Under the Veil of Night

The hidden clan heads didn't voice out any complaint as they agreed with the result of the gathering. Even if they wanted to complain, they didn't have any basis. For the past few months, they have seen for themselves how Kevin could be extremely reliable as the clan head.

What should they bring up to voice their complaint?

As they continued to discuss the clan's matter, Alice found herself relaxing. It was over. She could finally ask Kevin to annul the engagement as she wanted to stay with Tommy and not this young man. The struggle so far has been worth it.

In the middle of the talk, Patrick stood up lazily. He turned to look at Kanae. "Let's go back. It's so boring here."

Kanae nodded her head.

The other hidden clan heads could only smile wryly. No one would be so brazen like Patrick to say that something was boring straight in the face of Kevin. After all, they still valued their life and didn't want to die so quickly.

The two of them returned to their place. As one of the strongest elders, he got a small house for himself on this island.

"What's your opinion of today's gathering, Rei?"

"It feels more like a façade," Kanae answered. "They have already known the answer and only do this as part of formality."

Patrick nodded his head. "You're correct. This is nothing but a formality and to give the chance for the hidden clan head to interact with each other. By the way, there will be a party to celebrate this in the future. Do you want to come?"

"Am I allowed to come?" Kanae asked doubtfully.

"Yes. Every person in the Ryukalin Clan can come. There's no restriction because it's just a party to celebrate Kevin become the clan head. There will be a ceremony tomorrow, but we're going back tonight. The ceremony is as boring as hell."

Kanae chuckled when she saw her senior act like that. Inside her senior's head, there was nothing interesting except martial arts. There was no doubt that this man would never want to attend the ceremony.

As for her, she didn't really want to stay here for that long period of time alone too. The gaze that they gave her was very disturbing.

"Let's eat a bit before resting. I'm sure Kevin will come here tonight."

"Really?"

"Yes," Patrick smirked. Knowing Kevin, that brat would surely come to clarify the matter of the engagement because he didn't want to get another fiancée.

Time passed swiftly. As Patrick had predicted, they got three guests when it was already late at night.

"I know that you will come here, but do you have to bring these two pests with you?" Patrick pointed to the two people behind Kevin.

"Excuse me? I'm not a pest!" Neo yelled in annoyance.

"Right, you're not a pest but a loud pest."

"Don't you…mph!" Mike has already held Neo's mouth with his hand as he smiled wryly. This brat truly didn't think whenever he talked. Well, he was also the same at other times, though.

"Pardon us, Elder Patrick. We'll be waiting outside."

Kanae had to hold her laugh as she watched Mike dragged Neo out. These two often switched role. Sometimes, it was Mike who did stupid things, but mostly, it would be Neo. When they did, it was too funny that she truly wanted to laugh.

"Can we talk, Uncle?" Kevin asked calmly.

Patrick nodded his head. "Just take a seat first. I have the time until early in the morning before I have to return."

Kevin sat down in front of the two of them. He glanced towards Rei for a moment. In usual time, he would just follow what the clan had designed for him because it would be hard to change the rule so quickly. However, he got no choice this time as he didn't want the clan to have a say in his marriage. For this matter, he wanted to take things into his own hand.

"I can't accept you selecting people to be my fiancée, Uncle."

Patrick arched his eyebrows. "Why is that, brat?"

"I already have someone whom I love. The engagement with Alice is just a fake engagement that I need to gain the support for this event," Kevin admitted frankly.

Fake engagement…

Kanae felt her mind blanked for a moment. When she first heard about the fact that Kevin was already engaged with someone, she felt that her heart was crushed. Knowing the fact that it was her friend made it even harder. At that time, she almost let her best friend died because of this simple engagement.

Knowing that this was only a fake one made her rather glad and at the same time, annoyed.

It was truly a test for her real feeling.

"Fake engagement?" Patrick asked with a weird tone. "Are you ready to face the wrath of Nico if he knows about this matter?"

"I won't be the one to face his wrath," Kevin replied calmly. "Alice has agreed to this matter, so this is not only my plan but also hers."

Patrick smiled wryly. He had met with Nico several times, so he knew that Nico was quite protective of his daughter. Although that man usually acted rather harsh and strict, he genuinely loved his daughter very much. There was no way he would be that angry if he had to face his own daughter.

"You're really cunning, Brat."

"Thank you for your compliment, Uncle."

Patrick nodded his head. "Even though you will annul the arranged marriage with Alice, I doubt that Celine will let things off just like that."

"I'll send her back home after this gathering. Neo will talk with her father."

"That won't solve the problem," Patrick commented.

"I know."

"Just have her in the list of the candidate. I'm sure that Celine will surely put most of her attention to this young lass. After all, she couldn't beat Rei at all."

Kevin glanced towards Rei. All these times, she stayed quiet by the side as if this talk didn't involve her. This made him rather conflicted because he didn't really want to drag more people into his trouble.

Patrick grinned. "Don't worry. You can pick the one whom you love to be your fiancée."

"I haven't told the person in question," Kevin admitted. "I want to make sure that this place is safe before I talk to her. I don't want to repeat what had happened to Yuki."

Hearing the name 'Yuki', Patrick's eyes twitched a bit. This name always brought a lot of pain for him to the point that he always felt that he couldn't bear with it any longer. It was just too painful for him.

"I see."

"I'll be taking my leave. Thank you for your help, Uncle, I'll just have her on the list."

Patrick nodded. "Just go, you annoying brat. You owe me one training session."

"We can spar in a few days."

"That's good."

After Kevin had left, Patrick sighed. Even though he was no longer perturbed about his girlfriend, hearing that name still brought him pain. He was already quite old, but that name has carved a scar in his heart that would never disappear.

He turned to look at Kanae. "Aren't you glad that he's confessing his real feeling?"

"He didn't say that it's me," Kanae's mouth twitched.

Patrick grinned. "There's no other 'ordinary civilian' woman that he gets close except you. It's not hard to guess that."

Kanae's cheek turned crimson red. This new father of hers truly loved to tease her. She turned her head to the side, refusing to meet with Patrick's gaze.

"It really takes him a long time to be confident enough to say his real thought. He's truly a problematic brat."

Kanae smiled slightly. It took this long because that young man had to make sure that he already secured his position as the clan head. Although the past few months felt like torture, it also allowed her to understand her feeling more. At the same time, it helped her to solidify her own plans and push them into fruition for her family.

Now, she only needed to wait for a bit longer until he stabilized his position and they forgot her relationship with the Nali Family.

"Yes, it's long enough."