The next thing Asher knew was that he awoke in a luxurious, unfamiliar room. It was like a dream, as the bed he was lying on was extremely soft with silk sheets. He felt warm and comfortable, as if he had been sleeping peacefully for days. His body ached less compared to what it did before. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. The walls were covered in gold and silver tapestries, and there were many pieces of wooden furniture with intricate designs on them.
He got up from the bed and noticed that he was wearing an unfamiliar blue robe; it looked expensive but didn't suit him at all. He also noticed that his neck still had his necklace, which comforted him somehow. He headed towards the door but stopped when he spotted a mirror hanging on one of the walls. He approached it to take a closer look and gasped in shock when he saw himself reflecting back from the glass surface. The person staring back wasn't him; his skin colour had changed to a lighter tone, and he had become a handsome young man with sharp blue eyes and short black hair.
Asher didn't have time to question what happened as he suddenly heard a knock on the door.
"Young Master, are you awake? Your bath is ready." A gentle voice said.
Somewhat stunned, Asher looked over to the door, pondering whether to answer or not.
"Ah? Young Master, are you there?" The voice asked again, this time sounding a little annoyed.
"Umm, I am here." He decided to answer the door.
"Pardon my intrusion, Young Master. Your bath is ready." A maid in maid attire entered the room.
"Ah, wait, how did you get in here?" He was confused by the situation.
"Your bath is ready, Young Master." The maid ignored his question and answered only the first one.
"Ah, ok. No, I mean, how could I take a bath here? Where am I?" he asked.
Asher suddenly felt a little dizzy; he held his head with both hands and sat on the chair in the room.
"Young Master, what happened?" the maid asked in worry.
"Umm, I am fine." He lied.
The maid kept staring at him for a while before returning to her original position.
"Ah, I am sorry. I am somewhat tired, that is why I forgot to ask you. How do you know me?" Asher asked again.
"Young Master is Asher Blake. You are the only heir of the Blake family, and I am your personal servant, Nadia." The maid said this as she opened the window.
"My surname is... Blake? Why am I called Asher Blake?"
"Young Master, are you really feeling alright?" Nadia looked at him in worry.
"Yes, I am. I was just wondering..." Asher trailed off.
"Hmm, I understand. Please don't force yourself, Young Master. You can ask me anything, and I will answer." Nadia said it gently.
"I see, thank you, umm, Nadia, was it?" Asher thanked the maid.
"No problem, Young Master. Your bath is ready, and breakfast is already prepared. Do you have any other questions?"
"No, not right now." He shook his head.
"Young Master, it is time to take your bath." The maid reminded Asher.
"Ah, yes," he nodded. The maid walked over to him and offered her hand. He took it and stood up.
"This way, master." She guided him out of the room.
The place looked like a castle, and she was guiding him through the hallways until they arrived at the bathhouse. Thick steam emitted from the water in the bath, creating a misty atmosphere and enveloping the room with a comfortable warmth. It was an exquisite room, and the marble flooring added a nice touch to the place.
The maid began removing Asher's robe, which caused him to panic.
"I can take a bath alone!" He shouted, stopping the maid from undressing him.
"Young Master, this is a task a maid does for a master."
"I am fine." He refused, blushing a little.
"But..." the maid frowned.
"Nadia, I said no. You can go now." He ordered, but the maid did not move.
"No, master."
"Sigh.... fine." Asher finally relented.

It was a day like any other in the life of Asher; He finally left work after a hectic day. As an orphan, he had to provide for himself, so he could only afford to rent a house on the outskirts of the city.

He walks towards his house after getting off the bus; as he looks up at the dark sky without the moon and gloomy streets around him, he feels his life is the same dark and dreary.

"Haah...what am I even doing? Work all day? Listen to seniors berating at work even after working hard? Come home tired and sleep? For what am I even trying so hard? to Live a lonely life?" Asher sighed. 

