Under the Veil of Night

"President, is there nothing we have to do in the school as part of the Student Council anymore?" Kanae asked curiously. They would only hold positions in the Student Council for a few more weeks before the new members were selected. After all, third-year students weren't allowed to participate in the Student Council anymore.

Kevin shook his head. "For the new student orientation this year, the principal wants the teachers to take charge because there are a few new teachers."

The previous year, it was the Student Council who handled the matter of assimilating the new students into the school. However, it was different this year because the principal wanted the new teachers to get used to their work too. There were too many new ones because of the incidents in the city lately, so they were mostly still inexperienced.

"Why are there so many new teachers?" Kanae asked curiously.

"Some of them resigned during the chaos last year while some of them have just graduated from college."

Kanae nodded her head in understanding. Because of the matter with the Souhon Clan last year, many teachers chose to resign. After all, this school got attacked a few times because the younger members of the clans were here. It was obvious that they wanted to switch to a school to teach at.

At least, this meant there was less work for her as part of the Student Council. When her thoughts reached this point, she felt rather glad. She didn't like working in the Student Council when she was extremely busy outside of school like this.

"Will you stay in the Student Council?"

"No, I'll resign too," Kanae answered.

"Resign?"

"Eh? I mean, I won't join again," Kanae corrected her words.

Neo stretched his body. "Why don't you want to join again? I'm sure that you will become the new president if you want."

Kanae smiled wryly. Did she look like someone who wanted the position of president? Even though there were a lot of benefits from being the president, the responsibility was not small. She wouldn't be able to neglect her work if she decided to become the president. That would be too irresponsible.

"This year is going to be extremely busy for me. I don't think I'll have much time after school, so it's better if I don't join at all."

"I see," Kevin nodded his head.

They soon arrived at Kale Company. The employees greeted Kevin and the others too. They had already gotten used to the others following after Kevin into the office. At first, Kanae was taken aback by their warm welcome, but she composed herself.

Inside Kevin's office, the papers were piling up so heavily that Kanae was rather stunned. What did they do during the time she was away? There were too many papers that they had to go through.

"President, are you sure that you can finish all this?"

"We have to," Kevin answered promptly.

Neo scratched his head slightly. This was partially his fault because his work efficiency was severely affected because of the training he received from Mike. In addition, there was no Kanae who could work as efficient as Kevin. This caused the work to pile up even more.

"Can you help us, Kanae?" Mike smiled warmly.

"It's my job. Don't worry," Kanae answered with a grin on her face. It has been some time since the last time she worked here, so she felt rather excited to work with them again.

They quickly returned to their respective seats and started working. With Kanae beside Kevin, the piles of paper decreased quickly. This was the first time Kevin realized the significance of having Kanae stay by his side. The work that previously felt suffocating no longer affected him too much.

He glanced for a moment at Kanae as the corner of his lips raised slightly. He felt happy to have her work for him and stay here. This was the first time he realized how much he missed her both in his work and his personal life.

Neo watched Kevin's expression for a moment. Even after more than one month, he still could see the warmth Kevin showed towards Kanae. Lowering his gaze back to his work, he tried to forget about them. He knew, this was not going to end too well.

"It's time for dinner," Lou walked inside bringing their food boxes.

"Thank you."

Lou nodded his head. His eyes landed on Kanae for a moment as a frown appeared on his face. No matter what the others said, he still didn't like it when he saw her staying near Kevin. He didn't want Kevin to become too attached to her because she was not part of a clan.

When the time came for Kevin to focus his attention on the clan completely, he wouldn't be able to spend time with her anymore. If he forced his way to bring her inside the clan, many would surely disagree with Kevin.

'Am I that much of a nuisance?' Kanae munched her food as she thought about the gaze that Lou gave to her. She was only working here and didn't do anything other than that.

"President, can I return back earlier today? I want to meet with my sister," Kanae recalled something and asked Kevin.

Kevin slightly frowned, but he nodded his head. "We'll finish the work tomorrow."

"Yes."

