Under The Veil of Night

Standing near the gate was a young man. He was dressed up in rather formal clothes. He looked at the mess in front of him uncaringly.

"Megara, since he’s still alive, you have failed in your mission."

Megara’s face contorted in displeasure. He knew that he had lost because his greatest task was to make sure that Kevin didn’t come. Unfortunately, he failed because Kevin could still come back along with the others. From the way it looked like, Kevin didn’t seem to sustain any wounds.

"We should go back," the man said calmly.

"But Jeff, we..." Ayres was about to protest, but the man called Jeff merely passed the brute man a glance. That one glance was enough to shut him off for good.

"Do you think you can come and leave as you wish?" Patrick roared and attacked Ayres again. The brute man quickly raised his sword to block the attack.

Jeff shook his head. "I advise you not to do anything reckless or, I wouldn’t mind turning this place into a blood bath."

As he spoke calmly, the guards behind him suddenly readied their swords. Their face bore confusion, so it was clear that they couldn’t control their body well.

’He’s the one who controls the people using his voice,’ Kanae was struck with realization as she stood quietly in her place. Her fight with Anna had halted and as she had been gaining the upper hand, it was Anna who got off worse. Even though so, she looked far worse with numerous wounds on her body.

Patrick grunted and pushed Ayres back using his spear. He could guess that Jeff has the ability to control people through his voice. If Jeff decided to involve the innocent people around this area to the battle, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to fight according to his wish.

"Now, let’s leave."

Jeff’s voice was tinged with the force of authority, forcing people who heard it to obey his command. This caused the three people to slowly make their way towards Jeff. As for the others, they were standing right on their face.

Kevin’s eyes were locked onto Jeff. "You won’t be able to get away easily, Jeff."

"Are you sure about that, Kevin?" Jeff passed a glance towards the young man before him. "What do you think you can do to me? For someone whose ability is limited to one’s body, you’re too weak to think of any other things."

Kevin didn’t answer. His expression remained indifferent as Jeff brought the three people out with him. In his current condition, he wouldn’t be able to defeat Jeff, so he had to let him go. Otherwise, he would never have let them off.

"Kevin, is it alright?" Patrick asked.

Kevin nodded his head. "It’s unwise to fight him in a crowded place."

Patrick agreed. Jeff’s ability was limited to influencing people around him to do what he wanted to do. As long as there was no one else around him, it was a piece of cake for them to eliminate the man. Unfortunately, Jeff has always been very careful to stay in a crowded place.

As long as there were people, he would be able to manipulate them.

’Is there no limit to his ability?’ Patrick thought to himself. Against someone who used other people to shield him and manipulate others as easy as drinking, it would be a tough battle. That man didn’t care for anyone around him, so there was no weakness they could exploit.

Kevin shifted his gaze from the gate towards the other members of the Ryukalin Clan around him. Those who stayed here were people who were neutral or siding with Megara. He had made sure that everyone who was loyal to him from the very beginning was not involved in this incident unless they were very capable like his uncle.

"I believe you have seen for yourself how the strength of people behind Megara and the others during the time I was away," Kevin started speaking. The people in front of him moved their gaze towards Kevin. They have just experienced hell just now as they had seen for themselves what kind of people were behind Megara.

However, for some of them, it meant nothing.

"I know that some of you chose to side with Megara," Kevin said, his voice impassive. Some people tensed up when they heard this. "Now that Megara has left the clan, you have two choices, either change your pledge or leave this clan. I’ll not hinder anyone who wants to leave. But if you stay while your heart sides the other way, I’ll not spare you."

The surrounding people glanced at one another. After several seconds, one of them stood up and walked quietly towards the gate. Following behind him were several other people, who walked slowly.

It took a few minutes before they stopped, no one else left the group. Kevin scanned the people in front of him.

"if you wish to stay, I hope for your cooperation from now on."

The people nodded their heads. Kevin glanced towards Patrick. "Help me to list their name. Those who left shall have their records erased from the clan register. As for those who dare to betray me, shall be killed along with their family members."

