Under the Veil of Night

Seeing the dark iris, he got the feeling that he had seen it somewhere before. It felt really familiar to him.

Has he met with her before?

"Don't tell me that you fall for her, brat."

Kevin immediately shifted his gaze to his uncle. "It seems that you have a new hobby of spouting nonsense, Uncle."

Patrick just shrugged. He would definitely not admit that he just loved to tease the two of them. After all, it was a great pleasure for him to see his nephew and daughter have their expression perturbed. Everyone else was less interesting compared to these two.

Besides, they would never try to seriously kill him if he did go overboard.

When his mind reached this point, Patrick revealed a wicked yet playful smile. Oh boy. He truly wanted to make a prank for these two.

Neo shuddered when he saw Patrick's smile. "Boss! Elder Patrick must be planning something evil again!"

"How rude! I'll never plan something evil!"

"You already do that numerous times in the past!" Neo accused. He still remembered how much trouble this elder caused in the past. It didn't really affect him because he was nothing more than an ordinary youngster back then. However, he couldn't forget the impact it created to the clan.

"I did not!"

Tommy didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he watched these two fanfare. In the past, Patrick would try to keep his image in front of them. He might still be a troublemaker, but not this much.

Even the two ladies not far from him were trying their best to control their expression. Alice's lips kept on twitching as she saw Neo unable to control himself. On the other hand, Celine felt at lost for she could not believe a high ranked member acting this way.

Kevin spoke up to stop their quarrel. In this important day, it would be better if they kept their calm. "Stop it, Neo. Why do you bring her here, Uncle?"

Neo shut his mouth, yet his eyes were still looking at Patrick with a hateful glance. Right now, any problem in the clan would be his responsibility, so he hoped from the bottom of his heart that Patrick would not make any move.

"I plan on putting her in the list of your fiancée candidate," Patrick smirked. "I'm pretty sure that she has more than enough qualification, right?"

Kevin truly wanted to smack his uncle right now. He has been trying to push Celine away because that woman was extremely annoying and now his uncle was trying to push someone to his side. The engagement with Alice was a fake one. At the same time, he didn't have any plan to renew it.

On the back, Neo felt headache. In terms of qualification, there was no way the other two could compare with Rei. After all, Rei was someone who has been fighting with her life numerous times in the past. For the dangerous position as the clan head's fiancée, it would be for the best to give it to someone capable.

The problem was; their Boss would never want to accept anyone other than a certain someone.

"I see," Kevin answered flatly.

Patrick smirked. "Aren't you happy, brat?"

"I'll be going now."

"Hey! Your uncle is still talking. Come back here, you brat!"

Kanae stood in her place. She turned to look at Alice and Celine for a moment. From appearance alone, it was apparent that she was not a match for these two. However, in the clan, what they pursued was not appearance, but ability in fighting. In that term, she was far ahead from these two.

She nodded her head lightly before turning to follow her uncle.

"She's going to be a real challenge," Alice commented when Kanae had walked quite far. She had seen Rei's prowess in the previous gathering. It was something that she could never hope to be able to contend with. Even trying to compare was already a disgrace for her.

Celine snorted. "Even if she's the hidden clan head's daughter, she's just an adoptive daughter. Her position is lower than ours."

"You sure are confident," Alice shrugged. "I'll leave first. Take care, Miss Celine."

With that, Alice walked away. On her back, Tommy was following her closely, not allowing anyone to get close to her.

Right now, Alice's mind was in turmoil. She knew that the engagement with Kevin was nothing but a fake, but she has always been trying to protect it because he needed her to stay in this position for six months. Now that six months had passed, there was someone appearing for this position.

And this time, she knew that she was not the other party's match.

That was not everything. Alice eyed Tommy, who followed after her patiently. She too wanted to stay with him and the limit of six months was already the most she could. She wouldn't be able to hold on if Kevin wanted to prolong this façade for a longer time.

On their back, Celine was staring at Kanae's back with a sharp glint. She felt threatened by the appearance of Kanae. Even though that girl barely did anything, this was what Celine truly felt.

'If I don't do something, she's going to take the position.'

Celine truly wanted to make a move. However, she didn't even know what she had to do as she didn't really have anything to compare with that young woman.

Fighting skill?

Hers would be a complete joke if she tried to compare with Rei. The legend of her exploits on the street was still ringing loudly in her ear, giving a constant reminder of how great she was.

Besides, the fighting skill she showed back in the clan gathering back then was already more than enough to gain the acceptance of the elders. No one would refuse such powerful youngster. And if Patrick was the one backing her, no one could really find fault.

Who would want to put themselves on the bad side of that monster?

Beauty?

Well, she didn't know how Rei looked like. But even if she looked more beautiful because of her maturity and body built (since Rei looked flat like boys), it was not that important.

The clan prioritized martial power. It was something she could never compare with Rei.

Celine's eyes grew dangerously. No matter which side she tried to pick, she could never be able to convince them that she would be better and more valuable as the candidate. 

How vexing.