Most of the papers were already sorted out. They should be able to finish the rest by tomorrow. After finishing her food, Kanae left the company and headed towards the inn. She purposely asked for an early leave because she didn't want to be late for her practice with Master Rudy and at the same time, late in meeting her sister.

Inside the company, Kevin continued his work. This time he felt that it was too cold by his side. In his heart, he sighed as he knew that he had already gotten too used to Kanae being by his side that he no longer liked the feeling of work alone.

His brow furrowed slightly. It would do him no good if he couldn't work alone as he still has a lot of things to do. Focusing his attention on the paper, he completely forgot about everything else.

Mike was dumbfounded to see Kevin working so diligently. "Boss seems to be on fire today."

"Yes," Neo nodded in amazement. "The paperwork has lessened a lot."

"Did something happen when I was training?"

"How should I know?"

Mike scratched his head as he tried to remember their daily activities this past month. They didn't do anything different from usual. He went training for a few hours each day, though, so there was a time gap when he didn't see Kevin. But this was only in the early morning and nothing should have happened when it was already evening like this.

Seeing the confused Mike, Neo ignored the other party. He had observed Kevin work countless times. There were times when this man worked faster and there were times when this young man worked normally. The changes were always sudden, and he didn't have the intention to probe for the reason every single time.

When the last paper was signed, Kevin stared blankly at his empty hands. He knew that he would start thinking about other things if he didn't do anything. "Neo, arrange another meeting."

"Again?" Neo was stunned. During the holiday, Kevin seemed to like going on working trips or conducting meetings much more. Most of the time was spent doing that rather than doing the work in the office. This resulted in them having to work outside the company very often.

Kevin glared at Neo. Seeing that, Neo knew better than to ask Kevin any questions. It was better if he just followed what Kevin asked.

Internally, he complained. Working outside meant that he had to walk around very often. He silently prayed that he had enough stamina to hold on or it would be embarrassing. How could an employee become tired faster than the Boss?

After walking for a few minutes, Kanae arrived at Laura's place. Laura was now living in a rented small apartment rather than a room in the inn. The reason was simply because Laura wanted to have a private kitchen, so she moved her sister after a week in that inn.

"Laura, are you here?" Kanae knocked on the door.

Laura opened the door with a bright smile. "Sis, I have made some food for you. Do you want to eat?"

Kanae: "…" I have just eaten a massive portion of food just now.

"I'll eat later. I came here to answer your request from before."

"Ah yeah, this apartment is not that small. It's more than enough for two people to live in. This is also far better than the run-down house where you stay, Sis. Can't you just move here?"

Seeing her sister's puppy eyes, Kanae coughed lightly. She had to admit that she was weak against her sister's pleading. The little girl in front of her was just too adorable for her to ignore.

Wait, that didn't mean she liked girls. She just thought of her sister as the cutest girl in the entire world. Thankfully she never said that out loud or the others would surely tease her by saying that she has a sister complex.

"You know that I don't want to leave the mansion to them," Kanae reasoned.

"Sis, didn't you say that we were going to take the mansion back in a few more days? Even if you move out, it's just for a short while."

"The plan is different. We won't be able to take the mansion back just like that because we still have to take care of the paperwork and so on."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you have a plan, Sis. I believe you won't let them occupy the mansion for long. It's ours," Laura stressed the word 'ours.' It was a mansion that belonged to their family, but now their uncle was the one who occupied it.

She couldn't stand it, and she believed it was the same for her sister. Remembering her sister's expression when she decided to sell part of the mansion's land to their uncle, she knew how unwilling she was. If not because there was no other choice back then, there was no way the mansion would fall into their uncle's hands.

Looking at the confident smile on Laura's face, Kanae sighed. Her sister knew her all too well. She did plan to take it back soon and take care of the others shortly too. After all, it would be too late if she waited until she was 17.

"Alright, I'll move here. Is there an additional room?"

"I have prepared a bedroom for you, Sis!"

Kanae smiled when she saw how energetic Laura was. She patted her sister's head. "Let's go to the mansion. I need help to bring over my belongings."

"Sure."