Under the Veil of Night

Laura looked towards the mansion in front of her as her eyes darted around. From the back, the mansion still looked extremely massive as it was over 10 meters tall, not to mention that its attached wings also sprawled out on the estate. There were several windows on the second floor that were finely carved with beautiful accents. With the additional effect of the beautiful light blue color of the wall, the mansion looked sophisticated.

Fixating her gaze on the windows, Laura's lips curled up as she recalled how often Kanae sneaked out from them. As a brave and naughty kid, Kanae dared to climb down the trees from the window. No matter how many times their parents reprimanded her, she would do it again.

'And she's also good at it,' Laura recalled the time when she asked her sister to teach her how to climb trees. Kanae could do it after one attempt, but she never managed to climb the tree no matter how hard she tried.

Her eyes moistened as she recalled what happened afterwards. She cried really hard because she couldn't climb, so Kanae piggybacked her and climbed the tree. The view in the tree was completely different from what she was on the balcony. It was so beautiful, so she often asked her sister to help her climb.

'Even now, I still can't climb a tree.'

Laura wiped her wet eyes as she looked around. Kanae was inside the run-down hut, packing up her belongings.

It has been two years since the last time she came this close to the mansion. Whenever she returned, Kanae wouldn't allow her to get close at all because their cousin would surely make trouble for them. Laura knew how protective Kanae was, so she didn't force her way to come here.

She didn't want to make her sister worry too much.

'I miss this place.'

It would be a lie if she said that she didn't miss this place. This was the place where she grew up and spent most of her childhood. If only her parents were still alive, she wouldn't be in this situation…

Laura closed her eyes as she sorted out her feelings. There was no use lamenting about the past. Thousands of 'what if' wouldn't be able to change anything and they only made her feel rather depressed. It would be better to look forward and enjoy the life she had.

She was lucky that she has a sister that cared for her more than anything in this world. She too, surely treasured her sister the most. Kanae was the only family she had in this world. The others from the Nali Family could go to hell for all she cared.

"Laura Nali."

The voice coming from the side caused Laura to flinch. She was not unfamiliar with this voice as this was the voice of the person that she hated the most in her life. That person always mocked her and jeered at her in the past. She had just thought about how Kanae didn't let her come here. The person before her was clearly one of the reasons.

Laura turned around and saw a person standing not far from her: Sakura. At this time, Sakura was wearing a beautiful pink night gown that made her look like she was glowing. No matter how much she hated the other party, she had to admit that Sakura was born with natural beauty.

On the other hand, Sakura was staring at Laura with a gaze filled with hatred. After not seeing the latter for a couple of months, she could see that Laura was slowly growing into a beautiful and refined woman. Unlike the plain Kanae, Laura exuded elegance and charm. The childishness from the past had started to disappear, replaced with youth and maturity.

'She's truly a nuisance.'

Sakura always hated the two sisters. Even in the past, she disliked the two of them. Now that Laura proved to be someone that could rival her beauty, the hatred grew more intense. From the bottom of her heart, she wished for nothing more than this girl's death.

Neither one of them said anything as they glared at each other. Their eyes hid glints of murderous intent. Clearly, the two of them couldn't stand the other party's existence. The silence lasted for one minute before Sakura started to speak.

"I never thought you would return here after you got the scholarship."

Laura sneered. "Why shouldn't I come back? This is my birthplace and a precious place for me."

"Precious? Don't you hate this place because your parents died here?"

"Here? They didn't die inside the mansion, Sakura. It seems your memory turned rusty after not using it for a long time," Laura raised one of her eyebrows, showing a mocking look. She was unwilling to back down from Sakura's taunt.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. The childish girl had learned how to talk back to other people. How annoying. Here she thought it would be easy to make Laura cry again like in the past. Things proved to be different this time.

"Oh, I know that. I thought you forgot since you've been staying in a luxurious place for months. Have you forgot about your life in this city, Laura?"

Laura frowned. She didn't stay in a luxurious place. The money her sister gave her was barely enough to allow her to live in that country because of the difference in culture. If anything, she always had to cook her own food with the groceries that she scavenged from the cheapest markets to make sure she wouldn't run out of money.

"I think it's you who forgot, Sakura," Laura looked Sakura up and down. "You're clearly wearing heavy makeup and the most fashionable clothes in this city even when you're inside the house. Doesn't that just show that you're a pampered young lady?"

Sakura waved her hand. "I'm a true noble, unlike a fake one like you."

"Be careful of what you say, I still bear the name 'Nali,'" Laura's voice deepened. Even though she hated the Nali Family, no one forbid her from using their name to her advantage. No matter what, she was still considered as someone from this family.

"Indeed, but not for long," Sakura sneered.

Laura knew how much Sakura hated the two of them and also the fact that they were in the same family as her. The rules allowed them to stay as part of the Nali Family and not get oppressed openly. Still, it didn't mean that their lives were filled with happiness.

Even when her parents were still alive, Sakura never let her off. Purposely shaming them at parties and mocking them all the time was a common occurrence whenever they met one another.

"What do you even know about that?"

"Oh?" Sakura arched her eyebrows. "You finally decided to stay in this city again? Doesn't this city bring you too much sadness because there are too many clans and people from underworld?"

"Those are the inevitable rules in this city," Laura replied coldly.

Sakura tilted her head, acting like an innocent young lady. "It seems you have completely forgotten that it's because of people from the underworld that you lost your parents."

Laura's gaze sharpened. How could she forget? That was something that pierced through her hear. When she saw the news, she felt that her world crumbled into pieces. The rules of the city that they tolerated was what took away the people most important to her.

Closing her eyes for a split second, Laura calmed herself down. There was no point in getting angry at Sakura. "It was just an incident in which our parents were just unfortunate to get involved."

"Are you sure they're just unfortunate?"

Hearing the tone of Sakura's voice, Laura felt uncomfortable. She looked at Sakura warily. "What are you trying to say?"

Sakura smiled brightly.. "I have read the report before and it's really surprising that the reason they went out was that they wanted to give your sister a surprise. Have you never thought that if they didn't plan on giving Kanae a surprise on her birthday, your parents wouldn't have died?"