Under The Veil of Night

"I don’t know if I should envy him or pity him to be the center of attention of a lot of women," Shiro laughed lightly. Hearing those girls fought for Kevin was truly amusing for him.

"Why are you laughing, idiotic doctor?" Tommy spat out. Seeing how Kevin could get all those attentions made him rather envy right now. As he tried to forget his feeling for one girl, he made it his task to engulf himself with other matter.

"It’s funny. Don’t you think so?"

"I’ll think it’s funnier if it’s me."

"Someone as idiotic as you should be grateful to get just one."

Tommy rolled his eyes as he collected the plates. Some of the other members seemed to have the same thought as Shiro. They were calmly eating while watching the show of these two girls fought for Kevin.

Shiro moved the lenses to look towards Kanae. Seeing how her expression was still the same as usual, he wondered if she ever thought about trying to do the same. In terms of fighting, she would not lose to either two of them. The only thing she lacked was status.

Of course, that had to be coupled with the decision to stay in the underworld forever.

"You can stand back now, Alice," Neo informed."

"Thank you."

Alice moved back to behind her father near Kevin’s side. She was trying hard to control her breath as she was actually feeling rather terrified. The fact that she still couldn’t fight well was something that she could hide at all.

Her eyes closed as she recalled her conversation with Kevin just a few hours ago.

"Clan Head, is there anything you need from me?" Alice looked towards Kevin with confusion filled her face. They have met with each other quite often, but she never thought that he would ask to talk with her personally.

"Do you remember our parents’ agreement?" Kevin directly asked the question.

Alice froze when she heard that question. She already knew about it from a long time ago. If it was not because of the big case where Kevin lost his parents, it was likely that they would be engaged from a long time ago. With the situation of the clan, there was no chance to bring up this matter.

When she met Kevin in the school, she was rather surprised to see his normal side. Although she felt curious, she never wanted to try getting close with him in the past. It was only due to their intersection several times because of Kanae did she learned more about him.

However, her heart never wavered to him. She didn’t understand it herself, but she never liked him more than a friend. Instead, her attention was towards a rather funny young man who was extremely interesting in her eyes.

She knew that she would be engaged, but she couldn’t stop her feeling. It might be her selfishness alone that drove her to get closer with that boy to the point that she forgot about this engagement. Now that Kevin brought it up again, she couldn’t help but recall the promise their parents made.

"I do remember the promise," Alice answered slowly. "Do you want to go through with it, Clan Head?"

If he wanted to, she couldn’t refuse. Even if she had the backing of her entire clan, he could simply take her without any worry. It was that simple with his prowess.

"I need your help," Kevin replied.

"What help, Clan Head?"

"I want you to stay as my fiancée for around half a year."

"Half a year?" Alice was stunned. Her round eyes landed on Kevin as she pondered about it. It would do her no harm to stay as his fiancée as she would get many benefits. Still, her heart refused to do that.

"I don’t have the power to unify the clan as you might realize after the gathering. I need more time and to do that, I need your help," Kevin answered.

Alice didn’t immediately answer. As the daughter of a hidden clan head, she lived a good life all these times. She was known to be a gentle girl and many would support her if she became Kevin’s fiancée. This way, more people would support Kevin to be the clan head.

She knew that he wanted this position, but there were many others who could do the same.

With his current ability that he admitted, Alice knew that Kevin still didn’t have the support of the entire clan. Even though without her presence it was still possible for him to go through with his plan, the numerous girls aiming for the position would make it harder for Kevin to move.

"Why?" she opened her mouth slowly. "Why me?"

"Because I know you have someone else in your heart," Kevin answered simply. The other reason was that he knew her personally and her personality was good. With her having someone else she adored, there was no chance for the girl to fall for him. It would only complicate the matter further if he proposed this to another woman because their chance to fall for him was rather high.

*cough*

Alice smiled wryly. "Isn’t it the same with you, Clan Head?"

Towards this question, Kevin didn’t answer. There was simply no need for him to answer something so obvious. Alice had seen how he treated Kanae differently, so this girl must have realized how his feeling towards Kanae was.

Alice closed her eyes. Even if it was only for half a year, it would mean that her friends’ heart would break if they came to know about this ’fake relationship’. She didn’t want to see them got hurt, but even if she didn’t step up, Kevin had to pick a girl to become his fiancée.

Rather than a stranger, it would be better for her to be the one to step up.

"I understand, Clan Head. I’ll help you," Alice came to her decision. She didn’t know if this was the correct decision, but she didn’t really have much choice. As their parents already promised each other, it would make it hard to shake her position.

It was only half a year.

If the situation in this gathering was not that bad, Kevin would have the chance to hold another one in half a year time. At that time, whether Kevin succeeded or not, Alice knew that this man would let her go.

If with her help he still failed, he would step down. But if he succeeded, Alice knew that Kevin would want to strengthen his position further before taking someone else.

"Thank you, Alice," Kevin nodded his head. "Do you have something you want in return?"

What she wants? Right now, she already got a lot of things as the hidden clan head’s daughter. Money and fame were a lot because of her status. There was simply no need for her to ask more from Kevin.

"I just hope that you can help me out when I need it," Alice finally answered.

"I understand. I’ll protect you."

"Thank you, Clan Head."

"When you become my fiancée, you should change your way of calling me. Do you have any problem calling me by my first name?"

"I don’t have any problem."

"That’s good."

The two of them stared at each other for the next few seconds. This was a rather risky move because if the others knew that this was only a fake relationship, they would be in trouble. They could get away unscathed, but it wouldn’t be easy.

"I’ll take my leave first, Clan Head."

Kevin nodded his head. On the side, Neo was watching how the two of them finished their deal. He shook his head lightly. "Boss, you can just change the rule and pick a girl outside the clan."

"At times like this, it’s impossible, Neo."

Before he got the complete power to protect Kanae, he didn’t want to drag her into this mess. Above all of his feeling, what he wanted the most was seeing her stay safe and sound without any harm. Besides, he had to consider her feeling, which he was still unsure right now.