Under the Veil of Night

"Princess Celine faint," one of the guards yelled to inform the others. Several people grunted and moved their body to the courtyard. Albeit unwilling, they couldn't possibly let this woman got wounded in their territory. It would surely tarnish their reputation if they were unable to protect one woman.

"She's truly a hassle," Neo face palmed. He reloaded his gun and shot towards the men who made their ways towards them.

"I don't understand why Boss let her to stay here," Mike frowned.

"Neither do I. If not because of the forceful arrangement, I doubt that Boss is going to let that girl stay here."

Patrick yawned as he easily waved his long spear. The Merion Clan was quite smart to send people to this place secretly. However, they forgot about one thing; their member's fighting prowess was never a match against them. It was truly a boring fight for him as he didn't find them to be a challenge against him.

"Uncle, you shouldn't relax," Kevin reminded. "There will be more powerful people appearing soon."

"I know," Patrick looked outside the gate. Because he awakened his talent, which was related to fighting, his sense became even sharper. Even from this distance, he knew that there were several more people waiting for the chance to come inside and gave pleasant surprise.

He took out his phone. "Kevin, you won't mind if I call my friends to join in the fun, right?"

"I don't," Kevin answered flatly. Patrick's friends were those who have great fighting prowess, why should he refuse their help? Besides, he wouldn't have to pay them if it was Patrick who invited them. No one would refuse free help.

Patrick grinned. He dialed three people. "Hey juniors, come over here to the Ryukalin Clan Headquarters and accompany me in some fun."

"I'm busy, Senior Pat," Matt immediately answered. "Do you forget that I have work today?"

"You're usually quite free."

"Not today."

"You're not fun."

Kevin ignored his senior who was busy calling his juniors. He almost became Patrick's junior too in the past, but he refused Master Rudy's offer to be his disciple.

His eyes wandered to the left quarter. It was the place where Alice stayed during her time in his residence. Hopefully, that lass was still fine.

In the left courtyard, the number of the people who chased after Alice was more numerous compared with the one at Celine's place. The difference in their status caused the people to target Alice more than they targeted Celine.

"Tom, can you hold on?" The leader asked. By this time, he had remembered this young man's name.

Tommy nodded his head calmly. He shifted his body position and attacked the next man who attacked him straight to the neck. He bent down a bit and retracted back his hand, attacking the next man rather suddenly. The two who came towards them were killed by him almost instantly.

"You're pretty good. I'm going to handle the more troublesome one."

As he said that, he moved out from the room, leaving only Tommy and Alice inside. Several other men came inside and Tommy moved to position himself between them and Alice before attacking them relentlessly. Kicking them back, he noticed that one of them already appeared from behind Alice.

"Miss," Tommy called suddenly. He yanked her to move using his left hand and used his own sword to kill the approaching men. His brow creased. Their fighting prowess was not that of a talented fighter.

Alice's face was beet red as she realized how close she was with Tommy. She felt embarrassed that she was staying so close to him. Even before, she rarely got close to this man.

"Pardon me for the sudden touch," Tommy pushed Alice back slightly. It was rather impolite of him, but the situation was asking for it, so he didn't have any other choice.

Seeing how he still tried to act polite, Alice felt like she was at the breaking point of her patience. She knew that it was wrong of her to not tell him about her real background and the position in the clan. This caused this man to not know about the difference in their status.

However, it didn't mean that she wanted to act more superior against him. What she wanted was for him to act the same as when he was with her in the school. That was the time that she wanted to repeat the most.

"Tom, stop being so polite with me," Alice suddenly said.

Tommy was startled, but he shook his head. "You're my employer, so of course I have to act politely."

"But I don't want that!" Alice partially yelled as tears streamed out from her eyes. Tommy was alarmed by her sudden cry. He quickly looked around, thankfully, they were covered by a large building near them, making them unable to see her face. However, they would surely return back soon to check their little princess's condition.

"Please don't cry," Tommy tried to soothe her.

However, Alice was feeling too emotional right now to calm down. He was staying near her every single day, but they were unable to talk with each other normally. All he did every time was acting as if they didn't know each other. It was just too much for her that she couldn't stand it any longer. She wanted them to have the same relation as when they were in High School.

Tommy looked towards the crying girl in front of him speechlessly. Right now, he was trying to find out the best way to act in this situation without making it worse again. How to stop a crying girl?

He truly needed a manual right now.

After hesitating for a bit, he pulled the girl to his embrace, hugging her tightly. His action caused Alice to be surprised that she forgot to continue crying. Feeling how small she was compared to him, Tommy has the feeling that he wanted to be the one to protect her. She was so small, so cute, and so valuable that he wanted to treasure her so much.

"Have you calmed down?" Tommy noticed that she no longer cried.

Alice looked up. "Promise me that you will act like how you used to act around me in school. I want you to stay that way."

Tommy was not sure that he was allowed to act that way around Alice normally. If other people saw it, it would be very detrimental to both of their position. First of all, Alice was Kevin's fiancée, so she had to act appropriately around him because her action would affect the entire clan. Secondly, he was nothing but a bodyguard, seducing their princess would grant him a ticket to the gate of hell directly.

However, seeing her cute face looking straight to him, Tommy knew that he wouldn't be able to refuse her. Lightly raised his hand and caressed her hair, he nodded gently.

"I promise."