Malakai walked out from the foliage of trees only to meet the desolate gates of his manor.
It was just as he left it. Barely maintained, empty, and gloomy.
Regardless, he didn’t stop, making his way through the gates and reaching the main building.
As Malakai approached the entrance, his steps came to a halt.
He could hear voices. Two women. Talking.
“…I’m telling you, I saw him at the last banquet. The 3rd Pulse… Ugh, he’s so handsome it should be illegal.”
“Jealous of his wife?”
“Jealous is an understatement. If I had a man like that, I’d never let him out of my sight.”
They both chuckled lightly.
“But should we really be doing this? I mean, look at this place. We’re making a mess.”
“So? What does it matter? There’s no way the 9th Vein is coming back. He was sent to the pits, remember? Even we wouldn’t survive that.”
“…Poor child. He really was unlucky.”
“I’d still choose his life though. To be born a Vein of the Sanguine Clan? How much luckier can anyone get? Even if he was a useless trash.”
A brief pause. Then a snort.
“I mean, what does he actually do? He just disappears to the back garden every day, swinging that scythe and calling it training. Meanwhile, everything he wants is handed to him on a silver platter. Look at us, two evolved, and we’re still stuck serving him.”
“But what about the Sovereign’s missions? Those things are deadly. He still goes through a lot.”
“He’s escorted by a whole Blood Champion! His life’s secured. That’s not hardship. That’s a royal vacation.”
Their voices grew louder. They were approaching the door.
“Still feels like a pretty chill life to me. Honestly, I don’t know why that kid always has that hateful look on his face. Spoilt. Fucking. Brat.”
The door creaked open, and both women stepped out.
Not even a second passed before they froze.
They were both dressed in pure white maid uniforms. They were none other than the last two maids left in the manor aside from Nyx.
However, currently, they both stood completely rooted in place, mouths slightly parted, their expressions drained of any color.
Malakai was right there.
Alive.
And staring straight at them.
The 9th Vein… the 9th Vein!?
It was as though their brains short-circuited.
“Lana… I fucking told you that the drink was a bad idea.”
Lana didn’t respond immediately. She just stood there, frozen.
“Uria… you can see him too?”
They were both still in denial. To them, this had to be a hallucination. Because it was simply impossible.
The 9th Vein had been sent to the pit, and there was no way he could survive.
Lana scoffed, trying to pull herself together.
“His ghost must be haunting us.”
She took a step forward, only to freeze.
“Kneel.”
Both their expressions exploded wide.
That cold, detached voice… it was really him!
But it wasn’t just the realization that made their hearts seize.
It was the raw and potent killing intent that came next. It slammed into them with force.
The maids of the Sanguine, especially those with subpar talents, had hardly ever faced life-threatening danger.
Aside from basic clan training, most had chosen the path of a servant to avoid the battlefield.
But compared to Malakai, who had faced more death than most would in their entire lives, they were heaven and earth.
So when his killing intent crashed into them, they felt it.
Their hearts racing.
Sweat soaking their clothes.
Legs turning to jelly.
Then, they saw it.
Crimson veins streaked across Malakai’s face as his aura surged.
Another wave of shock slammed into them.
He had evolved!?
“Kneel.”
The second command did the trick.
Whatever strength remained in their legs vanished.
They dropped.
“N-n-ninth v-v-ein, I—”
“Shut up.”
Malakai walked past them and stepped into the manor.
He entered the main room, what was once the manor’s living room.
But now, it was nothing but filth and garbage.
Finished alcohol bottles, torn clothing, food wrappers, bones, empty pill cases, they littered every corner, creating a mess.
“Come here.”
At Malakai’s words, the trembling maids rose halfway to their feet…
“Crawl.”
They froze again before gulping.
“Y-yes, Ninth Vein…”
They settled back down and crawled into the manor, bowing behind him.
“You will both clean this place, along with the entire manor. While in this form.”
Their eyes widened. The manor might not be massive, but it was still expansive.
Cleaning all of it on their knees wouldn’t just be time-consuming, it would be torture.
But Malakai didn’t seem to care.
“You have one hour.”
He turned and walked over to an empty chair in one corner of the room.
Lowering himself onto it, he stared at the duo.
The moment they heard the absurd time given, the two scrambled, their expressions morphing into panic.
Malakai simply sat there calmly as the maids scrambled around the manor, packing and cleaning the filth they had caused.
They were both in the Genesis rank, and with Malakai’s power above the Genesis stage, his aura had been too much for them.
Coupled with the fact that Malakai, a Vein of the Sanguine Clan, had finally evolved, they were stricken with nothing but fear.
As they worked, Valentine sighed and muttered in his mind, ‘Damn… how cruel.’
Malakai raised an eyebrow. ‘This is cruel?’
‘Ah, yeah,’ Valentine said quickly, trying to clarify. ‘I mean… what they did was wrong, sure, but they’re still entitled to have their own opinion. Just like you are too. Right?’
“Right,” Malakai replied. “But I own this manor. And they messed it up. If it had been the other Veins, other maids would be cleaning their blood off the floor right now.”
Valentine hesitated before speaking again. “But you’re not them, right? And yeah, they messed it up, but you could’ve just ordered them to clean it. Why the punishment? You’re making it seem like they don’t have a right to their own opinions.”
Malakai went silent.
Although the words of the maids had burned his soul, Valentine had a point.
At the end of the day, it was simply their opinion, one everyone had the right to have.
He could claim it was because they messed up the manor that he was punishing them… but he’d be lying to himself.
Their words had gotten to him.
Easy life?
Everything handed to him on a platter?
A royal fucking vacation!?
No one knew the hell he went through… the agony. And yet, they had dared brush it all off as if he truly did nothing.
Malakai took in a deep breath, calming his raging emotions.
At the end of the day, everyone had a right to their opinions.
But he shouldn’t allow them to bring him down.
To him, their opinion shouldn’t matter.
‘He’s right. I overreacted.’