"As an orphan, I never had a family. People at orphanages just provide necessary food and shelter till you either get adopted or have to leave after you reach 16. Didn't have time to make friends or get a lover as all I have to survive and provide for myself first."

On the street, Chilly gusts were blowing. Giving shivers to the spine as Asher wore light clothes.

At that moment, the surroundings were desolate, with very few people around, while street lights were flickering on and off.

As he took turns going into the alley, suddenly, four people surrounded him. They all look like regular street thugs with big muscles and tattoos on their bodies. The only thing common in them was the heavy smell of alcohol.

"...what?" Asher exclaimed in shock.

"Haha, big brother, we finally found someone; now we can go for another round of drinks." One of the big guys laughed.

"Haah, I was getting tired of waiting." another one sighed.

"We shouldn't have come here; it would have been effortless to get some money in the city." the third one said while drinking alcohol from an almost empty bottle.

"Well, it can't be helped as we had to complete the task given by the boss." the big brother lamented.

'..what, what is going on? Why are they surrounding me? Another round of drinks? Give money? Are they trying to rob me?' scared, Asher tried to think of a way out of this situation. But in this desolate alley surrounded by them, in the dark of night, he couldn't see anyone to ask for help.

As he thought of running away by pushing one of the big guys, the one called Big Brother suddenly grabbed his shoulders." now, where do you think you are going, boy? Give us all your money if you don't want to get hurt."

Asher couldn't shake him off due to their difference in strength.

Bang!

One of the big guys couldn't take anymore and punched Asher in the guts. He fell to his knees while trying to breathe. "Big brother, I am getting really tired; let's get this over with." He took out Asher's wallet from the pocket of his trousers. "...this? What the fuck? Ah, this is irritating."

"What happened, second brother?"

"Yeah, you look as if you stepped on shit."

"What you have got there?" the big brother asked.

The second brother landed another hit on Asher in the guts. Asher fell on his face while gasping for breath; tears were already running down his face. "This fucker, he only got an empty wallet with few coins. Ahh, fuck fuck, this is too irritating." he kept kicking Asher while cursing.

Asher couldn't think straight as all he could do was try to defend himself as best as he could while bearing pain. 'Why? Why is this happening to me? Why do I have to get robbed? Why do I have to bear this pain? It's not as if I don't have money; I am doing all I can to survive alone. All of my money is used on rent and living expenses. How can I, who always loses opportunities to grow and gets last, have any money left to save?'

"...this?" all the other big guys exclaimed.

Bang! Suddenly, an alcohol bottle was smacked hard on Asher's head. "Fuck! This beggar wasting drink, suddenly I feel sober all over."

"Ah, this shit is ruining already bad night; Brothers, let's beat him hard."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They all started venting their irritation on Asher; He couldn't endure it anymore. At the same time, tears flowed down his eyes as he kept begging for mercy, but they didn't care about his screams and didn't stop hitting him.

Suddenly, Asher stopped screaming as he couldn't make a sound anymore. He felt warm liquid around his throat and felt something stuck in it.

"Brothers, stop! Stop! Look at him!" the guy who hit the bottle shouted at others.

"What?" the second brother shouted, irritated.

"This?" another one exclaimed.

"How did it happen?" The big brother questioned.

"Why are you all making a fuss?.... Huh?" the second brother was questioning but suddenly exclaimed.

They all saw a broken bottle stuck deep inside Asher's throat; blood kept flowing while being choked on his blood. All the big guys stared at him in shock for a few seconds before running away without caring about the life and death of Asher.

Asher felt pain all over his body, the pain he was used to feeling during his school life by bullies.

This time, however, was different. He felt choked by his blood; his vision blurred due to the lack of blood flowing to the brain. He started feeling cold, and darkness slowly shrouded his vision. His thoughts slowed down, and he only wanted to sleep in silence.

'Is this the end of all struggles? Will I finally go to eternal slumber in the embrace of darkness?' Asher thought to himself as his vision became dark.

Slowly, a dark glow appeared like shadows from his necklace, engulfing him. It disappears in the next moment, along with his body.