Under the Veil of Night

"As the clan head, I believe you should be pretty busy, Kevin Kalin," Ferdinand said in a low voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe I have the right not to answer your question," Kevin retorted back flatly. His eyes focused on the man in front of him as he carefully tried to read the other party's expression.

Ferdinand crossed his arms. "Could it be that you came for that little girl named Kanae Nali?"

Hearing that, Kevin nearly frowned. He managed to restrain himself, but he was not sure if Ferdinand caught the slight change in his expression. If the other party knew that he bore special feelings for Kanae, the girl would get involved in more troubles in the future.

Ferdinand sneered internally. The person before him was merely a little boy unworthy of his attention. He was too young to understand the vastness and complications of the world. This boy wouldn't make it safely as the clan leader of the biggest clan in the city.

"So that's true. I wonder why you're so concerned about the girl. Is she perhaps," Ferdinand stopped in his words for a moment. "Your girlfriend?"

When he heard the word 'girlfriend', Kevin suddenly thought about his own feelings. He never tried to probe things further and only knew that he liked the girl. However, he didn't have any intention of telling her about his feelings as he knew that that would only make things complicated.

A longing feeling sprouted from the bottom of his heart. He realized that he wanted to keep her by his side, safe from all the dirt of the outside world. At the same time, he knew that dragging her to his side would result in her getting involved in more troubles.

Besides, the most important thing he wanted for her was her happiness.

He wanted to pursue this relationship very badly as he wished to hold her in his arms. This was the first time he felt this way, so he was still unsure about what he should do. But when he heard the word 'girlfriend', he knew that he wanted Kanae to be his girlfriend very badly.

Still, Kevin's expression showed no change. "There's a possibility that she knows more about the letter from the government, right?"

By his side, Neo and Mike nearly faltered when they heard Kevin say those words. They have been trying so hard to covertly find out about the Nali Family's letter from the government because this man didn't want to ask Kanae. Now he said that he approached her because of that letter?

He might fool others but not them.

Ferdinand's eyes sharpened. This topic always challenged his self-control. "I never knew that the Ryukalin Clan is interested in this letter as well."

"Not really, I'm just curious because it made a big ruckus twice in the span of a year," Kevin answered back calmly.

The two men stared at each other as they tried to probe deeper. However, neither side showed any other reaction whatsoever. They were adamant to not let others see through their thoughts.

In the end, Ferdinand sighed. "I already finished interrogating her. You can try to ask her too if you want. I doubt that you're going to get anything."

"Thank you for your consideration," Kevin answered calmly.

"I'll take my leave now, see you later little clan head."

Ferdinand walked towards Kevin and passed by him with a deadpan face. His subordinates followed him and they were already drenched completely in sweat. For some reason, they couldn't stand their ground when they saw Ferdinand clashing with Kevin.

The moment Ferdinand passed by his side, Kevin stretched out his hand towards Neo. "Laptop."

"Here, Boss," Neo quickly took out his laptop that he always brought and handed it to Kevin.

When Ferdinand got into the lift, Kevin started typing furiously as he ducked into a corner and evaded the sight of the cameras. It didn't take more than several seconds before he managed to infiltrate the hidden camera that Ferdinand placed in Kanae's room.

From the laptop, the faint sounds from the two people could be heard. Kevin was watching intently as Ferdinand started to ask Kanae questions.

"How well do you know Sakura?"

"Well, I'm not sure myself. I already knew her from my childhood because we meet in school occasionally. Aside from that, I think we rarely see each other."

"Have you heard about the letter from the government?"

"Yes, I have."

"When?"

"During the party last night."

Neo and Mike listened to the voices carefully. They were worried that Kanae did know something about the letter. If that were true, this little girl would invite more trouble for herself. After all, that kind of classified information was still hidden deeply from the world.

And might stay like that until the end of time.

Kevin's eyes softened when he saw that Ferdinand got nothing from asking Kanae those questions. This showed that the girl didn't know anything about the letter. He was glad. This meant that she would be safe for now.

Something as dangerous as that should never have any relation with Kanae.

Neo watched as Kevin's expression softened again. Truthfully, he has started to get used to Kevin changing his expression whenever Kanae was mentioned. At first, it was a completely indifferent expression, nothing different from his usual self. However, things started to change slowly lately as he showed a variety of emotions.

Even when they were just talking ordinarily, Kevin's expression was softer whenever he faced Kanae. It was faint, but he knew it better than anyone. After all, he has been paying attention to Kevin's expression for years. Seeing his expressions become more varied, he felt rather complicated.

"Boss, do you want to see her?" Mike interrupted when Kevin finished watching.

Kevin erased the traces of his hacking and returned the laptop to Neo. "Let's meet her."

"Yes, Boss."

At the same time Kevin started hacking, Ferdinand was heading towards his car from the lift. It took them a few seconds to realize that they were being hacked.

"Sir, the camera in the girl's room is being hacked," one of the subordinates reported with a quivering voice. This was surely a mistake on their part. From the bottom of his heart, he hoped that Ferdinand wouldn't lash out on them.

Ferdinand merely took his laptop lazily. "You're dismissed."

"Yes, Sir."

Ferdinand typed on his laptop as he tried to regain access to the camera. To his surprise, his advance was being blocked from all sides. He was not an excellent hacker, but he was not too worried. After all, there was only one person who would want to hack that camera.

After waiting for a bit, the other party retreated and he checked the camera. There was nothing wrong with it.

"There's not even a trace left. That person is quite something," Ferdinand nodded his head in approval.

When his subordinate heard this, he almost steered the car in the wrong direction. Did something happen to their leader today? Why did he seem rather happy that he was hacked?

Ferdinand smiled craftily. "Thank you for exposing your level of skill in this unimportant matter. It seems that the boy beside Kevin has already grown quite skilled."

The progress seemed rather too quick, though. However, Ferdinand didn't worry so much. There wasn't much use to pay any more attention to Kanae because he already found her to be innocent. Since Kevin offered this chance for him to analyze his clan's skill, he would gladly let the girl go.

"Pull back, I don't need that girl anymore."

"Yes Sir."

Ferdinand's finger tapped the armrest of the car as he thought about Kevin's reaction. If that girl became someone important to Kevin, he would have more cards at his disposal to deal with that annoying clan. His lips curled up. Things seemed to be on his side lately.. The Heavens must love him so much.