he could totally tell what would happen if he didn’t intervene.

Boaz would continue his pompous ways, get infatuated with a lady, ask her out, be rejected, challenge anybody whom the lady showed interest in, and one day be killed by one of the suitors.

He’ll simply view this as him changing a man’s life.

"Just one tip," he said.

Boaz straightened like a student who had just been called on, his eyes lighting up.

"The most important rule you need to know is that no means no."

"When a woman says no," Lukas said, "leave her alone. When she doesn’t return the effort you’re giving and when she doesn’t engage with your attempts at conversation, that’s your answer."

"Take it. Walk away without making it into something personal. Don’t push and don’t escalate the situation." Lukas held Boaz’s gaze, making sure the man knew this was important.

"Rejection isn’t a problem to solve. It’s not something against you, so there’s no need to take it personally. You simply nod, smile, and leave. Nothing else."

Boaz stared at him with wide eyes, nodding along as if he was memorizing some kind of holy book.

"And when you learn to absorb rejection without losing your composure," Lukas continued, "you become someone worth approaching. That’s where it starts."

Boaz’s eyes were shining.

"Thank you," he said, with what appeared to be genuine gratitude. "Truly. I’ll put your words in my heart for a long, long time."

"That’s all well and good, but you can go now." Lukas waved his hands dismissively.

Boaz’s eyes flicked to Melody and Akira behind Lukas before a knowing smile appeared on his face. "Of course."

And with that, he turned and left.

His guards stood there awkwardly, not sure if they should drop the box in their hands or not.

"Just take that with him." Lukas said, waving to the guards.

They gave him nods of gratitude and relief before following Boaz.

Akira watched them go. "That was almost wholesome."

Lukas dropped onto one of the bar stools and flagged down the bartender, ordering something for himself.

"Wholesome? More like troublesome," he said, mostly to himself. "But at least we didn’t make another enemy."

Melody frowned at that. "Another enemy?"

He accepted his drink, took a sip, and began telling them about the assistant conductor.

He started with the sitting-without-permission grievance, then to the deliberate denial of the upgrade. The aura standoff came next, then he capped off his story with the man’s parting expression.

"Well, I guess we can forget about getting any upgrades throughout the journey."

Melody pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. "You provoked him."

"He started it."

"He was being an asshole, yes, but that didn’t mean you had to stoop down to his level."

"He was being smug about it."

"So you insulted his career prospects."

"I did."

Melody looked at Akira.

Akira shrugged. "I would have done the same."

"Of course you would have." Melody couldn’t resist a small smile at that.

Before any of them could say anything else, a voice filled the train, coming through some mechanism built into the walls of the carriage.

"Good afternoon, passengers. This is your driver speaking. And I would like to announce that we will be departing shortly."

"I want to remind everyone that this train will not be making any unscheduled stops. Whatever happens between stations, we will keep moving, and we’ll only stop at the designated stations."

"I hope you have a comfortable journey. Sit back, enjoy what the train has to offer, and we’ll have you in your destination before you know it."

The voice clicked off.

A low vibration moved through the floor beneath their feet, building steadily, and then the view through the lounge windows shifted as the train began to move.

They were finally leaving Havenhart.