Kevin’s words sent chills to the surrounding people. However, not a single one of them voiced any complaint. They were already given the choice to leave, so if they didn’t leave and wanted to be a spy, they had to bear with the consequences.

"Alright, you should rest, Kevin."

Kevin shook his head. "There are a lot of things I have to do. First of all, we have to call a doctor for her."

From the fight, only Kanae sustained heavy wounds. In addition, the strain on her feet caused her wounds to bleed again. Even though the girl herself didn’t say anything and merely stood quietly, he could guess that she was bleeding from the way she stood up.

"Fine," Patrick sighed.

Kevin moved from his spot towards Kanae. He smiled gently. "Are you alright?"

"Do you have to ask? I’m perfectly fine," Kanae smiled back. "You should worry about yourself more than me. With the lesser number of clan members, don’t you have to secure the position of Ryukalin Clan again?"

"I don’t think I need to worry so much about that," Kevin replied. Before the battle, he had received a piece of news from the Souhon Clan. The foundation for Souhon Clan has been robbed off from them lately, making the position of the clan rather weak. It was not apparent on the surface, but Master Ren had told him that it was true.

Because of that matter, he wanted to make a bet. Once the Souhon Clan was unable to stand again, he would dissolve the clan. However, this action would push Ryukalin Clan to be the sole clan in this city, which made it rather dangerous. They would be seen as the biggest enemy for the government.

Kanae eyed the expression on Kevin’s face. There was barely any change, but she could somehow detect his emotion rising and plummeting.

"I mean will you be ready if they attack you so suddenly?"

Kevin rubbed Kanae’s head. "They won’t attack me suddenly. Right now, the attention of the people will be placed in our clan, so they can’t make reckless move in the name of government. They have to let us go for now."

"Our clan?"

Kevin recalled that he had misspoke, but he didn’t try to correct it. "You’re my fiancée, right?"

Kanae’s eyes widened when she heard his words. She did recall that she became Patrick’s daughter because she wished to be his fiancée. It was not the only reason, but it was the most important one. However, didn’t this man clearly reject having ’Rei’ as his fiancée?

"That’s not certain, yet," Kanae decided to deny it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, what makes you so sure that I won’t reject you?"

Kevin’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Will you reject me if I ask you to be my girlfriend and fiancée?"

Kanae opened her mouth, wanting to playfully reject him. However, her brain couldn’t conjure anything good as the retort. She smiled back. "I won’t."

"That’s settled, you’re my fiancée now."

"Shouldn’t you ask for the other clan members’ opinion?"

"Oh?" Kevin shifted his gaze toward the other people around him. They were all staring at him as if they were seeing a ghost. Was he truly the same cold and unfeeling clan head that they knew all these times? Right now, he looked like a stranger –no, like a foolish teenager in love.

The way he smiled and replied to the woman made them rather stunned. They had never seen their Boss smile so happily before. Besides, they had never seen him care about a woman so much to the point of forcing the other party to be his fiancée.

Their Boss has fallen stupidly in love!

When their Boss turned around to look at them with a stern expression, no one dared to refuse. They put on a flattering smile on their face. "No one will say no to you, Boss."

"We’ll support you until the end, Boss."

Kanae rolled her eyes at the clan’s member’s response. She had the feeling that they would never reject anything Kevin did. "They’re too afraid of you, Kevin."

Kevin arched his eyebrows. "Let’s head back. I’ll ask for permission from your father too."

"What?"

As they walked inside, Patrick walked out while holding a stack of paper. He eyed them suspiciously. "I have already called the doctor. Don’t you need to rest, Rei?"

"I’ll be resting."

"Uncle, I wish for Rei to be my fiancée," Kevin asked bluntly.

Patrick raised his eyebrows. He smirked. "Aren’t you the one who rejected the notion in the past?"

"That’s because you hide the truth."

"What if I say no?"

"I’ll be taking her by force."

"Heh, do you think you can defeat me, youngster?"

As the two of them bickered, Kanae paid no heed and slipped away to rest. As for the other members, they pretended that they didn’t see anything. Who would want to believe that their usually indifferent and cold Boss would be so childish like this?

It would be better if they say that they didn’t know. At least, their heart wouldn’t be so tortured.