“…What do you mean?”
‘I tortured those servants, yes. And I’ll probably do worse in the future. But I want to know, why do you care so much? They’re not related to you. You’re not the one inflicting the pain. I am. No offense, but you don’t contribute anything to my power. So why does this bother you? It has absolutely nothing to do with you.’
Valentine went silent again, as if pondering. Then, softly: “I care because it’s wrong. Isn’t that enough?”
‘Not to me. No.’
Valentine let out a breath. “I agreed I wouldn’t interfere as long as you did it to people who deserved it. But from what I saw, those maids only wanted to search your room. Torture was too much. No matter how I think about it, it was too much. They didn’t do anything to deserve that.”
‘I said I wouldn’t justify myself yesterday, and I still stand by that,’ Malakai replied calmly. ‘But I’ll say this just for the sake of conversation. Those two were ticking time bombs. You think they were just there to search my room. But how do you know that? What if they came to poison my things? What then?’
Valentine didn’t reply. But Malakai wasn’t done.
‘What they did didn’t deserve torture… You’re not exactly wrong. But put yourself in my shoes. And more importantly, think with your head, not your heart. You caught two spies trying to enter your room without permission. You know they’re not randoms, they were planted. So what would you have done? Preach to them? Slap their wrists and kick them out of the manor? Only for more spies to replace them tomorrow?’
He paused briefly.
‘Think, Valentine. It’s not your fucking life. You’re not the one with a target on your back. I walk my own path. I decide what to use my power for. Not you. If you’re going to stay, deal with it. But if you plan to brood in my ears every time someone gets hurt, then we need to end whatever this is. Because it’s only going to get me killed. And I have no plans of dying, no matter how selfish you think I am.’
Malakai’s words were long, longer than most people in the clan had ever heard him speak in one go. Even Valentine was stunned.
From his response, it was clear: Malakai knew his actions were morally wrong. But if that was what it took to move forward, he wouldn’t hesitate. And if Valentine couldn’t live with that, then he needed to walk away.
Valentine said nothing after that. Malakai fell silent as well, choosing instead to observe his surroundings.
The younglings were whispering and gossiping, but not about him.
“Hey, did you hear what happened last night?”
“Yeah. A strong darkness creature appeared near the main area. Know what caused it?”
“I tried to find out, but my parents aren’t saying anything.”
Malakai listened carefully, hoping for clues, but they were just rumors. All speculation. No facts.
He left the unevolved section and stepped into the evolved section of the camp. The older youths were talking too, also speculating, but Malakai couldn’t get any concrete information. Still, he decided to let Nyx handle it.
Eventually, he headed to class.
The hours passed in a blur, until it was time for the combat conditioning discipline. Standing on the open field, Malakai heard a familiar, excited voice behind him.
“Ninth Vein!”
‘Here we go again.’
He turned, eyes landing on Renlo, who was rushing toward him with a wide smile.
“Ahhh! How did you get here before me again, Ninth Vein!?” Renlo groaned. “How do you do it?”
As Renlo reached him, Malakai replied simply, “I walked.”
Renlo bent over, his hands gripping his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He’d sprinted to class with everything he had, hoping, just once, to beat Malakai there.
Malakai raised a brow as he glanced at him. “You’re… clean?”
His tone had a hint of bafflement.
Renlo stood up and scratched his head with a sheepish grin. “What do you mean, ninth vein? I’m always clean…”
“No,” Malakai replied, shaking his head. “You’ve always been dirty. Did you bathe? And wash your clothes?”
Renlo awkwardly cleared his throat, his chubby cheeks reddening slightly. He tried to hide the fact that this was his first proper bath in over two weeks.
“Haha, you’re making it sound like I never bathe, Ninth Vein.”
“You don’t.”
Renlo turned red with embarrassment, then quickly changed the subject. “A-anyway, Ninth Vein… I brought you bread!”
He pulled out a small loaf wrapped in nylon and stretched it toward Malakai.
Malakai stared at it for a moment. “Is this why you had your bath and cleaned up?”
Renlo froze. Then he laughed nervously and shook his head. “No, no, of course not! Haha…”
He completely hid the fact that the only reason he’d bathed and changed was because Malakai had refused the bread he brought the day before, claiming Renlo was too filthy to eat from.
But there was no fooling Malakai. He could read the boy like a book.
He shook his head. And without realizing it… a tiny smile tugged at his lips.
‘What the…’
Malakai caught himself immediately, wiping the smile off his face and glancing around. When he was sure no one had seen it, he took the bread.
“Thank you.”
Renlo beamed. ‘All that effort paid off!’
He didn’t usually bathe, it was too much of a chore climbing down the tree to fetch water. He preferred saving what he had for cooking.
Afterward, Renlo brought up the incident from the other night, trying to see if Malakai knew anything. But Malakai simply shook his head. “No. I don’t.”
At this point, while many were still surprised to see a Vein casually talking to someone like Renlo, most had accepted it.
Well… most of them.
Julius watched the pair with raised brows. Then, slowly, he smiled. But he didn’t say anything.
The instructors began the class, interrupting Renlo usual ramblings.
Time moved quickly. And soon, Malakai had completed all his disciplines for the day. After a short conversation and a quick goodbye with Renlo, he headed back toward his manor.
As he stepped into the forest path, his voice rang out.
“Nyx.”
She appeared at once.
“Walk with me,” Malakai said without stopping. “Tell me everything you found out.”