Under the Veil of Night

At the other side of the building, James Wells was busy bandaging his arm. By some lucky movement, Jason managed to wound him. On his side, Jeff was looking at him with annoyance.

"James, can you hurry up? They're waiting for us to announce the new member," Jeff complained.

James looked up and snickered. "Why do you care? It's not like the new member is someone extremely powerful. He's just an abandoned stray that comes to search for his owner."

Jeff knew that it was true, but he preferred to not debate with this man in front of him. Even though James appeared nonchalant and easygoing, this man was once the young master of Wells Family. That position alone has granted this man numerous chances in the past.

"Have you finished?" Jeff asked again.

James nodded his head. "Let's go."

The two of them made their way towards the hall. There were already numerous people waiting for them and also the other two to appear.

"You're late, Jeff," Iris commented. "Are you wounded?"

"Not me, it's this annoying man," Jeff pointed at James. He noticed the rim of Iris's eyes were red. "Are you crying because of Anna again?"

Iris nodded her head. "I just can't forget about her that easily."

The two of them had been best friends for a long time. Since they were close in age, Ferdinand allowed them to stay together and so they did. Because of that, the two of them stayed extremely close with the other one.

Right now, Iris was partially blaming herself for Anna's death. She has the power to see the future, but she didn't use it to save her own friend. This made her felt rather vexed.

"By the way, has Ayres recovered?" Jeff recalled that he rarely saw that burly man again.

"Ah yeah, he's recovering well. Master Ferdinand wishes for him to participate in the next mission, so he's busy gathering his strength back," Iris replied in a soothing tone.

"That's good. I need him as the meat shield when I'm directing people to attack each other," Jeff nodded his head.

No one felt strange with what Jeff said. They might have stayed together for a long time, but their relationship was limited to how much they could use the other people. In the mission, it was important to have a partner that could use their skill to help each other. This was the very reason that they trained together.

As they were talking, the door opened. Vena and Jon walked inside with Jon in his messy appearance.

"You look like a fool today, Jon," Jeff grinned.

Jon shrugged. "Not my fault. Someone is keeping me awake all night."

"That's because you're lousy," Vena retorted.

"Be quiet," a large man walked inside. His height and stature allowed people to know directly that he was a former soldier. "Master Ferdinand is coming."

"Yes, Sir."

All of them instantly shut their mouths. This man was Ferdinand's right hand, so they didn't want to make trouble for themselves by offending this man.

Not long after that, Ferdinand walked inside with Randy following behind him like a lost puppy. Ferdinand glanced at his people who had gathered in the room. He pointed towards Randy.

"This is Randy, he'll be staying under Vena. The next mission will start very soon, I want you all to be prepared."

"Yes, Sir."

Ferdinand didn't say anything else as he walked away again with the large man following behind him. The others didn't move from their place until Ferdinand was out of the sight.

"Fiuh, he's as scary as ever," James commented. He looked at the two quiet men by the side. "Pen, Cain, do you have any activities?"

Pen, the man who has the telekinesis power, and Cain, the man who has the ability to create barriers, shook their heads at the same time. They quietly left the room as they only gathered here because Ferdinand told them to.

Jeff shrugged. "Don't try to be too friendly. It's not going to do you any good."

James passed a glance before walking away again. Behind him, Iris followed quietly as she also wanted to return to her room.

Jon patted his sister. "Sis, go handle your boyfriend."

Jeff's suddenly turned into a statue. He eyed the two of them incredulously. "Boyfriend? Vena has a boyfriend?"

"They used to stay together for a long time," Jon sold out his sister without any hesitation. "But, now, I'm not sure anymore."

Randy didn't reply to Jon's accusation. It was true that he used to stay with Vena for a long time, but it has been a long time ago. Right now, Vena didn't even want to talk with him.

Vena also didn't give her reply to her brother. "Follow after me, Randy. I will explain your mission."

"Ok."

Jeff watched as the two of them walked away. He grabbed Jon's shoulder. "Are you telling me that your icy sister falls for that kind of man? What kind of sorcery is this?"

Jon rolled his eyes. "Can you please let me go? I'm not close with her, so you have to ask her by yourself. Now, I want to have some sleep, so unless you want to accompany me, you better let me go."

Like he was electrocuted, Jeff released Jon almost immediately. Without any hesitation, he walked out of the room, not wanting to stay in the same room with Jon anymore. On the other hand, Jon put his hand on the back of his head, walking away with ease.

After Randy had arrived in an empty room, Vena turned around and looked at the man coldly. "What are you doing here, Randy? Didn't I tell you that no matter what you do, I'll never trust you, I'll never return to your side?"

"I hope that I can have the second chance," Randy replied. He came here using the invitation letter that he got after the battle in Lima School. At that time, he didn't even bother using it, but now, he had to. This was the only way he could come here and make contact with Vena.

"There's no second chance,��� Vena replied coldly. She would never allow herself to become weak again. All of them were in the past.

Randy smiled wryly. He knew that it wouldn't be easy, so he would work hard little by little to gain the trust of this woman. No matter how hard it would be, he would not give up so easily.

Vena pulled out a scroll. "This is your mission. If you fail, don't even bother coming back here again as people without real talent like you will be killed without mercy."

"Ah," Randy accepted the scroll. "Don't worry. I'll finish the mission and return back to your side again."

He bowed down and kissed Vena's hand. His movement was rather sudden, but Vena kept her cool. No matter how much her heart fluttered, she would not give in and didn't show any expression.

She waved her hand. "You should leave."

"Yes, Ma'am."

After Randy had left, Vena caressed her hand that Randy kissed. It felt warm and comfortable. She knew that she had missed this feeling for a long time, but she couldn't give in to her feelings anymore. She didn't want her broken heart that has been frozen to be broken once again.

If that happened, all of her hard work would be in vain.

As Vena was busy sorting her feelings, she didn't see her brother walking by the door.. His eyes watched her movement with an unreadable gaze.